Swamp Thing, Vol. 3: Healing the Breach

Swamp Thing (2004)

by Joshua Dysart, Enrique Breccia (Illustrator), Ron Wimberly (Illustrator)

SWAMP THING: HEALING THE BREACH continues the collection of Vertigo's newest incarnation of the Avatar of the Green. With the consciousness of Alec Holland still separated from its former host and scattered throughout the world, the Swamp Thing must face a new threat which is manifesting itself inside a growing dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico--and contend with the gradual reassembly of the Holland mind and the pain of reintegration that its completion promises.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Horror, Graphic Novels Comics, Fiction

144 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 2006

About the author

I write comic books, graphic novels and novels. I'm a three time Eisner nominee, two time Glyph award winner, New York Times bestseller, a recipient of The Dick Giordano Humanitarian of the Year award, and have been in competition twice at Angoulême.

I've worked on Hellboy, Swamp Thing, & Conan the Barbarian; I co-wrote a graphic novel with Neil Young; I helped restart Valiant Entertainment; and I've done on-the-ground research in Uganda (2007), Iraq (2014), & South Sudan (2016), writting graphic novels about war and famine in those regions.

Goodnight Paradise came out in 2018 with long time co-creator Alberto Ponticelli and is a murder mystery set in the houseless population of Venice Beach, Ca.

My first novel (novella - it's only 100 pages) has dropped. It combines my love of slasher horror, Agatha Christie fair-play mysteries, construction sites, and bugs. It's called BROOD X. Buy it wherever trash genre books are sold!

Reviews

[Paul · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fair-to-middling Swamp Thing collection. The high point was the last issue collected here, with lovely Richard Corben artwork.

[Shannon Appelcline · Rating 2 out of 5]

The main story in this volume, "Healing the Breach" (15-18) has some very interesting backstory on Alec (and Linda!) that strongly places them in a historical time period and that does a great job of characterizing them. It's also terrific to see a new character from their ancient past, something that's almost never been done in the Swamp Thing comic. Unfortunately, the present-day storyline of this story is almost entirely incomprehensible. There's a dead spot in the Gulf of Mexico and ... stuff.

The "Holland Mind" short (19) that follows is much clearer; in fact, it explains many of the plot threads going back to volume one, including a lot of stuff that was totally non-obvious previously, like the fact that Swamp Thing apparently lost his humanity again right after he gained it in the first arc of this series. The way in way Alec's humanity seems to be coming and going throughout this Swamp Thing series is frankly befuddling (and something that probably wasn't helped by the changing writing teams).

Sadly the last issue in this volume (20) is then another confusing mess.

And where are Abby and Tefe in all of this? Who knows! Swamp Thing's supporting cast appears to have been abruptly jettisoned.

Unfortunately, this volume as a whole is a half-baked mess that barely makes sense. Worse, it highlights the fact that this entire series is a half-baked mess, since it's apparently full of undercurrents that weren't obvious, and since it abruptly jumps from one thing to another. I wasn't unhappy to see it left behind and forgotten ... though I've always been annoyed that DC betrayed its Swamp Thing fans by not publishing the fourth and final volume of this series.

[Boots LookingLand · Rating 2 out of 5]

just don't know what to say about this series under dysart. there are shades of what i remember and love about swamp thing from the past, but every page feels labored. the art continues to be atrocious and the plotting is like a pale shadow of what moore began all those years ago.

props for trying, but it just doesn't work. swamp thing's journey is convoluted; he spends too much time moping and frankly, i can't remember what the problem with the green is anymore, let alone do i care whether it gets healed. while this has a few nice moments, it mostly a mess. just glad to be done with the final volume.

[Ezra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dysart is a great writer. His Swamp Thing explores genetically modified crops and large agribusinesses. It's a great read.

[Philip James Ahlschlager · Rating 4 out of 5]

Almost 5/5 just for the Corben issue.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

This run is the return to the status of quo that was shattered at the end of Ann Nocenti's and Mark Millar's runs. Swampy is depowered, but back with his love, Abbie.

[Jim Smith · Rating 2 out of 5]

Incomprehensible monkey gibberish. The sort of writing that puts you off reading comics. Easily a low point of Swamp Thing runs up to this point.

[Carly · Rating 2 out of 5]

that was probably the most confusing thing I've ever read. I've grasped what basically was going on but it was very poorly explained. also dragged out way too much.

[M · Rating 2 out of 5]

Joshua Dysart continues the adventures of the Vertigo line Swamp Thing in its third volume. Separated from the Alec Holland consciousness, Swamp Thing now seeks a quiet oblivion. While the mental aspect of Holland takes root (literally) in Alec's former professor Jordan Schiller, the physical manifestation of the Green must contend with a bio-mechanical menace in the Louisiana bayou. Dropping into this volume without the previous collections does leave one shell-shocked at the odd plot; moving the tale beyond the metaphysical and into actual confrontation actually helps make an attempt at a cohesive tale. The inclusion of flashbacks to Holland, Linda, and even Matt Cable are most welcome, linking in classic backstory to the current incarnation of Swampy. Plant yourself down for a trippy read from the mossy monstrosity Swamp Thing.

[Variaciones Enrojo]

Tercer tomo del Swamp Thing de Breccia

[Sean · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 really