#Green Brother (Alec Holland/Swamp-Thing)

[martyrxmade]

"the flowers listen. and sometimes, if you're quiet, they'll even speak to you."

riley keough  +  cis woman  +  she/her  ✧  welcome to new york,  pamela isley  (poison ivy)  !  as a  thirty-five year old  ‘villain’  you’re no doubt itching to get back to  your laboratory  —  but first, if you could repeat your story for the record. you woke up on new year’s day with  poisonous lipstick  beside you, right  ?  and you were dreaming about  taking over robinson park to protect the green  ?  thank you for your answers, and we’ll be in touch soon. 

canon: mainly new earth with prime earth influences ( see: new 52 did some weird things but brother it sure gave one helluva backstory ).

AT A GLANCE:

full name: dr. pamela lillian isley, phd alias: poison ivy age: 35 birthday: assigned march 14th by dc ( assigned pisces by dc ! ) gender: cis woman pronouns: she/her sexual orientation: bisexual romantic orientation: homoromantic career: botanist -- and the occasional eco-terrorist! notable traits: green hue, often wears gloves due to her poisonous touch ( which some characters, such as harley quinn and inexplicably harvey dent, have an immunity to ) threat level: high

SCRATCH IT:

affiliations: herself, the green, gotham city sirens (past), the injustice gang (past) birds of prey (past) (new 52) abilities: chlorokinesis, pheromone control, toxikinesis, toxic immunity, skin pigment manipulation, decelerated aging, regeneration weapons: n/a strengths: genius level intellect, see all abilities listed above weaknesses: sun deprivation ( tbh new-52 explored that in a really interesting way but like... it's across the canons ), instability

DIG DEEPER:

*all following connections are liable to change depending on muns ! positive personal connections: harley quinn, selina kyle, alec holland/swamp thing complicated personal connections: bruce wayne/batman, barbara gordon/batgirl, pretty much the entire batfam, oswald cobblepot/penguin, edward nigma/the riddler, harvey dent/two-face negative personal connections: jason woodrue/floronic man, joker

DIG REAL DEEP:

* expansion will be offered through task ! ( the lipstick is very important, mhm. ) mother: dead, murdered by ivy's father :\ father: dead, murdered by ivy <3 cause of ability manifestation: an experiment with/by jason woodrue gone wrong

ABILITY & WEAKNESS EXPANSION:

chlorokinesis: the ability to control and communicate with all plant life. through this, she is able to speak to a force called The Green ( a force swamp thing and floronic man can also communicate with ) and... you know... be their voice, but in a pretty violent manner :\

pheromone control: seduction turned up to eleven. even if she was in a pink gorilla suit ( a la 1997 cinematic feat batman & robin ), if she chooses to emit her pheromones, you are brainwashed under the sexy spell to do her bidding !

toxikinesis: makes it so she, as a plant-person, is literally toxic to the touch. literal 'kiss of death' ! hence why i decided she wears gloves in this universe, mhm.

toxic immunity: immune to toxins...

skin pigment manipulation: as a plant-person, she is naturally very green :\ but she's able to manipulate her dna to make her skin... like, human-passing ! still a lil green, but only if you're really looking !

decelerated aging: that plant dna is a real treat ! as long as she maintains solar energy ( and doesn't get murdered <3 ), she's expected to live longer and age slower than the average human.

regeneration: because she's part plant... she's kinda like those lizard that get their arm hacked off then a new arm just... grows in its place. that's ivy.

genius level intellect: girlie-pop has a phd and keeps getting smarter by the minute!

-

sun deprivation: if she's deprived of the sun/natural light for too long, she, like a plant, withers and becomes weakened. ( like i said, new 52 actually had an arc that explored this in a super interesting way -- i can't remember what the run was, but it was with barbara and it took her through the seasons without directly saying what was going on until the end in winter... like, new 52 did something right with that and with ivy's revamped backstory ! also her design was really cool but... i digress. )

instability: honestly i just lifted this from the wikia page bc it makes me chuckle. she's part of the batman rogues gallery, so you can bet that she's a lil unstable !

[lettherebemonsters]

Into the Green (New Thread)

@matthew-james-williams​

The Green was his domain. Everywhere that vegetation touched was his domain......and unfortunately, that meant having to enter another’s territory. Going into Slaughter Swamp was always a gamble....

Either his....half-brother.....was in a pleasant enough mood....or freshly regenerated and wild as a goat in a spring meadow (and just as voracious too.) He didn’t feel fear.....but he felt unease. The swamp was part of the Green.....but it wasn’t his home.

[monster-bcrn]

@susperfectus​

ALL of my muses reacting to Pyg and his majestic nips.

[hunterguyveriv]

Injustice 3 Characters?........I’m hoping so!

So as of late, I've been hearing rumors that an Injustice 3 game is in the works. As much as I want all characters from both games to come back I think there are some characters whether they are DC characters that have yet to make an appearance, Crossover characters, or simply characters Warner Brothers has the movie rights to that I would love to see. This is my short list on who I would love to see in Injustice 3 if the rumors are indeed true as DLC characters.

DC Comics Characters: Abby Arcane - Current Avatar of the Rot: She could be an interesting addition to the Injustice cast if Swamp Thing and Poison Ivy return. I could see her dialogue with Swamp Thing being similar to Ollie & Dinah's and her dialogue with Ivy being more vicious towards because Swamp Thing's heart and soul has always been Abby's. Now I know, that they are no longer an item (regrettibly) but it has been proven in one of the recent Justice League Dark comics that they still have feelings for each other even though one is the Avatar of the Rot and the other is the Avatar of the Green

Anton Arcane - Rival Rot Avatar: If Abby is added for Swamp Thing then you have to have the one person who is their worst enemy. Dialogue between both him and Abby and him and Swamp Thing would be vicious and awesome. Even his dialogue with Ivy a hinted future Avatar of the Green from the New 52 Swamp Thing series. he could also be an invaluable ally to Superman to a point because in one of the tie-in crossover series to Injustice Superman obtained Rot-Creatures to protect his territory from magic.

Zuggernaut:  I admit I know little to nothing about this character, except that he appears to be a copy of the manga version of the last character in this short list (who was created in 1985) and think it would be nice to see both on screen together challenging each other on who the true Alien Bio-Weapon really is. Would also be kind of sweet to see him and Jaime’s Blue Beetle fight.

Animal Man: An ally to Alec Holland during the RotWorld saga, I think interactions with not Just Swamp Thing but Vixen, Cheetah, Ivy, Aquaman (who is literally the Avatar of the Blue - Water) would be interesting. More so if Abby Arcane and Anton Arcane are added to the game.

Crossover Characters:

Oroku Saki aka The Shredder: Come on now, like Swamp Thing and Anton Arcane, you can't add the Ninja Turtles without adding their greatest enemy the Shredder. If memory also serves me right from the Batman vs TMNT movie, Shredder was also someone who could go toe to toe with Batman in combat and beat him and had him on the ropes their second encounter. Depending on what continuity you follow Shredder has been known to take down aliens 3 times bigger and stronger than him. So him taking on someone like Superman and soundly beating in a game like Injustice wouldn’t be that much of a stretch.

He-Man and Teela: Let me be as blunt as blunt can be. This is NOT because of the new Kevin Smith series. This is because of the Injustice vs Masters of the Universe tie-in comics. Both He-Man and Teela in those comics proved they could fight not just Superman but with Bane and Wonder Woman also. Teela mortally wounded Wonder Woman (who was saved on Batman’s quick thinking) and was even called a Good Soldier by a bleeding out Wonder Woman and up until the power of Greyskull ran out, He-Man was going blow for blow with Superman. Teela also got the attention of Granny Goodness with her prowess of a fighter and considered.....”TRAINING”..... her to be an addition to her Furies.

But even the He-Man vs Teela dialogue could be prove to be rather interesting, especially if she is te Injustice vs MotU Teela who knows Prince Adam is He-Man, and could prove to be comical with others because she kind of gets jealous when Zatanna touches Adam’s chest-plate. 

Skeletor: But including He-Man and Teela, you have to include Skeletor who was plotting not just against Superman but also Darkseid all to gain access to Castle Greyskull even though it cost him his life in the end..... or did it?

But with the inclusion of He-Man, Teela, and Skeletor it also can open up the door for Hordak who in the Injustice vs Masters of the Universe forms his own version of a Red-Ring corps and took over Apokolips. The Hordak who like Darkseid is more than happy to commit genocide on hundreds of planets just for a whim. Which I know some will argue with his involvement you gotta have She-Ra - which I would agree, BUT Classic She-Ra. The same She-Ra who also had the title Desparda who had no qualms killing thousands in the name of Hordak and nearly killed her brother in the MotU: Eternity War saga which was also done by DC Comics. I know the She-Ra fans of the recent series will be upset with that, but lets be honest - for something that is dark and serious like Injustice, the new versions of Hordak and She-Ra just simply wouldn’t cut it. She-Ra and Teela matches and She-Ra and He-Man matches alone would be a nice add. Sibling Rivalry and two future Sister-in-Laws... “SPARRING.”

Guyver: I know, I know this is a wishful-thinking-pipe dream of a fan to a dying franchise. I know New Line Cinemas did the movies and Warner Brothers now own the rights to the Guyver movies, since I last checked or at least Guyver: Dark Hero (1994) which is the main reason I want to see Guyver crossover into Injustice. But I would love to see Guyver and Blue-Beetle (2 Alien War Machines) go at it and even even Guyver vs Zuggernaut. The dialogue alone along with their super attacks would be absolute gold!

Edit-Addons for DC Characters (6-25): Magog (Kingdom Come): If anyone by now isn’t familiar with Kingdom Come, it is an alternative to the Injustice Series. Instead of Superman killing Joker for Lois’ death it was Magog. When the aquittal of Magog forced Superman to go into a self imposed exile, Magog formed his own group of Super-humans and distributed his own ruthless form of justice upon those that his group fought culminating in the destruction of Kansas. The inclusion of his character could prove interesting because like Injustice the death of Lois at the hands of Joker and his deaths set into motion in both “universes” where the Justice League (who’s dangerously close to turning into the regime) and Batman’s allies fight.

Gog (The Kingdom): With the Multi-Verse in play from both games, the inclusion of this guy is a must! He started off as a normal man by the name of William who was one of the survivors of the Kansas Disaster caused by Magog, saw Superman as the as quite literally a Jesus Christ type figure. When Superman set him straight on things including the Kansas Disaster, William’s beliefs were shaken to the core and questioning his worth, in which the Phantom Stranger bestowed upon him all sorts of powers (powers of Zeus, Shazam, Oan, and a few others I believe). But with his beliefs shaken along with his worth and mental stability fractured, he used said abilities to go on a Superman killing spree throughout the multi-verse. He was so mad that he even went back in time and caused his own Kansas Disaster catching the attention of the present Superman/Wonder Woman/Batman. It took the combined might of the time Traveling Superman/Wonder Woman/Batman and some allies with the “present day” versions of themselves and “PD”-Superman piercing the veil of the multi-verse to completely defeat Gog. Seeing him fight Injustice-Superman alone would be worth his inclusion.

[lettherebemonsters]

Jade knew something was up, but not exactly what. She had no idea of the huge surprise waiting for her, since she was always zipping around, helping others, taking care of Grundy yet always having the time and energy to spoil the best man in the world.

She never grew tired of the look of John’s extra appendage. He certainly knew how to make a girl feel sexy, loved and pleasurable all at once. She gently stroke his member with a finger, a smile across her face as she purposely teased him with gentle touches like feathers.

“ I think that’s a wonderful idea....”

Besides......Grundy was spending the day being ‘babysat’ by Swamp-Thing. He wouldn’t be home for a few hours, and she made Alec swear up and down he’d contact her if his ‘brother’ toddled away.

Can’t be too sure when it came to a ten-foot tall zombie with the mannerisms of a small child.

"If you want to see if it's a battery then I guess you're gonna have to come give me a hug." John teased. It most certainly wasn't a battery. It was something far greater...and longer that reflected his excitement to see her.

@lettherebemonsters

[multiverseforger]

Arcane is a scientist whose obsession with gaining immortality has led him to create monstrous creatures known as "Un-Men", as well as other monstrous biogenetic experimentations involving the dead. He was able to resurrect his deceased brother Gregori as the Patchwork Man. He is also a skilled magician, which he is able to channel through his horrific experiments.[2]

Living in the mountains of Europe with his niece Abigail, Arcane is introduced after he discovers and lures the plant-based hero to his castle home. Arcane sought to use his scientific and magical abilities to transform his body into the Swamp Thing's form, while changing the Swamp Thing back into Alec Holland. At first very grateful to be human again, Alec soon overheard Arcane discussing his evil intentions now that he could carry them out. Alec then succeeds in breaking the spell Arcane cast, and sacrifices his humanity, so Arcane becomes a frail old man again. Pursued by the Swamp Thing, Arcane fell to his death, only to be resurrected by his Un-Men in a new body. He then attacked the Swamp Thing twice more before truly dying, the first time as a hulking corpse-like Un-Man (only to be destroyed by the vengeful ghosts of African-American slaves who had possessed his Un-Men) and later as an insect-like cyborg piloting a massive dragonfly-like vehicle that is actually a tesseract (i.e., its interior is larger than its exterior). It is after his third death that his soul was consigned to Hell.

Arcane's soul later escaped from Hell and ultimately helped to summon the demon Monkey King into the world.

After a fight with Abigail that culminated in her leaving on foot to find the Swamp Thing, Matt Cable (Abigail's husband) had an attack of conscience and drove after her. He had been drinking heavily and wound up crashing his car, leaving him mortally wounded. Ultimately Arcane managed to possess Cable's body, and with it gained access to Cable's godlike power.

In this body, he masquerades as Cable, claiming that he has a new job at a company called Blackriver Recorporations and is buying a mansion for them to live. Arcane combined his own magic with Cable's inherent psychic powers to alter reality and the employees of Blackriver Recorporations were the resurrected souls of deceased serial killers returned from Hell. He finally revealed himself, tormenting his niece and causing havoc and insanity by altering reality on a massive scale. For miles around natural and unnatural disasters occurred, people succumbed to homicidal instincts and the resurrected serial killers returned to killing.

He once again battled the Swamp Thing, accompanied by monstrous forms resembling Un-Men, after killing Abigail and condemning her soul to Hell, all the while declaring Earth as his now.

It was during this battle that Arcane found that the Swamp Thing was a plant elemental and thus possessed semi-magical abilities, allowing the Swamp Thing to combat him on a more even ground. The battle was enough for Matthew Cable to regain control of his body, and Arcane was exorcised directly back to Hell. Cable used his awakened power to resurrect Abigail's body, but not having sufficient power to repair himself, became comatose and finally died, whereupon he became Matthew, a raven living within the Dreaming.

Arcane next appears as a demon, having been promoted to this status by the Lords of Hell. He attacks Swamp Thing yet again, only to be defeated. In a later episode, Arcane temporarily repents of his evil ways after having briefly found God, who eventually banishes him back to Hell. Arcane is tortured by the demon Josephine, whom he seduces into helping him escape. The Swamp Thing defeats the two demons, causing their forms to morph together, and when last seen, it is revealed that the Arcane/Josephine being is pregnant.

The New 52Edit

In the wake of The New 52 (a 2011 reboot of the DC Comics universe), Anton Arcane is a regular antagonist in the monthly Swamp Thing comics.[3] After Abigail was able to fight off the mental control of Sethe, Sethe revives Anton Arcane from the dead.[3] as the avatar of the Black (a.k.a. the Rot), after which he tries to take over the Red (colliding with Animal Man as well) and the Green. Anton also has a son named William Arcane and Abigail is his daughter in this timeline.[4][5]

During Animal Man and the Swamp Thing's one year in the Rot, Anton Arcane and the forces of the Rot were able to take over parts of Earth. It was mentioned by Frankenstein that Anton Arcane had imprisoned someone beneath Metropolis.[6] When the forces of the Red and the forces of the Green converge outside of Anton Arcane's castle, Anton Arcane unleashes corrupted versions of Maxine Baker and Abigail Arcane.[7] Anton Arcane and the Rot's conquest of Earth is thwarted and undone when Maxine breaks the hold of the remaining Hunter's Three on her.[8]

After being defeated by the Swamp Thing, Arcane is put in a Hell specifically made for him by the Parliament of Decay when nothing ever rots and all is forever pure. Abigail, as the new avatar of the Rot, comes to him demanding information about her mother. Arcane reveals that when she was a baby she already had power over the Rot and she accidentally killed her by 'filling' her with the Rot. To make him talk Abigail lets him feel rot, but she now says he will never escape his Hell and will never touch rot again. Arcane says that when he touched it when she gave it to him, he became stronger than he had been in ages and he will escape and take revenge on both her and Alec Holland. As she teleports away, Arcane rips out one of his eyes and throws it in the portal. On Earth, a boy is about to eat an apple when it turns rotten. He throws it away and Arcane's eye appears in it.[9]

In Swamp Thing (vol. 5) #36, when the Swamp Thing goes in the Rot to warn Abigail about the new realm of machines, she initially assumes that he is there because of Arcane, who has escaped.[10] It is eventually shown that he has returned to Earth, but since he is not the avatar of the Rot, he can only gain strength from consuming rotten items, like corpses and garbage, and as such is terribly weakened. He joins forces with the new realm of Metal, which promises him the power that he lost, and his power does grow greatly in this time. He later poisons the Green from within, when the Swamp Thing is weakened in an attempt to destroy it, but this fails when all the avatars of the Green are awakened and use their power to cleanse the Green to its original state. Abigail challenges Arcane in the final war against Metal, and while she has the upper hand, Arcane eventually escapes.

In Futures End, it is revealed that five years in the future, a series of events conspired to ensure that all avatars swore to stay off of Earth and within their own realms to prevent chaos. Arcane only agreed to this if he was allowed to bind himself to Abigail forever, as seen when his left hand and her right are completely fused in a twisted embrace and when he calls her his "daughter-wife". In doing so, he allowed himself to leech off her power, as the true avatar of the Rot, and ensuring that the Swamp Thing could not fight him, without risking harm or death to the one he loved. However, the Swamp Thing has made the decision to destroy the Rot, using the power of a Life through a White Lantern Ring. Arcane attempts to dissuade him, by citing the necessity of death and rot, but the Swamp Thing counters it by saying that fungi/the Grey and bacteria/the Divided have already decided to take over the role of rot, while Metal will keep them in check. Arcane then tries to give up Abigail, but the Swamp Thing believes that there is enough life in her to let her survive and in the worst case, death is better than the Hell that she lives in. Arcane briefly tries to fight back, but Abigail makes her move to distract him, long enough for the Swamp Thing to activate the White Lantern ring and bringing about the death of Anton Arcane.

[marireadshellblazer]

Swamp Thing (2021)

Ok, so I have been reading the latest run of Swamp Thing. Seeing as how I read the original and skimmed through some of the other modern stuff, I figured that it might be fun to check out this latest run. A 10-issue run written by Ram V, I figured it was worth a look. I mean, Swamp Thing is usually a good time.

Issue #1

Okay, so like I said on my other blog, this issue was pretty good. The art is beautiful, and it’s a fresh, new take on the character. Things happen really fast and I had to re-read it a couple of times. It’s just introducing so much at once, so it was easy (at least for me) to get confused. Levi seems like a cool dude.

Not a bad introduction. I am officially curious.

I got some Fringe season 1 vibes, specifically episodes 1 and 13.

Issue #2

Aight, so the Pale Wanderer seems pretty cool. Granted, I wish they had more time to flesh this all out better, but that’s just comics.

That’s one of the gripes I have with western comics. Unlike manga, were people take forever to do anything, Western comics take about two pages to go through something intricate. Like, in a typical manga, a couple will take 5 volumes to admit they even have feelings for each other. In a comic, it feels like in two pages they go from strangers, to sex, to being a really devoted couple despite only being together for like a day. They barely know each other. It’s like a Disney movie, only worse because they could take the time to flesh out a more realistic or at least semi-believable (and therefore not frustrating) relationship, be it friends or lovers. Disney movies have a 90min time constraint. Comics could devote whole issues or parts of each issue to show growth in relationships. I dunno man, maybe it’s just me, but I think that’s weird. I wish they had more than the 10-issue constraint for this run. They could really expand on a lot of stuff.

I feel super bad for the sheriff here. Man is just tryna go about his life and then he’s exposed to an evil that’s beyond his ability to truly grasp. I’m glad Levi was able to save him both physically and mentally.

This issue more or less ties together concepts from The Anatomy Lesson in the original Swamp Thing, as well as some visuals from the Swamp Thing Future State comics that came out earlier this year (another short run that needed at least 10 more issues). A good, if abridged, introduction to the core ideas in pretty much every Swamp Thing comic. Glad they are going to acknowledge Alec Holland, too.

Issue #3

So, very cool, bringing in Poison Ivy. Some people ship her with Swamp Thing, and others equate her powers to his. Personally, as she isn’t naturally part of The Green like Swamp Thing is I really don’t agree, but that’s just me. He may have a human mindset and personality, but he is The Green, after all. Most, if not all, incarnations of Ivy are not like that.

Who is the 2nd Ivy? I’mma assume the Queen is Pamela “Poison Ivy”, but is this gentle one a part of her? A clone? Am I missing something here?

Wodewos is an interesting choice of mythical creature here. They could have gone Bigfoot or something else, but this is a new one for me.

Ahh Dr. Woodrue! Good to see you?

Alec!!! YESSSSSSS!

Issue #4

Okay, so a lot of world building and explanation going on here. Pretty much fills in the gaps for people who have never read a Swamp Thing comic before.

They set up an interesting enemy for this run; the enemy being the degradation of memory and the power of ideas. This is pretty par for the course as far as Swamp Thing comics go. Ever since Alan Moore’s run in the ‘80s, Swamp Thing tends to explore ideas and concepts that aren’t so simple or binary in their answers. The best runs of Swamp Thing have him tackling existentialism and the concept of the self and an individual’s place in the universe rather than physical battle with aliens and monsters. And this time the ideas and memory issues are triggered by his brother. Very interesting.

I love all the flashbacks to the earlier series in the art. I also just noticed that for his thought bubbles when he is in his “Swamp Thing form” are in orange, just like in the original series. Very nice, subtle touch there. Having Alec walk him through this is also a nice touch. He’s way more gentle and straightforward than the person who served as the…asshole mentor that Alec’s incarnation of the Swamp Thing had (I love you John).

Seriously? The Suicide Squad lady?

So far:

-I love the art. This is worth the read for the art alone.

-There are a lot of moments so far that remind me of other things. Like, the latest TV series for Swamp Thing, Fringe, the original Swamp Thing comic, and some other stuff. Interesting mix going on here.

-I wish it didn’t feel so crunched.

[vertigovault]

The Saga of the Swamp Thing #1

Story Title: “What Peace There May Be in Silence” (main story), “...In Shadowed Depths” (back-up feature)

Writer: Martin Pasko (main story), Bruce Jones (back-up feature)

Artist: Tom Yeates (main story), Dan Spiegle (back-up feature)

Editor: Len Wein

Colorist: Tatanja Wood (main story), Philip Felix (back-up feature)

Letterer: John Costanza (main story), Adrienne Roy (back-up feature)

Release Date: May 1982

I’ve been thinking about how (or even if) to go about this blog for a while, but the one thing that I knew for sure was that I would be starting with The Saga of the Swamp Thing. Though Vertigo wasn’t yet a twinkle in DC’s bulging corporate eye when DC’s revival of Swampy hit the stands, Alan Moore’s seminal run on the series would come to define many of the elements that would make the imprint stand out. Among these were a more literary tone and a tendency to treat even the most absurd comic book tropes with a certain dignity and respect. So great was Moore’s impact on the book that discussions of Saga tend to forget that there were nineteen issues beforehand, penned by Martin Pasko, except perhaps as a curiosity. 

My original plan was to skip right on over these early issues as well, mainly because modern printings of Moore’s run are published under the Vertigo label, whilst Pasko’s has been mostly consigned to obscurity to the point where it has been consistently excluded from trade collections of the series. In the end, that’s the exact reason I decided to cover them. Are these stories unfairly forgotten gems, or have they faded from the public consciousness for good reason? Well, that’s what we’re here to find out. 

Now, for the uninitiated: The idea of a “Swamp Thing” first appeared courtesy of Len Wein (famous for creating a certain yellow spandex-clad slicing-and-dicing Canuck over at Marvel) and Bernie Wrightson in a 1971 issue of House of Secrets, one of DC’s horror anthology titles. This Swamp Thing was a self-contained story, but the concept would be revisited in an ongoing series the next year. The new Swamp Thing was Alec Holland, a scientist working on a “Bio-Restorative Formula” (comic book speak for “magical super-fertalizer”). After Holland refused to hand over the formula to some criminals, they blow up his lab. His wife Linda is killed, and Alec is doused in the Bio-Restorative Formula before catching on fire and plunging into the swamp. Reborn as a so-called “Muck-Encrusted Mockery of a Man”, Holland proceeded to wander through twenty-four increasingly ridiculous adventures in the hope of returning to his human form. Wrightson left after issue ten, and though Wein stuck around for three more, the series was already starting to show signs of fatigue. By the time Wein left, the series was, much like Holland, a shambling husk of its former self, and its cancellation was one of the great mercy kills of comic book history. Shortly before the end, the series introduced Alen’s previously-unmentioned brother Edward and showed him successfully regain his humanity, both plot points which have been mercifully ignored by subsequent writers. After a brief team-up with the Challengers of the Unknown, a now-obscure team of Silver Age adventurers, Holland was last seen wandering the woods, having become a Bigfoot-esque legend. 

So this is where we find our boggy hero at the start of Saga, taking up residence in a swamp outside of Limbo, North Carolina. About half of the story is dedicated to recapping his origin, and it does a fine job of getting the reader up to speed. The story itself is mostly focused on the town’s reaction to the monster in their midst, kicked off when Swampy tries to save a group of drunk hunters from a bear, only to have his hand lopped off for his trouble. It’s a fundamental element of early Swamp Thing stories that the poor guy just can’t catch a break, so this reintroduction feels right at home. Another one of early Swampy’s defining characteristics is his endless moping and angsting, and there’s plenty of that here. That said, he’s had a rough time, so some moping isn’t unearned. A bit later, Swampy witnesses a father attempting to shoot his young daughter, and naturally Big Green intervenes. The father is killed, but not before making some cryptic comments about the girl and her mother (who he already killed) being some sort of demonic abominations. The girl is mute, but courtesy of her vaguely-defined psychic powers, Swampy learns that her name is Casey. Immediately latching onto the girl as a conduit to reconnect him with his lost humanity, he becomes her protector. The townspeople, upon seeing the two together, decide that the girl is in fact an evil entity and that Swampy is her familiar, and pull out the torches and pitchforks. The story ends with the revelation that a creepy German fashion reject/mysterious evil scientist has Holland’s severed hand, and that the big guy is dying. It ends the issue on a nice note of suspense. 

The whole affair is a perfectly functional fresh start for Swamp Thing, with everything working as it needs to. Unfortunately, that functionality comes at a price. The story feels frustratingly safe, adhering closely to the formula established by Wein instead of taking the character in a new direction. It’s a decent reintroduction, and would probably feel a lot fresher to someone who hadn’t read the original run, but feels disappointingly restrained. The art matches the writing; it does its job, but is light on atmosphere. 

The same cannot be said of the issue’s back-up feature, which features a wonderfully wicked edge which is missing from the main story. These early issues also include short one-and-dones featuring DC’s man (possibly? Maybe an angel? All we really know about his origin is that it sure as hell isn’t whatever the New 52 cooked up) of mystery The Phantom Stranger. This is a delightfully dark little tale about a crooked preacher who messes with the wrong forces, both mortal and immaterial. It feels like something out of an old EC anthology, and is a great cap to the issue. 

In the end, this is a fine jumping off point for the series, and while it doesn’t do anything that new or exciting, it’s also a swell place for first-time Swamp Thing readers to catch up without rooting around (hah!) for the original series. Though it’s only a shadow of what the series would become, it does enough right to make itself more than a mere historical curiosity for geeks like me—whether the same can be said for the rest of Pasko’s run remains to be seen. 

[lettherebemonsters]

"You're.....a marvel. I expected Grundy, I have burgers for him. Is he here?" ~EerieSongsAndGossamerWings [For Swamp Thing]

@eeriesongsandgossamerwings

Marvel huh? Well that was a new one. He had been called many things but marvel wasn't one of them. Still the stranger was polite.....better be nice back.

" He is but he isn't feeling good. He was hurt in a fight and he's regenerating right now. He won't be back to normal for maybe a week or two...."

[lettherebemonsters]

📖 (for Swamp Thing)

SEND 📖 AND I’LL WRITE A HEADCANON ABOUT MY MUSE(S). BONUS POINTS IF YOU SEND A TOPIC!

While Swamp Thing has grown weary of humanity and prefers spending time alone in the wild, he still enjoys going towards civilization from time to time. During Halloween he can freely walk around without getting harassed and uses the opportunity to enjoy the holiday with his 'brother' Solomon Grundy.

Even though Swampy finds the holiday more for kids and has no love of it himself.....seeing Grundy happy is enough to get him to spend the day with him. Plus it's Solomon's 'birthday' so obviously they gotta celebrate that. XD

[lettherebemonsters]

035. (For Swamp Thing)

035. What is the most important rule your character lives by?

He lives by the rule of the wild.....an eye for an eye. He will harm no person maliciously, but will defend himself, those he loves and the Green with swiftness.

At the start, Swampy tried living by human morals, but it failed miserably the more he tried remembering his humanity. He wasn't human anymore.......that way of life died with his human form. The wild live by a much more primordial set of laws where you have to fight to survive.

It's caused a lot of problems because that frame of mind doesn't mesh well with human laws for a lot of reasons.....

[monster-bcrn]

For once I have to agree with Frank.....Swampy WTF. Why are you stealing your cousin’s girlfriend?!

Even Grundy disapproves.

[monster-bcrn]

“......I thought he called you a Tree-Lobster once?”

" I am of the Green,Solomon Grundy is of the Grey, and Frankenstein is of the Red. We all belong to the Earth to keep the balance....to ensure life continues for us all.

We all are neither good nor bad, but simply am. It does not excuse villainous acts....even the Parliament of Trees, and the Grey Mother hold standards against such acts."

[multiverseforger]

In the "Blackest Night" storyline, Nekron is revealed to be responsible for the creation of the black power rings, which reanimate the dead, and is collaborating with Scar and Black Hand. He's also responsible for the capture of the Anti-Monitor during the aftermath of the Sinestro Corps War on the planet Ryut. When the Black Lanterns' power levels reach one hundred percent, he rises from the Earth, just outside Coast City.[8][9] Nekron is also revealed to be the true mastermind behind the miraculous resurrections of several superheroes in the past (a deed previously thought to be a consequence of Brother Bloodtampering with the forces of life and death).[10] By "allowing" the dead heroes to be reborn he grants himself a small cadre of "inside agents"; by briefly reanimating Batman's clone (created by Darkseid during Final Crisis and implying that the dark lord's awareness of the remains is not authentic) as an emotional tether to stimulate a powerful enough emotional response, Nekron is able to create black rings that latch on to Superman, Wonder Woman, Donna Troy, Kid Flash, Animal Man, Ice, Green Arrow and Superboy, transforming them all into Black Lanterns; Hal Jordan and Barry Allen are similarly targeted, but evade sharing their comrades' fates thanks to Barry taking himself and Hal two seconds into the future and causing their would-be rings to shut down.[11][12]

According to Black Lantern Jean Loring, Nekron was formed out of the nothingness in existence prior to the creation of the universe as a defense mechanism to the White Light, the Guardian of Darkness.[11][12] Given shape in the form of life's idea of death, Nekron marches with his undead army, claiming the hunger plaguing him has not abated.[12]Nekron is not a living being but just exists as an avatar of darkness from the beginning of the universe. This makes Nekron immune to the Spectre's divine wrath, as he has no soul to judge and he is not unlike a natural disaster.[13]

Nekron then begins to reveal the full extent of his plan. Nekron and his Black Lanterns bring the subdued Guardians to a clearing where the same symbol that was seen on Professor Zoom's chest is drawn in what appears to be blood. After questioning one of the Guardians and getting him to admit that he can no longer remember why the Guardians took a vow to protect the universe, Nekron slits his throat and Black Hand removes his organs and places them in the center of the symbol. After crushing the organs with his scythe, Nekron calls forth the Entity. The Entity is the white light given physical form. When Nekron strikes the Entity every living thing in the universe cries out in pain, this is because the Entity is what gave birth to life and all living things came from it. Nekron intends to kill the Entity and thereby kill every living thing in the universe. His plans, however, are thwarted when Sinestro bonds with the Entity becoming a White Lantern.[14]

Another failure comes when the massed Corps above Earth reach Xanshi's core through its surface faults, and manage to destroy the thousands of rings holding it together. As Xanshi collapses, Nekron cries out in pain. While he also manages to nearly hack Sinestro in half with his scythe, he fails to kill him, and the White Lantern rises again, healing his wounds and promising retribution to Nekron.[15]

In the battle that follows, the Life Entity eventually abandons Sinestro, refusing to be controlled by his ego, and bonds itself to Hal Jordan, who states that Nekron merely opened the doors between life and death while it was still the heroes' choices to return to life. Having restored all the resurrected heroes to life and recruited them to the White Lantern Corps, Hal turns the power of the Entity on Black Hand (Deadman having discovered that Black Hand functions as Nekron's link to the living world), causing Black Hand to return to life and vomiting one white power ring that enters the Black Power Battery and resurrects the Anti-Monitor (destroying the Power Battery in the process), who immediately attacks Nekron. Nekron then returns the Anti-Monitor to the Anti-Matter universe. Twelve other white rings are then released by Black Hand and seek out several deceased heroes and villains who had been recruited into the Black Lantern Corps, the rings restoring all twelve of them to life. In the final confrontation that follows, Nekron is banished yet again, with Hal Jordan and Barry Allen speculating that death will now be more permanent with Nekron's plan having failed.[16]

"Brightest Day"Edit

At the conclusion of the miniseries Brightest Day, Swamp Thing appears, grown to towering size and emerging from the forest at the former heart of Star City, which has become corrupted.[17] The White Lantern Entity explains that just as the memories of Alec Holland acted as a template for the Earth Elemental, the personality of Nekron has been imprinted over it. The corrupted Swamp Thing does battle with Alec Holland (having been resurrected and turned into the new Swamp Thing by the White Lantern Entity), who is aided by embodiments of the four elements (Hawkman, Hawkwoman, Firestorm, Aquaman and the Martian Manhunter) and is defeated, driving out the influence of Nekron once again

[monster-bcrn]

“ Hmm, I seem to remember that once you too were one of these so-called ‘putrid humans’ you lament about. What about the humans you still love? Will you destroy them too if it meant a world where only the Green survived and everything else perished?

Even I know I was human once....if I lost that anchor I would have attempted to conquer the planet many years ago.”

“ That’s not why I’m here and you know it. I’m here to keep you from going into Slaughter Swamp. Believe it or not, I DO care above you, Pamela. To go into that swamp asking for a fight will be the end of you.”

His vines rustled as he moved, red eyes glowing in a sea of vegetation, bone and tissue. His voice ethereal....yet somber.

“ I wept for the lives lost when the Rot consumed everything, Green and the Red alike. When I saw my home turned into pus and waste, I wept. When one Parliament goes out of control, we ALL suffer. You may be doing this to protect your children.....but I’ve seen the aftermath of what destruction can cause...”

He pointed to the swamp behind them.

“ Those who live in there are the last vestiges of a dying line. Destroyed by hubris much like you’re showing now. I won’t let one of my best friends throw herself into a suicide mission......”

" You perplex me, Pamela. You are connected to the Green, yet many of your actions go against what the Green stands for. You have fought to harm lives.....when the Green exists to keep parts of life in balance.

We all need the Green as much as the Red, the Grey, the Melt, even the Rot...."

@adventurepunks

[lettherebemonsters]

“ Big. Like....big big. Big like....big mean dinosaur thingies. Big teeth, chomp. Eat people like candy. NOM NOM NOM.”

It was an amusing sight of Grundy trying to explain what and how these creatures killed....and how big they were. Even though it was vague, just the idea of them being as big as dinosaurs was....chilling, to say the least. This desolate place being so cut off despite the close proximity to Gotham that it created giants.

Swamp Thing took over the explanation, seeing how Grundy had trouble with articulating words and all.

“ It will take a few hours for us to get out if we follow specific routes. If you went on your own, even with a map, it would take days. This swamp is alive in.....strange ways. If it doesn’t want you to leave...it makes sure you stay.”

lettherebemonsters​:

Even Swamp-Thing snorted slightly at Matt’s talk of taking on the creatures of the swamp.

“ Wait until you see just the snakes. Then you’ll be thinking twice about trying to wrestle one….”

Grundy recognized the motion and reached out with his opposite hand. His hand was absolutely huge, an adaptation to survive a watery world. He spent most of his life underwater…..it was where he truly felt at home.

Swimming with agility and speed, and being lumbering and slow on land. Just like a huge penguin.

“ Me….uh…I am….Solomon Grundy. You’re welcome and…..me sorry….me was mad….”

Both Swampy and Grundy looked at each other before looking at Matt, nodding. Swampy spoke, since he was better at communicating than the zombie.

“ You’re in the middle of the swamp, Matthew. It would take hours to find the way out even in a straight line…..”

“How big do they get..” He was a little concerned now with the animals here. Were they different than what he was more familiar with? Who knows, he just wanted to get out of the swamp. As Grundy held out their hand as well, Matthew gave it a small shake with a smile. It was a bit unnerving how big the other was compared to himself. His hands were huge, Matts were tiny in comparison. “It’s nice to meet you Solomon Grundy. Nice to meet your brother too.” Facing Swamp as he spoke, Matt sighed at their words. 

“So.. What does that mean, how long will it take to get out?” What did he get himself into, a simple hike and one wrong turn and now he was in the Narnia of swamps. Looking up towards Grundy the young blond frowned. “Hours.. days? How far in did I get..” The young man sounded disappointed but mostly with himself. He wasn’t the best with directions and finding his way but this was an absolute mess. “What do I do? I mean I could start walking but…” Wrapping his arms around his waste again, feeling the murky water dry and sticky against him.