Journey across the swamp lands once more. Covering Doug Wheeler’s issues #94-109, and Nancy A. Collins’ issues #110-138.
Past Pasko, past Moore, past Veitch, we find ourselves with new writer Doug Wheeler. His run actually started on issue #88, but you can check out Part 5 for a full explanation as to where he came from, and why he started writing Swamp Thing. Perhaps I was too harsh on him when I previously spoke of his writing. I was pretty frustrated with his deep contrast in writing compared to Veitch. Still, I don’t regret what I said. To summarize, I mainly find his writing to be dull and sluggish. Having some time to think about it, I can see the pressure he was in, as he was thrusted into this position of writing a comic. He maybe had two months to prepare, and even then I can only really guess he read Veitch’s run to find a way to conclude his story, which in all fairness he did, while simultaneously introducing a larger threat, first introduced in the fourth annual. I can’t be certain, but I’d like to think in his spare time he went back to read the remainder of the series. I say this, because I see a lot of similarities to his stories to previous stories. Specifically Moore’s run. And while I did find his previous writing to be dull, he certainly does hit his apex and stride in the next handful of issues, before ultimately declining once more as he concludes his story arc, “Quest for the Elementals”. Let’s take a look at what else Wheeler has to offer us.
Wheeler has a total of 4 main story arcs. The first is the conclusion of Veitch’s time travel arc, that we discussed in part 5. Then there’s life with Tefé, which leads to a journey into Hell and the aftermath of Tefé’s soul being loose, and finally, the Quest for the Elementals arc, concluding his run. Starting right off with issue #94, it’s mainly a filler issue. There’s a good reference to the Swamp Thing movies, but overall if you’re looking to skip an issue in the bunch, this is certainly it. Wheeler tries to create a new urban legend kind of enemy for Swamp Thing. And while I mentioned before I don’t mind the monster-of-the-month format for the series, this certainly didn’t stick with me, nor did I at all care about the events in the issue. I found myself sighing, wondering if this was all Wheeler had to offer. The art was really inconsistent a number of times, the script was bad, the story was dull, and I had grown tired of it. With issue #95 however, I found renewed hope. Starting with the odd cover, by none other than John Totleben. This issue felt like a massive improvement over the previous. The plot could have been really interesting, and I question why Wheeler limited himself. Basically, Swamp Thing’s tubbers have been taking root and turning into…mini-Swamp Things. Swamp Thing having been all over the world, leaving these tubbers behind everywhere, would have made a pretty interesting story in itself about these mutated Swamp Things. It turns out only those nearby actually grow and develop and there’s a plot point about humanity polluting the Earth and how evil they are towards the environment. For the same reason Superman won’t solve the world’s problems, Swamp Thing will not simply remove all the pollution, or eradicate all humans. At a glance, this looks like Wheeler trying to answer that simple question. However as a whole, it fits in nicely with his grand story about humans and pollution (their evil nature), elementals and Tefé being the key to changing everything. There’s also a side story here where Chester becomes injured in defending the environment with his group. Although honestly, it feels more like a way to distance both Liz and Chester from the main Swamp Thing plot.
Issue #96 begins the next story arc, which I’ll call Tefé in Hell. I enjoy the little interactions with Tefé’s parents being playful and cute with Tefé, however a game of peek-a-boo turns dire, when Swamp Thing enters the Green, and Tefé curiously wonders where he left to. Using her powers, she abandons her fleshly corpse, and accidently makes her way into Hell, leaving Abby in shambles. Much like in Moore’s run, Swamp Thing must once again venture into Hell to save one he loves. I mentioned how Wheeler probably read Moore’s run here, because in Hell he comes across Bartle. Who you might ask? You know, Bartle! The adorable little critter from the comic strip “Pog” all the way back from issue #32. I’m sure you remember it, I found it quite boring myself. Why is he in Hell? Well he’s not in Hell per say…but he’s a spirit in the spirit realm, where it’s later explained it’s fashioned differently for each of it’s residents. Issue #97 continues their quest, and come across the spirits of Abin Sur (the Green Lantern from Hal Jordan’s origin story, and later known as Sinestro’s teacher and best friend), and Kel Gland from Invasion! There’s an explanation here, how because of the Invasion, numerous aliens have died on Earth, and thus have gone to Hell, altering the appearance from before (see above). In Hell, we also see Anton Arcane(!) rising the ranks of demon! Other familiar faces are Nergal, the demon that possessed Constantine, while Swamp Thing used his body to consummate with Abby to create Tefé. Which, Swamp Thing finally learns about, and isn’t too happy. Major respect once again to the art team. Totleben’s cover’s, especially here look amazingly epic. They look grim and bleak, evil and majestic. Powerful. Pat Broderick does amazing work with Alcala, as they create an absolutely disgusting Hell, and grotesquely repugnant demons such as Beelzebub, Agony and Ecstasy. There’s also Arcane who looks horribly frightening, yet pathetic.
Issue #98 continues the saga, if I can get past the cover art. Even if you have absolutely no intention of reading Wheeler’s art, even if you don’t even like Swamp Thing, check out the cover art for these issues. It’s brilliant and the best kind of disturbing. The writing of Wheeler does not do it justice. Although again, this really is his high point on his entire run. Basically, Nergal has Tefé, and Swamp Thing and company storm the gates to get her back. In a moment of an odd weakness, Arcane reveals to Bartle how to set Tefé free, all to spite Nergal who is preventing him from ranking up into a higher demon. Unfortunately for all of them, Tefé is connected to…pretty much the entire demonic city. Which means if she’s not a part of it, it all collapses. And it does. Swamp Thing’s companions return to their peaceful afterlives, and Swamp Thing returns to the swamps. With sadly no knowledge how to get Tefé back into her body. Much like Constantine will later say, it’s quite like dealing with the Sprout once more, with Tefé’s spirit being free. Issue #99 continues the streak of beautiful cover art. I just cannot stop talking about it. Totleben was amazing in Moore’ run, and he’s only improved since then. It’s amazing and morbid. Where to even begin. These issues are the direct aftermath of Tefé in Hell, but can also be seen as a prelude to the Quest for Elementals. If you want to be really technical, this can be seen as another story arc, I’ll call “A Gray Area”. Swamp Thing visits Constantine for help on getting Tefé back into her body. Meanwhile after the destruction of Nergal’s city in Hell, a being has been released, a familiar name known as Matango. There’s a shaman from earlier in the series that once again warns Swamp Thing and Abby to leave the swamps for safety. Swamp Thing leaves on a quest to find a way to give Tefé the gift of speech through an item the Parliament of Trees know more about.
Issue #100 has an odd pacing, going back and forth between time, and between Swamp Thing and Abby. It’s a little confusing knowing what’s going on when. I’ve seen some annoyance among fans about this next part, but I personally thought it was rather creative on Wheeler’s part. Much like Veitch, Wheeler expands the mythos of the Parliament by creating two groups, the Inner and Outer. The Inner is composed of the first 13 elementals, including Tuuru, Eyam and Yggdrasil. The Inner basically cut off contact with the other elementals after the 13th member, and kept all of Swamp Thing’s time travel information a secret (more on that later), and the Outer Parliament began shortly after. With Swamp Thing back, and the timeline fixed, the Inner shares its knowledge with the Outer, and everything makes sense to the Parliament as a whole. Yggdrasil reveals the Parliament originated in Eden, but was exiled to Brazil much later. He also reveals how Swamp Thing must go back into Eden, now Antarctica, to find the fountain her seeks, to help Tefé and to help Eyam. We get to see a lot of really amazing scenes, such as Swamp Thing fight off some Angels, who look like anything but what you would imagine an angle to look like. Yggdrasil also gives Swamp Thing a glimpse at his enemy. Swamp Thing has encountered Matango before, but now he will know his origins, and his power. Matango is an agent of “The Grey”, similar to Swamp Thing being the champion of “The Green”. The difference is the Grey rules over mold and fungus. Issue #101 really slows down the plot. Meanwhile the extra sized issue #100 was going on, this is basically happening at the same time. It’s a story about Tefé’s spirit flying away from Abby, and possessing a wooden toy, and eventually returning, thanks to a spell cast by the shaman. All these issues thus far have turned Abby into a worrying mother, which is understandable, but annoying. She keeps mentioning how she should have faith everything’s going to be okay, as it’s always been, but there isn’t much evidence to show she’s exercising such faith.
Issue #102 is basically the ceremony for returning Tefé back to her body. The plan is the shaman will reconstruct her corpse a new, and place her spirit into it. However, Matango and his forces attack, all the while a large hurricane is just around the corner. In the end, Matango’s influence makes contact with Tefé’s new body, which causes them to destroy the body, to free it from the impurity. It’s worth mentioning how much distaste and anger Abby has towards the Parliament of Trees, and doesn’t want Tefé anywhere near them. Which is why they haven’t brought her to them for help. Issue #103, is where Abby finally agrees to have Swamp Thing take Tefé to the Parliament. Matango sends Alan Hallman after Tefé and Swamp Thing as they’re inside the Green, while Matango attacks Abby and friend (the friend honestly isn’t too important, other than one magic spell she casts that destroys Matango’s current body at the end of this issue). Alan Hallman appears to be similar to Swamp Thing, but covered in fungus. He was once the avatar of the Green, and now is part of the Grey. Swamp Thing attempts to fly to the stars (although it’s never made too clear his plan) to escape, but is unable to do so. Tefé and Swamp Thing manage to escape (it’s also not made clear how this is done. A careful study of the two panels, and looking it up online, suggest Swamp Thing drew power from Tefé and used that to escape.) and reunite with Abby, just as Abby’s friend (okay she’s not really her friend, I just forget her name) casts her spell. Issue #104 officially starts the Quest for the Elementals story arc. Again, while Wheeler had some good things going, this is where it starts to go downhill, but at least the cover art is still amazing! Every single part of this story arc has breath taking cover art. It’s so intricate and filled with details and color. That’s the work of Ian Miller for you, with Mike Hoffman and Bill Jaaka doing pencils and inks. The art again is pretty solid and epic, unlike the story. This first issue has the family talking to the Inner Parliament about everything. There’s a revelation here that explains some contractions I pointed out in Veitch’s run. Since Swamp Thing went back in time and created the Parliament with three seeds and three plants, they influenced a lot of events that eventually ensured Swamp Thing’s creation, and ultimately Tefé’s birth, who again, would bridge humans and plants. Such influence includes Holland never understanding the bio-restorative formula, and the Parliament influencing his interest in plants to begin with. Even when Swamp Thing went off into space, they knew he was alive and would return. In a way it’s interesting, but in another way, it takes a lot from Moore’s run and Veitch’s run. Everything that seemed serendipitous, or a work of Swamp Thing evolving, or even Abby’s love to Swamp Thing, was all planned and influenced by the Parliament. On top of this, they mention how Matango was the 13th member of the Parliament. The Grey itself comes from another planet, now destroyed and found it’s way to Earth. It’s suggested that a part of this dead planet is what came to Earth and wiped out the Dinosaurs. The Gray is a collective conscious, and Matango being the current avatar, merged with it to be its champion, secretly hoping to create his own Parliament, one more powerful. He used Tuuru’s seeds and tempted mankind with them, in hopes to unleash their destructive powers, which he succeeded in doing. Matango having the form of a lizard or serpent, would suggest this was actually the story of Adam and Eve, the temptation of the forbidden fruit, and the evil serpent, within the Garden of Eden, which is where the Parliament originally resided. With this, the weaker three wise men story told much earlier, and the use of angles in issue #100, i’m surprised this was approved, but not Veitch’s use of Jesus in issue #88. Granted years have passed with this issue having a cover date of 1991. Regardless, it feels wrong. The Parliament created the Ice Age to separate the old age of man from the new, but in doing so forced them to migrate to Brazil. During their migration, many of their members were lost, possibly to the Grey. Swamp Thing believes they should fight off the Grey, but the Parliament disagrees. Swamp Thing then sets out to find and rescue the lost members and go against the Grey, and thus we have our quest.
in Issue #105, Swamp Thing goes into to search for Canan Kax, who was lost in Mexico. Meanwhile, more importantly, Abby and Tefé (who by the way has now recreated her body and is back to normal with the help of the Parliament), leave the safety of the Parliament outside, where they are attacked by ranchers. They effectively “kill” Abby, and Tefé retaliates, by killing every living thing in the area, and then reconstructs her mother’s body. Issue #106 takes place six weeks after these events, with the Gray growing stronger, and Abby becoming frightened of the now one year old, Tefé. Swamp Thing eventually leaves once again and finds Ohtehrah, a neutral of the Grey and Green, however he reveals many of the Grey’s secrets to Swamp Thing. Including Yggdrasil’s grey side is actually a part of the Grey, and thus it knows what the Green knows. He also reveals that the Grey is still a collective conscious, and Matango is not the ruler or master, he simply contains the willpower to use the power. He also traps previous Green avatars and possess them, such as Hallman seen earlier. I can’t say I don’t find the story itself interesting, it’s the writing that makes it difficult to enjoy. Wheeler is possibly to clever for his own good. While he has an explanation in mind for something, he explains it a couple of times throughout a few issues. It isn’t to remind the reader, but more to explain it a little differently so that we understand it. It takes a while to really understand what’s going on and why, and that adds to it being kind of boring. If this final arc was half as long, I think it would have Wheeler leaving on a creative high note, and he should be proud of his work. Instead, the longer this final story arc goes, the more it feels like it is dragging on. Still the things he suggests and brings to the table are fascinating, and I admit, is a fresh story from simply monster-of-the-month that I originally thought this would be.
Issue #107 for example doesn’t reveal anything new. Matango has Swamp Thing and others trapped under the water, their foe being … fish. You have to read it to believe it. Abby becomes compromised by Yggdrasil’s gray side, and the Inner Parliament discover they have a “spy” among them. Again, nothing we didn’t already know and learn. Issue #108 also doesn’t offer much. Ohtehrah is directly captured by Matango and see’s he is weakening by possessing so many old avatars at once. Swamp Thing escapes, and Yggdrasil reveals he always isolated and ignored his Gray side, never knowing it was connected to the Gray. Swamp Thing uses this knowledge and leads an assault to the Grey with several avatar’s he has freed. This is it, the grand finale! Issue #109, which honestly again this story could’ve ended a couple of issues ago, has Swamp Thing finding Abby and Tefé within the Gray. The stage is set and battle is about to begin. Swamp Thing and his small army against Matango. The Gray has grown stronger because of all the possessions, but almost ironically, Matango has grown weaker because of it. Ultimately, Swamp Thing discovers the skins of the old avatars lying around. Matango is unable to fully destroy them as long as the Green stands. Using a sneak attack, Swamp Thing force feeds Matango his old skin (a connection to the green) and this cuts his ties to the Grey. Ohtehrah steps up to become the new champion of the Grey, but creates an arrangement that the Gray will only rise to power if the Green and humans folly. Ohtehrah hopes Tefé and the future of the Green will prevent that from happening, and he traps Matango in…actually I wasn’t too sure how he trapped him. Something about his own prison of dreams, I didn’t quite follow how that functions. Now free of Matango, the Grey is much more peaceful and docile than before, and some Green avatars chose to stay with the Grey to understand and study it further. Yggdrasil becoming sort of an ambassador or bridge between the Grey and the Green, and Tuuru becoming the new leader. With the war on the Grey over, Wheeler departs from the series. Although not without a small cameo: Shining Knight.
It’s strange, I didn’t think i’d see him again in this series, especially under Wheeler’s writing. Alas, he has spent 20 years searching for Swamp Thing like he promised Abby…oops. He doesn’t appear to be mad though, and actually they ask him to hide the grey cup. I think this entire scene was a homage to Veitch. Kind of Wheeler’s way of saying “sorry I couldn’t do what he wanted to do, but I respect his work, and I did my best to fill in his shoes and carry on.” Even Abby’s final line about moving on to new adventures kind of feels like Wheeler telling everyone to move on about Veitch. It’s over, the drama happened, it’s done. I wonder if he was getting many dozens of fan mail complaining about that whole thing. I would love for Wheeler to discuss this further. Hopefully if they ever release his twenty some issues into a collected edition, he can discuss it some more. And with that, we’re done with Wheeler. I’ll iterate once more how Wheeler really impressed me with some issues, but sadly fell short the longer he kept his final story arc going. His stories were at least creative, and at least he did try. I wouldn’t consider his run as bad, simply a bit too boring, and a little too wordy, but not more so than Pasko’s run. It was imaginative, and it lacked a lot of the poetry Moore and Veitch had. Overall it’s a pretty decent run, and I don’t think it deserves the bad reputation it gets. I’ve said it many times, yes it is boring, but it’s not the worst Swamp Thing run. The art certainly elevates it. From Totleben’s fantastic covers, to the dark inks and colors, to the heavy shades, the art team for Wheeler’s run is amazing. Perhaps they tell a better story than Wheeler does. Wheeler never really did anything else outside of this, and he’s most known for this work because of the Veitch drama that happened over issue #88. I wonder why he never wrote again, because I feel if he kept writing, he could have been really great. Sure there was that messy part about Swamp Thing’s life up to this point being set up for him, but it’s still imaginative and creative. That’s about all I have to say about Wheeler. Onward to new adventures, starting with the 6th Annual.
I know I haven’t said anything about the 5th Annual yet, but I’ll get back to that eventually. Going back to the 6th Annual, it’s a good way to transition from one writer to another. I’m lead to believe through online research, that Wheeler’s run pushed away readers, and the title was once again at an all time low. The only reason it wasn’t canceled, was because of the on going Swamp Thing tv show happening at the time. That’s when horror writer Nancy A. Collins stepped in to try something new with the series. I can’t say I’ve ever read anything else by her, but she has quite the history with her novels, and a few comics that came after Swamp Thing. Do I even have to point the obvious fact that she is the first woman to write Swamp Thing? Anyhow, Annual #6 is kind of a mixed bag. The art can be pleasing and rich in light colors, and then dark and filled with shadows. Sometimes the facial expressions look really odd and lazy, while other times it’s refreshing to see characters like Abby and Tefé actually look lively and happy. Speaking of characters, Chester and Liz make a return. Immediately, Collins shakes up the supporting cast with a sudden twist to Liz. She reveals that Liz is gay, and she’s struggling with how to reveal the news to Chester, who still sees themselves as lovers. The other story, I can’t say is very original. It deals with a series of horrible murders on a bridge by the bayou, and it creating a monster composed of those died, who returns to seek vengeance. Although uninteresting, the murders themselves, and the acts before them are pretty graphic and horrifying. I’ve read the Collins’ main goal was to root Swamp Thing back into a more modern, urban legend sort of story telling. In other words, dealing with horrible scum who are more monsters than anything else. There also seems to be a plot point about everyone confusing just any monster from the swamp with Swampy. A fair judgement, but the two monsters seem completely different. The bayou vengeance monster has faces and body parts of the victims kind of thrown and messed together, visible and at times recognizable to others; while Swamp Thing…is a man of plants. In the end the monster escapes and Swamp Thing decides to leave the city again.
The story continues in #110, which is more of a follow up to the annual. The plot feels more like a Hellblazer story, revolving around a priest who is in search of one without sin. It all kind of just ends with Swamp Thing encountering him, and him killing himself. It’s unnerving, and like the annual, a somber reminder that this is likely to happen, and has sadly already happened, somewhere in the world. The follow ups to the previous issue include Swamp Thing wanting to flee or he’ll be mistaken for the monster again, Chester asking for advice with Liz, and Abby talking about new nightmares she’s been having about Tefé. Issue #111 seems to just be a series of ghost tales, but the ending reveals there’s a little more than meets the eye, and possibly connects with what Swampy has been seeing often, a pirate ship. That’s another thing about this series so far, a lot happens that is left extremely confusing, and left unexplained. In the last issue for example, Swamp Thing thanks Tefé for helping him save someone, and Abby asks what he meant. But we’re never shown or explained what exactly happened. It’s a little annoying, and makes for a messy form of storytelling. I’ve done some research, and I believe (though I could be wrong) that these stories are based from numerous tales Collins heard herself, living from New Orleans for 10 years. Which also explains the details of the swamps, the cajuns, the language (the slang), and the festivities such as Mardi Gras, which is shown in a later issue. Some of the tales are also from author Robert Tallant, as seen most obviously in the book “Gumbo Ya-Ya: A Collection of Louisiana Folk Tales”. Sound familiar? The character Ya Ya himself is based around a real person, who was alive around the 1920’s or so. Though full research on him proves difficult. Having this authentic aura of the city life adds a lot to the series, and is enjoyable. Collins herself being the only Swamp Thing writer who lived in the swamplands and anywhere near this kind of location. Issue #112 is the final follow up to what’s going on with Liz. She decides to leave to Portland with her lover, and says goodbye to Chester. There’s a really nice moment where Swamp Thing meets with her in the form of a flower she took, and they talk a little bit about their early adventures. If there’s anything Collins does right and well, is further establishing and showing the friendship between all these characters. The other part of the plot, is the almost satirical political game to have Swamp Thing run for governor. It’s a neat idea that goes into the next issue as well, but one I quickly lost interest in, especially knowing it will never happen (and it doesn’t). The best part about the issue is how a local who hates Swamp Thing, believing it was him who took his hand, arrives with a gun attached to his wrist. Think Evil Dead-esque humor here.
Issue #114 contains the long hinted ghost pirate story, featuring Constantine! Who now suddenly speaks, or is written to speak in an English accent. With words such as “innit”. Sometimes he speaks “normally”, but it’s really distracting and ruins the flow of the story to try and decipher what he’s saying. I’ve never had an issue understanding Constantine before, and suddenly I do. From what I understand (and you have to understand this might not be fully accurate), but it’s my understanding editorial did not want Collins to use Constantine or write him, because she was not English (even though she actually is), and so I can assume she wrote his dialogue like this, in order to prove that she knows the mind of a ‘Brit better than others would think. Regardless, it’s a little annoying, but as always, he arrive to discuss more about future matters with Swamp Thing. As Abby and Tefé get taken as prisoners, Constantine enlightens Swamp Thing about this demonic, ghost wizard pirate, who he suggests is an ancestor of his. Of all Swamp Thing stories, I never would have thought Swamp Thing would go from governor candidate, to fighting demonic wizard ghost pirates. And perhaps this is just me, but hasn’t Swamp Thing evolved into something much more than just an Elemental? He’s a green god who’s dealt with this sort of thing before. You’d think with all this new power and might, he could just defeat these pirates no problem. Issue #115 kind of answers this. Eventually Swamp Thing does shut him down rather effortlessly. It might go without saying, but so far I find myself being attached with Collins’ run thus far. Nothing sticks or latches, nothing feels original, nothing feels overly creative. Most of Wheeler’s run was better than what I’m currently reading. And yet it’s not bad either. It’s just not entertaining, and it’s not “fun”. It feels stale instead of fresh, and it lacks the poetic writing Moore and Veitch had. Nothing really stands out, beside some supporting characters development, but I find myself really not caring about most of these two parters. I’ve also seen some parallels to Disney’s “Pirates of the Caribbean”, which I’ve heard annoyed Collins, but nothing was ever formed from it. There is a small back up or sorts in issue #115 about a Swamp Santa Clause, so if you ever wanted to see that, well there you go.
Dick Foreman writes issue #116 (and a few other “filler” issues), with a cover that looks so realistic, it’s more frightening than anything Collins has written yet. This is one of those issues that doesn’t exactly have Swamp Thing in it, but shows sort of the direct effects he has on people. The story itself is crowded with what I want to call more “pretty words”, but after a while, those words become kind of sloppy. It’s hard to explain, but an over use of these pretty sounding words begin to drag on. And on an issue that’s basically a one-shot that doesn’t feature the titular character? It really hurts the issue. Issue #117 is a better change of pace, not just from the previous issue, but in general. The plot is kind of difficult to understand, because well…there’s hardly a plot. It’s a rare instance where there is no horror in this issue. There is no villain or evil. There is simply bliss and joy. It’s just a group of “monsters” or beasts, or whatever you wish to call them, having fun among the humans and everyone else. It’s a refreshing change of pace, but by far anything groundbreaking. Issue #118 is the best issue so far. We start off by seeing a group of familiar faces. Not from Swamp Thing, or even DC comics but the likes of which can be seen in the Wizard of Oz, or A Dr.Seuss book, or Peter Pan. We learn that Tefé is in the Dreaming, and she is greeted by a familiar bird, known only as “Matthew”. A fantastic nod to Mr.Cable and Morpheus. We also learn Tefé is now about twenty months old, or just under two years old. This issue actually interests me much more, because it feels like it’s continuing the actual story here. What I mean is, although Swamp Thing is the present Elemental and guardian, Tefé is the future, and as we’ve seen in Wheeler’s run, she’s quite powerful. Here she quite literally peels open a cat alive, and Abby becomes quite frightened. Swamp Thing dives into the Green to ask for help from Yggdrasil, only to find the Inner Parliament is closed off for the time being. The Outer hears his plea, and discuss it. What’s interesting here is we finally get to see them discussing the matter among themselves, as they select a tutor for Tefé. There’s also a plot point early on about that monster from the annual, and how now it’s just the voice of the boy inside of that thing. He eventually recalls how he died at the hands of a kidnapper, and senses him, rushing off to kill him. Of course, tying it all together a man has just taken Tefé from Abby as she was distracted in town, trying to forget about what occurred.
Going along with the theme of two-parters here, the next issues shows the bad mane is not only a kidnapper, but a crazy one at that. Having dinner with Tefé and hordes of skeletons filled with rotten flesh. Swamp Thing and the monster eventually cross paths and work together to find this guy. Swamp Thing scaring him, and the monster devouring him. Leading the monster to finally die in peace. There’s also someone who takes Tefé and shows her safe to her parents. The new tutor to Tefé: Lady Jane. Issue #120 begins oddly with Abby objecting to Lady Jane helping them in raise Tefé. It’s kind of funny to me to see Swamp Thing to force Abby to look into Lady’s past. Regardless, it’s an origin story of olden day horror. From rape, to abuse, to work labor, to having to raise children alone, to losing friends. It’s an intense, and yet realistic origin story to this poor woman’s life, that ultimately ends with her in flames, crashing into the swamp waters, emerging as the champion of the Green. Apparently there was a bit of Collins’ personal family history incorporated into this story, and also her own version of how Abby was to be an Elemental. Besides writing the first shown female Elemental, Collins learns from Alan Moore (accordingly) that at the end of his run, Abby was meant to become an Elemental of the Green. I’m not sure if this means Abby herself was to become the new Swamp Thing (if he “died” or something of the sort), or if Abby would simply evolve into this form to become a being that can properly live with Swamp Thing forever, as his companion. Think of an Adam and Eve type story. Issue #121 basically reveals the return of the Sunderland Corperation, now under the leadership of Sunderland’s Daughter. The other part of the story being Swamp Thing helping some kids (one’s who put him in the governor’s race), from Sunderland. Issue #122 has some good and some bad. The good revolves around Tefé’s training leading her to create these sort of cartoon daisies that sing. The bad being the rest of Sunderland’s plot, I really don’t care about the ongoings of that. A third part is pretty brutal and a disgusting display of humanity. Homophobes, burning crosses from a hatred of races, and a disdain for ‘hippies’ are just some of the horrible things shown in this issue, and I genuinely feel terrible for the characters of this issue, when all they try to do is help each other and others as well, and they are instead attacked and humiliated. Issue #123 is a bit of a paranoid, conspiracy theory, Sunderland attacks kind of issue. That’s the best way for me to put it, as some of Swamp Thing’s new friends die, other are forced to move away, and others are attacked. I feel like it’s a needless attempt to remind us Sunderland is a force to be reckoned with, even if it’s not a vampire, werewolf or wizard pirates.
A lot of these issues feel small and basic. There isn’t a whole lot to say about them, nothing I haven’t already said anyway. The writing is okay, nothing quite captures my attention, and the plot always seems drawn out more than it needs to be. Issue #124 continues the Sunderland train, as Swamp Thing is summoned somewhere else, under a ritual believing him to be a god to help. Basically, Sunderland has corrupted their land into a toxic death valley, and beg Swamp Thing to help restore it, which he does. There’s also some scenes at the end where Swamp Thing has a great new appearance using the corn husks. The issue ends with “Next: Arcane”, and that’s never a good sign. Issue #125, cover date November 1992 is self titled “20th Anniversary Issue”. It sounds like I speak harshly of Collins’ writing, but that is only because she does herself an injustice by writing this way. This issue is a perfect example of what the series could have been like. What she is fully capable of and her at her finest. She creates an interesting, horror story, featuring the return of Anton Arcane (although I did joke earlier about writers who do this). The plot rundown is that the leader and ruler of Hell has given up, as seen in the pages of the Sandman. As such, there’s a small window where some demons can escape from Hell. As such Arcane does so and posses Tefé, and uses her to raise a small army of undead ones. All of which are familiar faces in the Swamp Thing mythos. In the end however, Arcane is spooked off by bounty hunters of Hell, who want to take Tefé. Thankfully, the Phantom Stranger appears to cast them away. It’s a really fantastic issue, and really does feel like an horror movie, with a little child raising the dead corpses and all of Hell trying to escape. It’s issues like these that give me hope for Collins, and then the rest seem mediocre in comparison. Issue #126 is quite special, but I’m unsure why. It tells a story of an aging artist, trying to recapture what he once had. I feel it’s too clever for it’s own good, but for what it is, as a hallucinogenic issue, it’s not as well done as others.
Issue #127 has an odd position, as Abby forces Swamp Thing to promise her not to leave them. Not to be a part of the Green any longer, for fear of what Arcane might do, should he return. At the same time, Sunderland has cooked up a new kind of toxic mutant monster, that has now gone loose. Feeling it’s presence, Swamp Thing is pressured to make a choice. However, he believes he can justify defending the Green, if he splits himself into two beings, similar to his actions back in “My Blue Heaven”. Issue #128 continues with Proteus (the toxic monster) encounters Swamp Thing. There’s also a scene inbetween the two issues, where Chester tells Abby he’s leaving for New Orleans to further his education. Continuing on in the issue, Proteus and Swamp Thing fight, with Swampy eventually winning. As for the toxic contaminated area, he basically absorbs it into his being. Unfortunately, this means he cannot travel via the Green, and is forced to painfully walk home. Issue #129 has an interesting walk for Swamp Thing, as the toxic wastes go to his own mind. Swamp Thing questions himself a lot here. Is he a god? or a monster? Is he a slave to the Green? or it’s master? It all reflects the complex relationship the character has and has had throughout the years. The issue ends with the Parliament seemingly asking Swamp Thing to make a choice between being with them, and being with his family. This also marks the first time Vertigo and Swamp Thing was together, and that Vertigo even arose from titles such as this. (Others included Morrison’s Doom Patrol, Gaiman’s Sandman, and Peter Milligan’s Shade the Changing Man, not to mention Hellblazer.) As interesting as that is, issue #130 is basically the same story, with a few added bits of Sunderland, and Tefé’s plants having a battle to the death. Issue #131 tells of “The Folk” who heal Swamp Thing and return him to his glory, complete with long “hair” and spikes. A nod and Collins poking fun at the 90’s comic style. In the end, no one recognizes him, and the Swamp Thing double is seemingly the “real” one. More interesting I find, is Tefé’s ability to speak in perfect sentences. In #132, we see the duel between the two Swamp Things, and learn that the double is actually the part of Swamp Thing that loves his family. It’s great on the artists part to show such great difference between the two Swamp Things. One being a more traditional, bright green Swampy, the other a much darker green, with mossy “hair” and fearful spikes. In the end, The real Swamp Thing absorbs his double, and Abby is furious at him for what he has done. All the while there is an attempt to take Tefé away from Abby, but not before one of Tefé’s laughing smiling cartoon daisies grows into a massive monster over the swamp.
#133 introduces us to Thunder Petal, the behemoth monster of a cartoon daisy, ready to kill everything. Lady Jane also shows Swamp Thing some effects his battle with his double had, in which in the last issue we saw cameos by Poison Ivy, Black Orchid and Floro (The Floronic Man.) There’s also a more evil, demonic subplot about (Connie) Sunderland trying to resurrect her dead father. The rest of the story isn’t too engaging, featuring Swamp Thing fighting the monster, before Lady Jane reveals only Tefé can destroy him, which she does easily. There’s an ending that I enjoy, and again I find to be Collins’ great strength, which is to develop characters and their natural interactions with each other, to write of friendship and allies. As the issue ends, Abby implies she’s leaving Houma. #134 is a bit of a transitional issue, with a killer cover. We see Abby leave for New Orleans and rejecting Swamp Thing for the time being. Eventually getting a job as a waitress with a fancy outfit. Meanwhile the Sunderlands contemplate what to do next. Meanwhile, again in #135, we find Constantine has found Abby at work, which he and his friend Don learn of her separation of Swamp Thing. I mention Don, because he later comes to Abby and offers her a job, obviously bashful and infatuated with her. We see the newly returned Sunderland is actually Arcane posing as him, and he has plans of his own. Again, there’s a lot to enjoy about these issues, even if they are more “slice of life” stories. I really enjoy the dialogue and interaction scenes between the characters. Even if Don comes off too strong and too fast, and Abby too attracted, too fast. Likewise with Lady Jane and Swamp Thing. #136 opens up with Swamp Thing literally talking about his sex life, including that machine planet thing that raped him back in Moore’s run. Thank you for that reminder. As Lady Jane and Swampy “make love” across the world, Abby goes on a date with Don, and gets kidnapped by Sunderland, AKA Arcane. Don rushes to Constantine for help, who takes him to Swamp Thing in the swamp. They all discover there that something is happening with Tefé, who heartbreakingly has been neglected throughout all of this. #137 brings everything full circle. Arcane forces Swamp Thing to bring Tefé to him, in exchange for Abby. Once there, Arcane reveals he has a fetus/clone and wants Tefé to accelerate it’s growth, for Arcane to have a new body for himself. Tefé does so, and Arcane hands over Abby, who is now facially disfigured. And so this brings us to the finale of Collins’ run in #138. It’s a bit of anti-climactic issue, with Tefé ruining Arcane’s body, he jumps to posses Constantine, but is quickly found by Hell’s bounty hunters and taken away. Connie Sunderland, furious at Arcane’s ruse of her father, destroys the building. Tefé heals Abby’s face, and Constantine shows Swamp Thing that Abby as a human, can not take anymore madness and insane monsters, gods and demons he faces. She disowns Tefé and Don agrees to look after help, and provide much needed legal help in any way she needs it. Sad and alone, Swamp Thing and Tefé returns home. The tragedy doesn’t end. Swamp Thing learns that his act with Lady Jane of love is forbidden, and as such Lady Jane must return to the Parliament with Tefé, stating she belongs with the Green. In the end, Swamp Thing is left with no Abby and no Tefé.
It’s my understanding fans were furious over many of Collins’ choices, notably leaving Swamp Thing back where he started, alone. However, Collins’ reveals that when she agreed to write Swamp Thing, she had a two year contract. At the end of which, she was told by editorial she had to remove Abby and Tefé from the story entirely. In other words, Swamp Thing could not have a family, editorial wanted them out of the picture. She had complete carte blanche on how she could do this, editorial even encouraging her to kill off these characters. With that bit of context in mind, it makes sense why it was a bit rushed at the end to have these two characters leave Swamp Thing in the way they did. Collins had the opportunity to write Swamp Thing for a third year, if she also took on the Animal Man title. However, Collins decided to go a different route, and left her mark on the series as it was. Overall, I don’t despise or hate her run, but I find a lot of it questionable. As a prose novelist before this, I can understand why it is filled with so many words, even if it doesn’t further the plot. A lot of the earlier stories were two parts, and easy to follow, although they contained numerous, perhaps too many inside nods and insight at Collins’ own life in New Orleans. The art itself is pretty enjoyable, with some questionable moments, and of course, maybe the different form Swamp Thing takes in the later issues with spikes and long “hair”. The introduction of Lady Jane is certainly interesting. I enjoy the idea of having someone (a “nanny”) help guide Tefé. The idea of having her being a female elemental is also refreshing. Although I never saw Lady Jane do much, than become a plot device. We had a few scenes where she teaches Tefé, but it was never very in depth. It was “do as I do”, or something similar. I wish she played a much larger role than the nanny, but I’m glad she was added regardless. I have to give Collins kudos for adding in her run aspects of reality, such as homophobia, misogyny, racism and more. It gave the book a more grounded feel and reminded us of the modern day horrors of society and people acting as their own monsters. I also really enjoy some issues here and there, but most were dull and felt like it went on for far too long. Issues focusing on Tefé was interesting, and it adds a layer of oddity to see her grow up, a reminder of how much time is passing by. I also miss something Veitch introduced, such as Swamp Thing traveling into space, or more sci-fi based stories, where here, everything was based more in the swamp, or in Houma, which is seen much more than in previous runs, obviously again because of Collins’ decade she spend in New Orleans. Her strengths include the characters and their developments, their dialogue and scenes, but her weakness is her ability to push a story forward. Unlike other writers, I can’t exactly say there are story arcs here. There isn’t much of a connecting story line, other than the advancing plot of Swamp Thing and his family, which takes the entire run to move. In the end, I am reminisce of how Alan Moore started his run, by removing all the characters from Pasko’s run, and starting fresh. Liz is gone, Chester is gone, the Inner Parliament is preoccupied with it’s own duties and is closed off, the Outer is focused on Tefé and training her for the future with Lady Jane, Constantine running around in his own series and so on. Swamp Thing is alone, which isn’t a new concept, but something we have no really seen in quite sometime. As Collins puts it, this was her smashing the guitar on stage and walking off. Not on bad terms, but probably annoyed at editorial for all their meddling and requirements. The stage of the swamp is left in shambles and left completely open for the next writers to do what they will with the remaining pieces.
But what would be left to do? Where would Swamp Thing go? What would he do? Would his family be gone forever? Would he ever see them again? Being the creature of immense power, this green god, champion of plant life, high and mighty, what other challenges could he face that he hasn’t seen before? What things bold and new can be brought to the table? The next writer would have to be out of their mind with imagination and on a completely different plane level to bring us anything worth reading. It would take a truly talent writer to shake Swamp Thing down to it’s bloody roots, and a writer to push out the boundaries of the character, and create a status quo the likes of which we haven’t seen since Alan Moore’s run. That’s where Grant Morrison and Mark Millar step in.
COMIC BOOK HERETIC 