Swamp Thing: Twin Branches

by Maggie Stiefvater, Morgan Beem (Illustrator)

Overview

#1 New York Times bestselling author Maggie Stiefvater (the Raven Cycle series) and artist Morgan Beem unearth the primal power of memory and how it twists the bond between two brothers.

Twins Alec and Walker Holland have a reputation around town. One is quiet and the other is the life of any party, but the two are inseparable. For their last summer before college, Alec and Walker leave the city to live with their rural cousins, where they find that the swamp holds far darker depths than they could have imagined.

While Walker carves their names into the new social scene, laboratory, Alex recedes into a summer-school laboratory, because he brought something from home on their trip—it's an experiment that will soon consume him. This season, both brothers must confront truths, ancient and familial, and as their lives diverge, tensions increase and dormant memories claw to the surface.

From #1 New York Times bestselling authorMaggie Stiefvater (the Raven Cycle series) and artist Morgan Beem comes a story of shadows, both literal and imagined—and those that take form and haunt us.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781401293239
Publisher:	DC Comics
Publication date:	10/13/2020
Pages:	208
Sales rank:	173,295
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.50(d)
Age Range:	14 - 17 Years

About the Author

Maggie Stiefvater is the #1 New York times bestselling author of The Raven Cycle, the Shiver trilogy, and other novels for young and adult readers. She is also an artist, an auto enthusiast, and a bagpiper. She lives on a farm in the Shenandoah Valley with her husband, two children, and an assortment of fainting goats.

Morgan Beem is a freelance artist and member of the Jam House collective located in Denver, Colorado. Her work is predominantly in comics and illustration. She has worked on such properties as Adventure Time, Planet of the Apes, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer and is the co-creator of the comic The Family Trade, alongside writers Justin Jordan and Nikki Ryan, from Image Comics.

Editorial Reviews

10/19/2020

Though Alec and Walker Holland are identical twins, they couldn’t be more different: while Walker is outgoing and personable, Alec thinks Walker “makes being human look so easy,” and struggles with interpreting social cues from his peers. Following a difficult year—Alec develops Type 1 diabetes following a severe illness, the siblings discover their father’s adultery—the twins spend the summer before college in rural Virginia with their aunt Jessica and cousins Dalton and Jolie. Walker quickly rekindles his friendship with their cousins, while Alec focuses on recreating his experiment after his cousins’ dogs destroy his research. Alec’s experiment facilitates the transference of memories and thoughts from plants to hosts, occasionally transforming them in the process. Though overabundant plot elements compete for attention, Stiefvater (Call Down the Hawk) succeeds in establishing sympathetic character dynamics. Beem’s waifish characters—paired with the monstrous floral transformations throughout—conjure a subtly eerie atmosphere, rendered in cool greens and blues, that keep the origin story’s intrigue alive. A compelling, if uneven, narrative that may appeal most to those of a botanical bent. Ages 14–up. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly

2020-07-27
Twin brothers try to understand each other as their lives take separate paths.

The Incredible Holland Bros may be identical twins, but their personalities couldn’t be more distinct. Walker is the outgoing, thrill-seeking protector while Alec is the reserved plant whisperer. The boys are shipped off to Rappahannock, Virginia, to spend their last summer before college in the country with their cousins after catching their father cheating. Walker’s easygoing disposition makes his transition smooth, but Alec’s research on capturing and transferring the thoughts and memories of plants is disrupted when his cousin’s dogs eat his specimen, which he’s named Boris. The brothers grow apart as Walker becomes part of the local scene and Alec spends time in the high school lab working on his project. The summer heats up when a legendary tree is destroyed at a party, leading Alec to become his brother’s protector and sinking him further into his experiment. There is a slow, choppy build to the story, with botanical information interspersed so readers understand the science behind Alec’s research. Colors are used effectively, with green and earth tones indicating Alec’s bond with nature while deep purples and blues show the effects of his experiments. The panels vary in shape and layout, maintaining visual interest. The twins appear White, but there is diversity among the cast.

An unusual origin story for a lesser-known DC Universe hero. (Graphic fiction. 13-18)

Kirkus Reviews