The Saga of the Swamp Thing #49-53

The Saga of the Swamp Thing #49-53

Originally released in 1986

Written by Alan Moore

Art by Stan Woch (#49), Steve Bissette (#50), Rick Veitch (#50-52), John Totleben (#53)

As it turns out, Swamp Thing prioritizing Constantine's life over stopping a woman from being turned into a bird had disastrous consequences.  That bird became a messenger, flying through various planes and realms to reach a destination beyond Hell, awakening a primordial darkness that existed before light began.  In other words, it's not good.

There is some time before the bird reaches its destination, allowing the mystical and otherworldly beings of the universe to prepare.  As Constantine gathers various magicians (including Zatanna, whose romantic entanglements with Constantine seem to have been first established here, and her father Zatara) to channel their energies and help however they can, Swamp Thing seeks his own allies in the land of the dead as they go to face the problem more directly.

These allies include Deadman, Etrigan (who's one of the higher-ranking demons of Hell - apparently, his constant rhyming is a symbol of his power and rank), and the Phantom Stranger.  The Stranger gathers some angels for help, and even some demons choose to side with the devil they know over the one that they don't.

They also go to the Spectre for help, though he went full Goku - in theory, he could have stopped the messenger bird in any number of ways, but chose not to because he felt like this darkness could prove to be a challenge to him, and that's something that he hasn't had in a very long time.

The messenger dies, but the message is delivered, and the darkness awakes.  We don't get much of an idea of what it looks like - just an impossibly large black worm-like creature with some kind of flat bony helmet.  DC's universe goes from one apocalyptic crisis to another (Crisis On Infinite Earths was either just before this or happening at the same time) as the supernatural forces fight for survival.

Constantine uses former Doom Patrol member and Beast Boy's adoptive father Mento as a conduit to see into Hell and transfer their energies to wherever is needed most.  Through Mento's perspective, we get what is the most unsettling depiction of Etrigan that I've seen so far.

The magicians pool their energy and send it to the anti-Darkness forces, but the simple act of it noticing them causes two of their number to burst into flames - Sargon the Sorcerer, who I know very little about, and Zatara.  Surprisingly, this death is permanent - Zatara remains dead to this day, apparently as a result of this story.

One by one, the forces opposing the Darkness try to stop it, only to get absorbed.  The Darkness knows absolutely nothing about what happened since life came to the universe - concepts like emotions, good and evil, and life as a whole are completely unknown to it, and it's filled with an endless curiosity.  Characters like Etrigan, Doctor Fate, and the Spectre define the Darkness as being evil, in direct opposition to God, and it leaves them unable to continue.

As their forces dwindle and a direct attack proves useless, Swamp Thing enters its clutches willingly.  The Parliament of Trees had given him something to think about regarding the nature of evil, and in his discussion with the Darkness, Swamp Thing helps to redefine evil as a concept, and its connection with good.

It's then revealed that what they've been fighting this whole time, what they've been struggling to beat, has been little more than the Darkness's pinky finger or thumb.  A giant golden hand reaches down from Heaven to hold back the Darkness, and the result of viewing this drives Mento insane.

In the aftermath, nothing seems to change, though Swamp Thing's view of good and evil being defined by each other seems to be reflected in the world around them to some extent.  I'm not sure if it's meant to be reflective (or possibly prophetic) of the development of DC, or if it's just a coincidence; after Crisis on Infinite Earths, heroes wouldn't be quite as clean-cut as they once were, while card-carrying villains like Lex Luthor (who viewed Atilla the Hun and Al Capone as his greatest heroes pre-Crisis) would develop a veneer of respectability as a seemingly legitimate businessman.

Upon returning to Earth, Swamp Thing discovers that months have passed.  Abby has been charged as a criminal under the laws that would normally be used to prosecute people who had intimate relations with farm animals, and she fled Louisiana for Gotham.

However, the law catches up to her in the form of Harvey Bullock; Rick Veitch seems determined to draw him as disgustingly as possible.  Harvey has to return her to Louisiana, though a member of a secret government organization known as D.D.I. wants to use Abby to get to Swamp Thing.

Commissioner Gordon is reluctant to help, so the D.D.I. spends one million dollars for a ten minute consultation with someone who has a long history of finding ways to kill the unkillable.

Meanwhile, Abby is taken to the court, where surprisingly, seeming to be crazy and talking to plants doesn't get her any leniency. (it works for most of Batman's rogues gallery)  However, it does allow Swamp Thing to track her down - he gives them one hour to let her go before setting nature loose on Gotham.

Naturally, this gets the attention of someone who's very opposed to this course of action.  He is vengeance!  He is the night!  He is wildly unprepared for what's to come.

Issue 53 is an extra-long all-out brawl between Batman and Swamp Thing; the issue is 40 pages long, making it even longer than the milestone issue 50 that focused on the battle with Darkness.  As Gotham becomes overgrown with plant life, Batman comes face to face with Swamp Thing, ready to end this.

It doesn't go as well as he hopes.

Under some writers, this could be seen as heavily pushing their character at the expense of the company's established heroes.  However, despite everyone's beliefs to the contrary, Swamp Thing is not invincible; in the span of a little over nine minutes, Lex Luthor gives the D.D.I. a plan to kill Swamp Thing.

Meanwhile, upon discovering why Abby Arcane (now known as Abby Cable or Abby Holland; she's still legally married to the man that Anton Arcane possessed, but her and Swamp Thing consider each other to be their spouse) has been arrested, Batman manages to convince the mayor to make a phone call to Washington to have the charges dropped.  If Abby can be charged for having a relationship with someone outside of her species, then that means that a large amount of superheroes would have to be charged as well.

As Abby reunites with Swamp Thing on the court steps, a free woman, Luthor's plan is put into action.  With ruthless efficiency, Swamp Thing is supposedly killed, ending the issue.

I would have gladly kept going with this story, but by the time that I finished issue 53, it was getting late. (issues 50 and 53 being at least twice as long as normal likely had an impact as well)  Issue 50 felt like this huge natural culmination of everything that came before it, and the Gotham City storyline was a great incorporation of the broader DC universe, even if I felt like there was at least one missed opportunity in there. (Swamp Thing senses someone who's connected to the Green in Arkham Asylum - I thought it would be Poison Ivy, but it was Jason Woodrue, though I'm not sure at what point Poison Ivy shifted from being a seductive woman with a plant gimmick to having more plant-like qualities)

Still, it worked well to show Swamp Thing let loose and have his greatest triumph to date before his apparent downfall and demise, along with paying off what the Parliament of Trees had told him earlier about not acting in anger. With eleven more issues to go in Alan Moore's run on Swamp Thing, there's clearly more to this story, and I can't wait to see how it's resolved.