mysteriousmre's Reviews (1.22k)

I feel very let down by this event. I already wasn’t a fan of the apocalyptic setting this book takes place in, but when compared to Animal Man’s part of Rotworld? Animal Man is better. It has a far more interesting cast of survivors with more varied connections to the Red and Green.

I admit reading all of the Rotworld books back to back wasn’t the best idea, Snyder’s constant monologues don’t make it any easier. Snyder has a great voice for Alec and Abby, but he gets so verbose this volume that it became a chore to read through?

I’m also disappointed by the ending. The Rot having time travel powers is never set up, feels like a cop out, and also makes no sense as a power for what are essentially just a bunch of mushroom zombies. The new status quo of Abby Arcane as The Rot’s avatar is interesting, but I don’t think we needed to go through all this to get there. Very disappointed by this event overall. Hopefully the next book will be back to basics and feel more down to earth (couldn’t resist the pun).

A climactic final battle between Animal Man and his usurper, Brother Blood. I enjoyed my time with Animal Man in the New52, but it’s hard not to see the flaws.

The book has a huge focus on the Baker family, but one of its key members, Buddy’s wife Ellen, is underwritten. A spouse having problems with their significant other taking a dangerous job has a lot of story potential, but it’s not explored beyond Ellen constantly whining about superheroes and things outside her control. It gets very old VERY quick, so much so I was glad when they separated in the previous volume.

There’s another plot thread introduced about different versions of the Red, Green, and Rot existing on other planets. It’s a great concept that implies Lemire had one or two more stories to tell before wrapping everything up. As is though this is a decent enough conclusion. Decent action, a well paced story, and a sappy sweet ending that will make anyone want to go give their family a hug.

Wow this book did not age well at all did it? This was painful to re-read. None of the main players get a proper backstory or explanation of who they are as characters, there’s a LOT of sexism (including the must disgusting iteration of Deadman I’ve ever read), and the plot is an unfocused mess that can’t justify the need for this many characters. It seems someone wanted to write a Hellblazer story but was forced to make this a team book. If you cut everyone out but Madame Xanadu, Constantine, and Enchantress this would have been a significantly better book. James Tynion IV’s JLD stories are soooo much better. Go read them instead of this nonsense.

The minute Jeff Lemire takes over the series JLD gets good. A fun race to see who can reach The Books of Magic first. Lots of fun twists and turns on this treasure hunt as characters manipulate and betray each other to get what they want. While some may decry the introduction of a magical all-powerful macguffin, it brings some much needed focus to the plot and this time all the team members get their time to shine (with the exception of Zatanna who’s magic is constantly useless at every turn). An improvement in every regard. I’m glad I gave the New52 era of JLD another shot.

So when I initially finished the book last night I felt a little disappointed, but the more I thought about the book the more I realized there was more going on under the hood.

Despite the name, Swamp Thing: Twin Branches isn’t about two brothers. Alec is absolutely the main character and the book is about him slowly learning how to communicate with his peers and his brother to create healthy relationships and just how challenging that is for someone on the autistic spectrum. Alec’s inner monologues on how plants communicate and interact with each other is what clued me in on this. Specifically Alec’s brief monologue about the difference between a symbiotic and parasitic relationship.

Alec’s nervousness and hyper fixation on plants keeps him stuck in the same place. That is, until love interest Abby Arcane enters the picture and develops a relationship with him, giving Alec a chance to cultivate a relationship with someone who shares a mutual interest and eventually branch out to people radically different from him. Namely his more outgoing and adventurous brother Walker, who’s been *incredibly* supportive of him throughout the story, but up until Alec’s growth, really only had a one-sided relationship with him. With Walker doing all the work to maintain it while Alec kept everyone at bay.

This book won’t be everyone’s cup of tea, and the ending felt very sudden (that’s been my major criticism of all of DC’s YA books), but if you dig a bit deeper I think there’s a lot of things to appreciate.