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I wasn’t expecting a lot from this mini-series, but decided to read it for two reasons. First, I was intrigued by the reappearance of Swamp Thing in the final pages of BRIGHTEST DAY (his return to the DC Universe from the Vertigo one), and second, I knew there would be a relaunch of SWAMP THING as part of the new DC 52, so I wanted to see how this led into that. Writer Jonathan Vankin was clearly handed a very plot driven story: get from A to B in three issues, and he did okay with it. The focus is on John Constantine, who is apparently being pursued by Swampy, but senses something not right in this more menacing aspect of Earth’s biosphere. He flies to America to enlist the help of Batman and Superman, trying to track down Alec Holland, who we saw being reborn at the end of BRIGHTEST DAY, but no longer as Swamp Thing. In other words, they’re separate now. The story is okay, with enough twists and turns to keep me reading, though I have to say I didn’t completely buy Constantine’s Britspeak. Sure, some of the words and phrases are in there, but it didn’t seem quite real, like an American trying to imitate a Brit. Sorry, Jon! There isn’t much of a payoff either, since it merely sets up the situation for the first issue of the new series.

The art by Castiello and Acunzo on issues 1 and 3 is pretty good, with a sketchy quality to the figures that works fine most of the time. The art on issue 2 by Arlem is not as good, and the transition is a bit jarring. At times the look of Constantine and Holland were so close it was hard at first to tell who was who, for instance.

Mildly recommended. Not sure it’s really necessary to read this before trying the new series.