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 #19
| Story Title | Pub. Date |
| "A Second Time to Die" | Oct. 1975 |
| |
| Writer | Artist |
| Gerry Conway | Nestor Redondo |
| |
| Cover | Editor |
| Nestor Redondo | Joe Orlando |
|
|
 |
|
| |
| Chronological Breakdown |
| • 1840s: White men push the Seminole Indians out of Florida, to the Western frontier, where many die. Ho'tah Makanaw remains behind to guard the Grotto of Eternal Youth. |
| |
| • Late 1973: Unbeknownst to Swamp Thing, the regeneration of his arm in Divinity, Maine [following its severance in issue #5], is a two-way road. His discarded arm, thrown from a cliff, grows a new body over the course of several days. Mindless and child-like, the Swamp Thing duplicate wanders for twenty-four months, across the continent and back, in search of his "better half," drawn to him by a homing instinct but always one step behind. |
| |
| • 1975: In Benson's Swamp, Florida, Swamp Thing's mindless duplicate startles Ho'tah Makanaw, who fires an arrow at him in fear. When the creature steps in quicksand and looks around in child-like panic, Ho'tah regrets his error and helps pull it to safety. No words are spoken, but a friendship forms. The next day, Matt Cable, Abby Arcane and Jefferson Bolt eat at Sloan's Diner in nearby Gatorberg, Swamp Thing's last known appearance. Young Junior Sloan says he's seen a creature in Benson's Swamp, but his father Burton hits him for lying. Ignoring the mocking of Earl Hobart's motorcycle gang, Junior offers to show them the spot. Meanwhile, the real Swamp Thing overlooks a cliffside pit of lime, contemplating ending his life in the plant-dissolving mineral. A homing instinct from his duplicate draws him away from the pit and past a government excavation site. His presence scares Foreman Frank Halston and a bulldozer driver, Smith. As he continues to seek out his duplicate, the workers go to Sloan's to report what they've seen. Matt and Bolt visit Ho'tah's cabin, but he denies seeing anything. After they leave, Ho'tah tells Junior the truth and reveals another secret: Thanks to the Grotto of Eternal Youth, Ho'tah is almost 200 years old. |
| |
| Trivia |
| • This issue marks the debut of Swamp Thing's third (albeit brief) writer, Gerry Conway, who alternates with David Michelinie for the few remaining issues of Series 1. Conway was Len Wein's roommate when the latter created Swamp Thing, and is himself one of the creators of Marvel's similarly themed series, Man-Thing, which hit stands at approximately the same time. Both authors maintain that this was purely coincidental. |
| |
| • This issue and #20 were intended to be published together as a double-sized issue entitled Swamp Thing Giant. When that project was cancelled (along with all of DC's 50-cent Giants), the story was split between two issues. |
| |
| • It's unclear why Swamp Thing's discarded arm would grow a new body, as none of his future discarded body parts (limbs, husks, etc.) behave this way. |
| |
| Cover Variations |
|
| None |
| |
| Other Collections |
|
| None |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
![[Valid RSS]](../images/valid-rss.jpg "Add my RSS feed")
