Future State: Swamp Thing #2 Review

Written By: Ram V
Art By: Mike Perkins
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: February 2, 2021

In the distant future, Swamp Thing has created a family of humanoid plants. Each with their own looks and personalities. Man has been missing for ages, and Swamp Thing and his group have been searching for them for years. After finding one of them, the man leads them north to help him rescue others from the tyranny of their rulers.

When they get to the base during a snow storm, we see that they like is a gated hut community surrounding a big S.T.A.R Labs building, guarded by armed soldiers.

Us, the readers, are able to look inside that building. We see a man that looks more like the Crypt Keeper now than anything and calls himself the Undying Man. It's Jason Woodrue: the Floronic Man. He has captured the hero once known as Obsidian, and has convinced what appears to be the leader of these humans that they will use his powers to save them. They will use it to fight the plants that did this to them. *record scratch* Wait, waaaat??? Oh yeah. It's true.  But we're not there yet. Swamp Thing is pretty badass right now as he attacks the base, walking through gunfire and literal fire.

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When they finally make it to Woodrue, we see what's become of him. He's got a real chip on his should about not being accepted into the green, too. And this is where Woodrue shows us exactly what happened to this world. Swamp Thing went nuts and was the one that destroyed civilization. In a fit of rage, he's the one who did this to the humans. Woodrue was the one that saved who he could and brought them there. He used them to build a weapon using Obsidian, telling them it would save them, but would plunge the world into darkness. He wanted Swamp Thing to be there for this because he knew that he would kill him. Suicide by cop, or... I can't think of a good pun right now. I'm too tired.

So that's what Swamp Thing does. He kills Woodrue as the weapon ignites. The world will turn to darkness, everything will grow cold, and everybody will die. Heather sees what Swamp Thing is planning and confronts him. He was the one who did this to the humans, they deserved it, and that they should not be sacrificed to save them.

I'll admit it. The ending of this issue really got to me. Heather asks "Am I not worthy of your love?" and he says he's sorry and she blows away into the wind. And Calla, the little girl. What he had to say to her before he destroys her... yeah, it's a tear jerker for a softy. Indigo, though? He fights it but can't win. In the last issue, we learned that they got their personalities from his emotions. The final three represented his ambition (Heather), innocence (Calla), and doubt (Indigo).

As Woodrue's weapon does its thing, Swamp Things gets to work saving the human race... 

Bits and Pieces

Cons first: Unfortunately this was too rushed and could have been a 4 parter. For example, I really like what's going on with Woodrue, but it's all jammed into the first half of this book. So all he's doing is talking and acting sinister when we never get the chance to see him actually be sinister. Pros next: I still enjoyed it overall. The narration was well thought out for meaningful impact. I thought it was a good decision to only see a tiny bit of the big reveal about Swamp Thing by Woodrue, leaving the rest up to our imagination. And yeah, the ending really did kinda get me.

7/10