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Swamp Thing

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This article is about the DC Comics character. For the Wes Craven film, see Swamp Thing (film).
Swamp Thing
File:Swampthing93totleben.jpg
Swamp Thing (vol. 2) #93, March 1990, art by John Totleben
Publication information
PublisherVertigo imprint of DC Comics
First appearance(Alex Olsen): House of Secrets #92 (1971) (Alec Holland): Swamp Thing #1 (1972)
Created byLen Wein
Berni Wrightson
In-story information
Alter egoAlec Holland
Team affiliationsParliament of Trees, Stones, Flames, Waves, and Vapors
The Parliament of Worlds
AbilitiesRegeneration
Control over plantlife

The Swamp Thing is a fictional character created by Len Wein and Bernie Wrightson for DC Comics, and featured in a long-running horror-fantasy comic book series of the same name. He is a humanoid mass of vegetable matter who fights to protect his swamp home, the environment in general, and humanity, from various supernatural threats. The series was continued by a number of writers, notably Alan Moore, whose reinvention of the character was particularly influential. Under his pen the character gained a more profoundly and psychologicaly complex profile and is constantly immersed in an auto-referencial journey to find out who he is, at what level he possesses a "humanity", what his capabilities are, and his place in the world and in nature.

Origin of the Swamp Thing character

Swamp Thing first appeared in House of Secrets #92 (June-July 1971), depicted in this story as Alex Olsen. Near the beginning of the 20th Century, scientist Alex Olsen is caught in a lab explosion set by his co-worker, Damian Ridge, intended to kill him so that Ridge may gain the hand of Olsen's wife Linda. Olsen is changed by the chemicals and the forces within the swamp into a powerful, monstrous Swamp Thing who kills Ridge before the latter can murder Linda. Unable to make Linda realize his true identity, the Swamp Thing sadly shambles back to his boggy home.

After the success of the short story in the House of Secrets comic, the original creators were asked to write an ongoing series, but updating the character to be in the present and to appear more heroic. Swamp Thing #1 (1st series, October-November 1972, by Wein and Wrightson) was then started, fast-forwarding to the 1970s, and relating a completely different origin for the frightfully foliaged character. Scientist Alec Holland, working on a secret restorative formula in the Louisiana swamps that can "make forests out of deserts", is killed by a bomb planted by agents of the mysterious Mr. E, who wants the formula. Splashed with burning chemicals in the massive fire, Holland runs from the lab and falls into the waters of a muck-filled swamp. Some time later, a creature resembling a humanoid plant appears. This creature, called Swamp Thing, was originally conceived as Alec Holland mutated into a vegetable-like being, a "muck-encrusted mockery of a man". However, under the pen of Alan Moore, Swamp Thing was established as an elemental entity created upon the death of Alex Holland and who has Holland's memory and personality.

The major difference between the first and second Swamp Thing is that the latter not only appears more muscular than shambling, but possesses the ability of speech, although inititally with great physical difficulty. The speech impediment of Alex Olsen is a major reason why his wife was unable to recognize him. During Swamp Thing #33, Alan Moore attempted to reconcile the two incarnations of Swamp Thing with the revelation of that there have been countless previous incarnations of Swamp Thing prior to the death and "rebirth" of the Alec Holland incarnation of Swamp Thing.

Swamp Thing in the comics

The Swamp Thing has appeared in four comic book series to date, including several Specials, and has crossed over into other DC titles.

1st Series

The first Swamp Thing series ran for 24 issues, from 1972 to 1976. Len Wein was the writer for the first 13 issues before David Michelinie and Gerry Conway finished up the series. Of particular note, famed horror artist Berni Wrightson drew the first ten issues of the series while Nestor Redondo drew the remaining fourteen issues. Swamp Thing fought against the evil he encountered as he sought the men who murder his wife and caused his transformation into a monster, as well as a means to transform himself back into his normal form.

Along the way Swamp Thing fought many villains, most notably the mad Dr. Anton Arcane. Though they only met twice during the first series, Arcane and his obsession with gaining immortality and his army of nightmarish Un-Men and the tragic Patchwork Man (Arcane's brother Gregori Arcane, who after a land-mine explosion was rebuilt as a Frankenstein-type creature by his brother) became Swamp Thing's arch-nemesis, even as Swamp Thing developed a close bond with Arcane's niece Abigail Arcane. Also involved was Swamp Thing's close friend turned enemy Matthew Cable, a federal government agent who mistakenly believed Swamp Thing to be responsible for the deaths of Alec and Linda Holland.

Despite writing the first thirteen issues, only the first ten issues of the original Swamp Thing series have been collected in any shape or form, primarily due to the popularity of Wrightson's artwork. Wein ended his run as writer by having Swamp Thing reveal his identity to Matt Cable and ultimately avenging the death of his wife by defeating Mr. E.

David Michelinie / Gerry Conway

As sales figures plummeted towards the end of the series, the writers attempted to revive interest by introducing fantasy creatures, sci-fi aliens, and even Alec Holland's brother (a plot point ignored by later writers) into the picture.

The appearance of Holland's brother toward the end of the series marked a series of plot developments, designed to provide the series with a happy ending, which led to much controversy later on. In Swamp Thing #23, Alec finally regained his humanity and while Swamp Thing was on the cover of the 24th and final issue of the series, Holland appeared as human throughout the interior story. The cover illustration showed a yellow muscular creature (Thrudvang) beating up Swamp Thing; the interior showed Holland imagining Swamp Thing beating up Thrudvang, in similar positions but with roles reversed; the issue itself revolving around Holland and his new love interest/brother's research assistant running away from Thrudvang.

During the short-lived revivial of Challengers of the Unknown, Swamp Thing returned as Alec Holland reverted back into the form of Swamp Thing and along with the Challengers of the Unknown, encountered the supernatural being known as Deadman; a fact that would confirm the post-Wein Swamp Thing stories existence in DCU continuity years later when Deadman and Swamp Thing met again during Alan Moore's run as writer. Swamp Thing also appeared with Superman in DC Comics Presents and with Batman in The Brave and the Bold.

2nd Series

Martin Pasko

In May 1982, DC Comics revived the Swamp Thing series after the mild success of the Wes Craven film of the same name (which is now obscure compared to the comics). The title, called "Saga of the Swamp Thing", featured in "Saga of the Swamp Thing" Annual #1, was a comic book adaptation of the Craven movie. Now written by Martin Pasko, the book loosely picked up after Swamp Thing's appearance in "Challengers of the Unknown", with the character wandering around the swamps of Louisiana as something of an urban legend that was feared by locals.

Martin Pasko's main arc had Swamp Thing wandering around the globe, trying to stop a young girl (and possible Anti-Christ) named Karen Clancy from destroying the world. The series also featured back-up stories involving the Phantom Stranger. The primary artist for the bulk of Pasko's run was Tom Yeates, but towards the end of Pasko's run, he was replaced with Stephen R. Bissette and John Totleben, two-thirds of the creative team in the later Moore era. Bissette and Totleben, who had known Yeates at the Joe Kubert School of Cartoon and Graphic Art, had been ghosting various pages for Yeates, and were given the assignment on Pasko's recommendation.

The arrival of the two came as Pasko resurrected plotlines from the original series. Abigail Arcane and Matt Cable were brought back and shown to be married, though this development had a darker side: Cable had been tortured via repeated electro-shock treatment by his black-ops superiors over his decision to stop working for the government in order to marry Abigail. The electro-shock treatment caused permanent brain damage for Matt, resulting in him being unable to work and, ironically, granting him psychic ability in the form of being able to create lifelike mental illusions. Pasko also resurrected Anton Arcane, now a grotesque half-spider/half-human hybrid with an army of insect-type Un-Men who ultimately cannibalized their creator after Swamp Thing was forced to kill Arcane.

Pasko left the book with issue 19, which featured the death of Arcane. He would be replaced by British writer Alan Moore, who would dramatically shake up the character and change the comic industry in the process.

Alan Moore

Swamp Thing (vol. 2) #21, February 1984, art by Tom Yeates.

Alan Moore's first issue on Swamp Thing had him sweep aside the supporting cast introduced by Pasko for his run as writer a year and a half earlier and brought the Sunderland Corporation (a villainous group out to gain the secrets of Alec Holland's research for themselves) to the forefront, as they hunted Swamp Thing down and "killed" him in a hail of bullets.

As Swamp Thing was heading for cancellation at the time, due to low sales, DC editorial agreed to give Moore (a relatively unknown writer whose previous work included several stories for 2000AD, Warrior and Marvel UK) free reign to revamp the title and the character any way he saw fit.

Moore, now given a blank slate regarding creative freedom regarding the character, decided to retcon Swamp Thing's origin to make him a true monster and not a human turned into a monster. For Saga of the Swamp Thing #21, Moore penned the famous story "The Anatomy Lesson", which had obscure super-villain Jason "Floronic Man" Woodrue autopsy Swamp Thing's body and discover that Swamp Thing's body was only superficially human, its organs little more than crude, nonfunctional, vegetable-based imitations of their human counterparts, meaning that there was no way Swamp Thing could have been human. This meant the Swamp Thing was not Alec Holland, but only thought that it was: Holland had indeed died in the fire, and the swamp vegetation had absorbed his mind, knowledge, memories, and skills and created a new sentient being that believed itself to be Alec Holland. Alec Holland would never be cured because there was nothing to cure. Woodrue also concluded that, despite the autopsy, Swamp Thing was still alive and in a deep coma due to the bullet wounds and imprisonment in cold-storage.

Moore would later reveal, in an attempt to connect the original one-off Swamp Thing story from "House of Secrets" to the main Swamp Thing canon, that there had been dozens, perhaps even hundreds of Swamp Things throughout the time of man and that all versions of Swamp Thing were created for the purpose of being the "defenders" of the Parliament of Trees, an elemental community also known as "the Green" that represented all plant life on Earth.

During the Moore era, Swamp Thing went catatonic due to the shock, going deep into the Green, which is the dimension that connects all plant life together. Woodrue went insane after attempting to connect to The Green through Swamp Thing, and Abby had to revive Swamp Thing in order to stop Woodrue after he killed an entire village. He returned to the swamps (now revealed to be situated in Louisiana), and encountered Jason Blood, The Demon, then gave a final burial for Alec Holland.

Matthew Cable, gravely hurt in the previous storyline, was revealed to have been possessed by Anton Arcane, and Abby had been unwittingly having an incestuous relationship with him. After a fight Cable was thrown into a coma, and Abby's soul delivered to hell. In the second Swamp Thing Annual, modelled on Dante's Inferno, Swamp Thing followed Abigail, encountering classic DC characters such as Deadman, The Spectre, Etrigan, and The Phantom Stranger en route, and eventually rescued her. A few months after this, Moore had Swamp Thing encounter Superman a second time, in DC Comics Presents #85.

The relationship between Swamp Thing and Abby deepened, and in issue #34 ("Rites of Spring") the two confessed that they both have been loving each other since they first met, and "made love" though a hallucinogenic experience brought on by Abby eating a tuber produced by Swamp Thing's body. The controversial relationship between plant and human would culminate in Abby being arrested in Gotham City later for "obscene behaviour." This story arc featured the second encounter between Swamp Thing and Batman. Before that, the "American Gothic" storyline introduced the character John Constantine (later to star in his own comic Hellblazer) in issues #37-50, where Swamp Thing had to travel to several parts of America, encountering several archetype horror monsters, including werewolves and zombies, but modernized with relevance to current issues. The "American Gothic" storyline ended with a subtle crossover to Crisis on Infinite Earths, where Swamp Thing had to solve the battle between Good (Light) and Evil (Darkness). He also met the Parliament of Trees in issue #47, which was where Earth Elementals like him lay to rest after they have walked the Earth, and it was here Moore solved the continuity problem of the first and second Swamp Thing: the first Swamp Thing, Alex Olsen, was a part of the Parliament.

Although Abby was eventually released (through a loophole Batman pointed out: Superman and Lois Lane were also in a similar alien-human relationship), Swamp Thing was ambushed by soldiers using a weapon designed by Lex Luthor. Luthor's weapon destroyed Swamp Thing's body, leaving him presumed dead as his soul was forced to flee into outer space for a lengthy trek to return home. He would travel to several planets before returning home, where he was reunited with Abby. A particularly popular story in this sequence was issue 56, "My Blue Heaven," an allegory of depression in which Swamp Thing populated a lonely planet with mindless plant replicas of Abby and other reminders of his lost Earth.

In issue 60, "Loving the Alien," the Swamp Thing actually becomes the father of the numerous offsprings of an alien cosmic entity after she "mates" with him against his will.

Moore's run also included several references to obscure or forgotten comic characters (Phantom Stranger, Cain and Abel, & Floronic Man) but none so prominent as in issue 32, when he broke with the serious and moody storyline for a single issue. In the story "Pog," we see Walt Kelly's funny animal comic character Pogo (created in 1943) and all of his woodland friends show up as costumed visitors from another planet, looking for an unspoiled world after their own utopia had been overrun by brutal monkeys. More than a simple homage to Kelly, the story is a commentary on the lost innocence of the old comics, the cruelty of humans (who are referred to as "the loneliest animal of all"), and the destruction of a natural beauty that can never be reclaimed.

Alan Moore's Swamp Thing had a profound effect on mainstream comic books. It was the first horror comic to approach the genre from a literary point of view since EC Comics' horror comics of the 1950s, and broadened the scope of the series to include ecological and spiritual concerns while retaining its horror-fantasy roots. Moore began a trend (most notably continued by Neil Gaiman) of mining the DC Universe's vast collection of minor supernatural characters to create an overall mythology. Characters spun off from Moore's series gave rise to DC's Vertigo comic book line, notably The Sandman, Hellblazer, and The Books of Magic; Vertigo titles were written with adults in mind and often contained material unsuitable for children. Saga of the Swamp Thing was the first mainstream comic book series to completely abandon the Comics Code Authority and write directly for adults.

Rick Veitch

Moore's final issue, #64, was dated September 1987. At that point, regular penciler Rick Veitch began scripting the series as well, continuing the story in a roughly similar vein for 24 more issues. Shortly after issue #65, Swamp Thing Annual #3 was produced, this time focusing on DC's Super-Apes, such as Congorilla, Sam Simeon, and Gorilla Grodd. Batman guest starred in issue #66. Hellblazer also began soon after Swamp Thing #67, and the two series had storylines which crossover to each other during Hellblazer's first year under writer Jamie Delano. In Veitch's Swamp Thing stories, the Parliament of Trees, having believed Swamp Thing already dead, grew a Sprout to replace him. Unwilling to sacrifice an innocent life, he convinced them that he would take the Sprout as his own child, and eventually impregnated Abby (now his wife) with it by possessing John Constantine's body. After the completion of this storyline, Swamp Thing sought to resolve his need for vengeance against those who had "killed" him during his showdown in Gotham City, culminating in a showdown with Lex Luthor (and Superman) in Swamp Thing #79 and Batman in Swamp Thing Annual #4.

It was during this time Swamp Thing first encountered the Black Orchid in Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean's three-part graphic novel. Later, during the Invasion event, Swamp Thing was thrown into the past, and went through time trying to return to the present. The story was published in Swamp Thing #80-87. One issue of this storyline [#84] focused upon Swamp Thing's regular supporting cast. In this issue Matthew Cable passed away from his coma into the land of the Dreaming, where he encountered Morpheus and Eve. Cable would later be written into The Sandman by Neil Gaiman as Matthew The Raven.

Veitch's term ended in a widely publicized creative dispute, when DC refused to publish issue #88 because of the use of Jesus as a character despite having previously approved the script. The move was said to be made due to controversies then arising from the Martin Scorsese film The Last Temptation of Christ. Artist Michael Zulli had already partially completed the art. The move disgusted Veitch and he immediately resigned from writing, as that episode was supposed to be his last. Neil Gaiman and Jamie Delano, who were originally slated to be the next writers, sympathetically declined to take up the helm. Gaiman, however, was cooperative enough with the editorial staff to write Swamp Thing Annual #5 to fill the series hiatus, which led into the run of the new Swamp Thing writer, Doug Wheeler.

Doug Wheeler

From September 1989 to July 1991, Doug Wheeler wrote issues #88-109. Coming off the heels of the controversy regarding Veitch's departure, Wheeler's run was and remains widely panned by fans of the book. Wheeler quickly wrapped up Veitch's time travel arc and oversaw the birth of Abby and Swamp Thing's daughter Tefé Holland. The remaining tenure of Wheeler's run focused upon a longstanding war between the Parliament of Trees and the "Gray", a fungus themed elemental realm in opposition to Parliament of Trees.

Wheeler's run was drawn by Pat Broderick, whose artwork was more low-key than previous artists on the series. John Totleben continued to contribute painted covers up to issue #100, at which point Simon Bisley took over as cover artist.

Nancy A. Collins

Seeking to revive interest in the series, DC brought horror writer Nancy A. Collins onboard to write the series, first with Swamp Thing Annual #6 before moving on to write Swamp Thing #110-138.

Collins dramatically overhauled the series, restoring the pre-Alan Moore tone of the series as well as incorporating a new set of supporting cast members into the book. Collins resurrected Anton Arcane along with the Sunderland Corporation as foils for Swamp Thing. Collins also moved the series, which had focused on Swamp Thing's time travel adventures and explorations into other-dimensional realms, back to normal society by having Swamp Thing and Abby set up shop in South Louisiana and attempt to live a normal life with friends and family, culminating in the introduction of the elemental babysitter Lady Jane into the supporting cast.

It was during her run that DC officially launched the Vertigo imprint and Swamp Thing #129 was the first issue to carry the Vertigo logo on the cover. Collins wrapped up her run by controversially having Swamp Thing cheat on Abby with Lady Jane (to such a point that he created a double of himself to cover up his affair), which led to Abby leaving town with her new boyfriend. Meanwhile, Tefe began to manifest her powers (leading to Arcane trying to possess her body), resulting in Lady Jane betraying Swamp Thing and kidnapping Tefe into the "Green", so that she could be trained by the Parliament of the Trees.

Swamp Thing Annual #7, published around this time was the final annual issue, as part of the Vertigo "Children's Crusade" crossover event. Collins also wrote a Swamp Thing story for the anthology one-shot, Vertigo Jam. Shortly after Collins' departure, Black Orchid series writer Dick Foreman wrote a two-part crossover between the two titles, Black Orchid #5 and Swamp Thing #139.

Grant Morrison

With issue #140 (March 1994), the title was handed over to Grant Morrison for a four issue arc, co-written by the then unknown Mark Millar. As Collins had destroyed the status quo of the series, Morrison sought to shake the book up with a four-part storyline which had Swamp Thing plunged into a nightmarish dream world scenario where he was split into two separate beings: Alec Holland and Swamp Thing, which was now a mindless being of pure destruction.

Mark Millar

Millar then took over from Morrison with issue #144, though it has been alleged that Millar's tenure on the book was outright ghost-written by Morrison [citation needed], who left his replacement detailed notes for future storylines for Millar to use as his own.

Millar took over Swamp Thing and with Swamp Thing #150, launched what was initially conceived as an ambitious 25 part storyline where Swamp Thing would be forced to go upon a series of "trials" against rival elemental forces. This led to a series of lengthy storylines by Millar as Swamp Thing fought rival elemental beings and in the process, became champions of the five main Elemental "Parliaments": Stone, Waves, Vapour and Flames. It was during this time Swamp Thing also encountered Batman villain Killer Croc, in a failed attempt to resolve the character's ongoing storyline in 1995's Batman #521-522, Swamp Thing #160, and The Batman Chronicles #3.

However the end was near for the series; depending on the sources, sales for the series remained low and Millar himself had become bored with the series and having exhausted the bulk of the storylines ghost-written by Morrison for Millar, Millar decided to leave the title, which in turn caused DC to cancel the series.

Millar was given the job to wrap up the series, which would end with Swamp Thing #171. John Totleben would return to illustrate the covers for the issues #160-171.

Millar's final arc for the series had Swamp Thing, due to his success in beating the other Elemental Parliament Champions, become godlike and unapproachable by mortals, even as his estranged wife Abby returned to try and reconcile with him. With help from John Constantine, Abby sought to keep Swamp Thing from destroying humanity so that the Parliament Elementals could claim control over Earth. In the end, Swamp Thing unites all of the Elemental Parliaments into one collective hivemind with him in control of it. Achieving a global sense of consciousness, Swamp Thing is implored to look within himself and find the good and the potential in even his worst enemy. This is shown most notably with the final resurrection of Anton Arcane, who during his most recent stay in hell, befriended an evil priest and in the process renounced evil and became a born again Christian.

Swamp Thing thus spares humanity and becomes a planet elemental, representing the Earth itself, and joins the Parliament of Worlds, which is made up of all the other "enlightened worlds." (The only others actually named were Mars, who greeted Swamp Thing into their number, and Oa, who, due to its destruction some time before [in Green Lantern #0], Mars lamented Oa could not witness Earth's induction.) This was the most significant change made to the character since Moore's reinterpretation, though in the Michael Zulli story "Look Away" (found within the 2000 Swamp Thing Vertigo Secret Files special) Swamp Thing ultimately returns to normal and renounces his status as a "Planetary Elemental", due to his belief that he was more effective a figure as a normal elemental being living in the swamp.

After being overlooked for inclusion in countless DC Universe crossovers since "Invasion", Swamp Thing reappeared in the coda for the "Final Night" DC Universe event, appearing at Hal Jordan's funeral alongside John Constantine. In 1997, Swamp Thing was written into Aquaman #32-33 by Peter David and attended the funeral for the ghost of Jim Corrigan in the final issue of The Spectre (The Spectre #62).

Early 1998 saw the production of John J. Muth's Vertigo graphic novel, Swamp Thing: Roots. Sandman spin-off The Dreaming #22-24 written by Caitlin R. Kiernan saw Matthew Cable's return to human form, his uneasy reunion and final departure from his ex-wife Abby [now married to Swamp Thing] and Cable's restoration to his dream raven form. Matthew The Raven died in The Dreaming story "Foxes and Hounds" in issues #42-43, a fact that was later touched upon by the 2000 Swamp Thing Vertigo Secret Files Special. The final week of 1999 saw Swamp Thing teaming up with other Vertigo heroes from the DC Universe in the one-shot special Totems.

3rd Series

Brian K. Vaughan

Written by Brian K. Vaughan and drawn by Giuseppe Camuncoli in 2000-2001, the third series focused on the daughter of the Swamp Thing, Tefé Holland. Even though she was chronologically 13, the series had Tefe aged into the body of an 18 year old in order to try and control her darker impulses, brought about by her exposure to the Parliament of Trees. Due to the circumstances under which she was conceived (Swamp Thing, possessing John Constantine, was not aware he was given a blood transfusion by a demon), she held power over both plants and flesh.

The idea of using a teenage female protagonist was a fresh one, but many long-time fans rejected the series[citation needed], which cast Swamp Thing as a guest star in his own book. Also, many fans were wondering what happened to Swamp Thing's status as a Planetary Elemental[citation needed], which culminated in the story being told in the pages of the 2000 Swamp Thing Vertigo Secret Files Special. Tefé's story was discontinued at Issue 20, whereupon after eating from the Tree of Knowledge she saw two visions of possible futures, and chose neither. Vaughan would later write the critically acclaimed Y: The Last Man and Ex Machina. Swamp Thing would not appear again until Mike Carey's run on Hellblazer in issues #184-185 and #192-193, leading into the fourth Swamp Thing series.

4th Series

Andy Diggle / Will Pfeifer

The fourth series began in 2004, with rotating writers of Andy Diggle (#1-6), Will Pfeifer (#7-8) and Joshua Dysart (#9-29). In this latest series, Swamp Thing is reverted back to his plant-based Earth Elemental status after the first storyline, and he attempts to live an "eventless" life in the Louisiana swamps. Tefé, likewise, is rendered powerless and mortal.

Joshua Dysart

Meanwhile a rogue consciousness, calling itself the Holland Mind, was living in the Green. As of issue #15, botany professor Jordan Schiller, an influential man from Alec Holland's past has been summoned to the swamp by strange visions and memories, apparently manipulated by this rogue consciousness. The full purpose for this manipulation was revealed in issues #21-24. In sacrificing his power, Swamp Thing lost much of his Alec Holland personality. Now he is restored to his proper station and power and has resumed his romantic relationship with Abby, as of issue #25. Beginning with issue #21 onward, Eric Powell (The Goon) provides covers for the series.

The Floronic Man returns in #27-29, his mind splintered in the aftermath of Infinite Crisis. Issue #29 is the final issue of the fourth volume, which has been cancelled due to low sales numbers despite fan-supported efforts to save the series.

The Dysart series deals with the Aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in the last 12 chapters of the series. Most notable, is the fact that real estate tycoons had been wanting to develop the lower ninth ward of New Orleans.

Series writers

1st series

    1. 1–13: Len Wein
    2. 14-18: David Michelinie
    3. 19-20: Gerry Conway
    4. 21-22: David Michelinie
    5. 23: Gerry Conway
    6. 24: David Anthony Kraft

2nd series

    1. 1-13: Martin Pasko
    2. 14-15: Dan Mishkin
    3. 16-19: Martin Pasko
    4. 20-58: Alan Moore
    5. 59: Stephen Bissette
    6. 60-61: Alan Moore
    7. 62: Rick Veitch
    8. 63-64: Alan Moore
    9. 65-76: Rick Veitch
    10. 77: Jamie Delano
    11. 78: Stephen Bissette
    12. 79-87: Rick Veitch
    13. 88-100: Doug Wheeler
    14. 101: Andrew Helfer
    15. 102-109: Doug Wheeler
    16. 110-115: Nancy A. Collins
    17. 116: Dick Foreman
    18. 117-125: Nancy A. Collins
    19. 126: Dick Foreman
    20. 127-138: Nancy A. Collins
    21. 139: Dick Foreman
    22. 140-143: Grant Morrison and Mark Millar
    23. 144-171: Mark Millar

3rd series

    1. 1-20: Brian K. Vaughan

4th series

    1. 1-6: Andy Diggle
    2. 7-8: Will Pfeifer
    3. 9-29: Joshua Dysart

Awards

Over the years, the Swamp Thing comic has been nominated for and won several awards. The series won the Shazam Award for Best Continuing Feature in 1973. Alan Moore won the 1985 and 1986 Jack Kirby Awards for Best Writer for Swamp Thing. Alan Moore, John Totleben, and Steve Bissette won the 1985 Jack Kirby Award for Best Single Issue for Swamp Thing Annual 2. They have also won the 1985, 1986, and 1987 Jack Kirby Awards for Best Continuing Series for Swamp Thing. Berni Wrightson won the Shazam Award for Best Penciller (Dramatic Division) in 1972 for his work on Swamp Thing. Len Wein won the Shazam Award for Best Writer (Dramatic Division) for his work on Swamp Thing. Len Wein and Berni Wrightson won the Shazam Award for Best Individual Story (Dramatic) in 1972 for "Dark Genesis" in Swamp Thing #1.

Collections

Earth to Earth paperback cover, copyright DC Comics.

Swamp Thing has so far been collected in the trade paperback collections published by Vertigo:

  • 1970s material
    • Dark Genesis, 1st series #1-10 (paperback: ISBN 1-56389-044-5)
  • 1980s material
    • Saga of the Swamp Thing, 2nd series #21-27 (paperback: ISBN 0-930289-22-6)
    • Love and Death, 2nd series #28-34 & Annual 2 (paperback: ISBN 0-930289-54-4)
    • The Curse, 2nd series #35-42 (paperback: ISBN 1-56389-697-4)
    • A Murder of Crows, 2nd series #43-50 (paperback: ISBN 1-56389-719-9)
    • Earth to Earth, 2nd series #51-56 (paperback: ISBN 1-56389-804-7)
    • Reunion, 2nd series #57-64 (paperback: ISBN 1-56389-975-2)
    • Regenesis, 2nd series #65-70 (paperback: ISBN 1-4012-0267-5)
    • Spontaneous Generation, 2nd series #71-76 (paperback: ISBN 1-4012-0793-6)
    • Infernal Triangles, 2nd series #77-81 & Annual 3 (paperback: ISBN 1-4012-1008-2)
  • 2000s material
    • Bad Seed, 4th series #1-6 (paperback: ISBN 1-4012-0421-X)
    • Love in Vain, 4th series #9-14 (paperback: ISBN 1-4012-0493-7)
    • Healing the Breach, 4th series 15-20 (paperback: ISBN 1-4012-0934-3)

The Alan Moore run (save his first issue, Swamp Thing #20, which has yet to be collected in any shape and form) were released in the late 1980s in the UK as a series of black and white trade paperbacks, collecting #21-64. Because DC had been reluctant to reprint the complete Moore run, the trades became highly popular amongst fans of the series, which was fueled by the rarity of them due to them being only available overseas.

Swamp Thing on film and television

Swamp Thing has appeared in two films, a live-action television series, and a short-lived animated cartoon. The first Swamp Thing film, made in 1982, was directed by Wes Craven. A sequel, The Return of Swamp Thing, was produced in 1989.

A television series would then air on the USA Network from 1990 to 1993. The series was filmed in the brand-new Universal Studios Florida facilities and soundstages. Actor/stuntman Dick Durock played Swamp Thing in both films as well as the TV series.

The Swamp Thing cartoon series producted by DiC Entertainment debuted on CBS in September 1990, with Len Carlson providing the voice of the main character. Parodying The Troggs' song "Wild Thing," the opening theme song went "Swamp Thing! ...You make my heart sing!" Anton Arcane took the role of the main villain, along with his Un-men: Dr. Zeemo, Weedkiller, and Skinman. The animation style followed the trend of goofy, horror anti-heroes made for the children's audience such as Troma's Toxic Crusaders. However, CBS cut the series short at only five episodes. It would re-air on FOX Kids in 1992 and more recently on Toon Disney.

All of these incarnations of Swamp Thing rejected the popular Alan Moore revision of Swamp Thing's origin and portrayed Swamp Thing with his original ending as a man turned into a plant-like enity. They also heavily featured Anton Arcane, who now became the man responsible for causing Alec Holland's transformation into Swamp Thing.

None of these versions of Swamp Thing were very critically or commercially successful, but the live-action series developed a cult following. A moderate collection of merchandise was also produced for the cartoon and television series, including Kenner's action figure line, stickers, a board game, and green chalk resembling Swamp Thing (The label of the chalk is especially curious: text hovers above the little figurine with the words "I'm Chalk!").

DC Comics rival Marvel Comics had a strikingly similar rival to Swamp Thing in the 1970s with the Steve Gerber-scripted Man-Thing. Due to the close premieres of each comic (Man-Thing appeared a month earlier; DC has longer lead times but the Olsen story was routine rather than a new character launch, which would take longer), it is unlikely that either comic was directly derivative of the other - although in an interview Gerber noted that Wein and Man-Thing co-creator Gerry Conway were roommates, and had simultaneously came up with similar characters by coincidence. Gerber later asked Wein to describe the premise of Swamp Thing, and rewrote it to be as different from Wein's creation as possible. In between the Olsen story and the first Holland story, Wein wrote the second Man-Thing story, with art by Neal Adams. It was intended for Savage Tales #2, but when that comic went on hiatus, it was delayed until Astonishing Tales #12, after a relaxing of the Comics Code made Man-Thing (far less human and more violent than Swamp Thing) a permissable character, and after Swamp Thing #1 appeared.

Both the Swamp Thing and Man-Thing bear striking similarities to the Glob, a creature that appeared in The Incredible Hulk #121.

A very similar creature composed of plant life is featured in a Johnny Quest episode.

The best-known precursor to both characters was the shambling muck-monster The Heap, who first appeared in a 1942 Hillman comic. But the Heap (and consequently, both Swamp Thing and Man-Thing) may owe its existence to a 1940 horror story by Theodore Sturgeon titled "It", in which a shambling monster, made from decaying plant life and a human corpse, creates havoc for a farm household.

The Heap was mentioned by Alan Moore in his introduction of the Parliament of Trees, though never by name.

The Brazilian character Morto do Pântano ("Swamp Deadman"), created by Eugenio Colonnese two years before Swamp Thing, resembles in many ways Wein and Wrightson's creation. "Parliament of the Trees", a Moore-scripted Swamp Thing episode from 1986, includes visual nods towards these other "muck monsters" when various past and present plant/human "tree spirits" assemble together in the Amazon Rainforest.

Long-time DC comics villain Solomon Grundy shares an origin similar to the swamp monsters mentioned above, although his appearance differs greatly. During his run on Swamp Thing, Rich Veitch indicated that Grundy was "meant" to be a plant elemental, but his development was stunted and incomplete.

Dave Sim's Cerebus parodied Man-Thing and Swamp Thing early on (issues #20-22) as "Sump Thing" and "Woman Thing." The creatures were later combined somehow into a three-headed entity also including the "artist chap" who had competed with Cerebus's artwork at the Iestan convention. The new, trifold entity appeared during Cerebus's Ascension to Heaven, referred to itself as "Fred, Ethel and the Little Fellow with the Hair" and was destroyed attempting its own Ascension.

  • Another possible artistic reference to Swamp Thing appears in early editions of the collectible card game Magic: The Gathering; the original artwork for the card Force of Nature, seen in the basic sets up to and including Fourth Edition, greatly resembles Swamp Thing. In the other sets where this card appears, namely Fifth Edition and Ninth Edition, different artwork is used. (Since this is true of many Magic cards starting with the Fifth Edition set, it is unlikely that this was due to the resemblance between the two creatures so much as a simple desire to evolve the look of the game generally.) Another Magic card, Sylvan Library, resembles a cross between Man-Thing and various members of the Parliament of Trees.

The original Swamp Thing story is parodied in the Simpsons Treehouse of Horror comic (2005), in which Homer is killed by Moe (who is in love with Marge) while attempting to create a gelatin/beer fusion. Homer emerges as a beast made of lime gelatin, saving Marge from Moe as he is about to kill her, having discovered it was he who sabotaged Homer's experiment, presumably killing him. The story ends with Marge charging the local children money to drink the material of Homer's body as a means of income.

  • "Swamp Thing" is a track on the 1986 album "Strange Times" by The Chameleons. It was released as a single in the U.K. the same year.
  • "Swamp Thing" is a rap song by Master P.
  • "Swamp Thing" is also a techno song by the British band The Grid. It sampled the "Swamp Thing" single by The Chameleons.
  • "Swamp Thing" is also a rock song by the antifolk band Schwervon![1].
  • Swamp Thing is also the name of a character in the movie Con Air.
  • There is an unrelated ride at the Valdosta, Georgia, theme park Wild Adventures called the Swamp Thing.
  • There is a band based in Richmond, Virginia that goes by the name of Swamp Thing
  • In the episode of Justice League "Initiation" an unkown creature onboard the watch tower who was never identified looks remarkably similar to the Swamp Thing.

See also

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