Roots Of The Swamp Thing: Swamp Thing, Hellblazer, The Un-Men And More

During a Viet Nam protest at Grosvenor Square in London, teenager John Constantine sets up Chief Inspector "Basher" Babbadge to look bad by hypnotizing him to smoke marijuana in front of the American Embassy. A network television reporter carries the story, humiliating the officer. He later recalls nothing except for speaking to one of the demonstration's stewards (Constantine in disguise). Doctors diagnose him with stress-induced memory loss, and Babbadge is asked to resign.

John Constantine, Hellblazer #1: "Hunger"

Alec Holland and Linda Olsen Ridge attend the wedding of Susan Linden and Carl Thorne.

Vertigo Secret Files & Origins-Swamp Thing

NOTE: The timeline in this issue erroneously places these events in 1977.

Underground cartoonist Johnny Dogg writes a story called Freddie Freelode and His Amazing Time Machine, published in Freaks 'N' Geeks Comics. The story features drug-culture icon Freddie journeying to the year 2000 to find that Earth has become a united free state based on the principles of free food, free love and free drugs. Obviously, that depiction is far off from how history unfolds.

Swamp Thing (Series 2) #126: "The Big Picture"

Drawn by the big-city lights, 17-year-old John Constantine relocates to London, where he remains for some time.

John Constantine, Hellblazer #44: "Dangerous Habits, Part Four—My Way"

John Constantine's smoking habit reaches a level of 30 cigarettes a day.

John Constantine, Hellblazer #43: "Dangerous Habits, Part Three—Friends in High Places"

Early 1970s A.D.

Susan Linden and Carl Thorne's marriage fails, and when she leaves him, he kills her. Phil Sylvian, who loves Susan, steals RNA and DNA from her corpse to complete his experiments on combining the plant and animal kingdoms so humans can breathe carbon dioxide and exhale oxygen. The result is Black Orchid, the first human-plant hybrid, created in Susan Linden's image.

Black Orchid, Book Three: "Yes..."

In order to fund a series of free rock festivals, John Constantine hustles bookies by wagering on the exact date of Lyndon B. Johnson's fatal heart attack (January 22, 1973). Though angry at having been bested, the bookies pay up and the rock festivals proceed as planned.

John Constantine, Hellblazer #1: "Hunger"

John Constantine discovers communal living while in a Brixton squat filled with rotten carpets and boarded windows. The situation, he later recalls, ends in tears.

John Constantine, Hellblazer #14: "The Fear Machine, Part I-Touching the Earth"

Two Hippies in England, Marj and Pete, enjoy a short-lived romance. She is a member of the Freedom Mob, he a drug dealer. They have a daughter, whom they name Mercury (Merc for short), but Marj ends the relationship soon thereafter, finding Pete boring. Ultimately, he abandons them. Ultimately, he abandons them.

John Constantine, Hellblazer #15: "The Fear Machine, Part II-Shepherd's Warning"

After his departure, Mercury never knows what became of her father.

John Constantine, Hellblazer #37: "Man's Work"

At age four, Merc rides her tricycle out in front of an oncoming car and is nearly hit. Luckily, the driver stops in time. In that moment, she understands death for the first time in her life.

John Constantine, Hellblazer #19: "The Fear Machine, Part VI-The Broken Man"

As a child, Merc meets a quiet, angry boy, a victim of child abuse, who acts out by showing his friends his excretions in the boys' bathroom. His mother, also abused, fails to hide her bruises from other mothers, who whisper about them behind her back.

John Constantine, Hellblazer #34: "The Bogeyman"

Alec Holland and Linda Olsen Ridge end their romantic relationship.

Swamp Thing (Series 4) #15: "Healing the Breach, Chapter I—The Emotional Hostage"

NOTE: This is pure conjecture, my attempt to reconcile the conflicting account of their relationship offered in issues #1-4 of series four, which has Linda seeing someone else in 1972.

Alec Holland publishes several speculative articles on his ideas for a biorestorative formula. His ideas earn the notice of the U.S. government.

Swamp Thing (Series 4) #17: "Healing the Breach, Chapter III—While Sinking"

The Swampster attacks Charley Bates in the bayou and carries off his girlfriend, Elly Mae. Sheriff Taylor calls Dr. Terry Thirteen (the Ghost-Breaker) to solve the crime. When Thirteen heads into the swamp and is caught as well, his wife convinces Taylor to find him. In the swamp, they find New Eden, a pollution-free city filled with hypnotized drones. The Swampster is actually a disguise worn by Professor Zachary Nail when outside his filtered dome. Taylor tries to arrest him, but Nail suffocates him with foilage-fungus. Among the drones is Dr. Thirteen, who breaks out of his trance when told to make a drone out of his wife. As Thirteen and Nail brawl, the fungus suddenly rears up to cover the city, affected by waste from the city's atomic reactors. Panicked, Nail runs to his control station, ignoring Thirteen's urging to seek shelter. Thirteen and his wife lead the drones safely away, but the dome sinks into the swamp, with Nail apparently still inside.

The Phantom Stranger #14: "The Spectre of the Stalking Swamp"

Zachary Nail lies unconscious in the buried city of New Eden until giant mutated worms find him. The sole survivors of a race that died out before mankind was born, the worms nurse him back to health, making him their leader. Nail's city had awakened them from a long sleep, and for the next five years, they wll act as his servants, never letting on to their true intentions-to harvest humans for food.

Swamp Thing (Series 1) #11: "The Conqueror Worms"

Jim "Nightmaster" Rook's wife Janet leaves him after he renounces all his material wealth. She marries an account named Maurice and lives a successful life, leaving him shattered by the breakup.

Swamp Thing (Series 2) #160: "Atmospheres, Part 1-Ace of Swords"

Cheryl, the daughter of a crotchety fisherman, becomes her father's First Mate aboard the Kelly. This move, chosen by her father, comes with a hefty price, as she gives up a full scholarship to Fairbanks College to remain at his side.

Swamp Thing (Series 3) #3: "Kill Your Darlings"

Pilate, future Marine sniper, park ranger and friend to Tef�, is born.

Vertigo Secret Files & Origins- Swamp Thing: "The D.D.I. Secret Files"

Harry Price is involved in a terrible car accident that leaves his wife confined to a wheelchair.

The Saga of the Swamp Thing (Series 2) #25: "The Sleep of Reason"

Employees of the Lombard Coal Mine begin dumping toxic waste into the overflow pits. An ex-employee living in the mine drinks some of the waste as though it were alcohol, It tastes awful and slowly rots his body away, but he grows to enjoy it and soon becomes addictated to the deadly beverage. Those who know him give him the nickname Nuke-Face because of his rotting features.

Swamp Thing (Series 2) #35: "The Nuke-Face Papers, Part 1"

19-year-old John Constantine steals the girlfriend of Robert "Piggy" Huntoon, a guy he and others picked on in school. Thanks to Constantine's corruption, Diane gets caugh up in sex and magic. The experience devestates Huntoon, forging a fifteen-year-grudge against Constantine.

Swamp Thing (Series 2) #66: "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest"

NOTE:For some reason, Huntoon's name changes between stories, from "Robert" to "Roger."

Archie Acland, a tough-as-nails butcher in East Anglia, England, fathers a son to his wife Elsie. They name the boy Martin. An abusive husband, Archie is no kinder to Martin than he is to his wife.

John Constantine, Hellblazer #37: "Man's Work"

John Constantine first gets into magic when someone else introduces him to it, playing up its positive side without revealing the price one pays for following that lifestyle. Curious about other magic users in his family tree, he asks his friend Brendan Finn to help him research the Constantine line. Brendan learns that Harry Constantine joined Oliver Cromwell's Drogheda Massacre in 1649, not to further the Christian cause but rather to steal loot. He crossed a woman known as the Ribbon Queen, who cursed him with immortality and had him buried alive to rot forever. Constantine partially digs up his ancestor and asks about his heritage, then reburies him instead of freeing him, deciding he will turn out differently than his ancestor did.

John Constantine, Hellblazer #62: "End of the Line"

NOTE:This issue, set in 1992, states that Constantine's introduction to magic was 20 years prior.

Therein, Constantine develops a passion for magic. As a ritualistic magician, he learns to access the twin disciplines of communication and control. Though unable to channel the mana stream himself, he can reach out across the stream to contact potent otherworldy and extraterrestrial entities.

DC Heroes Role-Playing Game—Magic Sourcebook

September 1972 A.D.

Alec Holland travels to Louisiana to study global carbon and sulfur cycling, hoping a serious study of the swamp-storm ecosystem's flow might reveal ultra-efficient biomass fuels-or even bioregenerative agents. His goal: to use the swamps to reverse damaged ecosystems and end world hunger. At the recommendation of a professor named Lang, Alec visits Dr. Jordan Schiller at Louisiana University. Though Lang considers Alec a fantasist, his theories on autotrophic and heterotrophic organisms are extraordinary, so Lang asks Schiller to grant him favored-student status. Schiller becomes his mentor, and Alec grows to idolize him. At the time, Schiller is actively campaigning for George McGovern to defeat Richard Nixon in the impending presidential election. One of his students is Linda Olsen Ridge, who is helping with the campaign and having a secret teacher-student affair with him. Alec and Linda do not let on that they know each other.

Swamp Thing (Series 4) #15: "Healing the Breach, Chapter I-The Emotional Hostage"

NOTE:Alec and Linda's courting in this tale, though well-handled, contradicts earlier evidence by implying this is their first meeting. Prior tales establish that they dated in 1966, when he was 25 and she was 17, and attended Harvard in the 1960s with Pamela Isley as a classmate and Jason Woodrue as their teacher. Even accounting for fudge-room in the dates, it's difficult to reconcile their having met in 1972, only a year before Alec's tranformation into the Swamp Thing. Therefore, I assume they broke up before this point and opted not to tell Jordan they'd been a couple.

September or October, 1972 A.D.

During a night of lovemaking, Linda teases Schiller about their age difference, comparing him to Lolita author Vladimir Nabokov. Unable to commit to her emotionally, he jokes that she should date his student, Alec Holland, instead since Alec is closer to her age and more handsome and brilliant than he is; frustrated by his emotional distance, she is not amused.

Swamp Thing (Series 4) #16: "Healing the Breach, Chapter II-Where the Rushing Waters Go"

Late October 1972 A.D.

Two weeks before the election, Alec approaches Linda at a McGovern political rally after seeing her sit in the front row of Schiller's class. They resume their friendship, and she helps him with his papers. Schiller is afraid he'll lose Linda, but she assures him nothing is going on between them; in truth, his unwillingness to commit is a far bigger problem than Alec poses. Alec decides to resume their romantic relationship. For a while, she keeps Alec at arm's length, insisting she loves another man (Alec has no idea it's Schiller), but in the end, Alec's persistence wins her over.

Swamp Thing (Series 4) #16: "Healing the Breach, Chapter II-Where the Rushing Waters Go"

before November 7, 1972 A.D.

The D.D.I. sends Lt. Matthew Joseph Cable to Peru on a "company business" trip to gather information on the Sendoro Luminoso (Shining Path) guerillas, who have holed up in a hidden Incan temple. Captured by the guerillas, Cable is separated from his guide, Luis, and tied up in the temple, surrounded by petrified human remains. A woman of 19 or so approaches, wearing a primitive dress. Unable to speak English, she cuts his bindings, and he gives her his watch in gratitude. She leads him down to a subterranean chamber, where she offers him water and sex. Luis later finds him sleeping in the chamber and says a Quechua tribe has slaughtered the guerillas for defiling their sacred ground. He leads Cable out of the room—a holy place where priests lead young girls to take their virginity, then cut out their hearts if they are not virginal. A shaman tells Cable he is a good, special man, chosen to walk with the Man-Who-Is-a-Tree. The woman is nowhere to be found, though he notices his watch on the wrist of one of the dead—a young female of 19 or so.

The Dreaming #31: "Many Mansions, Part Five—November Eve"

NOTE: Cable's adventure is undated. For lack of a better placement, I am setting it early in his career, before his first meeting with Alec Holland, since Cable is drawn as being rather young in this story. However, there is room for debate regarding such placement.

November 7, 1972 A.D.

On Election Night, just as he is about to go out and vote, Schiller receives a visit from D.D.I. agent Lt. Matthew Joseph Cable, assisting the Mantoson Genomics Corporation (MGC) in finding new talent on behalf of the U.S. government. The company is interested in Alec Holland over speculative articles he has published, so Cable asks Schiller's opinion of Alec's abilities. Schiller hails Alec as the most brilliant student he's ever had. This satisfies Cable, who thanks him and leaves. Schiller asks who he's voting for, but Cable says he doesn't vote because "democracy is an illusion." When Schiller tells Alec that government agents are looking for him, Alec worries he might be in trouble because of his marijuana plants. Schiller assures him it's about his work, urging him to do the right thing and approach the non-profits first. When Alec mentions he's begun seeing Linda, Schiller is furious but doesn't show it and heads out to vote. That night, McGovern loses the election to Nixon by a landslide. Devestated after all her hard work campaigning, and tired of sneaking around with a man who won't commit, Linda leaves Schiller's home to be with Alec instead.

Swamp Thing (Series 4) #17: "Healing the Breach, Chapter III-While Sinking"

NOTE: Matthew Cable's name is misspelled in this issue as "Mathew," and MGC's company name changes spelling several times, from Mantoson in issue #16 to "Mantosan" in #17 and "Montosan" in #18.

November 8, 1972 A.D.

The day after the election, Cable takes Alec out to breakfast and offers him a job on behalf of MGC. Before making his decision, Alec stops by Schiller's office that same day to share the good news with his mentor and discuss some non-profit alternatives. However, Schiller's anger over losing Linda gets the best of him, causing him to kick Alec out of his life. Unaware of Schiller's love for Linda, Alec thinks it's his fault for selling out to big business. Later that day, Linda visits Schiller, furious at him for hurting someone who idolized him so. Schiller says he loves her, but it is too late, and after she walks out on him, he never sees either of them again.

Swamp Thing (Series 4) #18: "Healing the Breach, Chapter IV-Seeding Madness"

some time after November 8, 1972

Disappointed at having alienated his mentor, Alec Holland accepts Matt Cable's offer. Preparations are made for him to begin working for MGC, and Alec and Matt become good friends over time.

Swamp Thing (Series 4) #18: "Healing the Breach, Chapter IV-Seeding Madness"

David Congreve builds a summer place in the Okefenokee Swamp of southeast Georgia, as a vacation home for himself, his wife Myra and their daughter Janet.

Forbidden Tales of Dark Mansion #10: "The Monster"

A few months later, Alec Holland writes Jordan Schiller a letter, apologizing for breaking his heart and saying he's taken the job and is planning to marry Linda. Schiller never writes back, but always wonders what became of them and regretting how he hurt them both.

Swamp Thing (Series 4) #18: "Healing the Breach, Chapter IV-Seeding Madness"

Alec and Linda hold their wedding ceremony at Saint Augustine's Parish Hall in New York.

Swamp Thing (Series 2) #144: "A Hope in Hell"

The newlywed Hollands celebrate their marriage with a romantic honeymoon.

Swamp Thing (Series 4) #19: "The Holland Mind"

Alec and Linda Holland enjoy a vacation in a beachfront cabin before heading to the swamps of Louisiana. After a night of passion, Alec runs outside to enjoy the sensation of rain on his face, feeling incredibly alive. He takes a shower with Linda, then tells her of a recent dream in which he was still a 9-year-old boy. She assures him it's just his fear of working for the government and of failing in his task. She, on the other hand, is optimistic and euphoric about the adventure ahead, though happy for now to be hidden away from the rest of the world, as though their honeymoon never ended.

Swamp Thing (Series 4) #19: "The Holland Mind"

Dwight Wicker, director of Defense Department Intelligence (D.D.I.)—a secret Army Intelligence branch headquartered at the "abandoned" Fenwick Military Academy on the outskirts of Washington, D.C.—assigns Matt Cable to guard the Hollands as they work to develop the bioregenerative formula, to make sure no one endangers them or their research.

The Saga of the Swamp Thing (Series 2) #17: "And Things That Go Bump in the Night"

NOTE: The Swamp Thing Vertigo Secret Files & Origins timeline places the events leading to Alec's transformation in 1980 to accommodate Crisis on Infinite Earths. Since so much internal evidence indicates otherwise, that date has been ignored. It should also be noted that issue 13 of the second series implies the D.D.I. is an arm of the Justice Department, in that Dwight Wicker works for that organization.

The D.D.I. converts a barn in Louisiana's Cypress Swamp into a laboratory for the Hollands' use.

Swamp Thing (Series 2) #81: "Widowsweed"

Drs. Alec and Linda Holand arrive at the barn and begin working on the bioregenerative formula.

Swamp Thing (Series 1) #1:"Dark Genesis"

The Hollands' research lasts for several months before they attain any success.

The Saga of the Swamp Thing (Series 2) #21: "The Anatomy Lesson"

Alec and Linda Holland win a Nobel Prize for their work restoring destroyed cells in the human body.

Swamp Thing (Series 4) #6: "A Clockwork Horror"

NOTE: This information can be found in a newspaper clipping seen on page 1. Given the very short time between their marriage and their deaths (less than a year), and that Linda's last name is already "Holland" by the time they win the prize, the window for this event is extremely small (not to mention unlikely, given their relative lack of success in their experiments).

A stock market executive quits his cushy job after developing an ability to see human auras. Overwhelmed by the lies by which so many people live, he takes to a life of homelessness, with only liquor and his many dogs to comfort him. This earns him the nickname "Dogbum."

Swamp Thing (Series 2) #70: "The Secret Life of Plants"

Assassin Eric Neiderman graduates Choctow Union High School and attends Cambridge University on a full scholarship from the Sunderland Corporation.

Swamp Thing (Series 2) #122: "The Eye of the Needleman"

Carlotta Esteban, daughter of the late Don Roberto Esteban—for whose murder she was framed in 1963 and sent to Rogues' Rock prison—meets Galdo, an elderly bandit in a neighboring cell. The dying man tells her of a sunken treasure he'd found before his own incarceration: the fabled horde of Martin Bormann (Hitler's top aide), which sank aboard a submarine en route to South America at the end of World War II. When Galdo dies, Carlotta hides in his body bag and is tossed into the ocean instead, breathing via a jungle herb he'd given her. Once the herb mixes with water, it transforms her into an elemental creature of muck and plantlife.

World's Finest #219: "The Prisoner of Rogues' Rock"

NOTE: While not an actual Swamp Thing tale, this two-parter (continued in #220) is so reminiscent of early Swamp Thing stories that it deserves to be included here—it just seems to fit.

This transformation gives Carlotta immense strength, drawn from the power of the plant universe, concentrated 10,000 times.

World's Finest #220: "Let No Man Write My Epitaph"

Carlotta Esteban finds the Nazi booty and uses it to help her father's employees, now forced to serve as mine workers by Don Ernerto Rivera, who'd framed her for the murder and taken her father's Brazilian rancho, La Comparsa. The locals see her as a hero, dubbing her El Monstro. When a mudslide decimates a hillside favela near the rancho, El Monstro arrives on the scene, leaving a trail of jewels and treasures throughout the shanty town. Ernesto hears of the tragedy and tells his lawyer/assistant, Molina, to make the survivors work harder. One miner arrives with a bar of gold, offering to buy the land. Ernesto accepts, and the bar makes its way through banking ciricles to the Gotham City National Bank. Suspicious of the bar's Nazi symbol, the U.N. and World Bank ask Batman and Superman to investigate. As Superman scours the ocean for Bormann's U-boat, Batman tracks the creature until a local fisherman shoots him with a poisoned dart. Batman plummets into the water and is ensnared by an anaconda. Carlotta rescues him and pulls him down to an undersea cavern, where she cures him of the poison and reveals her tale. Superman arrives to fight El Monstro, which ends in a stalemate. Batman stops the fight, but Superman is skeptical of the creature, insisting the treasures should go to the Nazi victims' families. Ingesting a nearby plant, she briefly regains her original shape, then returns to creature form and retreats into the forest.

World's Finest #219: "The Prisoner of Rogues' Rock"

As El Monstro departs, the two heroes disagree on how to proceed, for though Batman empathizes with Carlotta's need for revenge, Superman is more concerned with her illegal use of stolen treasures. Thus, though Batman knows the sub's location, he feigns ignorance to buy time to help her—unaware Superman has seen through his ruse. Meanwhile, Don Ernesto tells the peasants the Nazi gold was illegal, voiding the sale and reverting the rancho to his ownership. Furious, one local tries to destroy the favela. When Ernesto hurts the man, Batman steps in. Molina opens fire, but El Monstro takes the bullets, scaring the men off. Batman urges Carlotta to drop her vendetta, but she ignores him, vowing to avenge her father's murder. Batman finds El Monstro in the attic of a nearby hacienda, viewing a painting of herself from before her incarceration. Again he tries to reason with her, but she hits him and heads for Ernesto's office, so frightening Molina that he jumps to his death from a balcony. Ernesto mounts a horse and calls for backup, but his gauchos cannot hurt her. She chases him to the mines, where he climbs a hill and tries to bury her in an avalanche, inadvertently killing himself in the process. Carrying Batman, El Monstro returns to the sub. Superman has already found it, but in raising the boat to the surface, he alarms the Brazilian military, who think it an enemy vessel and bomb it with depth charges, destroying it. Spotting El Monstro, the helicopter pilot sprays Carlotta with defoliant, dissolving her to nothingness despite Batman's attempt to save her.

World's Finest #220: "Let No Man Write My Epitaph"

NOTE: An editor's note indicates El Monstro is "a beast-being so strange, so different as to defy their wildest imaginings." However, this statement seems rather humorous in retrospect, given the number of muck creatures formed that same year in other titles (see below). And ironically, the Parliament of Trees is located in Brazil, so there's a whole forest of similar beings not far from the favela (granted, they don't know about it).

Spring 1973 A.D.

Evil lurks in the swamp as a beaver, squirrel and racoon decide to prove their fealty to the Swamp-God, a gnarled, half-decayed tree, with a human sacrifice. In a nearby field, a couple named Joyce and George share a picnic with their Uncle Charlie, carelessly strewing litter about the area. Angered at mankind's pollution, the animals entice the couple's son Franklyn into the swamp to arrange his drowning. Finding him in the muck, his family are devestated by his death. The animals await their god's pleasure, earning instead its wrath for killing an innocent child. Thousands of birds descend to pick their bones clean and devour their souls, an eternity of penance for choosing wrongly.

The House of Mystery #217: "Swamp-God"

NOTE: While not an actual Swamp Thing tale, this story is so reminiscent of the style of early Swamp Thing stories that is deserves to be included here. It just seems to fit.

David Congreve takes his wife Myra and daughter Janet to their summer place in the Okefenokee Swamp of Georgia. Myra hates him, however, and is cheating with his friend and business partner, Carl Holt. Together, the two plot to kill Congreve, bashing his skull in whie he sleeps. They row him out to the bog and toss his body overboard. Janet awakens in terror that night, but Myra lies that her father has gone fishing. The sheriff searches the swamp for a week, then informs Myra her husband is likely dead. Myra returns to her home in the city and tells Janet her father abandoned them. Janet is unconvinced, showing her a book he'd bought his daughter—Wildflowers and How They Grow, by John Noelo. Annoyed and hate-filled, Myra forbids Janet from ever mentioning him again. As her hate continues over the next year, Congreve's body transforms into a mossy creature of the swamp.

Forbidden Tales of Dark Mansion #10: "The Monster"

After joining the Marines, Adam Rock is sent to fight in Viet Nam and learns that real war is not quite like the John Wayne movies he idolized. Returning home to Minnesota at the end of war, scorned by many and unable to find a job, he serves in the Merchant Marine for a while and learns of a revolution in Kala Pago. Rejected by the revolutionaries, he instead joins forces with High Priestess Laganna of the Sepp, leading her army of undead in a holy cause to overthrow the corrupt government.

Swamp Thing (Series 1) #16: "Night of the Warring Dead"

As the Hollands lie in bed one night discussing their future, Alec admires the beauty of his 25-year-old wife and promises the biogenerative formula will make her as rich as she is beautiful. She teases him that even rich, he'd still be skinny. Laughing, they let their playfulness turn to passion.

The Saga of the Swamp Thing (Series 2) #28: "The Burial"

Because Alec's research is so vital to the creation and existence of the Parliament of Trees, the earth elemental known as Yggdrasil rigs his experiments to ensure success (and, thus, Alec's eventual tranformation into the Swamp Thing). The Hollands, of course, have no idea this has happened.

Swamp Thing (Series 2) #104: "The Quest for the Elementals I-Matango"

At last, the Hollands achieve real success-the biorestorative formula proves far more successful than they'd anticipated. However, the government is not the only organization interested in the results. A criminal union called the Conclave sends Maxwell Ferrett (a.k.a. Len Bernard) to "convince" them to sell it. They refuse, but the thugs promise to return. Ferrett's boss, Mister E, orders Agent Louisana Blue to attach a spy transmitter to a the collar of a stray dog and lead it to the Hollands' doorstep. Finding the dog, the Hollands take it in and name it Mutt. This allows E to spy on their progress. Eventually, E sends Ferrett's men to blow up the barn. The explosion propels Alec's burning form into the swamp. His body unrecovered, Alec is presumed dead. After a brief funeral, the government rebuilds the barn and Linda mournfully continues their work. Days later, a muck-encrusted mockery of a man who was once Alec Holland rises from the ooze. Dazed and unable to speak, he returns to the barn, hoping to cure himself.

Swamp Thing (Series 1) #1:"Dark Genesis"

NOTE: This Mister E bears no relation to the Mister E of the Books of Magic miniseries.

Since Alec and Linda only succeeded in their experiments due to Yggdrasil's secret tampering in the first place, Alec fails to reproduce the biorestorative formula a second time.

Swamp Thing (Series 2) #104: "The Quest for the Elementals I-Matango"

Unbeknownst to Alec, he is not the first Swamp Thing, nor is his creation an accident. In fact, there have been many more, for in times of trouble, the Earth creates elemental champions for protection.

Swamp Thing (Series 2) #33: "Abandoned Houses"

Mutt runs into the woods, and when Cable goes after him, Ferrett's crony Bruno knocks him out. Finding Linda dead, Alec kills the two thugs. Cable comes to and thinks Alec is her killer, vowing revenge for the death of his friends. Unable at this point to form words for his defense, Alec sadly returns to the swamp. Meanwhile, Dr. Anton Arcane, a gnarled, evil old wizard, observes these events with an ancient mystic mirror from his castle in Transylvania. Determined to seize Alec's powers, Arcane dispatches his mysterious Un-Men to capture the giant plant-man.

Swamp Thing (Series 1) #1:"Dark Genesis"

The United States Army handles all funeral arrangements for the Hollands since they were working for the government at the time of their deaths.

The Saga of the Swamp Thing (Series 2) #16: "Stopover in a Place of Secret Truths"

The funeral apparently proceeds without an actual burial for Alec Holland, as his skeletal remains lie undetected at the bottom of the bayou.

The Saga of the Swamp Thing (Series 2) #28: "The Burial"

Alec Holland's soul is trapped in the Realm of the Just Dead, unable to move on to Heaven because of his refusal to forget about his skeletal remains. For a decade, Holland's ghost haunts the bayou, waiting for his Swamp Thing alter-ego to some day return and give his corpse a proper burial.

Swamp Thing (Series 2) Annual #2: "Down Amongst the Dead Men"

Linda Holland is also not buried at the funeral. The D.D.I. makes it appear as if she has been, but keeps her body to perform an autopsy. A startling discovery is made during post-mortem.

The Saga of the Swamp Thing (Series 2) #17: "And Things That Go Bump in the Night"

The autopsy of Linda Holland is intended to provide Sunderland Corp. the secret of the bio-restorative formula, for she had been exposed to it during months of research. To the scientists' surprise, they learn nothing from the autopsy. Though saturated with formula, her body does not react to it. This is because Alec's decomposing body was consumed by plants altered by the formula, which absorbed his intelligence and knowledge the way planarian worms absorb knowledge from the creatures they consume. The sentient but confused plant then built itself a body approximating human design. In other words, Holland was not a human transformed into a plant―rather, he was a plant that thought itself human. Sadly, Holland himself does not learn this truth for years to come.

The Saga of the Swamp Thing (Series 2) #21: "The Anatomy Lesson"

Dwight Wicker assigns Matt Cable to "Project Leviathan," a two-year search for the Swamp Thing.

The Saga of the Swamp Thing (Series 2) #17: "And Things That Go Bump in the Night"

Hidden in the trees, Alec watches as Ferrett and Bruno's bodies are recovered from the woods. A horde of Un-Men attack, and an Un-Man named Ophidian hypnotically puts Alec to sleep. The lead Un-Man, Cranius, orders him strapped to a sea-plane and flown to Arcane's castle. Cable and an Interpol agent named Mike watch in surprise as Alec flies overhead, tethered to a plane. Mister E monitors them via Mutt's transmitter, furious over Ferrett's death. Awakening at the Castle Arcane, Alec tries to break free but Anton Arcane calms him down.

Swamp Thing (Series 1) #2:"The Man Who Wanted Forever"

Arcane surmises that Alec does not remember him from their prior meetings in 1914 and 1945-for Alec, those meetings have not yet occurred since he was traveling back in time on a journey that has yet to begin. Rather than forcing him to give up his body, Arcane takes an easier route and decides to trick him into giving it up willingly.

DC Heroes Role-Playing Game-Swamp Thing Sourcebook

Anton Arcane tells Alec that he has studied the occult and discovered immortality, but his attempts to build himself a new body have resulted in tthe Un-Men's grotesque creation. His plan: to use a mystic soul jar to restore Alec's human body in exchange for his creature form. Alec accepts, and Arcane begins his tests immediately. Once the transfer is complete, Alec awakens in human form, but upon learning Arcane's true desire-to destroy the town for mocking him-he breaks the soul jar, reversing the transfer. Enraged, Arcane orders the Un-Men to attack, and when Alec knocks him out a tower window, they blindly jump to their deaths after him. Sadly, Alec ambles away, unaware of a mutated form watching from above: the Patchwork Man, once known as Gregori Arcane-Anton's brother.

Swamp Thing (Series 1) #2:"The Man Who Wanted Forever"

Given that Alec was never truly human to begin with, his transformation back into human form may indicate Arcane tapped into Alec's heretofore unknown ability to change shape.

The Saga of the Swamp Thing (Series 2) #21: "The Anatomy Lesson"

Also possible is that Anton transfered Alec's spirit into one of his Un-Men and used an illusion spell to make him think he'd been restored to human form. In either event, the change was not permanent.

DC Heroes Role-Playing Game-Swamp Thing Sourcebook

His body shattered, Arcane nearly dies, but Cranius orders the surviving Un-Men to carry his body to a secret laboratory and build him 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.

Swamp Thing (Series 1) #10: "The Man Who Would Not Die"

The fallen angel Dekker, cast out of the court of the Archangel Michael for putting forth the outrageous idea that humanity constitutes an elemental force, tries to regain entrance to God's Kingdom by proving his theory. Determined to find one being who embodies the human element and bring him under his aegis so he can pull the human's strings while posing as his servant, Dekker has concluded (after millennia of failed searching among noble and common men) that the elemental force he seeks must reside with the monsters of the human race. To that end, he offers himself to Arcane as a loyal servant, but the scientist fails to display the elemental force he seeks. Using the mystic mirror, Arcane shows him an image of the Swamp Thing and tells of the brief time he inhabited the creature's body. The switch was temporary, he says, but thrilling, making him long to replace his tired old shell with something lush and powerful-something green. Dekker is amazed at the discovery and turns his attentions to the big game hunters of the world, those of the lowest moral fiber, who devote their time to self-gratification. His reasoning: only one elemental could defeat another. Leaving Arcane's employ, he eventually comes to serve billionnaire technologist and expert hunter, Maximillian "Max" Ramhoff.

Swamp Thing (Series 4) #8: "Missing Links, Conclusion"

Preferring not to stay in his cumbersome form forever, Arcane and his Un-Men swim the Atlantic Ocean (their synthetic forms requiring neither food nor rest) in search of Alec Holland.

Swamp Thing (Series 1) #10: "The Man Who Would Not Die"

Seeking a cure, Alec returns to Castle Arcane but cannot handle the equipment. As the rotted floor gives way, the Patchwork Man tries vainly to save him. Cable and Mutt track the plane to Arcane's Balkan village, unaware that Mister E has been monitoring their every move. There, Cable meets beautiful, 18-year-old Abigail Arcane, the only medic in the village.

Swamp Thing (Series 1) #3:"The Patchwork Man"

Abby's professional nursing training is in child psychology.

Swamp Thing (Series 2) #99: "Leaves in a Tempest"

The Patchwork Man toys with his brother's equipment and causes an explosion that levels the castle. Thrown free, he sees Abby but is unable to speak, so he grabs his long-lost daughter and runs. Cable and a local mob, however, mistake his motives and give chase. Alec confronts Gregori on the bridge, and Abby nearly falls. Gregori saves her life and falls instead... but with a smile on his face, knowing that his daughter recognized him at the last moment. Alec walks off, leaving Abby with Cable, who returns to the U.S. Hoping to join Interpol, Abby goes with him. Cable vows to find Alec some day, unaware his quarry has hitched a ride outside their sea-plane.

Swamp Thing (Series 1) #3:"The Patchwork Man"

Gregori Arcane survives the fall because of his superior strength.

The House of Secrets #140: "Reprise-The Patchwork Man"

He then wanders aimlessly near the shore of a river for several years, helpless and amnesiac.

DC Heroes Role-Playing Game-Swamp Thing Sourcebook

Stormy weather crashes the sea-plane in the Scottish moors. Angus and Jenna MacCobb cart Cable, Abby and pilot Paul Rodman to their desolate manor, Alec trailing from a distance. The MacCobbs tend to their wounds and offer shelter. Rodman heads out to check the plane and is killed by an inhuman creature. The next day, Cable and Abby prepare to leave but MacCobb's horse Becky runs off, leaving no transportation. Suspicious, they head into the moors and are attacked by a werewolf. Alec attacks it, but quick-sand swallows him up. Shaken, they return to the manor, where Jenna gives them drugged sherry. They sleep for nearly a day, awakening strapped to tables. At the next table is the MacCobbs' son, Ian, who is horrified at his parents' attempt to cure him of lycanthropy via a blood transfusion from others. The full moon rises and he becomes a werewolf, but Alec enters the house and fights him, impaling him with silver from a chandelier. Ian dies in peace, relieved the curse is over, and Cable sets out to continue his search, ignoring Abby's plea to re-think his vendetta.

Swamp Thing (Series 1) #4: "Monster on the Moors "

Alec stows aboard a cargo ship to escape the moors. When he surfaces to soothe his cramps, sailor Patrick Larabee sees him. He jumps into the icy waters as seamen attack, washing ashore outside Divinity, Maine. There he meets Rebecca Ravenwind and her younger brother Timothy, who are being chased by an ignorant mob led by a farmer named Gideon. The mob thinks her a witch. She tends to Alec's wounds, and he decides to protect them. When the mob finds them, a brute named Jocko severs Alec's arm with a scythe. Alec mutilates Jocko's face, and the mob chases him off a cliff. Gideon takes the Ravenwinds to town, where a man named Smith jails Tim, and Rebecca is tried for necromancy. The trial is a farce, and she is quickly found guilty. Alec awakens on shore, stunned to find his arm growing back. He returns to Divinity, breaks Timothy out of prison and rushes to a hilltop where Rebecca is being burned. Fighting a dozen villagers, he rips the stake free. Rebecca stops him from further violence as a storm turns the mob into flowers. Timothy is the witch, she says, and she is his familiar; now that Gideon's evil is over, they will live with friends in Boston. Meanwhile, miles away on a New England porch, simulacra of Alec and Linda Holland enjoy the clean night air.

Swamp Thing (Series 1) #5: "The Last of the Ravenwind Witches"

NOTE: Timothy returns 24 years later, in issue #166 of the second Swamp Thing series, as the master magician Timothy Raven, last of the Ravenwind Witches.

In later years, Rebecca dies of cancer, much to the sadness of her loving brother.

Swamp Thing (Series 2) #167: "Trial By Fire, Part 2-The Word of God"

Unbeknownst to Alec, the regeneration of his arm is a two-way road. His discarded arm, thrown from the 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.

Swamp Thing (Series 1) #19: "A Second Time to Die"

NOTE: Why this happens is unclear, as future discarded body parts do not do the same.

Matt and Abby review the Holland case in Matt's D.C. office until Agent Jack tell Matt he's been pulled from the case to investigate B�rgess Town, a Vermont village just discovered. Meanwhile, a pothole jars Alec off of a vegetable truck and over a mountain pass. Knocked senseless, he finds replicas of Alec and Linda Holland coming to his rescue. They take him to Mayor Hans Klochman, a Swiss carpenter and watch-maker who built the town and its robot inhabitants using faces from obituaries; his creations are free of base emotions, designed to give mankind a second chance at happiness. Linda takes him for a stroll in the woods, missing Matt and Abby's arrival. Mister E, meanwhile, sends Task Force Four to secure the town. Troops storm the village, led by a robot transmitting Mister E's commands. They capture Matt and Abby and begin destroying the replicas. Furious, Alec defeats the robot and kills the troops. Klochman tries to stop the fight but is gunned down. His vengeful robots slaughter the troops and are destroyed in the process. In the end, only Alec survives; finding Mutt, he hops a train to Gotham City, New Jersey, to rescue Matt and Abby from Conclave headquarters.

Swamp Thing (Series 1) #6: "A Clockwork Horror"

213 miles later, Alec and Mutt arrive at Gotham and hide in an alley at West 3rd Street. When Alec ventures out for clothing, a policeman spies him and calls Chief O'Hara. The police open fire, forcing him to flee. Meeting with Nathan Ellery and other Gotham businessmen, Bruce Wayne dons his Batman outfit and busts a smuggling operation. Ellery's chauffer, Driscoll, takes Nathan to the Potter's Street Warehouse, where his interrogator, Dr. Hammerschmidt, is torturing Matt and Abby for information on Swamp Thing. Comissioner Gordon asks Batman to stop Alec before panic erupts. Meanwhile, Alec enters Peck's Water's Edge Bar & Grill, where he spies on E's thugs and sparks a brawl. E activates Mutt's collar, drawing the dog to his headquarters. Batman and Alec follow, each unaware of the other. Alec frees Matt and Abby, but Batman confronts him and forces a fight. With no choice, Alec beats him up and continues on to find Ellery. Batman tracks Mutt to Ellery's penthouse and realizes he's Mr. E. Alec scales the building, crashing a party in time to see Ellery shoot Mutt to keep his alterego a secret. Alec starts to kill Ellery, but decides he's not worth it; however, Ellery slips and falls to his death. As Alec silently departs, Batman re-thinks his opinion of the swamp-man.

Swamp Thing (Series 1) #7: "Night of the Bat"

A convict named Frank Mandrill searches the Louisiana bayou for Chuck Haney, with whom he escaped prison. He finds a house atop a narrow precipice at the edge of the swamp, surrounded by grotesque statues. Pretending to be a writer in search of solitude, he asks the old couple living there for a room. Overly hospitable, they take him in. Frank pretends to be friendly but secretly plots to kill them and take the house. One day he sees a statue that resembles Chuck and asks the old man, Manfred, if he uses people as models. Manfred says the statues are based on his own imagination, not on the living. After a hobo stops by the house for a handout, Frank follows them out into the bog, where they drop the hobo's body into quicksand and fish him out. His body, like anything dipped into this part of the swamp, has turned to stone. Realizing he's next, Frank runs for cover. They spot him and give chase, but the boat up-ends, feeding the couple to the hungry swamp. Frank gleefully claims the house as his own, but Nature has its own plans. That night, a violent storm causes the house to slide down the hill and into the quicksand. Frank tries to save himself but is impaled on a weather vane and suffers the same fate as the couple. Some time later, a fisherman hooks the weather vane (and Frank's body) and sells it to a local curio shop, where Frank becomes a novelty item up for sale.

The Unexpected #152: "The Dark Secret of the Swamp"

NOTE: While not an actual Swamp Thing tale, this story is so reminiscent of the writing and artwork of early Swamp Thing that is deserves to be included here. It just seems to fit.

Barnabas Tookome, an Inuit, is born. His mother dies during childbirth.

Swamp Thing (Series 3) #6: "Killing Time, Part Three-Destiny Manifest"

NOTE: No specific date is available. This placement is based on his appearing to be in his mid-20s in the year 2000, but there is room for error.

Barnabas Tookome's grandfather, an Angakok Shaman, teaches the young Inuit his people's stories and traditions, instilling in Barnabas a dislike for the generic term "Eskimo." One such story explains that the death live in a place beneath the sea. Though his father, a man of science, denounces the old man's teachings, Barnabas believes them, much to his father's disappointment.

Swamp Thing (Series 3) #5: "Killing Time, Part Two-Burning Down the House"

Pilate's sister is molested by their uncle. This causes her, in later years, to talk like a little girl, remake her appearance and feel the need to kill the man who hurt her.

Swamp Thing (Series 3) #13: "Red Harvest, Part Three-Carrying Capacity"

NOTE: No specific date is available. This placement is based on Pilate's having been born in 1971 but is certainly open to debate.

Matt Cable signs the "Organ Donor" portion of his Driver's License, causing grave problems in 1989.

Swamp Thing (Series 2) #84: "Final Payment"

Five-year-old orphan Damien Kane asks Mrs. Valis, the woman assigned to care for him, to explain the concepts of light and darkness. She tells him darkness is merely the absence of light. A Church-going woman, she sees everything in Biblical terms.

American Freak, A Tale of the Un-Men #2: Chapter Two-The Covenant of Freaks"

Retiring from the British police, Detective Superior Samuel Morris soon misses the action of the job, particularly the violence. Thus, he focuses all his attention on building a new career as a serial killer known as Homo Familiaris (aka, the Family Man).

John Constantine, Hellblazer #28: "Thicker Than Water"

January 7, 1974 A.D.

Alec hops an Orlando's Trucking rig out of Gotham. As he navigates the snowy Appalachian woods, the cold slows his plant metabloism. He saves Ezekiel Monroe from an attacking bear. Before dying, the man warns him to avoid Perdition, PA. A once-proud mining town, Perdition has been gripped by evil ever since his father Abraham evoked M'Nagalah the Eternal with a book of spells. Alec carries Ezekiel to Perdition, where Hector and other locals mistake him for the killer and attack. Ezekiel's son, Jason, breaks up the fight, chiding them for their rudeness. They apologize, and Jason's wife Lydia brings him home to tend to his wounds. All appear friendly, but Alec senses something odd below the surface. When Jason's son Jody vanishes, a search party tracks his footprints to Tunnel 13 of an old mine. Alec goes in alone to repay their kindness, unaware they've set him up to fight M'Nagalah, who has grown in mass over the years, preparing to reign over mankind. Alec has enough mass to complete his growth, but Alec has other ideas: toppling a beam, he buries the beast in a mountain of debris. Exiting the mine, he nearly throttles Jason for lying to him but leaves in disgust. The evil, however, is not over, for M'Nagalah has infected Jason with an alien fungus.

Swamp Thing (Series 1) #8: "The Lurker in Tunnel 13"

NOTE: Challengers of the Unknown #83 establishes M'Nahalah's full name and the exact date on which these events occur.

January-May 1974 A.D.

Matt relaxes on a secluded Florida beach with Abby until Agent Smithers interrupts their vacation to recall Matt to D.C. Matt visits the Agency of Interstellar Discovery (A.I.D.), where he meets Marine Captain Brad Samson. The A.I.D. has located a downed U.F.O. in Louisiana, and Matt is assigned to investigate. The next day, as Alec stows aboard a freight train for Baton Rouge, two drifters named Rufe and Elmo mug him. He tosses them from the train, slipping off the train himself. Walking for miles, he returns to Cypress Swamp and enters the old barn to find his equipment bastardized by a huge alien repairing its ship. Furious at losing his last chance to regain his humanity, he attacks the alien but is quickly defeated. The alien regrets hurting him and returns him to the swamp. Matt, Samson and four Marines (Optik, O'Reilly, Twitchett and Trumbo) enter and subdue the alien, who does not fight back. The Marines distrust the alien, and some of them want to kill it. The next morning, Samson tries to do just that, and a brawl ensues among the six men. In the chaos, Alec frees the alien. In gratitude, the alien teleports him to safety as the Marines arrive at the barn. The alien, having learned English by observing the men, eschews their violence and says it would have given them much had they treated it differently. The ship blasts off, but loses altitude and crashes. Simon is glad to see the alien die, reminding Matt how ignorant it is to hate something because it's different.

Swamp Thing (Series 1) #9: "The Stalker From Beyond"

NOTE: Abby comments that the water is so cold someone must have told the ocean it's a few weeks before Christmas, seemingly placing the issue in December 1973. However, since the previous issue takes place in January 1974, that's impossible. Therefore, I am chalking this up to Abby not being a native speaker of English.

"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. Alec intercedes, and Dorry falls over dead, riddled with bullets. The old woman tells him the tale of Black Jubal, a slave killed in the 1800s for standing up to his sadistic master, Samson Parminter. Realizing he's being watched, he pursues two hideous creatures to a nearby cemetary, coming face-to-face with Anton Arcane, Cranius and five Un-Men. Having tracked Alec from the Balkans, Arcane plans to take his form once more. The two monsters face off, and though Arcane is the victor, his boastful plans to use Alec's body to enslave the world awaken the spirits of Jubal and other slaves. Jubal puts Alec to sleep, sparing him the horror as the slaves exact vengeance upon Arcane's party for the sins of the past.

Swamp Thing (Series 1) #10: "The Man Who Would Not Die"

The psychic vibrations of the swamp take hold of Cranius and the other Un-Men, making them realize their lowly station in life. Rebelling, they literally tear Arcane limb from limb, bury each piece in a separate grave, and disappear, never to be seen again.

The Saga of the Swamp Thing (Series 2) #19: "And the Meek Shall Inherit"

The next morning, Alec 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, Alec lumbers back into the swamp, unaware of several huge worm-like creatures in the brush.

Swamp Thing (Series 1) #10: "The Man Who Would Not Die"

Some time thereafter, a Cajun Juju woman and her daughter, Sallie, make their home in a shack near the spot where Arcane died.

Swamp Thing (Series 4) #11: "Love in Vain, Chapter Three"

NOTE: I base this statement on Arcane's later revelation that a seed Sallie will later plant a seed near her home on the very spot Arcane died in the swamp. Since this is the only occasion on which Arcane ever died in the swamp, I assume this to be what he is referring to. It's unclear what happened to his gravestone, however. I should also point out that I don't know exactly when Sallie and her mom built their home; however, it's not present at the time of Arcane's death in series 1, issue #10, so it must have been built after that date.

Arcane's loyal Un-Men exhume him and rebuild his body using science he'd taught them. The results, however, are poor. In time, he forges a functioning exoskeleton and sets about breeding a more durable body, this time built on insects' adaptable and prolific nature. He experiments with creating humanoid insects, builds himself an insect-shaped helicopter with the properties of a tesseract (the inside being larger than the outside), and begins plotting revenge on Alec and Abby. Family ties mean little to Arcane, but secrets and loyalties he values, and Abby cutting herself off from him and allying with his enemy is more than he can take.

The Saga of the Swamp Thing (Series 2) #19: "And the Meek Shall Inherit"

Alec returns to the ruins of his barn to ruminate. Losing track of time, he starts to take root and is horrified at the reminder of his plant-like existence. Nearby, Matt and Abby search for clues to his whereabouts and are attacked by a mutated alligator. Alec saves their lives but refuses to stay and talk. Mutated worms abduct them and take them to New Eden, placing them in a cell with four others who arrived days earlier: an angry Black man named Jefferson Bolt, his girlfriend Ruth, an old man named Luke and Sheriff Kain. The worms bring Matt and Abby to Zachary Nail, who has spent the past five years gathering subjects to keep humanity alive when pollution eventually destroys the outside world. They return to their cell, where they spend the night making weapons to stage a fight and escape. Meanwhile, Alec follows their tracks to New Eden. Matt leads the others in revolt, holding a knife to Nail's throat. Nail orders the worms to surrender, but they reveal their true selves-they've been using him to gather humans for food, and no longer will they do his bidding. Alec helps the humans slay the worms. Nail tries to escape, killing Ruth in the process and firing Bolt's need for vengeance. Alec stops him from killing Nail, so Bolt transfers that hatred to him. Alec leads the group to safety as Nail self-destructs New Eden, then heads off on his own. In the bushes, he finds a shiny jewel which, on contact, sends him back in time to the era of the dinosaurs.

Swamp Thing (Series 1) #11: "The Conqueror Worms"

Due to contact with a Hell-Jewel, Swamp Thing is swept through time, again and again meeting cursed time traveler Milo Mobius, first in the dinosaur era, then 100 A.D., the mid-1300s, the 1860s and finally the present. Milo begs Alec to kill him and put an end to his eternal cycle, but Alec is unable to do what he asks so Milo keeps leaping back to the beginning of time, re-starting the cycle once more. This time, he leaves the Hell-Jewel behind when he leaps, so Alec hides it for safe-keeping. Meanwhile, Matt, Abby and Bolt bury Ruth. Bolt is aching with grief and in need of a distraction, so Matt asks him to join their hunt for Alec. Bolt initially blames Alec for Ruth's death, but Matt forces him to face his bigotry and Bolt reluctantly agrees to give Alec a chance.

Swamp Thing (Series 1) #12: "The Eternity Man"

NOTE: See individual dates for details on Alec's adventures in those time-periods.

Matt, Abby and Bolt return to Louisiana in a swamp-boat. Alec encounters mutated beasts similar to those from days earlier, notices their mossy exteriors are similar to his own and realizes whatever caused their mutation might lead him to a cure. Before he can pursue this theory, Matt subdues him with foam-guns and transports him to Fenwick Military Academy, just outside Washington D.C. There, Commander John Zero and Professor Coolidge DeGr�z of Project Leviathan take custody of Alec and put him through a barrage of tests in a hydroponic tank. Alec breaks free, and DeGr�z is killed in the cross-fire as guards foam him into submission. Matt visits him in his cell, and Alec finally reveals his true identity. Matt is stunned but quickly recovers and forms a plan of escape. That night, he and Abby gas the guards and bust Alec free, but Bolt halts them, rifle drawn. Matt decks him and forces him to listen to Alec Holland's tale. Stunned, Bolt agrees to help them. Burning the lab to the ground, they bury Alec in DeGr�z's casket the next day. He later claws his way to the surface, but while waiting for the others to pick him up, he finds the graves of Alec and Linda Holland and decides not pass his curse onto anyone else. Sadly, he wanders back into the swamp, alone.

Swamp Thing (Series 1) #13: "The Leviathan Conspiracy"

One year after the death of her husband David, Myra Congreve visits her family's summer place in Georgia's Okefenokee Swamp with her daughter, Janet, and her lover, Carl Holt—David's killer and former business partner. She's uncomfortable revisiting the crime scene and feels as though he's watching them, but Holt assures her they'll have a good time. As they take a boat to pick wildflowers with Janet, David—reanimated as a mossy monster—flips the boat, grabs Janet and wanders off into the swamp. Myra and Holt alert the sheriff, who orders a search party. Three days later, they find the creature and scare him off with gunfire, rescuing Janet, who utters "Daddy" before passing out. In horror, Myra realizes the creature's identity. When David returns, the police set him aflame. His burning body dies, leaving behind a human skeleton wearing a ring bearing the initials "D.C." and holding a handful of wildflowers. Horrified, Myra blurts out a confession. Arresting her and Holt, the sheriff tells her hate may have killed her husband, but it was love that brought him back.

Forbidden Tales of Dark Mansion #10: "The Monster"

June-December 1974 A.D.

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.

Swamp Thing (Series 1) #17: "The Destiny Machine"

Nicholas Trask has his elderly parents, Aubrey and Marion, admitted to Serenity Village, Florida.

Swamp Thing (Series 1) #18: "Village of the Doomed"

September 7-8, 1974 A.D.

Hurricane Carmen rocks Houma, Louisiana, one of the worst storms until Hurricane Jenny in 1990.

Swamp Thing (Series 2) #102: "And All the King's Horses"

Alec spots Seth Wheeler searching for his siblings, Jeremy and Delta. An angry mob mistakes Alec for a monster and tries to kill them both. Alec uproots a tree and scares them off, and Seth runs off as well. The mob leader, Rafe Taggert, holds a meeting and demands the Mayor do something about the children, whom he believes possess demonic powers since they're different. The Mayor and his son Jimbo resist, but Taggert has the town's support. Nearby, while investigating the flora and fauna of the swamp, Alec is mauled by a mutant comman ant (formica Pallidefulva). Though he breaks its neck, he is poisoned with formic acid and falls ill. Others attack, but the kids stop them telepathically and hitch a ride atop the ants back to their home in the bayou. There, they tell him of Jeb Wheeler, a kind old man who found them as babies and raised them as his own. Recognizing a like soul, they offer him their home and show where they hid cylinders of radioactive waste Jeb found with them; the leaking cylinders caused the recent mutations, and they hope Alec might be able to use them to return to human form. Unfortunatey, they're empty. The mob burn down the kids' treehouse, unaware Jimbo is inside (he'd come to warn them). The flames ignite Taggert's gear, killing him. Delta parts the flames to let Alec rescue Jimbo, but succumbs to them before he can save her. Realizing the kids aren't evil, the Mayor apologizes to Seth and Jeremy for their loss. Jimbo wants the kids to come live with him, but the Mayor is too concerned about others' opinions, and so Alec wanders back into the bayou, disgusted yet again at the hypocrisy of man.

Swamp Thing (Series 1) #14: "The Tomorrow Children"

With help from a guide named Luke, Matt, Abby and Bolt search the bayou. Impatient, Bolt heads out alone and is snagged by a grapple. Evading them, Alec unwisely climbs a hill in a storm and is struck by lightning. Father Jonathon Bliss brings him to a decrepid church, treating his burns and begging him to stay and fend off vandal attacks from his congregation. Claiming they turned on him when he tried to force Faith upon them, he manipulates Alec into his workroom, where he dons magic-user garb and summons the demon Nebiros to possess him. Cable's team later finds him at the church, but he attacks them and takes them to the workroom. There, Alec Holland's soul rests within the transcendental globe that allows Nebiros passage to this world. Bliss believes that only through Armageddon can mankind be redeemed for its sins, and Nebiros can bring about that end. However, as Nebiros kills Luke for sport and begins toying with the others, Matt convinces Bliss he's put himself above God in deciding man's fate, and Bliss speaks a spell to exorcise the demon. When Nebiros attacks Bliss, Abby urges Matt to smash the globe, cutting the creature's link with Alec's body. Dissipating, Nebiros frantically possesses Bliss, but the aging body can't survive the strain and burns to a crisp. Matt wonders how Abby knew how to destroy the demon, and as the church crumples to the ground behind them, they spot Bolt's body being flown out of the swamp on a helicopter tether.

Swamp Thing (Series 1) #15: "The Soul-Spell of Father Bliss"

NOTE: Nebiros later returns in Blue Devil #1, Books of Magic #42 and Day of Judgment #1-5.

Matt and Abby board a 747 with Alec hidden in the cargo hold. When a gunman hijacks the plane and tries to kill a stewardess, Alec comes out of hiding to save her life. As they grapple, their combined weight breaks the cargo door seals, dropping them into midair. The hijacker pulls a parachute cord, but they crash into the sea and he dies on impact. Alec floats to the island of Kala Pago, where High Priestess Laganna and General Adam Rock of the People's Liberation Army are staging a revolution against the government for exterminating Laganna's race, the Sepp. Their goal: to use her talisman, the sole remnant of her people, to restore freedom to her country. She and Rock bring Alec to a graveyard to reveal their army: a legion of undead soldiers who died fighting tyranny. Government troops spot them and open fire, and Alec trips a wire that topples a tree on his head. He awakens in a cell and breaks free as Laganna's army of dead arrack the encampment. Sickened at the carnage, Alec rushes to destroy the talisman, returning the dead to their graves. Preferring to die a soldier, Adam Rock rushes the troops and is gunned down. Alec tries to lead Laganna to safety, but she stays at Adam's side until troops execute her. Meanwhile, Matt and Abby set out to rescue Bolt from Sanobel Mission, a Caribbean jungle sanctuary. There, wheelchair-bound with a broken spine, Nathan Ellery and his underling Dr. Pretorius torture Bolt for information on Swamp Thing.

Swamp Thing (Series 1) #16: "Night of the Warring Dead"

Cameras track Alec, Matt and Abby as they approach Sanobel Mission. Alec 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 Alec. 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, a device that scrambles the minds of those with natural leadership abilities. 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, Alec 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.

Swamp Thing (Series 1) #17: "The Destiny Machine"

As Matt and Abby carry Bolt to nearby Serenity Village, Alec wanders off alone. The village's geriatric occupants attack Matt and Abby until young Aubrey Trask leads them to an infirmary. Nursing Bolt's wounds, Aubrey says he needs them healthy to serve as sacrifices. A demon attacks Alec in a swampy graveyard, and after breaking its back, he rushes to protect his friends. He sees another demon attacking a passerby and kills it, but the frightened passerby runs away. The man enters the village administration office but is knocked unconscious, awakening alongside Abby, Matt and Bolt, chained up in a dungeon. He is Nicholas Trask, here to visit his parents. Aubrey, his father, is really seventy years old but used the occult to rejuvenate himself; using a spell-book called the Ebontome, he drained the adminstrator's life-energy to regain his youth, then summoned demons to herd others to de-age his fellow occupants. He starts draining the men's energies, but before he can complete the transfer or de-age his wife Marion, Abby breaks free and steals the book, only to drop it as the elderly rush her. Alec hears her scream and rushes to help her. Aubrey summons a fire-demon, but Nicholas tosses the book on the fire, reversing the spell and dispelling the demon. The shock of sudden aging gives Aubrey a fatal heart attack. Matt and Bolt wonder how Abby escaped her bonds. Alec shambles off to the bayou, passing a floating newspaper with the headline, "Monster Attacks Fort Lauderdale."

Swamp Thing (Series 1) #18: "Village of the Doomed"

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 Alec'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.

The Brave and the Bold #122: "The Hour of the Beast, Part 1: Monster, Monster, Burning Bright"

Gotham scientists learn that the vines grow on contact with air. Commissioner 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 Alec, 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 Alec's help, for the city is in chaos from vines, looters and falling debris. To shame his tormentors, Alec agrees. A falling ledge nearly flattens Batman, but Alec pushes him out of the way, taking the load upon himself.

The Brave and the Bold #122: "The Hour of the Beast, Part 2: Green Grows Death"

Zero learns of the failure to capture Alec and orders the vines' destruction with a super-defoliant called Crimson 13. It was an agency plane that crashed in Gotham's upstate resorvior, releasing experimental bio-spores in the water, and he wants to keep that a secret. In Gotham, the vines break through the pavement, collapsing streets. Alec 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, Alec is already gone, on the run from B.B. Riggs. Batman throttles Riggs for his selfishness, then finds Alec and tracks the king root to a local playground. Zero's copters spray the area with Crimson 13, dissolving some of Alec'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.

The Brave and the Bold #122: "The Hour of the Beast, Part 3: Look Homeward, Hero"

A Russian cosmonaut, Lt. Col. Valentina Vostock, steals a secret fighter-jet so she can defect, crashes it in the Caribbean and makes it to the United States. The U.S. Navy salvages the wreckage of the jet and assigns a scientist, Dr. Gilary, to find out what makes it tick, but Vostock is missing. The D.D.I. recalls Matt Cable to its secret headquarters at the "abandoned" Fenwick Military Academy on the outskirts of Washington, D.C., and assigns him to find her. Meanwhile, Cliff Steele (Robotman), last surviving member of the Doom Patrol, returns to the Midway City, Mich., gothic mansion that once served as the headquarters of his fallen comrades, to find a trio of intruders inhabiting his space. They are the missing cosmonaut Vostock (Negative Woman), along with Joshua Clay (Tempest) and Arani Desai Caulder (Celsius), who have formed a new Doom Patrol and are preparing to battle the villainous General Immortus. At that moment, Immortus and his troops storm the building and capture Arani to obtain the formula of an immortality serum developed by her late husband, Niles Caulder.