Swamp Thing #31 - Mycosis

[arbre_rieur]

"I think the one thing Swamp Thing has been consistent with during its entire run is that it's a book about ideas. It's a place where writers and artists can try almost anything - and they often do." -- Charles Soule





Transferring his consciousness into the Grey avatar's fungus body, Alec Holland uses it to retrieve his own stolen body.











So everyone's minds get put back where they're supposed to belong...

Comments

[drtechnobabel]

Oh hey, looks like it's Aquaman's turn to be a dick.

[shadowpsykie]

naw it's just his need to make a dramatic entrance.... i mean, you expect him to show up in a cab?

[icon_uk]

Awww, those poor neglected fungi.....

[drexer]

Dear Charles Soule,

Never leave.

Can you please be promoted to Master-Fixxer-Upper-of-DC-Comics-above-Johns-and-Snyder?

Hopefully,
Drexer

[thanekos]

Don't worry, the Wolf, at least your investment in the Yggdrasil Corporation's still goo- erm.

Well, at least there's the others.

[doodleboy]

I blame Ryoma for that.

[akodo_rokku]

I blame Micchy, because he is the absolute worst.

[shadowpsykie]

but... he's so fine he blows my mind....

[tugrul]

I totally love this book. This latest arc has been setting up new players but in the end I enjoyed this.

They better have a good explanation for Aquaman's behaviour. I hate to see him and Namor set up as dicks because "they're kings and sometimes kings make the hard decisions."

[tianyulong]

Wait what did he do? Seems like a standard "lets you and him fight" scenario from what's seen here

[tugrul]

I have yet to read the next issue. Something with too much algae making life underwater dangerous if I remember correctly, but Swamp Thing did it to stop a threat.

[skemono]

Okay, so there's the Red for Animalia, the Green for Plantae, and the Grey for Fungi. Don't leave me in suspense! Is there one for Bacteria? Or two, for Eubacteria and Archaebacteria? Oh, please tell me there's an Avatar for Protista and everyone keeps insisting that he's one of them.

"Single-celled animals count, you're part of the Red!"
"No, they conduct photosynthesis! He's part of the Green!"
"You're both wrong! He's part of the Grey!"
"Leave me alone, all of you!"

[md84]

I think bacteria might fall under the Rot, since they are responsible for decay.

I shudder to think what power might correspond to viruses...

[aperturedreams]

There's an avatar for bacteria (and metal, for some reason), and the grey the green and the red are going to war with them in the five years later event in september.

[akodo_rokku]

From what I read, the avatar isn't Metal, but Technology.

[shadowpsykie]

oooh where

[aperturedreams]

http://www.dccomics.com/comics/swamp-thing-2011/swamp-thing-futures-end-1

[espanolbot]

Well before the reboot there was the Shadowlands, which is where people with darkness-related powers get their stuff from. Its actually the transdimensional remains of a dead god. Yup.

[icon_uk]

Which seems to have been nicked wholesale as a concept from Marvel's Darkforce Dimension, where Darkstar, Cloak, Blackout, Asylum, Darkling, and everyone else with anything akin to sha ow powers got their powers from, and which had SOMETHING hungry living in it.

[zapbiffpow]

I love how Soule reveals that Wolf was behind the plan Swampy just trashed. It's not a one-panel, "dun dun dun", serious reveal. It's slapped between two panels like as if it were nothing, which is fresh.

That kind of reveal subtlety has been sort of lost to a lot of comics lately - it's always treated as either a game-changing plot point, or used as some kind of cliffhanger. I love this series so much.

[md84]

Wonder if Alec's gonna temporarily become an Avatar for every kingdom of life. Would be interesting to see his perspective on what's it like to be the embodiment of the Red or Rot.

[icon_uk]

He can then sing "The Circle of Life" with more awareness than anyone else in history!

[shadowpsykie]

"It... it really does move us all." *single teardrop of cosmic enlitenment*

[md84]

I can sort of understand why Alec handled being the Grey Avatar better than the original one. The morality of stealing peoples' bodies and lives notwithstanding, Alec's a biologist. One of the traits of a really good biologist is being able to see the inherent beauty and majesty in all living things, even "ugly" things like mold.

[shadowpsykie]

yep!

[burkeonthesly]

The cover there just reminded me: it's been nearly three years, now, and covers still have "The NEW 52!" stamped on. Is DC's line still 52 monthlies? And how long are they going to keep calling it new?

I don't mean to sound like a bad Seinfeld knockoff, I'm genuinely curious.

[mrstatham]

Nope, it's been pointed out fairly frequently that, due to the cycle of cancellations and not replacing all of the titles cancelled, DC no longer have 52 titles being consistently published for their 'main' universe.

[big_daddy_d]

For a fungus, the Grey Avatar looks pretty awesome. Was expecting it to look disgusting because...well fungus.

[shadowpsykie]

there are some pretty fungi out there http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=fungus&FORM=HDRSC2

[bruinsfan]

Yeah, I was sort of expecting something along the lines of M'Nagalah. I remember when it was presented as a sort of sentient fungus that took over people's minds as it ate their bodies back in an old Challengers of the Unknown story. shudder