Rotworld: Red Kingdom #1, Green Kingdom #1

ANIMAL MAN #13

"Animal Man" enters the Rotworld arc with an expository issue, hoping to benefit from the outside interest. Therefore, it's DCU characters that get to serve as guides to the missing Buddy, and the theoretical new reader unaccustomed to the title. The time jump helps provide a starting point for the uninitiated, but the book thankfully retains enough of its identity to provide for a satisfying reading experience.

Jeff Lemire picks an unusual assortment of heroes to serve as Buddy's guides, with a double page spread serving to indicate the fates of the rest of DC's superhuman community. At this point in the history of the genre, the superhero/horror crossover is no real novelty, but the creators still try their best to genuinely repulse the reader.

The grisly visuals come courtesy of Steve Pugh and Timothy Green II, with the latter devoted to present day segments involving Buddy's family. When the book cuts away to these scenes, it genuinely becomes more interesting, as there is no guarantee that the supporting cast will survive the crossover intact. Green II's Moebius-inspired artwork presents Ellen and the children as lean, heavily stylized figures, making the subplot even more distinctive compared to Pugh's raw and bulky characters.

Steve Pugh's loose line helps realize the broken landscape of the Rot's rule, retaining a hostile, agressive style that accentuates the weird superhero style of the overall direction. There is definitely a wider arc that the writer is working towards, quickly establishing the resistance in the post apocalyptic world, but the formulaic elements would have been much easier to overcome if the final result was a bit more refined.

Seeing Hawkman attack Buddy as soon as he materializes in the Rotworld, with the superheroes immediately coming to his defense, speaks of a distinctive lack of subtlety and a desire to guide the book towards a very linear plot. Having the hero meet the resistance who promptly lead him towards their base is a very cliched plot, that the creators try to mask with the bits and pieces of their new mythology.

Ultimately, the cliffhanger revolves around the fate of the Baker family, as the final page offers some truly disturbing visuals, that are posed to affect the reader in a way that the decay of extraneous superheroes simply doesn't. So far, the crossover does provide for an interesting change of page, which not only maximizes on the promise of the previous issues, but offers a distinctive tone of its own. Its clearly leading to a team-up with Swamp Thing that has the characters beating the Rot back in their own time, but at least it's realized in a way that is feel fresh and entertaining.

SWAMP THING #13

The "Swamp Thing" part of the Rotworld crossover makes a much better impression so far. Reunited with Yannick Paquette, who has taken time to really leave his impression on "the Green Kingdom", Scott Snyder delivers a story that is much more organic, despite the presence of superheroes. Deadman and Poison Ivy provide a very fitting guides to Holland, given their historical connection to the title, as re-imagined by Alan Moore.

The story follows the same progression as "Animal Man", with the superheroes blaming the avatar for abandoning the world before deciding to take him into their trust and have him join them against the Rot. The key difference is that Swamp Thing exhibits his connection with the Green before the fight with the corrupted superheroes, which goes on to reaffirm the title's mythology as much more organic, and ironically better integrated with the DCU than that of the Animal Man.

Being a plant-related elemental defines Holland in a very narrow way when it comes to a superhero universe that is teeming with animal themed superheroes. When presented with Paquette's lush and gorgeous work, the reader is simply overwhelmed by the promise. The inventive layouts, characters that are strong sense of anatomy and a thoughtful palette avoids the cluttering of visuals and makes for a very confident look.

Where the art falters is when it comes to depicting the aforementioned battle against the villains, whose redesigns seem too busy and ill-defined. Ironically, the parts of the story showing Abigail in the past (relative to the Rot takeover) present a scenario that is much more likely to be quickly resolved than the fate of the Baker family.

Taking everything into consideration, the two titles would have been better off had they been left to explore Rotworld on their own terms, disregarding the need for the tie ins and superheroes. At this point, the tie-ins are mostly on the structural level, with each book left to its own, parallel plot. It's hard to judge the crossover's effectiveness for the readers who have not previously followed the titles, but it certainly provides a way to have the two titles stay relevant past the initial praise.

Animal Man #0, Swamp Thing #0

ANIMAL MAN #0

With all of his work in revitalizing Grant Morrison's "Animal Man" by diverting from the post-modern superhero tendencies to a more organic series, Jeff Lemire has slowly piled up a multitude of retcons. With the #0 issue, both him and the book's new regular penciller Steve Pugh basically return to completely recreate the character's beginnings.  The character's ties to Swamp Thing are now an integral part of the story, which is still functioning in the superhero mold, but striving for a very different tone.

Lemire elaborates on Buddy's status as a semi-avatar, and how the stuntman landed an opportunity to fulfill such an important role in the life web that is the Red. Pugh is tasked with illustrating a dynamic action series featuring the eventual fate of the previous Animal Man, reminding the reader that he can still match the previous penciller's muscular and powerful art. The role of the Totems in the regards to the manipulations concerning the Baker family receives the bulk of the creative team's interest, and at this point, the explanations feel adequate, if overcomplicated.

Lemire is basically using the issue as an opportunity to revisit the original "Showcase" Animal Man story, showing where he diverges from the tone adopted by Grant Morrison. The writer still uses the yellow aliens of the original Silver Age adventure, but they are merely a part of the narrative designed to ease Buddy into his eventual role of the protector of the Avatar. It is not the smoothest of explanations, but it manages to acknowledge the character's beginnings as the company's animal themed superhero, without continuing to elaborate on the metafictional aspects of the premise.

In Lemire's hands, the superhero identity is merely another role that Buddy is playing, a much preferable one compared to the shortcomings of his acting career. The character does end up feeling infantile in the process, but the creative team try to ground his naivety as a part of his role of a loving father. The issue ends by returning to the aspects of the plot relating to Swamp Thing and the Rotworld crossover, but despite the continuity hurdles, Lemire and Pugh manage to make it feel much more essential than the Annual published a few months ago.

SWAMP THING #0

The prequel to "Swamp Thing" picks up from the aforementioned "Animal Man" Annual, and further reinforces the fact that Anton Arcane is a threat to both Red and the Green. The character, as depicted here, serves as sort of an eternal avatar of the Rot, with the mission to exterminate his opposite numbers in the other two pantheons.

Scott Snyder has Arcane narrate the issue, revising Alec Holland's origin to further tie in to the new overarching Animal Man/Swamp Thing mythology. The writer still allows for the previous Swamp Thing stories to have taken the place in the five year gap, but keeps focused on the forthcoming Rotworld showdown. Kano is traditionally a more subdued artist, but he adepts his style to incorporate unusual page layouts and the aggressive visceral approach of Yanick Paquette.

The maniacal glee of Arcane and many of the rampages depicted in these pages feel abhorrent, but bring little to the book besides the fulfilling the perceived genre requirement. The carnage, both shown and implied quickly rises to absurd levels, but thankfully, the Swamp Thing origin sequence serves to orient Arcane's madness and makes the feud between two characters even more personal.

Even though Holland's nemesis was absent from the introductory arc, the writer has used the last few issues to cement both the character's power level and the personal enmity he feels against the protagonist. Next month's beginning of the Rotworld crossover should also mark the first step to the character's temporary demise, as Arcane's continued presence overshadows any other Swamp Thing story the creators could be telling. It's unclear what the editorials plans are for Kano, but the artist certainly has much to offer, especially if allowed to work in the style that is closer to his own work.

Rotworld - Prologue

"The Rotworld Prologue" starts in "Animal Man", and focuses on providing the exposition from the more grounded point of view of the Baker family. The issue credits both Lemire and Snyder, the writers of the two titles crossing over, for providing the script. The art is by the series' regular Steve Pugh, who brings a detailed, visceral work focusing on the larger than life superhero aspects of the series.

In many ways, the issue lives up to its prologue status, with the bulk of the plot taking place next to the portal to the Rot, with the Baker family clearing up any misunderstandings between themselves and the Swamp Thing, before letting the title characters take a plunge. Meanwhile, the writer advances the Cliff subplot by switching over to Buddy's son to provide for some diversion, but by and large, the plot is a familiar one at this point.

The superhero icons have gone to the center of the Rot, while their loved ones stay behind to guard the portal and prevent the agents of Rot from spreading unchecked. Steve Pugh's artwork is solid throughout, with bold lines and clear layouts, but there is a slight disconnect when it comes to conveying the emotions. The artist is comfortable depicting the typical calm and agitated extremes, but the artwork fails to provide much in between.

Given the somewhat on the nose scripting of these sequences, it stands to reason that Pugh wasn't particularly inspired, but a more instinctive artwork would have definitely helped the reader through some of the panels packed with information that is either already familiar or bordering on cliche. Perhaps the most accomplished page is the one where Ellen and Maxine say goodbye to Buddy, while Abby does the say to Alec. Otherwise, the issue is little more than a slow-paced beginning of the multiple part narrative that counts on the reader to continue following each title month after month.

The other part of the prologue, published in "Swamp Thing", is a much more interesting affair. Lacking the focus on character dynamics, the issue advances the plot to its logical end, and brings forth the Rotworld. Again, the credits box lists Snyder and Lemire as co-writers, but Marco Rudy's artwork, and the continued use of unusual panel layouts remind the reader that he's reading the "Swamp Thing" part of the crossover.

Rudy's artwork is otherwise uneven and realized with the help of two inkers besides the penciller, leading to rushed lines that don't benefit from the heavy blacks. Val Staples' strong colors try to provide a unifying element, with the resulting nightmarish presentation at least feeling coherent. Where the issue stumbles is in the frequent cutaways to the Ellen, Maxine, Socks and Abby. Some of the transitions are better than the others, but the sequence works in moving them away from guarding the portal, and hinting at their role in the upcoming issues.

This lines up with the most final twist, imparted to the characters by Anton Arcane, regarding the world that Swamp Thing and Buddy Baker are returning to. The issue definitely picks up once Swamp Thing's nemesis shows up, with an explanation for his return that uses the crossover in a logical way.

From the visual perspective, the repeated motif of Buddy and Alec falling through the Rot feels somewhat perfunctory, and doesn't really work beyond communicated the basic idea that these characters are getting swallowed up in the netherworld way out of their debt. Swamp Thing's initial confidence is the relative weakness of their adversaries is thereby shattered, but from a purely graphic point, the two subsequent pages featuring Abby feel much more accomplished.

In the end, the publisher teases the real beginning of "Rotworld" in October, following each title's ill timed #0 issues. At this point, it seems like the "Swamp Thing"/"Animal Man" crossover was planned before the editorial decided on featuring a line wide prologue issue to mark the first anniversary of the "New 52" relaunch. Still, the cut away will work as an opportunity to give the "Swamp Thing" creative team time to catch up on the deadlines, which will go a long way to provide a more unified aesthetic when it comes to the crossover.

As advertised in the Prologue cliffhanger, both title will launch their own Rotworld storyarcs, with "The Green Kingdom" running alongside "The Red Kingdom", presumably before reuniting again to have the protagonists deal away with the threat together. On the strength of these two issues, "Rotworld" looks to be every bit as a natural extension of both series, and not the dreaded artificial crossover that has derailed so many of otherwise fully functioning titles.

Animal Man #11/Swamp Thing #11

ANIMAL MAN #11

Heading into the next six months of the crossover with "Swamp Thing", Jeff Lemire wraps up his current arc, the three parter "Extinction is Forever". The series' new regular artist, Steve Pugh is temporarily replaced by Alberto Ponticelli, Lemire's former collaborator on "Frankenstein". Inker Wayne Faucher and colorist Lovern Kindzierski do a commendable job in maintaining the violent, organic style, with Ponticelli's scratchier, more kinetic lines largely subdued.

As conceived by the title's "New 52" original artist Travel Foreman, Lemire's "Animal Man" is a visceral urban fantasy, alternating between body horror and the mythological touches linking the title to "Swamp Thing". The two titles have teased the crossover centered around their mutual enemies for most of the year, with Lemire setting up John Constantine as the new supporting character. Ultimately, the writer shied away from the idea of having Constantine help Buddy out with learning to control his new powers, mirroring his original role in "the Swamp Thing".

The venerable Vertigo character's presence ultimately boiled down to a guest appearance of the "Justice League Dark", which did little more than drag out the middle part of "Extinction is Forever". Following the conclusion of the introductory arc, "Animal Man" has in many ways felt like it has been searching for a clear direction. The Baker family were continually on the move, still threatened by the Rot and it's agents, with the title clearly caught in the transitory period between the unveiling of the Lemire/Foreman revamp, and the imminent crossover with "Swamp Thing".

The writer has used the current three-parter to put a firmer focus on Buddy and his role in the world where he's assigned to be the father of the messianic child. Yet, despite her role as the Avatar of the Red, Maxine is still a 4-year old girl, Buddy is still her protector, which the Totems finally acknowledge by further defining his appearance and abilities. Despite the innovation, Lemire is at all times aware that he is working on Grant Morrison's concepts, with #11 designed specifically as another attempt to further define his take on what was once little more than a gimmicky Silver Age superhero.

He acknowledges the debt by referring to the yellow aliens that originally gave Buddy his abilities as "the tailors", a direct nod to Morrison's metafictional ideas from "Seven Soldiers". Both Lemire and Ponticelli's previous collaboration was the writer's final issue of "Frankenstein: Agent of S.H.A.D.E.", featuring the version of the character Morrison introduced in the latter. More importantly, the creative team's story tied in to "Animal Man", which again made Ponticelli a logical choice to fill in for Pugh.

Having dealt out with one of the Hunter's Three, Animal Man has once again protected his family, but at a cost that will be further elaborated on in the next issue's "Rotworld: Prologue". Ponticelli's he seems like a good choice for future fill-ins, if he can handle the workload concurrent with his regular "Frankenstein" assignment. The artist's own style seems most apparent in the way he draws Ellen and Cliff, but it's hard to find fault with the editorial for suggesting that the title be inked and colored in a way that preserves the consistency with the preceding issues.

SWAMP THING #11

Scott Snyder concludes the mini-arc featuring the return of Swamp Thing's arch-foe Anton Arcane with the issue featuring the art of Marco Rudy, one of the title's regular artists. The Brazilian artist features some atmospheric, thickly inked panels, with some inspired layouts, but the result still pales compared to the last issue. Having only the first part of the story gorgeously illustrated by the fan favorite Francesco Francavilla impacts was always going to impact badly on the title.

#11 likewise lacks any kind of framing device, and presents merely little more than a fight scene, that wouldn't feel out of place in the 1990s "Spawn". With Snyder collaborating with the longtime Image penciller on "Batman", it comes as no surprise that his returning the Swamp Thing from the Vertigo milieu would try to capitalize on some of the lessons from the longtime premiere superhero horror title. A more traditional take enables the creative team to try to escape from the long shadow Alan Moore left on the title. Scott Snyder, Yanique Paquette and Marco Rudy aren't trying to spark the interest in DC's non-traditional characters.

The return of the Arcane seems almost like a return to basics, while still honoring the mark the industry's most celebrated writer first left on the title. And where Moore, and later Veitch, used the Swamp Thing as a platform for looking at the wider DC universe from a post modern perspective, so far Snyder shies away from shining the light on such neglected DC properties like the space heroes and its western characters. As this issue shows, they are more than content in giving equal space to the original Len Wein/Bernie Wrightson creations. The idea seems to be recreating the property from the most iconic of the previous versions, and judging by the audience response, it has been very successful.

Every issue is nicely paced and reasonably entertaining, while covering the same apocalyptic territory as "the Animal Man". Yet, some of the complexity and charm of the characters seems to have been lost in the shuffle, as despite the prophecies regarding both Alec and Abby, their "New 52" incarnations seem two-dimensional and less than appealing. On the face of it, by positing Abby as a short-haired motorcycle riding girl with a  shotgun, the creative team discards all of the work Moore did in transforming the damsel in distress into a three dimensional, strong yet feminine character. Similarly, seeing the antler sprouting Swamp Thing without the use of his advanced powers again seems to simplify the character to bring him back closer in line with the original version.

What little chemistry remains behind between these characters still largely relies on the reader's previously established affection. Seeing Abby blasting at Arcane's Un-Men with the murky, haphazard character designs, while Alec returns to charge at the villain spouting one-liners like "The swamp is my place." followed by "But I'll be happy to put you back in the dirt.", largely necessitates the reader more interested in the plot points than the character development of these characters that have gradually turned into another couple of superheroes with decades of continuity and false starts behind them.

With the "New 52", DC has successfully grouped the book with "Animal Man" and at this point, expects the readers to care for the wider story first and foremost. The war against Rot is a sufficiently interesting story to justify the next six months of joint exploration, but the real test will be how both of these titles survive telling their own stories afterwards. Time will tell if market that welcome them a year ago will be so considerate six months from now, particularly given that both titles have already experienced severe problems with on the artistic side, with even the original penciller's replacements unable to stick to the monthly schedule.