Thanks to Joe Bongiorno, who first dragged me kicking and screaming into the mucky mythos of Swamp Thing, and to Paul Giachetti, who created the amazing header banner.
Thanks also to reader 'Alec Holland,' whose support has been invaluable; Mike Sterling, for promoting Swamp Thing and this site; and Kevin Church, for his excellent optimization advice.
And thanks to Len Wein, Bernie Wrightson, Alan Moore, John Totelben, Stephen Bissette, Jamie Delano, Garth Ennis and all the other creators whose work inspired this site. |
|
 |
|
|
|
|
In the Swamplight
The Brave and the Bold #122
| Story Title | Pub. Date |
| "The Hour of the Beast" | Oct. 1975 |
| |
| Writer | Artist |
| Bob Haney | Jim Aparo |
| |
| Cover | Editor |
| Nestor Redondo | Joe Orlando |
|
|
 |
|
| |
| Chronological Breakdown |
| • 1975: "Part 1: Monster, Monster, Burning Bright"—Freak-show owner B.B. Riggs learns of Swamp Thing's existence and decides to capture and display him. Flushing him out of the swamps, Riggs smothers him with bio-blocking foam and takes him to Gotham City, putting him on display for money. Batman is furious at the idea, but Riggs has a permit to do so. In Washington, John Zero learns of Swamp Thing's capture and sends Storm Unit Alpha to retrieve him. Meanwhile, a small plane is downed in the storm, and Gotham is beseiged by vines gone wild. |
| |
| "Part 2: Green Grows Death"—Gotham scientists learn that the vines grow on contact with air. Commissioner James Gordon sends crop-dusters to spray them with defoliant, but the spray increases their growth. A creeper squeezes the Wayne Foundation Building. Batman swings to save a woman falling from a window, then rushes to find Swamp Thing, who is being barraged with rocks and bullets by Gotham citizens blaming him for the vines. A laser cuts him free and a Unit Alpha helicopter latches onto him with a grapple, but Batman uses his Whirlybat to free him once more. Both fall into Gotham River. He asks for Swamp Thing's help, for the city is in chaos from vines, looters and falling debris. To shame his tormentors, Swamp Thing agrees. A falling ledge nearly flattens Batman, but Swamp Thing pushes him out of the way, taking the load upon himself. |
| |
| "Part 3: Look Homeward, Hero"—Zero learns of the failure to capture Swamp Thing and orders the vines' destruction with a super-defoliant called Crimson 13. The plane that crashed into Gotham's upstate resorvior, releasing experimental bio-spores in the water, was from his agency—and Zero wants to keep that a secret. In Gotham, the vines break through the pavement, collapsing streets. Swamp Thing uproots one massive vine, but is too exhausted to tackle the rest. Batman calls for police backup and swings to Gordon's lab, where he learns that the vines are dependent on a king root; destroying that root should kill the entire colony. When Batman returns, Swamp Thing is already gone, on the run from B.B. Riggs. Batman throttles Riggs for his selfishness, then finds Swamp Thing and tracks the king root to a local playground. Zero's copters spray the area with Crimson 13, dissolving some of Swamp Thing's body, but he doesn't give up until the king root is destroyed. With Gotham safe, Batman and Riggs drive him to a swampy marsh, which rejuvenates him in full. |
| |
| Trivia |
| • Chronolgically, this issue most logically takes place between issues #18 and 19 of the first Swamp Thing series. |
| |
| • Matt Cable's solo tale in Showcase Presents... #94-96 includes a newspaper with a headline referencing Swamp Thing's appearance in Gotham. It's likely the tree-parter occurs simultaneously with or shortly after this issue, which takes place in Gotham and does not feature Matt. |
| |
| • For The Comic Treadmill's humorous take on this issue, click here. |
| |
| Cover Variations |
|
| None |
| |
| Other Collections |
|
| None |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
![[Valid RSS]](../images/valid-rss.jpg "Add my RSS feed")
