620 SWAMP THING
suspects him, and he plots to kill
her. Swamp Th ing bursts into
the room, killing the murderer.
Sadly, he fi nds himself unable to
communicate with his wife, be-
cause his vocal cords have atro-
phied. He returns to the swamp
realizing his human life is gone.
Th e character was given his
own series in November, 1972.
Wein and Wrightson revamped
the origin tale, changing the sci-
entist’s name to Alec Holland, and
introducing an espionage subplot.
A criminal cartel, the Conclave,
seek Holland’s bio-restorative for-
mula, leading to a fi ery explosion in
which Holland is saved only by the
formula. His wife Linda is killed.
In the second issue, Swamp Th ing
meets the mad Dr. Anton Arcane
and his Un-men. Arcane off ers
to restore Holland to his human
body in exchange for Swamp
Th ing’s near immortal body. Using
an incantation in front of a myste-
rious soul jar Holland is restored;
realizing that Arcane is insane, he
smashes the jar, and reverts back to
Swamp Th ing. Wrightson’s art—
placing Swamp Th ing in murky castles, dismal swamps, and dark foreboding alleys—is
a triumph. In issue #3, Wein performs a nice spin on the Frankenstein myth by intro-
ducing Arcane’s brother, Th e Patchwork Man, Gregori Arcane, father to Abigal Arcane.
In the story, a blown-up Gregori is pieced back together by Anton. As he says, “there
wasn’t much left of you, you realize—I had to improvise my repairs from the material
at hand.”
Swamp Th ing, despite a great creative team, only lasted for 24 issues. Following a
fi lm in 1982, by horror auteur Wes Craven (an early fan of the comic book) the char-
acter re-emerged in a new comics series in the 1980s. Initially the new edition was
only modestly popular. On the verge of cancellation it was revitalized by British comic
auteur Alan Moore, who re-imagined Swamp Th ing not as an undead muck monster,
but as a vegetative elemental. Under Moore’s guidance, Swamp Th ing’s chronologyAdrienne Barbeau as Alice Cable and Dick Durock as
Swamp Thing, in the 1982 film Swamp Thing, directed by
Wes Craven. MGM/Photofest