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In the pantheon of DC characters, Swamp Thing might be one of the most unique.
He’s not a paragon of virtue like Superman, or an inspiration to others like Wonder Woman. But he also doesn’t really fit in with DC’s other magical denizens. Zatanna is a master magician who can pass herself off as a glitzy Vegas act. John Constantine has a self-destructive streak a mile wide, but at least he’s made peace with himself. Jason Blood can (most of the time) choose to turn into the demon Etrigan. Swamp Thing, on the other hand, is a character whose entire history is wrought with tragedy – and that’s allowed some of comics’ best minds to turn him into a truly compelling character.
Len Wein and Bernie Wrightson hammered home that very tragedy in the very first Swamp Thing story,House of Secrets #92. That story follows brilliant scientist Alexander Olsen, who’s transformed into a hulking plant monstrosity when his jealous assistant tries to make a move on his wife. Even in this first story, the bones of what would define Swamp Thing for years were clear: the scientist dies and is reborn as a living plant. It’s far darker than you’d expect from other DC heroes: When Olsen, as Swamp Thing, encounters his assistant, he snaps his neck with his bare hands. And there’s the resulting tragic spin: Although Olsen returns to life, his wife immediately screams and flinches at the sight of him. Superman could turn back into Clark Kent and share a life with Lois Lane; Batman had his butler/father figure, Alfred Pennyworth, to lean on; and the Teen Titans formed a makeshift family. The Swamp Thing, on the other hand, was cursed to walk a lonely road. No matter how heroic he proved to be, a buffer would always remain between him and the rest of the world.
When Alec Holland, the Swamp Thing fans best know and love, debuted in 1972’sSwamp Thing#1, Wein and Wrightson kept a similar origin to Olsen’s but refined some key points. Holland’s research into a “bio-restorative formula” that would help plant life flourish ties directly into his origin: corrupt corporate executives plant a bomb in his lab, and when it explodes, he is forever bonded with Louisiana plant life and turned into Swamp Thing. Furthering the tragic elements is the reveal that the assassins double back and kill Linda, robbing Holland of his wife (and denying him even the potential loss that Olsen experienced). Wein’s script is wrought with darkly poetic moments, especially lines like “clusters of root” and “crumbling chunks of moss” that highlight the plant/human hybrid Holland has become (and the tangled nature of his own humanity). Wrightson’s art is horrifying and striking in equal measure, highlighting Swamp Thing’s humanoid figure while also lingering on the skull-shaped face and vein-shaped vines running through his head. In Wrightson’s hands, he is a monster born of life itself, a creature connected to the Earth and very little else at this point.
Wein and Wrightson — alongside David Micheline, Gerry Conway, Nestor Redondo, and Fred Carillo — later crafted characters that became essential to Swamp Thing’s canon/world. The mad scientist Anton Arcane and his Un-Men hounded Swamp Thing, determined to discover the secrets that would grant Arcane immortality. Arcane’s niece, Abby, bonds with Swamp Thing and helps him reconnect with humanity. Meanwhile, government agent Matt Cable tracks down Swamp Thing, believing he’s responsible for Alec Holland’s murder; in the process, he and Abby fall in love and get married, but Swamp Thing’s presence eventually tests that marriage. These characters only deepen Swamp Thing’s isolation, offering and taking away his chance at a more connected life and forcing him to experience loss more regularly.
The originalSwamp Thingseries ended after 24 issues, but the character was revived in part thanks to the 1982Swamp Thingmovie helmed by horror maestro Wes Craven. Around this, DC had relaunched the character withThe Saga of Swamp Thing. Here, Martin Pasko scripted a story in which Swamp Thing battled and killed a resurrected Arcane. Despite the back-to-basics approach, sales plummeted after Pasko left…until an unknown British writer named Alan Moore stepped in withThe Saga of Swamp Thing #20.
Moore’s work onSaga of Swamp Thingis regarded as the apex of the character’s history, and for good reason. In his first two issues, including the iconic “Anatomy Lesson,” he turned readers’ expectations upside down by revealing that Swamp Thing wasn’t Alec Holland transformed into Swamp Thing; the Swamp Thing we’d been following for years was a massive living creature thatthoughtit was Holland. Other moments included Arcane crawling from the depths of Hell, possessing Matt Cable, and pushing Abby Arcane into Swamp Thing’s arms. While Moore is best known for other groundbreaking comics likeThe League of Extraordinary Gentlemen,Saga of Swamp Thingwas the first true glimpse into his genius. Plus,The Saga of Swamp Thing‘s success didn’t stop with the story; it helped launch the Vertigo line, which featured groundbreaking books likeNeil Gaiman’sSandman. It was also the first comic to completely sidestep the Comics Code Authority, signaling a rise in more mature stories within the medium.
Moore’sSwamp Thingcame to life thanks to a team of extremely talented artists, including Rick Veitch, Stephen R. Bissette, and John Totleben, who brought iconic characters like Constantine to the pages ofSwamp Thing. They also further cemented the idea that Swamp Thing wasn’t actually human; under Veitch’s pencils, the mossy being looked increasingly plant-like, with vines and branches resembling bones and blood vessels beneath his grassy exterior. Veitch eventually took over writing duties as well and proved that he was just as willing to break boundaries as Moore, which led to his departure when DC refused to publish an issue in which Swamp Thing met Jesus (yes, really). Eventually,DC republished Veitch’s long-lost run as this year’s Swamp Thing 1989, and it’s more than worth reading for its continued evolution of what we know as Swamp Thing.
The modern day has been extremely kind to Swamp Thing. Scott Snyder and Yannick Paquette relaunchedSwamp Thingunder DC’s much-maligned “New 52” initiative, and in the process, launched one of that initiative’s best books. Resurrected afterBrightestDay, Holland tries to lead a normal life until Swamp Thing and Abby Arcane show up. Snyder’s run delves into the same mystical elements Moore brought to the table and even introduces the Rot, the malevolent force of decay and death that Arcane later champions. Meanwhile, Charles Soule’s run eventually had Swamp Thing become the avatar of the Green (which represented all plant life). In a way, it also marked the end of Holland’s evolution, as he had transformed from man to monster and now the very guardian of life.
However, perhaps the biggest shift (at least of the modern era) came withThe Swamp Thingby Ram V and Mike Perkins, which introduced a new Swamp Thing in Levi Kamei. Like Holland, Kamei was a scientist who found himself transformed into a mass of plant life. However, his origin is more mystical and rooted in his family: his brother Jacob, envious that the Green chose Levi, eventually transforms into the monstrous Hedera to battle Swamp Thing. Levi can also shift from plant to human, a rarity among previous Swamp Things (and a comment on the character’s core sense of isolation). Meanwhile, Swamp Thing’srole in saving the universe inDarkCrisisonInfiniteEarthsmakes him further stand out, as he’s more willing to interact with other heroes, while Holland’s run-ins with other DC characters were begrudging at best. V’s stellar scripting and Perkins’ haunting yet gripping art make theirSwamp Thingrun worth reading. It also reminds readers of DC’s best element: the idea of the “legacy hero.” If different characters can inhabit the mantle of Robin, Green Lantern or the Flash, why not Swamp Thing?
For all those reasons and more, Swamp Thing is a singular being in the DC canon, a force born of pain to preserve life. And evolution is a central part of the character’s arc, and always has been. In the introduction toSwamp Thing(the2011-2015 series by Snyder and company), Wein muses that creating comic book characters is like parenting: just as a parent watches their child grow up, creators watch their characters evolve under other creatives. Swamp Thing’s growth reminds readers that characters don’t have to be fixed in amber, and the right creator taking some chances can lead to stories that define all of comics for years to come.
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