Swamp Thing (comic book)
Also involved in the conflict was the Matthew Cable, a federal agent who originally mistakenly believed Swamp Thing to be responsible for the deaths of Alec and Linda Holland.
Wein ended his run as writer by having the Swamp Thing reveal his identity to Matt Cable and ultimately avenging the death of his wife by killing Nathan Ellery.
In an issue dated May 1982, DC Comics revived the Swamp Thing series to try to capitalize on the summer 1982 release of the Wes Craven film of the same name.
Martin Pasko's main arc depicted the Swamp Thing roaming the globe, trying to stop a young girl (and possible Nazi-affiliated Anti-Christ) named Karen Clancy from destroying the world.
As Swamp Thing was heading for cancellation due to low sales, DC editorial agreed to give Alan Moore (at the time a relatively unknown writer in America whose previous work included several stories for 2000 AD, Warrior and Marvel UK) free rein to revamp the title and the character as he saw fit.
In his first issue, he swept aside the supporting cast Pasko had introduced in his year-and-a-half run as writer, and brought the Sunderland Corporation (a villainous group out to gain the secrets of Alec Holland's research) to the forefront, as they hunted down the Swamp Thing and "killed" him in a hail of bullets.
Woodrue also concluded that, despite the autopsy, the Swamp Thing was still alive and in a deep coma due to the bullet wounds and imprisonment in cold-storage.
The Swamp Thing went catatonic due to the shock of discovering what he really was, after having killed Sunderland in a fit of rage and escaped deep into the Green.
Matthew Cable, gravely hurt in the previous storyline, was revealed to have been possessed by Anton Arcane, and Abby unwittingly had an incestuous relationship with him.
Abby ultimately fled to Gotham City, leading to a story arc featuring the fourth encounter between the Swamp Thing and Batman.
The "American Gothic" storyline ended with a crossover with Crisis on Infinite Earths, where the Swamp Thing had to solve the battle between Good (Light) and Evil (Darkness).
In this particularly popular issue, the Swamp Thing populated this lonely blue planet with mindless plant replicas of Abby and other reminders of his lost Earth.
In the story "Pog", 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 was overrun and destroyed by brutal monkeys.
Moore began a trend (continued by Neil Gaiman, among others) of mining the DC Universe's vast collection of minor supernatural characters to create a mythic atmosphere.
At that point, regular penciller Rick Veitch began scripting the series, 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 primate characters, such as Congorilla, Sam Simeon, and Gorilla Grodd.
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.
Wheeler quickly wrapped up Veitch's time travel arc and oversaw the birth of Abby and the Swamp Thing's daughter Tefé Holland.
Collins also moved the series, which had focused on the Swamp Thing's time travel adventures and explorations into other-dimensional realms, back to normal society by having the Swamp Thing and Abby set up shop in southern 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.
Millar's final arc for the series had the 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 to reconcile with him.
With help from John Constantine, Abby sought to keep the Swamp Thing from destroying humanity so that the Parliament Elementals could claim control over Earth.
The Swamp Thing thus spares humanity and becomes a Planetary Elemental, representing 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 the Swamp Thing into their number, and Oa; due to its destruction some time before [in Green Lantern #0], Mars lamented Oa could not witness Earth's induction).
Even though she was chronologically 11–12, the series had Tefe aged into the body of an 18-year-old with a mindwipe to try to control her darker impulses, brought about by her exposure to the Parliament of Trees.
Due to the circumstances under which she was conceived (the 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.
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.
Taking off from the end of Brightest Day, the series follows a resurrected Alec Holland who wants to put the memories of the Swamp Thing behind him.
This Swamp Thing informs Holland that he is a unique individual who would have become a legendary warrior for the Parliament and the Green, the essence of all plant life.
Issue #12, which featured Animal Man, was a collaborative effort between Scott Snyder, Jeff Lemire, Marco Rudy, Dan Green, and Andy Owens.
His run on the series has the Swamp Thing fighting with Jason Woodrue, now known as the Seeder in the new continuity, who gained power over the Green after saving Alec Holland in the past.
From March to August 2016, a six-issue miniseries was published, written by Swamp Thing co-creator Len Wein and pencilled by Kelley Jones.
