DC Comics have been doing amazing work at bringing its characters to a younger audience via its series of YA graphic novels. The series has shone a light on characters less at the forefront of the DC Universe alongside the classics like Wonder Woman and Batman.
The publisher has now unveiled plans for the next book in the line, Swamp Thing: Twin Branches by New York Times bestselling author Maggie Stiefvater.
Get all the details and a look at some preview artwork in the press release below.
New Young Adult Graphic Novel By New York Times Bestselling Author Maggie Stiefvater and Artist Morgan Beem Unearths New Origin Story
for Iconic Superhero Graphic Novel Set to Hit Stores Everywhere Books Are Sold on October 13, 2020
Available to Preorder Now
DC revealed today a sneak peek at this fall’s greenest young adult (YA) graphic novel, Swamp Thing: Twin Branches. Written by Maggie Stiefvater with stunning illustrations by Morgan Beem, this original story reimagines Alec Holland for a teen audience (readers ages 13 and up), rooting the character’s journey to becoming Swamp Thing in a poignant coming-of-age tale about family, friendship, and acceptance.
Stiefvater is the award-winning author of critically acclaimed and bestselling YA fantasy novels The Scorpio Races, the Raven Cycle series, and All the Crooked Saints, among many others. Swamp Thing: Twin Branches marks Steivfater’s first work with DC. The plot follows teenager Alec Holland—a socially awkward outcast with a love of botany—as he navigates his final summer before starting college, wishing to be seen and accepted for who he is by his peers and—most importantly—by his popular twin brother, Walker.
“We live in a world of increasing connectivity and increasing disconnect,” said Stiefvater. “It’s easier than ever to meet someone with shared interests, which makes it harder to realize that just because someone looks just like you, they may see the world in a completely different way. Nature and humanity, though, have always had this difficult and fascinating relationship, equal parts longing and logic and misunderstanding and projection, and I thought a reinvention of Swamp Thing would be an incredibly satisfying way to explore how hard complex relationships are as we learn who we are and what we need.”
Beem is an acclaimed comic book artist whose past works include Adventure Time and The Family Trade, among others.
“Working with Maggie was awesome,” said Beem. “She is such a charismatic, witty, and passionate human and writer. I am so excited about this book we have created together, along with the rest of our amazing team! For the art, I wanted to showcase something that really showed the full range of our character’s feelings and struggles as a young human, and at the same time had a creepy, monstrous underbelly. I wanted our creature to be as much nightmarish monster as young person striving to find their place.”
Stiefvater added, “It was fun to see Morgan’s art grow wilder and more unsettling as the story desperately dug into the dirt and reached for the sun.”
Swamp Thing: Twin Branches is now available to pre-order and will hit stores and online retailers everywhere books are sold on October 13, 2020. See below for the official synopsis and above for the cover and interior images revealed today.
Swamp Thing: Twin Branches
Written by Maggie Stiefvater
Illustrated by Morgan Beem
Colored by Jeremy Lawson
Lettered by Ariana Maher
On Sale October 13, 2020
MSRP: $16.99
The #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 they are inseparable. For their last summer before college, the two 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, Alec 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.
Swamp Thing: Twin Branches is a story of shadows literal and imagined—and those that take form and haunt us.
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