Roots Of The Swamp Thing: Swamp Thing, Hellblazer, The Un-Men And More—In the Swamplight: Swamp Thing Vol. 1 #17

Roots of the Swamp Thing: Your Portal to the Universe of Swamp Thing, The Un-Men and John Constantine: Hellblazer

• Part 1: Before Year 1
• Part 2: Year 1 to 1899
• Part 3: 1900 to 1969
• Part 4: 1970 to 1979
• Part 5: 1980 to 1984
• Part 6: 1985 to 1988
• Part 7: 1989 to 1991
• Part 8: 1992 to 1994
• Part 9: 1995 to 1999
• Part 10: 2000 to Present

Born on the Bayou
A history and introduction

Creature Features
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Cover Gallery
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In the Swamplight
Issue-by-issue breakdowns

Elemental Lineage
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Portrait of a swamp-nerd

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In the Swamplight
Swamp Thing Series 1 #17

Story Title	Pub. Date
"The Destiny Machine"	July 1975

Writer	Artist
David Michelinie	Nestor Redondo

Cover	Editor
Nestor Redondo	Joe Orlando


Chronological Breakdown
• Between June and December 1974: Dr. Pretorius, an assistant to Nathan Ellery, discovers E-waves, a type of energy emitted by humans with strong leadership abilities; those who emit E-waves lead, while those who don't follow those who do. Using this knowledge, he builds an ultra-cerebralociter to scramble the brains of those emitting E-waves, turning their minds to mush.

• 1975: Cameras track Swamp Thing, Matt Cable and Abby Arcane as they approach Sanobel Mission. Swamp Thing trips Trap #34, causing a multi-tentacled robot to attack, but he destroys it before it can do any harm. A guard named Bogen captures Matt and Abby and brings them to Ellery, who broadcasts images of them into the jungle to lure Swamp Thing. Ellery no longer wishes to extract the secret of the Holland formula; now, he simply wants revenge. His world-domination plans will instead be carried out with Dr. Pretorius' ultra-cerebralociter. Though not the criminal type, Pretorius follows Ellery out of fear that humanity will kill itself off if not united under one man. Evading another of Ellery's traps, Swamp Thing heads for the mission, where he fights a pack of robotic wolves guarding the entrance. Bursting into the workroom, he picks up Ellery's wheelchair and slams him into a wall, nearly killing him, then frees the others. Pretorius rushes to Ellery's side but fails to notice a live electrical wire that contacts Ellery's chair and burns him to a crisp, leaving Pretorius alone and helpless as the wolves arrive. Matt flies the others out in a helicopter, but before he can make it to Miami International Airport, the chopper runs out of gas and crashes down in south Florida.


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