Multiversity: River Run Part 2

So last time I wrote about Swamp Thing's River Run story arc in general and its meta story. Tldr; it is not worth reading. But some one-shots featuring different worlds are interesting and I'll be going over them in this post. 

Lets start with #152, it is usually called "Vertigo issue". Basic idea is that Swamp Thing travels to a world which is like ours, but supernatural elements are very normal there. Police fighting vampires is your regular Monday there and they even manage to trap Swamp Thing in some magical bottle. Writing itself is as edgy as any other Millar's tale, but it works in this darker world. What makes this issue stand out is the fact that it shares DNA with Doom Patrol #53 and what would later become E-13 in the Multiversity.

No, you won't find any direct links, but it is not hard to imagine all these stories happening on the same world. And this is about as good time as any to mention Books of Magic Annual #3. It has a short story set in the same world as Doom Patrol #53 story and is basically a sequel to it. Sadly it was written by Millar again, but Constantine and Timothy Hunter being Batman and Robin equivalents was more interesting than what Williamson did with E-13 in Justice Incarnate series (or was that Infinite Frontier? Who cares, both terrible).

And sure, Doom Patrol #53 is Danny's dream, Swamp Thing #152 is a chapter in the book and Books of Magic Annual #3 is connected to Timothy Hunter's powers. But it doesn't mean that these stories couldn't have happened on E-13 as well, well minus the part where evil Timothy destroys the world.

Next up #153 - Nazi world. It is based on Earth-X and shares some themes with Morrison's Mastermen one-shot, most obvious being that the world after Nazi conquest looks kinda okay (obviously minus all the genocides) and it is a question if taking down Nazis now wouldn't just lead to more misery. It is not a terrible story, but unlike #152 it doesn't really fit with Morrison's later work since Mastermen one-shot pretty much overwrites everything that happens in this issue. Additionally Swamp Thing's musings about cycles of violence are undercut by everyone dying anyway because why not.

#154 is probably my favorite one. It features a world where Atone Arcane is a regular farmer and his niece, Abby, is a soulless demon. It is briefly mentioned that this world also has CSA with Owlman and Ultraman getting named, and vice president whose name starts with "L" is mentioned as well. So this story could be happening in either Anti-matter universe or E-3, both options are fine with me. Yes, as everything else in this run it is edgy story that makes you cringe at times, but as with #152 it feels somewhat suitable here since we are on "evil Earth". Moreover I think this is the only issue that is directly relevant to Swamp Thing since it is an interesting "what if" scenario with somewhat unexpected outcome.

#155 is a version of E-2 with Black Box instead of Green Lantern. He fights Grundy who is actually possessed by Swamp Thing. During Veitch's run Grundy was briefly "considered" as the next Swamp Thing so I'm not sure if this was a callback to that story or just a coincidence. Anyway, story itself has few plot holes I think and it doesn't fit with any other story that I'm aware of. And while edginess and horror elements work fine on E-3 it feels somewhat pointless on E-2 and I guess thats why GL was changed to Black Box. But then, whats the point? Maybe just do another Earth in such case.

#156 is my least favorite issue in the entire River Run story arc. And I really like the art by Jimenez, but story itself is frustrating. It takes place on Earth-Prime (or E-33) - the real world. So we visit Alec Holland just before his transformation into Swamp Thing, but since this is real world that can't happen, right? And he is going to die? Well, our Swamp Thing on his short visit manages to save Alec and he continues being a scientist. So whats wrong with it?

I praised #154 for being an interesting "what if" scenario and this in theory could have been the same. But the problem is that like 90% of this story could have happened on the main Earth so Millar doesn't really explore some new possibilities here. Last 2 pages after the "failed" transformation into Swamp Thing just show him as a scientist who got in touch with Abby. 

Wait, but what about Linda? Don't worry, her brains got blown out by one of the thugs. Oh, and they had a daughter in this world. She survives, but one of the thugs masturbated on her bed to send "the message". Yeah, okay. Oh and Alec sometimes would get shitfaced and wander the swamp half-naked. It is just pointless edginess that adds nothing to Swamp Thing's "mythos" or to E-33.

So that wraps up Swamp Thing's River Run. I think that #154 is definitely worth getting for fans of the Multiverse and/or Swamp Thing. #152 is also decent and worth getting (together with Books of Magic Annual #3) if you want to expand on E-13. Everything else? Lets pretend that those issues don't exist.