Lamentations and Speculations (Superman Rebirth Annual 1)

Those of you old enough to have read comics in the very late 80s and/or early 90s may remember what I refer to as the "Cash Grab Guest Star Triumvirate". This, for clarifications sake, was when Marvel would have Wolverine, the Punisher, or Ghost Rider (Danny Ketch) guest star in every other book they published in an effort to boost sales.

More often than not, however, these paragons of grittiness wouldn't simply show up in another character's title.  They'd completely take it over for the duration of their appearance. They'd demolish the bad guy of the month, snarl something brooding, and would generally try to make the title character come across as a chump for not being grittier (thanks Frank Miller).

Objectively, even as a teenager with all of the emotional subtlety of thrash metal I could see this tactic for the obvious marketing ploy that it was. Subjectively, though, I could see a certain sense to it. I hadn't been interested in Wolverine since fourth grade, I'd never liked the Punisher, and I'd only had a passing interest in Ghost Rider. I remember thinking, though, "What if they did all this with a character I actually liked?"

Flash forward (*counts on fingers*) about twenty five years, to DC's Rebirth initiative. Swamp Thing, though sadly berift of his own series, is suddenly a popular guest star across the DC universe. He'd been a cast regular in the new Hellblazer series. He'd been a major part of the first Superman Rebirth Annual. He'd been in a recent issue of Batman, by critically acclaimed writer Tom King. I've always liked Constantine more as an ally/foil supporting character than a lead, and I haven't heard great things about "The Brave and the Mold" (I'll be picking it up eventually though), so I decided to go with Superman.

As a very brief overview, Swamp Thing, after a "we-have-to-fight-because-you're-not-listening-to-me" moment, somehow mind links with the Man of Steel, a refuge from the pre-Flashpoint universe, to help him become the best Superman he can be. Overall, this issue wasn't bad. Sadly for Swamp Thing fans the days of the guest star taking over the book are long gone (though for comic fans in general this is a good thing, as those dated tales are often poorly contrived and had little substance). This is very much a Superman-centric story, it being his own book and all, and fairly well written. I imagine that if I was a Superman fan I probably would have enjoyed it quite a bit.

The only real drawback of it for me would be Swamp Thing's personality. During Charles Soule's run on the New 52 Swamp Thing series, Alec Holland was portrayed, via first person internal monologue, as a being with the mind of a man, an exceptionally intelligent and resilient one, but a man nonetheless. He was the vehicle by which we learned more of the world of the elemental forces as defined by the New 52.

This Swamp Thing, by contrast, seems more...lofty?  He seems entirely focused on the big picture, which of course is important to the being tasked with protecting the environment of an entire planet. It seems, however, that this expanded worldview had come at the cost of what makes him "human", at least in terms of his perspective. Although he still identifies himself as "Holland", he doesn't seem to be the same Alec from the Soule run, or even from the Len Wein/Kelly Jones miniseries from a little over a year ago.

I'm not saying the difference is bad. It's just different, and it makes me wonder if it's just the interpretation of writers Patrick Gleason and Peter Tomasi of the character.

Or is it something else? Let's examine the circumstances.

When talking to Superman, Swamp Thing explains how he is so in tune with the Earth that he can tell that it has been remade. As hinted at in Rebirth and as confirmed in The Button, we the readers know that reality in the DCU has in fact been altered by ...

*SPOILERS*
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....Doctor Manhattan, of the Watchmen.

In a recent interview, Batman writer Tom King stated that his recent issue featuring Swamp Thing was a "love letter to Alan Moore", the legend who not only completely revamped Swamp Thing, but also wrote Watchmen.

Could Swamp Thing's frequency of guest appearances be a metatextual nod to the Watchmen, who feature so prominently as part of Rebirth?  Could Alec's connection to the planet and his ability to acknowledge it's alteration lead him to be the equivalent of Monitor of this particular crisis?

Probably not. But damn wouldn't that be cool?

Well, that does it for my review of Superman (Rebirth) Annual #1, as well as my 90s lamentations and speculations of the near future. If you like what I'm sending you through the twisting pathways of the Green, feel free to comment here on the blog, to like the Avatar of the Green Facebook page, or to follow me on Twitter @GrantRichter09 (retweets of new post notifications are always welcome and appreciated).

Next time, I'll be returning to the New 52, and covering issues 7 through 12 of Scott Snyder's run on Swamp Thing, collected in the trade paperback "Family Tree". Until then, think Green and be epic!