Writer/artist: various
Review: Will Dubbeld
Well, ‘it’s the season...
Halloween is one of my most favorite bits of the year. Ghouls and
goblins and panhandling urchins rub elbows with Scary Monsters and Super Creeps
whilst all-nite horror marathons ride the airwaves.
Granted I can enjoy these flavors year-round, but the whimsy isn’t
the same.
Comic companies ofttimes join in the Halloween festivities with a
themed one-shot or standalone regular series issue and this year’s big winner
is DC Comics.
Which is not a phrase you’ll hear uttered with frequency...
This 100-pager features an original Swamp Thing vignette and
several reprinted All Hallows’ pieces.
“Hollow”
The new Swampy bit is scribed by Brian Azzarello with Greg Capullo
pencils and is a frankly intriguing story.
I’m fairly behind on my monthlies and unsure if there’s a frame of
reference in a book I’ve not read yet, but “Hollow” seems like it sets the
stage for an upcoming Swamp Thing series.
It’s extremely vague but follows a young lady named Twiglet who
is acting as Swamp Thing’s herald or acolyte after having been rescued by him
at some point.
The rescue is amazing as it features Swamp Thing fighting a giant
albino alligator. There’s the price of admission.
Right there...
Azzarello teases an upcoming war with a being/force called The
Barren and flexes Swamp Thing’s muscles in a fight with some demon creatures
masquerading as trick or treaters.
While usually nonplussed about Azzarello’s writing and persona,
this was a win. He comes off as a pupal version of Warren Ellis and Ed
Brubaker’s atomic love child who hadn’t fully gestated and always falls short
of truly spellbinding writing.
Greg Capullo really hits his stride here, showcasing his
omnipresent slavish attention to detail, accentuated by Jonathan Glapion’s inks
and colors from FCO Plascencia.
I’m looking forward to following along with this storyline.
