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
Swamp Thing Series 1 #10
| Story Title | Pub. Date |
"The Man Who
Would Not Die" | May-June 1974 |
| |
| Writer | Artist |
| Len Wein | Bernie Wrightson |
| |
| Cover | Editor |
| Bernie Wrightson | Joe Orlando |
|
|
 |
|
| |
| Chronological Breakdown |
| • c. 1860 to 1864: Louisiana plantation owner Samson Parminter, a cruel man with a tendency to beat his slaves, takes a liking to a pretty slave named Elsbeth DeLuvian. When she refuses his advances, he orders her torn limb from limb. Her fiancé, a mountain of a man named Black Jubal, stands up to Parminter for killing her, and for that is burned to death. Before dying, Jubal vows to return and exact revenge. Parminter laughs and punishes the other slaves to teach them a lesson. However, the slaves later hear inhuman screams and find Parminter torn limb from limb. Most of the surviving slaves run off, leaving the plantation to crumble into ruin. |
| |
| • Late 1973: After being kicked out a castle window by the Swamp Thing [in issue #2], Anton Arcane nearly dies. However, his chief Un-Man, Cranius, orders the other Un-Men to carry his body to a secret laboratory and build their master a synthetic form from a supply of component parts kept for just such an emergency. Arcane survives, but without his guidance, the results of the operation are grotesque. Preferring not to stay in such a cumbersome form forever, Arcane and his Un-Men swim the Atlantic Ocean (their synthetic forms requiring neither food nor rest) in search of the Swamp Thing. |
| |
| • Early 1974: "Hunk" Dorry, a chain gang fugitive, evades police bloodhounds in the Louisiana swamp. Spying an old woman, Elsbeth "Auntie" DeLuvian, he tries to kill her for her food. Swamp Thing intercedes, and Dorry falls over dead, riddled with bullets. The old woman tells him the tale of Black Jubal. Realizing he's being watched, he pursues two hideous creatures to a nearby cemetary, coming face-to-face with Arcane, Cranius and five Un-Men. Having tracked Swamp Thing from the Balkans, Arcane has come to take his form once more. The two monsters face off, and though Arcane is the victor, his boastful plans to use Swamp Thing's body to enslave the world awaken the spirits of Jubal and other slaves. Jubal puts Swamp Thing to sleep, sparing him the horror as the slaves exact vengeance upon Arcane's party for the sins of the past. The next morning, Swamp Thing awakens to find seven new gravestones in the cemetary. On one is the name "Arcane." He looks for Auntie DeLuvian, but in her place is a grave displaying her name as well. Failing to convince himself it was all a dream, Swamp Thing lumbers back into the swamp, unaware of several huge worm-like creatures in the brush. |
| |
| Trivia |
| • This issue marks the departure of series artist and co-creator Bernie Wrightson. |
| |
| Reprints and Collections |
 | |  |
|  | | |
|
DC Special Series #20—
The Original Swamp
Thing Saga | | Roots of the
Swamp Thing #5 | | Swamp Thing
Series 2 Issue #18 | | |
| |
 | |  | |  | | |
|
Swamp Thing:
Dark Genesis | | Swamp Thing:
Dark Genesis | | The Secret the
Swamp Thing | | |
|
|
|
|
|
![[Valid RSS]](../images/valid-rss.jpg "Add my RSS feed")
