Swamp Thing, Volume 1: Raise Them Bones by Scott Snyder, , Yanick Paquette (Illustrator), Marco Rudy (Illustrator)

Swamp Thing, Vol. 1: Raise Them Bones by Scott Snyder

My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars


I don't have a frame of reference for this book, since all I know about it is the really cheesy movie that came out many moons ago with Adrienne Barbeau.  I did read an older Hellblazer, where Swamp Thing pops in at the end, but that's about it.  Overall, this was pretty good, but the subject matter is pretty icky.  I did like the concept of nature being sort of neutral when it comes to good and evil.  While Alec has always felt an affinity towards plants, he doesn't look at the green kingdom as a soft, fluffy, harmless place. Instead, he is aware that plants can be in their own way predatory and vicious.  It's an interesting thought, and I see the truth in it.  Case in point, a Clover vine that almost smothered my Crepe Myrtle bush and caused it to be susceptible to fungus that nearly killed it.  That vine might seem harmless, but it certainly wasn't. Let's not even talk about Kudzu.   Anyway, I digress.  In this storyline, nature is a balance between the Red and the Green. The Red is animal life and the Green is plant life.  And then there is the Rot. The dark spirit of decay and destruction.  Now that is a creepy idea.  The fact that those who have this power (of the Rot) can find the tiny spot of necrosis in you and cause it to overtake and destroy your body, turn you into this horrible, shambling zombie who spreads this corruption.  And the only thing that stands between the Rot taking over and destroying life is the champion picked by the Parliament of Trees.  Too bad Alec Holland is a reluctant hero.

I liked the Romeo and Juliet type feel between Alec and Abigail, since they are seemingly on different sides.  It appeals to the romantic in me. What turned me off was the ick factor with the Rot. This book has some very disturbing imagery.   I think it's the healer and lover of life in me.  I am repulsed by the idea of decay and rot, so this book hit me where I love.  This is a visceral read.  The imagery jumping off the page at you. the ending is a huge cliffhanger, so you pretty much have to keep reading it.  I'll definitely follow the series, but not in a row.  I need a breather.

It's a good read, but some scenes are not fun reading, so I'd give it a 3.5/5.0 stars.



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