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Sweet Tooth's a book you should savor
Super science resets nature
Read about it here on Donist World
Swamp Thing's so divine
Animal Man's the source
Of trouble for Arcane
Alec and Buddy go
Pound on Rot goons for your pleasure
Seal up Rotworld for good measure
Read about it here on Donist World
¡Viva la Fiesta! It's Fiesta time again here in lovely...errr...foggy Santa Barbara, which means that Obie, my friends' Boston terrier and Donist World CFO, has once again raided the petty cash box and is hiding down at De La Guerra plaza until the food booths open for tri-tip tacos, chicken burritos, sopes and churros. Tomorrow, he'll be at the children's parade where he will literally be stealing candy from babies as the people in the parade toss candy to the viewers. He'll probably also buy some of those confetti eggs to smash on my head throughout the weekend as I toil away here at the Donist World secret lair working on comics and books and all manner of other projects. So, before you head downtown for margaritas and tequila shots, have a look at the comics we loved this week (and also the comic we unfortunately missed). It's like my good friend used to always say, "Tu perro es una piscina en mi estómago," which translates to "Your dog is a pool in my stomach," never mind, he was never any good at Spanish anyways. ¡Viva la Fiesta! On to...
Friday Slice of Heaven
***Possible Spoilers Below***
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| Animal Man #12 |
Buddy's son, Cliff, is infected with the Rot and if Buddy is to cure him, he's going to have to tackle the disease at the source by confronting the Rot itself. Unfortunately, he needs the help of the Swamp Thing. The Baker clan, minus Cliff but including Socks, succeed in finding the Green's champion, Swamp thing, as well as Abigail Arcane, a woman with the power of the Rot flowing through her who is sympathetic to the cause of the Red and the Green. A history lesson follows and Alec (Swamp Thing) and Buddy head into Rotworld, while Maxine, Ellen, Abby, and socks are left to guard the portal and fight a host of Rotworld's inhabitants as they attempt to claw their way into our world.
As much as I have thoroughly enjoyed Animal Man for the past year, I will say that I am amped for this crossover event, and the fact that I am excited for a crossover is not something I usually say...ever. Sure there is a bring-everyone-up-to-speed moment, but it feels organic and does not come across as too expositiony, which makes this issue somewhat of a jumping on point, but why do that when you can catch up easily enough. Both Lemire and Snyder are credited as writers on this issue, but it flows as if it were a natural continuation of the Animal Man comic. I will admit to being a little confused as to whether or not Buddy Baker is now, like his daughter Maxine, considered an Avatar of the Red since his rebirth, as that has not been made clear, but this does not overly detract from the story. Steve Pugh (art) and Lovern Kinderzierski's (colors) work is more beutiful than ever and I love the look of Pugh's regal yet menacing Swamp Thing. This issue is part one of the prologue to "Rotworld" with part two found in this month's Swamp Thing. We are finally at the beginning of the much-anticipated "Rotworld" storyline and even after a year of setup on one of my three favorite New 52 titles I could not be happier and I'm more excited than ever. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
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| Swamp Thing #12 |
Alec and Buddy have just touched down at the entryway into the Rot, but before they can devise their next move, they are attacked by un-men. Abby, Ellen, Maxine and Socks guard both the portal to the Rot and Alec's lifeline root tether, but they too are assaulted by revolting monsters seeking to enter our world. As the two heroes make their way down a bone ladder, Arcane--in an incredibly creepy page--confronts Swamp Thing and the powerless Animal Man, severing Alec's tether to leave them trapped in the Rot with no connection to the real world, the Green or the Red. Finally, Arcane reveals that Animal Man and Swamp Thing have been gone for much longer than they thought and the world has moved on without them in the worst of ways.
Oh my goodness gracious, what a fantastic issue and what a painful wait for the story to continue as next month brings the "0" issues with the full return to Rotworld in October; with any luck the Swamp Thing Annual #1 will be in there as well. Whereas the Animal Man first part of the prologue essentially brought the reader up to speed with what happened as well as introduced the champions of the Green and Red to one another, this issue was all about the descent into the Rot, the hope and determination of the heroes both below and topside, and the crushing realization of failure. In short, I loved this issue. Snyder and Lemire create a believable quick camaraderie between Alec and Buddy and the stakes escalate the further they progress down the bone ladder until the horrifying image of Arcane climbing down head-first and shredding Alec's tether with his gruesome, orthodontist-nightmare teeth gives the reader a shocking jab to the gut. Marco Rudy's art is an improvement over some of the muddy imagery found in the last issue and despite having three different inkers on this book he was a fantastic fill-in for Yanick Paquette. Val Staples provided some beautiful colors that fit well with the theme of the book, and combined with Rudy they delivered a hell of a good looking issue. Aside from wondering what happened to Buddy's boots from the first part to the second, the prologue did it's job making this event one of my most anticipated comics for October. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
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| Sweet Tooth #36 |
Gus is dreaming again. He dreams of the past and possibly of what is yet to come as he rides with his friends on a course for Alaska where everyone hopes to find answers as to what happened to the world. Meanwhile, Bobby runs for his life from Abbot's pack of dog boys and is forced to say where Gus, Jepperd and the rest have gone. Jepperd finds Singh, who is not in the best state of mind but in possession of a dire revelation, and Gus finds other animal children who are very much like him.
I'm pretty hopeful we can rule out a Lost-style ending that leaves far more questions than answers as Lemire reveals what caused the plague a century ago and how humanity inadvertently renewed the plague to bring about its own demise. Lemire's art, especially the dream sequence, continues to be beautiful and unique as he drives emotion in not just his characters, but in his readers; have a look at Bobby's forced betrayal scene (no one should mess with poor little Bobby). Although the first 34 issues flowed at a slower pace than the rapidly approaching end of this series, I expected the story to haphazardly attempt to wrap up all of the loose ends, but with this issue, I was able to give a sigh of relief; Lemire has everything under control. Even with four issues left, it's still not too late to catch up to this wonderfully tragic story. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
Other Heavenly Items:
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| Daredevil #16 |
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| Indie Comics Magazine #6 |
Slice Into the Woods
Dang...I Should Have Put Hawkeye on My Pull List - Grrrrrr...this would have been my third Marvel title after Daredevil and Captain Marvel. Oh well, I have it on order and will hopefully have it in the next week or two. Matt Fraction back with David Aja?!? I was an idiot to not plan ahead.
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