Friday, February 8, 2013

365 Comics...39: Swamp Thing #17 (2013)

So the always excellent Yanick Paquette has been the official "series artist" since Swamp Thing began, while  Marco Rudy, one of my favourite up-and-comers, has been the official fill-in guy giving Paquette a breather when  he needs it.  So what is Andrew Belanger doing here on the penultimate Swamp Thing Rotworld issue?

I'm not meaning to diss him as an artist, but he's just not the right artist for this gig.  It's not that Rudy and Paquette have the same style, much in the way that Travel Foreman and his replacement on Animal Man, Steve Pugh (and his back-up Timothy Green II) do not have the same style, but altogether they are quite complimentary, and at the same time, consistent.  Belanger's overly simplified, cartoony figure work and details are jarring (especially when coming over from Pugh and Green in Animal Man this week).  It lets the whole epic Rotworld storyline down just a little bit.  I don't blame Belanger, though, his style is what it is.  You have to look at editorial on this one and wonder just what they were thinking.

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