Book Review: Swamp Thing: Twin Branches by Maggie Steifvater and Morgan Beem

Hey friends!

I just finished a great graphic novel and figured I'd review it on here. It's called Swamp Thing: Twin Branches by Maggie Steifvater and Morgan Beem. While I did receive a free copy from DC for review, I ended up reading a final copy that I purchased for myself. If you're interested, you can buy yourself a copy now.

Image provided by DC

Summary

This is a new retelling of the Swamp Thing story from DC Comic for the Young Adult audience. It's about twin brothers, one of whom is a party animal and the other whom is a researcher, looking at plants. It follows their adventures and relationship in the summer before they go to college.

Review

I'm not a big comics reader, but I do love graphic novels, and I love what DC has been doing recently with remixing their stories for YA audiences. I was drawn to this book because while I don't know much about comics, I do enjoy the character of Swamp Thing. I'm intrigued by the way the character kind of brings the vibe of old movie monsters into the superhero space. I was not disappointed by this tale. First of all, the art is gorgeous:

Image provided by DC

The story itself is also really well-done. While one of the twins, Alec, and his plant research is the main focus of the story, the relationship between the brothers is very well depicted. I liked the idea of Alec being drawn to plants due to his feeling of being an outsider and the conflict that created with his more extroverted brother. I don't want to spoil the ending, but I thought it was perfect. While not super happy, it tied the themes of family and outsiderness together well. I would recommend this book if you appreciate the emotional power of comics and graphic novels.

I rate this book four stars!

Kyra