Review: Cave Carson Has A Cybernetic Eye/Swamp Thing Special #1

by Matthew Lloyd
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[Editor’s Note: This review may contain spoilers]

Written by: Jon Rivera

Drawn by: Langdon Foss

Colors by: Nick Filardi

 

Summary

“MILK WARS” part four! Swamp Thing has detected a disturbance in the Green, and his hunt for it has led him to RetCo headquarters. There he finds Cave Carson and his crew struggling against being assimilated into RetCo’s diabolical narrative. Is it possible for Swampy and Cave to destroy the organization from the inside? Plus, find out how their efforts help Eternity Girl in the final installment of her backup story!

Positives

Like the rest of the “Milk Wars” chapters, this one is a lot of fun, but it’s different in that the majority of it is not focused on the Retconned life of a familiar character.  Instead, it pushes the overall plot forward, not only connecting the appearance of Cave’s Eye from the previous chapters, but providing a little bit of insight to Retconn’s machinations.  There’s still an indication of “the boss’s” motivation, but the method is revealed.

Swamp Thing’s powers are put to good use and he seems a natural fit with the Young Animal approach to story telling.  His connection to the Green is a concept that would work well in a Young Animal book.  It is not dissimilar to the advantages Cave’s Eye gives him or Shade’s perceptive abilities.

Cave not taking blame for Wild Dog’s broken ribs was subtle and funny.

Negatives

While the look of this issue was just fine for a Young Animal title, it was tough to recognize the artists and poets, etc.  The likenesses were not always clear.  It would’ve had more impact for the big reveal had they been easy to recognize.  With that thought, Michael Avon Oeming’s visuals are missed as well, he’s defined the look of the Cave Carson book and while there’s nothing wrong with Foss’s story telling, I kept wanting to see many scenes in Oeming’s style.

Verdict

The ball is rolling to the end!  Cave and Swampy are almost to “the boss!”  The finale comes next week as Cave’s Eye has summoned the rest of the Young Animal characters and the Justice League of America to the fight.  But, don’t miss Part IV to see how they’ve gotten there, this is the most important issue of “Milk Wars” in terms of plot movement, plus it has Cave Carson!

 

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