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

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.

Showcase Presents. #94: "The New Doom Patrol—The Doom Patrol Lives Forever"

NOTE: Although this three-part story was published in 1977, it cannot occur in that year since Matt Cable was removed from the D.D.I. in 1975. A newspaper headline indicates Swamp Thing is in Gotham at the time, so I am setting it at the same time as The Brave and the Bold #122. The original Doom Patrol were killed in 1968 in Doom Patrol #121.

Immortus takes the Doom Patrol to a station on the far side of the Moon, where he uses a psycho-probe to search Arani's memories for the formula. Her comrades break free but are quickly subdued by the villain's guards. Obtaining the formula from her mind, Immortus leaves to create it. Meanwhile, U.S. intelligence reports place Vostock in Midway City, and Cable is sent to find her.

Showcase Presents. #95: "The New Doom Patrol—[Untitled]"

Over the next week, Cable searches Midway Ciy for signs of Vostock. His search brings him to the neighborhood of the Doom Patrol's secret headquarters.

Showcase Presents. #96: "The New Doom Patrol—Defection"

Outside the Doom Patrol's mansion, Cable sees a Russian KGB agent, Igor Brunovich, also watching the building. He realizes he must get to the cosmonaut before the KGB does, or else she'll be killed. Chasing Brunovich off, he breaks into the Doom Patrol's HQ and is attacked by automatic security lasers. The heroes break free of Immortus' troops, steal a rocket and return to their HQ on Earth to find Cable waiting for them.

Showcase Presents. #95: "The New Doom Patrol—[Untitled]"

Cable tries to arrest Vostock, but Steele bends his gun into handcuffs and locks him in a closet. Brunovich returns with a hugely muscled cyborg known as the Cossack, intent on taking Vostock back to Russia. The others fight the brute, but he defeats Vostock and flies off with her on a winged horse. He doesn't get far, however, as Vostock's comrades catch up with him in a helicopter and short-circuit his robotic body in a fury of power blasts and thermal energies, rescuing Vostock. Meanwhile, Cable escapes his bonds and runs outside the gothic mansion. Brunovich spots him and pulls a gun, but Cable overpowers him and locks him up in the Doom Patrol's HQ to await the heroes' return.

Showcase Presents. #96: "The New Doom Patrol—Defection"

NOTE: This story ends without any real resolution to Cable's search for Vostock. Presumably, he decides to leave her in the care of her fellow superheroes and returns to Washington.

Alec's mindless duplicate, grown from his discarded arm in Divinity, Maine, twenty-four months ago, continues searching for his "better half." In Benson's Swamp, Florida, he startles Ho'tah Makanaw, a Seminole Indian, 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, Abby and Bolt eat at Sloan's Diner in nearby Gatorberg, Alec'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.

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

NOTE: This issue and #20 were intended to be published together as Swamp Thing Giant. When that project was cancelled, the story was split between these two issues.

Ho'tah explains that he found the Grotto in 1795, and that he alone remained to guard it when White men pushed the Seminole out of Florida in the 1840s. Junior is touched by the tale, as is Alec's double. The real Alec draws closer until Earl Hobart's gang attack him and flee in terror. Matt and Bolt investigate the damaged excavation site, unaware it wasn't Alec's fault. Bolt fears Alec Holland has gone insane and wonders if they should let him die in peace. Halston tells a worker named Carmody to clear a large boulder with explosives, raining debris down into the Grotto. Seeing the last vestige of his people destroyed, Ho'tah gives in to hatred and orders Alec's double to seek out and kill the White man. The double blazes through the excavation site, killing a worker and knocking Matt senseless. As Alec's friends fear he's gone mad, the two Swamp Things find each other and face off. Alec realizes his double wants the impossible: to physically rejoin with him. Ho'tah goes to town with Junior, warning that "his" monster will destroy the White devil. Burton Sloan, a cowardly man pushed around by Earl and others, lashes out at the Indian, whose head impacts with the curb, killing him instantly. Alec's duplicate sees Ho'tah's body and rushes to his side, saddened by the death of its father-figure. Halston arrives with Matt and Bolt, spots the kneeling creature, and hits it with explosives, destroying it. As the real Alec wanders back to the swamp, his friends mourn what they believe to be his death.

Swamp Thing (Series 1) #20: "The Mirror Monster"

NOTE: This issue and #19 were intended to be published together as Swamp Thing Giant. When that project was cancelled, the story was split between these two issues.

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

NOTE: The Swamp Thing issue of Vertigo Secret Files & Origins gives Sunderland's name as Carlton, even though his name had already been established in issue #6 (Series 2) as Avery H. Sunderland. I have simply combined the two names.

The Sandman, Master of Dreams #45: "Brief Lives, Part 5: The Things We Do to Be
    Loved—Her Hands Do Not Go to The Moon—The Driving Instructor—Tiffany
    Watches I—White Knights and/or Pond-Scum—Are Dalmations Flowers?—Nancy
    Displays Her Erudition—Wham Bam, Thank You Ma'am—Tiffany Watches II"

NOTE: Yes, that really is the title.

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

Wicker realizes Cable must be handled immediately. Killing him might carry too much risk, so Wicker settles for the next best thing: inducing amnesia via electroshock. He sends Matt on assignment to South Dakota to meet a special courier. The assignment, however, turns out merely to be an ambush to trap him. Sunderland guards capture and straight-jacket him, then bring him to the Barclay Clinic.

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

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

Matt is subjected to brainwashing, but all efforts to make him forget everythhing fail. A D.D.I. agent visits him at the clinic, apologizing for the electroshock. Matt sees through the lie, however, realizing he's being tested to see if the brainwashing has worked. The agent blindfolds him and brings him home, where he is kept under constant surveillance. He and Abby drop out of sight, moving from city to city, each time hoping to start new lives. Booze becomes a constant companion. Due to the electroshock, his mind is too rattled for work as an investigator, so he takes a succession of menial, badly-paying jobs just to survive. However, he eventually loses each job because of his alcoholism.

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

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

One side effect of Matt's shock therapy is the awakening of latent paranormal powers. Ironically, the intended result―that he forget the entire Swamp Thing affair―is not among the effects.

DC Heroes Role-Playing Game-Swamp Thing Sourcebook

Matt Cable is labeled a deserter by Army Intelligence and marked for execution.

The Saga of the Swamp Thing (Series 2) #18: "The Man Who Would Not Die"

Dr. Daniel J. Solomon and his assistant Morgan sign aboard a government experiment to build a bomb out-classing the H-bomb. Underground detonation tests go awry when a fault line spews fallout on a nearby desert town, mutating the population. Among the victims are Solomon's wife Kate and son John. The government herds the victims to a secret base called Safehaven, where they are cared for, treated well, and isolated to protect others from a deadly virus caused by their condition. Some victims accept their new life, but others resent being caged, even under the best of conditions.

Swamp Thing (Series 1) #22: "The Solomon Plague"

Ruth Monroe graduates magna cum laude with a Bachelor's Degree in biochemistry, saddened that her mother died a month before and never saw her graduate. Shortly thereafter, she begins working on a Master's Degree and gets a job as an assistant to Professor Edward Holland in Quinn, Oregon.

Swamp Thing (Series 1) #23: "Rebirth and Nightmare"

A European correspondent for the Mount Good Hope Institute locates Gregori Arcance wandering the Bavarian countryside and contacts Dr. Elijah Chomes, an experimenter in biological oddities. Chomes has Gregori flown to the U.S., but he escapes and remains at large until Chomes can re-capture him.

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

A snobby British magician named Sir Norman invites John Constantine to join one of Earth's two great magic lodges. First, however, he must defile a Cross to turn his back on humanity. He does so but feels uncomfortable with his choice. Rising quickly through the ranks of the lodge, he is eventually told to sacrifice his best friend, Chas, as a final act of severing his link to the past. Unable to kill his best friend, he refuses and is expelled from membership. This is one decision he never regrets.

Swamp Thing (Series 2) #169: "Trial By Fire, Part 4-The Judas Tree"

Alternate Timeline: At age 22, the Golden Boy—John Constantine's stillborn twin in the "real" world, given a chance at life and the same name&md'finds Gary Lester down on his luck and lifts him up out of a life of drugs. Lester becomes one of Constantine's many followers, who revere him as their Magus.

John Constantine, Hellblazer #40: "Twins—The Magus"

NOTE: "Twins," the title of this two-part storyline, does not appear on the title page, which simply contains the subtitle "The Magus." The title "Twins" is stated in the letters column to issue #39.

Some time between 1975 and early 1978 A.D.

John Constantine and his friend Brendan Finn, a fellow magician from Ireland, attend a Sex Pistols concert in Camden, where they use magic to create the illusion of a haunted amplifier. Constantine convinces the band's manager, Malcolm McLaren, to let him perform an exorcism on the musical equipment.

John Constantine, Hellblazer #42: "Dangerous Habits, Part Two—A Drop of the Hard Stuff"

NOTE: The Sex Pistols formed in 1975 and broke up in 1979. John Constantine was admitted to a mental hospital in early 1978. Thus, the concert must have occurred during this period.

Strolling Florida's Port Everglades, Alec is teleported to a space-platform by a gem-encrusted tyrant, Solus, whose comporter snared Alec while seeking human variations and oddities. He defeats Solus' slug-like bodyguards, Kolom and Jettak, but succumbs to an energy beam from Solus' staff. Solus puts him in a stasis tube with Krell and other aliens, promising to let him live if remains entertaining, then brings a beautiful captive named Cellanth to his room. She urges him to let them go, willing to sacrifice herself for their sake. Angered, he rants about being of royal blood on his homeworld, claiming he killed his own brother for weakening the throne and was exiled to this platform. What's more, nodules implanted in his body will explode on contact with planetary soil. Having scoured the galaxies looking for diversions, he has grown lonely. As he speaks, she discretely pushes a button on his staff, freeing Alec and the others. They kill Kolom and Jettak and make their way to the comporter, hoping to return to their worlds. Solus realizes their plan and takes control of Alec's mind, forcing him to kill many. He executes Cellanth and begins spacing others until Alec hits him with a girder, knocking his staff free. Rather than kill him, the aliens decide to smash his controls and strand him on the platform alone. Trying to retrieve his staff, Solus nearly stumbles off the platform. Alec pities him and saves his life, but contact with Alec's soil-formed hand activates his nodules, causing him to explode in space. Saddened that Solus' genius was fettered by insanity, Alec is the last to teleport out as the platform explodes as well.

Swamp Thing (Series 1) #21: "Requiem"

At 3:00 A.M., a creature breaks into Stacy's Department Store in Manhattan and hides among the lingerie. Six hours later, two women open the department up for business. One woman, Ruth, tells the other of a fight with her boyfriend, Brad Parker. Startled, the creature crashes into her. He is Gregori Arcane, otherwise known as the Patchwork Man. Security guard Ernie Kempler runs to their aid, but Gregori hits him until another guard, McElroy, shoots Gregori unconscious. Policeman O'Neal brings him to a precinct house, where Dr. Elijah Chomes of Mount Good Hope Institute's Department of Mental Sciences arranges for Gregori's release. Chomes takes Gregori to a lab, where he lapses into memories of his daughter Abby, the accident that changed his life and his meeting with Alec. Chomes tells his staff, Darleen Greer and Andrew Harty, of his attempts to capture the creature. Darri is disturbed by Gregori's infantile mind, for she is pregnant and considering an abortion. That night, Chomes and his assistant Christian subject Gregori to a genetic replicator. The pain is so intense he breaks free and runs into the street, where a sympathetic cabby, Eddie Morgan, takes him home. As they pull off, Christian notes the cab's number.

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

NOTE: Another Eddie Morgan appears in Hellblazer #28 as Chas Chandler's boss. It's unclear whether they're intended to be the same person or not, but given that both Eddie and Chas are cab drivers, it's certainly possible.

Elijah Chomes puts out a $10,000 reward for Gregori Arcane and hires Detective Whalbach to find him. Eddie takes Gregori to his slum of a home. A neighbor, Anthony Ulrich, taunts them about being sinners, but Eddie ignores him, knowing the former philosopy professor, though insane since his wife's death, is harmless. A relgious zealot, Ulrich awaits Judgment Day, his only friends the building's many rats. Upstairs, Eddie's wife Mary-Ellen and daughter Janet are frightened at Gregori's appearance. Eddie calms them, saying Gregori needs their help and there might be a reward. Seeing Janet, Gregori is reminded of Abby and tries to hold her. Mary-Ellen slaps him and he cries. Elsewhere, Andy Harty tries to talk Darleen Greer out of the abortion. Wondering if the Patchwork Man would prefer never to have been born, she longs to talk to him before making a decision. The next day, Whalbach bribes Eddie into revealing Gregori's location. Ulrich's sad existence comes to an end as he dies from a razor-sharp chicken bone in a can of dog food. After consuming his flesh, the rats break into a hunger frenzy. Some eat each other, while others electrocute themselves biting wiring. Most, however, follow the scent of food to other apartments, and the Morgans find themselves at the rats' mercy. As Gregori jumps to protect Janet, the rats swarm him. The chewed wiring ignites, and as flames engulf the huilding, Gregori grabs Mary-Ellen and Janet and jumps through a window, falling several stories and cushioning them from the fall. Shamed by such selflessness, Eddie regrets his actions as Whalbach prepares the unconscious creature for transport to Chomes' clinic.

Gigant #3/1983: "Night of the Rat"

NOTE: This Patchwork Man tale, published in Sweden, was originally slated for publication in The House of Secrets #141, but plans to make the Patchwork Man an ongoing feature in that series were dropped. It has never been published in English, and many fans outside Europe are unaware of its existence.

Stopping to enjoy a desert sunset, Alec is snared by soldiers in protective gear who've mistaken him for a plague victim. Shocking him to sleep, they fly him to the cavern lab of Dr. Daniel J. Solomon, Director of Project Safehaven, where he awakens in a roomful of mutants. A genius of the Atomic Energy Comission, Solomon's nuclear bomb experiments caused the plague that mutated them. His wife Kate is among them, and she welcomes Alec to the compound. Her son John, unhappy in this "mink-lined prison," asks Alec's help in breaking out. Alec considers staying in Safehaven among others who accept him but realizes the scientists would discover his bio-regenerative formula if he let them test him, so he attacks the guards. Inspired, John's followers follow suit. Suffering psychopathic paranoia from the plague, they think they can save the world by destroying it. Alec finds John opening an airlock but is unable to stop him because of a cave-in. Still, John's plans are halted by Solomon himself, who, failing to make him see reason, is forced to shoot his own son. Solomon tells Alec he is not one of them and should leave, then locks the door. Removing his visor, he tells his wife he has found a cure and embraces her one last time before self-destructing the base. As he watches the base explode, taking with it the only real friendship he's known in a long time, Alec begins a journey of many days through the Blue Mountains of Northeastern Oregon, to a place he left years before and swore he'd never return to... the home of his brother, Dr. Edward Holland.

Swamp Thing (Series 1) #22: "The Solomon Plague"

Sabre, Chief Enforcer of the Colossus Organization, urges Councilman Red to let him kill Swamp Thing, whom he blames for the loss of his career, his honor and his hand. A sword now replaces his missing right hand, and he's furious when Red orders him to capture Alec alive. Red introduces Thrudvang the Earth Master, a hulking, genetically-engineered elemental sent to assist Sabre-or replace him if necessary. In Oregon, Alec enters Edward's home and badly frightens Ruth Monroe, Edward's assistant. Edward attacks him, until Alec reveals who he is and what has happened to him. Arrogant to the point of obnoxious, Edward agrees to find a cure and calls himself "twice the chemist Alec is or ever was." Testing ensues for 26 hours straight, after which Edward announces he's found a cure. Though elated, Alec is sad Linda can't be here to share the news. Having lost her mother a month before graduating college, Ruth empathizes with his pain. Ruth drives into town for supplies, sweet-talking a boy named Ned into sneaking her dynamite. Recreating the conditions of Alec's initial explosion, Edward hopes to reverse its effects, but as Alec's burning form begins its transformation in a simulated pool of swamp mire, Sabre arrives to kill him. He reveals himself to be John Zero, who's career floundered when he failed to capture Alec in 1974. He furiously begins hacking away at Alec, and when Ruth intervenes, he hits her unconscious. Furious at the reminder of Linda's death, Alec knocks Sabre into the flaming swamp waters. As Sabre burns in agony, Edward helps Ruth to her feet, worried over Alec's fate. Finally, slowly, Alec ascends from the flames... a human once more.

Swamp Thing (Series 1) #23: "Rebirth and Nightmare"

NOTE: Issue #21 of Series 2 reveals that Alec was never human to begin with, so his success in regaining his humanity is puzzling. Most likely, Edward somehow tapped into Alec's as-yet undiscovered ability to change shape, causing him to assume human form.

The next morning, Alec awakens from nightmares of his recent ordeal to find Ruth watching over him. He fears re-adjusting to being human but is comforted by her compassion and romantic interest. Meanwhile, Solomon Smith visits Sheriff Kline to arrange for Sabre's release. Repairing Sabre's wounds, he brings him before Councilmen Red and Blue, who give him one last chance to capture Alec. Their goal: to build an army of Swamp Things and take over the world. First, Sabre must find Thrudvang, who has begun a berzerker rampage without Colossus' guidance. Unstable and easily provoked, Thrudvang smashes a logging camp and rips the ground open beneath the loggers' feet, burying them alive. Chaotic images of life before Colossus mutated him assault his mind, but his focus is on killing Alec. Sabre convinces Smith they can use Alec to bargain for seats on the Council. The next day, Edward expresses happiness over Alec's progress but secretly resents Alec upstaging him with Ruth, as he always did when they were young. Alec and Ruth go for a drive and Thrudvang utterly crushes their car. Lifting Ruth, Alec dodges blows and runs for the hills, unaware of a tracer in his shoulder. Thrudvang tracks them but Alec uses the brute's weight against him, luring him onto an old bridge so he can cut one side and drop Thrudvang into the McKenzie River Gorge. Dazed and confused, Alec is glad to have survived but wonders what other perils they'll face.

Swamp Thing (Series 1) #24: "The Earth Below"

Alec meets Hawkman in Portland, Oregon. The details of this encounter, the events of the Holland brothers' renewed rivarly and the final fate of Sabre and Smith's plot remain un-recorded.

Swamp Thing (Series 1) #25: [title unknown, unpublished]

NOTE: Series 1 was cancelled before this issue was published, and no author has pursued these dangling plotpoints.

His humanity restored, Alec remains in Quinn, Oregon, with Ruth Monroe, with whom he begins a romantic relationship. There, the two resume his bioregenerative research for the government.

Challengers of the Unknown #83: "Chapter 2-Savior From the Swamp?"

A tiny spaceship crewed by sentient alien micro-organisms crashes in the Atlantic Ocean, but its occupants survive and live on the bottom for some time, unmolested by the creatures of the sea.

The Saga of the Swamp Thing (Series 2) #7: "I Have Seen the Splintered Timbers of a Hundred Shattered Hulls"

A Sunderland freighter disappears off the cost of Miami, Florida, with a shipment of secret laboratory-bred Herpes viruses. The viruses mutate the alien micro-organisms into huge worm-like creatures. In time, the mutant Herpes spreads by mutating the local flora and fauna into its servants.

The Saga of the Swamp Thing (Series 2) #6: "Sins on the Water"

Deanna French enters the autistic child-care field and is so scared she almost quits immediately.

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

Young Etienne Pitrie is born to a Cajun couple in Dogpatch, Louisiana.

Swamp Thing (Series 2) Annual #4: "Traiteur"

John Constantine forms a punk-rock band, which he calls Mucous Membrane.

John Constantine, Hellblazer #1: "Hunger"

NOTE: Hellblazer #153 indicates Mucous Membrane formed after Constantine saw the Sex Pistols perform in 1977, but since he and the band appear in The Sandman Presents: Marquee Moon (which takes place on January 1 of that year), I am moving the band's creation back to 1976. Other members of the band include Gary "Gaz" Lester (seen in Hellblazer #1) Beano (from Hellblazer #153) and Stu (introduced in Marquee Moon).

1976 to 1997 A.D.

Jason Woodrue creates an elixir to change himself from a being of flesh and bone to one of bone and bark, raining havoc on Earth until the Guardians of the Universe and Green Lantern Corps step in to stop him. Green Lantern freezes him in an ice prison; upon release, he creates a synthetic skin to hide his plant nature and resumes a career in science. The years of imprisonment take their toll, though, and he begins to lose his mind. The Secret Society of Super-Villains recruit his services, and he works alongside fellow criminals Wizard, Star Sapphire, Blockbuster, Reverse Flash, Ultra-Humanite, Brain Wave, Psycho Pirate, Rag Doll, Monocle, Mist, Signalman and Killer Frost. During this period, Woodrue calls himself the Plant-Master. The Secret Society battle the Justice League of America on many occasions, bearing defeat after defeat. Finally, Woodrue learns to be at peace with himself and grows comfortable with his synthetic human features.

The Saga of the Swamp Thing (Series 2) #24: "Roots"

Vertigo Secret Files & Origins-Swamp Thing

Secret Origins #23: "Floronic Man-Shine on, You Crazy Diamond"

January 1, 1977 A.D.

On New Year's Day 1977, 23-year-old John Constantine and his punk-rock band, Mucous Membrane, attend The Clash's performance at the Roxy Club in Covent Garden, London. On Constantine's arm is a woman far younger than him. Two music-business executives, Les (a man in his 40s) and Maurice (in his 30s) also attend, looking for new bands to sign so they can make a quick buck. Realizing The Clash is out of their league, they decide to seek out a more second-division group. Siezing the opportunity, Constantine introduces Mucous Membrane, and Maurice gives him his card, promising to come see their next gig. Ecstatic, Constantine rushes home to write some songs.

The Sandman Presents: Marquee Moon [unpublished]

NOTE: This one-shot comic by Peter Hogan was scheduled to be the first title under the Sandman Presents banner. Slated for a 1997 release, with art from Peter Doherty, it ended up on indefinite hiatus after Vertigo opted not to publish it for reasons never disclosed to either Hogan or Doherty. Ten years later, Hogan agreed to have the story published on this Web site. (Click here.) Besides Constantine, other members of Mucous Membrane include Gary "Gaz" Lester (seen in Hellblazer #1) Beano (from Hellblazer #153) and Stu (introduced in Marquee Moon).

Mid-January 1977 A.D.

John Constantine and Mucous Membrane perform at a club in Ayelsbury, along with backup band The Bone Idols. Music producer K.G.B. signs Membrane for a record deal, offering a five-figure advance.

The Sandman Presents: Marquee Moon [unpublished]

NOTE: Hellblazer Annual #1 establishes Mucous Membrane's only record, "Venus of the Hardsell," as being published by 'Snot Music. The relationship between K.G.B. and 'Snot Music is unclear.

Between January 23 and 30, 1977 A.D.

Mucous Membrane performs at the Marquee Club in London, again supported by The Bone Idols (now renamed The Uninvited). His occult senses already honed, Constantine is surprised to sense the presence of two werewolves in the other band. Les and Maurice, executives who'd given him their business card on New Year's Day, visit Mucous Membrane backstage, ready to offer them a deal (and not a very good one). Gloating, Constantine says the band has already signed with K.G.B. As the execs leave, Constantine begins reading The Exorcist and decides to learn about exorcism, knowing his music career won't last forever. That night, the audience is out of control, spitting at both bands until they are drenched in saliva. Halfway through "Venus of the Hardsell," Constantine stops singing and threatens to beat up the next person to spit on him. Another wave of saliva washes over him, and he dives at the crowd, causing a riot that nearly destroys both bands' instruments.

The Sandman Presents: Marquee Moon [unpublished]

Among the songs Mucous Membrane performs most is Marvin Gaye's "I Heard it Through the Grapevine." Constantine comes to think of it as his theme song.

The Sandman, Master of Dreams #3: "Dream a Little Dream of Me"

John Constantine's punk rocker friends at the time include Patrick McDonell (aka, Martin Peters), more popularly known as Destructo Vermin Gobsmack of the Hopeless Heroins.

John Constantine, Hellblazer Annual #1: "The Bloody Saint"

NOTE: McDonell's real name is revealed in Hellblazer #33.

Mucous Membrane makes its debut at the Casanova Club in Newcastle. After the show, club owner Alex Logue invites the band to party with his friends. Constantine's friend Gary "Gaz" Lester is into it, but Constantine is disgusted at the way Logue touches his young daughter, Astra, and declines; the child abuser forces Astra to have sex with his friends, and Constantine wants no part of it.

John Constantine, Hellblazer #11: "Newcastle-A Taste of Things to Come"

John Constantine becomes fascinated with summoning demons after his friend Benjamin Cox obtains for him a copy of the Grimorium Verum, a 17th-century book of dark arts. The book costs him �200. For the next few months, Constantine assembles all the items the tome says are needed to conduct such a ritual, just in case he ever needs to perform a summoning.

John Constantine, Hellblazer #11: "Newcastle-A Taste of Things to Come"

An autistic boy named Paul is born in Louisiana. At age seven, he will encounter the Monkey King.

Swamp Thing (Series 2) #93: "Capturing the Moments of Your Life"

Graduating Cambridge University, future assassin Eric Neiderman begins an internship at Sunderland Corporation. Gratefully loyal to General Carlton Avery H. Sunderland for paying his college tuition, Neiderman does whatever the genera asks of him. In time, that includes murder.

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

The Challengers of the Unknown (Mark Walter "Prof" Haley, Matthew "Red" Ryan, Les "Rocky" Davis, Kyle "Ace" Morgan and honorary Challenger June Robbins) face their arch-nemesis, Duncan Pramble (Multi-Man). Pramble has threatened to level city after city unless Earth names him Supreme Dictator. They quickly defeat him, as he has lost his power of transformation, but victory is short-lived, for Prof falls ill to a deadly virus. The computer says only one man can save him: Dr. Heathcliff Monroe of Perdition, Pennsylvania (which the computer mistakenly lists as being in Massachusettes). Evil awaits them there, however, for Monroe has just sacrificed Susan Charness to M'Nagalah the Eternal, and M'Nagalah hungers still.

Challengers of the Unknown #81: "Multi-Man's Master Plan"

NOTE: Since Haley's first name is given as both Mark and Walter, I made one his middle name to avoid confusion.

The Challengers rush to Perdition, leaving behind would-be Challenger Dustin Gaylord Clayburne. Red and June are nearly killed by locals upon landing, but Monroe arrives in time to stop the mob.

Challengers of the Unknown #82: "Chapter 1—The Lurker Below"

NOTE: Since Clayburne's first name is given as both Dustin and Gaylord, I made one his middle name to avoid confusion.

Finding Prof's torso covered in fungus caused by exposure to M'Nagalah, Monroe sends Red and Ace to Borotavia to retrieve a blood-recycling unit from Dr. Josef Rabinovitch's lab. Meanwhile, June and Rocky find a library of occult books, including Visions of a Dead Priest by Dr. Malcomb Monroe.

Challengers of the Unknown #82: "Chapter 2—Legacy of the Damned"

June and Rocky hear a scream and spot cultists feeding to M'Nagalah a hapless tractor salesman resembling ex-President Richard M. Nixon. They attack the cult and are themselves captured. Meanwhile, Red and Ace arrive at Borotavia and must evade attacking jets before retrieving the unit.

Challengers of the Unknown #82: "Chapter 3—The Soul Predator"

Heathcliff tells Rocky that his cousin Jason came to him after the Swamp Thing defeated M'Nagalah. The fungoid infection was the demon's way of surviving, and Heathcliff soon succumbed to its control. He now plans to feed them to M'Nagalah so it can return to life. His next victim: June Robbins.

Challengers of the Unknown #82: "Chapter 4—The Lurker Rises"

With June's life in peril, the Challengers face Heathcliff/M'Nagalah and lose. A thousand miles away at Challenger Mountain, Clayburne uses the computer to research Prof's condition.

Challengers of the Unknown #83: "Chapter 1—Seven Doorways to Destiny"

Discovering the origin of Prof's disease, Clayburne heads for Quinn, Oregon, to track down Alec Holland. For the past year, Holland has lived in Quinn with Ruth Monroe (no relation to Heathcliff or Malcolm Monroe), continuing his bioregenerative research for the government.

Challengers of the Unknown #83: "Chapter 2—Savior From the Swamp?"

At Clayburne's urging, Alec bids Ruth farewell and leaves to help Prof Haley. Meanwhile, Monroe holds June and Red hostage to force Ace and Rocky to go to London and perform a ritual that will revive M'Nagalah. Since Alec defeated the creature in 1974, it has awaited the opening of seven doorways that would allow its kind to dominate Earth. En route to Perdition, Alec begins reverting to his Swamp Thing form but feels duty-bound to fight rather than return to the lab for a cure. In Monroe's church, he and Clayburne find Prof nearly absored by M'Nagalah.

Challengers of the Unknown #83: "Chapter 3—The Gods Crawl Closer"

Prof tells the Challs to use sonics to defeat the fungus. Rocky and Ace rush to Scratch Alley, London, and read a spell meant to awaken M'Nagalah's sibling. They immediately destroy the sibling and the doorway. Alec, once more a swamp monster, destroys M'Nagalah and sadly shambles off alone.

Challengers of the Unknown #83: "Chapter 4—All Monsters, Good and Evil"

Sent by Rama Kushna to fight a great evil, Boston Brand (Deadman) sees Alec and causes a wolf to attack him. When Alec spares the wolf, Deadman realizes his error and goes to Perdition to find the real evil. Seeing Prof's condition, he follows the group to Challenger Mountain in Colorado, where he enters Prof's body and kills the fungus. Unaware of his presence, the Challs are stunned at Prof's inexplicable recovery. Clayburne reminds them of his role in the rescue, but Ace rebuffs him. Realizing the Challs will never accept him, Claryburne sadly departs.

Challengers of the Unknown #84: "Chapter 1—To Save a Monster"

Prof tells the others of Alec's condition. As they set out to find him, Deadman returns to Perdition but Alec has hopped a train for Philidelphia. In Phily, Deadman tries to enter Alec's body but finds another spirit already inhabiting it. He rushes to Perdition, inhabits Ace, and leads the others to Phily, where Alec has stormed a state asylum. The Challs raid the asylum, shocked to learn that Alec's possessor is Duncan Pramble, who gained telepathy in his last re-birth. Deadman severs Pramble's telepathic link and burns out his mind, and once Pramble is locked away for good, the Challs return home. Prof offers Alec a home until they can cure him, and he gratefully accepts.

Challengers of the Unknown #84: "Chapter 2—When Deadmen Walk"

John Constantine witnesses a senior member of the Freemasons having sex with a corpse in a London graveyard. Constantine photographs the incident, then uses the photos to obtain any information about the Masons that he might need to know in the years thereafter.

John Constantine, Hellblazer #54: "Royal Blood, Part Three—The Good Old Days"

Some time before 1978 A.D.

Ray Monde befriends John Constantine shortly after the latter moves to London. Although Ray is gay, their relationship never goes beyond platonic friendship because Ray's heart already belongs to his soldier lover, Bill, who serves aboard the Sir Galahad.

John Constantine, Hellblazer #7: "Ghosts in the Machine"

NOTE: This placement is based on the earliest known date of John's friendship with Ray, which is 1978, as mentioned in issue #11. It is impossible to be more specific in dating when they met.

26-year-old silicon technologist Nathaniel Broder launches Broder Electronics.

The Saga of the Swamp Thing (Series 2) #14: "Crystal Visions, Shattered Dreams"

An autistic child named Paul is born to a Louisiana couple named Chris and Jenny.

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

Carl, an acquaintance of John Constantine, begins experimenting in lucid dreaming. He experiences fifty lucid dreams over the next decade, always in control of the dreams, which he finds slightly erotic.

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

One week later, Red and Rocky jealously battle over June Robbins' affections. Deadman and Alec put a quick end to the fight, and June berates both men for brawling. Rocky apologizes, but Red storms off, quitting the team. Meanwhile, a gargantuan box materializes in downtown Tornoto, causing widespread panic. All attempts to move, probe or destroy the great box prove fruitless, and when people begin falling victim to radiation sickness, the Canadian government calls the Challengers. Confined to a wheelchair, Prof stays behind as their Super-Sonic Transport speeds toward Canada, Deadman flies ahead to enter the mysterious box, only to be repelled violently.

Challengers of the Unknown #85: "The Creature From the End of Time, Chapter 1-The Box From Beyond"

The box releases a giant creature on Toronto. The Challs' rocket-guns are ineffective, so Alec hurls a police car at it as Deadman enters June's body and shoots the creature. They cart it to Challenger Mountain, where carbon-dating indicates it to be from the future. Prof sends the Challs to the lab of Time Master Rip Hunter, who disappeared ten years prior. En route, they find another box and are nearly killed by its occupant; only Ace's flying skills save them as he rams and kills the creature.

Challengers of the Unknown #85: "The Creature From the End of Time,Chapter 2-Monsters and Men"

The Challengers find Rip Hunter's lab dusty and deserted. Alec presses a button on a console, causing Rip's time-sphere to appear. Inside is the skull of a neo-human creature, which Prof deems to be from the year 12,000,000 A.D. More boxes begin appearing around the world, so the Challs take the sphere to search for Hunter in the future. As they exit, a box materializes behind Prof.

Challengers of the Unknown #85: "The Creature From the End of Time,Chapter 3-Flight into the Future"

A creature emerges from the box in Prof's lab and atacks. He destroys it with a specially-made rifle, but six more appear, each releasing other creatures. He rushes for an airlock and catches his breath, realizing the equipment he'd been using to track the sphere's journey is in the lab with the monsters.

Challengers of the Unknown #86: "The War at Time's End, Chapter 1-The Way it Began"

As the Challs continue their mission in 12,000,000 A.D., Prof dons a special combination of spacesuit and battle armor and opens an airlock to fight the creatures. Meanwhile, in a hotel in Metropolis, Red learns that hundreds of boxes have appeared around the globe, yet the Challs are nowhere in sight. Out in the street, a box appears and wreaks havoc. Since Superman is busy in space, Red builds a laser from a WGBS-TV newstruck mini-cam and destroys the creature. Realizing he should never have abandoned his team, he files back to Colorado.

Challengers of the Unknown #86: "The War at Time's End, Chapter 3-Time Times Terror"

Red arrives to find Prof overwhelmed by the creatures and nearly out of oxygen. Turning the temperature in the lab up to lethal levels, Red kills the monsters and saves Prof's life.

Challengers of the Unknown #87: "Twelve Million Years to Twilight,Chapter 1-Assault on Sunset"

Prof contacts the JLA to request aid. With help from Green Lantern, Etragon the Demon and others, the creatures are destroyed world-wide. The Challengers, along with Alec and Deadman return from 12,000,000 A.D., having saved Rip Hunter and put an end to the Sunset Lords' plans. Once in their own time, Alec, Deadman and Rip bid farewell and head out on their own adventures.

Challengers of the Unknown #87: "Twelve Million Years to Twilight,Chapter 2-Twilight's Last Glimmer"

Sharing writing credit with his friend Gary Lester, Constantine puts out a hit single with Mucous Membrane. The song, entitled "Venus of the Hardsell," is published by 'Snot Music. An accompanying video is recorded by Dean Motter, filled with images of violence and death.

John Constantine, Hellblazer Annual #1: "The Bloody Saint"

NOTE: Dean Motter is the actual artist who illustrated this sequence in the comic. Incidentally, Peter Hogan's unpublished Marquee Moon one-shot establishes that Mucous Membrane signed to K.G.B. to publish its record. The reationship between K.G.B. and 'Snot Music is unclear.

Living the life of a musician, Constantine grows dope plants in a window box for a time.

John Constantine, Hellblazer #48: "Love Kills"

During their brief stint of fame, Constantine and his band-mates are interviewed by NME magazine.

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

Eventually, Constantine's fascination with magic becomes stronger than his interest in music, and he decides to disband Mucous Membrane.

DC Heroes Role-Playing Game—Magic Sourcebook

Casanova Club owner Alex Logue and his friends have a wild party, forcing Logue's young daughter Astra to perform sexually, as they often do. One of his friends, however, gets out of control and starts to hurt Astra. In response, her sunconscious mind, tired of a life of sexual abuse, conjures a hideous, phallus-covered beast called the Norfulthing, a terror elemental, which rapes and kills everyone in the club but her. Left alone in a building full of dead bodies, she grows delirious and hides upstairs, mumbling repeatedly her refusal to allow any more sexual abuse.

John Constantine, Hellblazer #11: "Newcastle-A Taste of Things to Come"

A future mistress of Sunderland Corp. scientist Dr. Winter is born. Her name is unrecorded, though the scandal of his involvement with her will ultimately destroy his career (and his life).

Swamp Thing (Series 2) #127: "Project Proteus"

John Constantine's friend, Ray Monde, hears reports of disturbances and phenomena in Newcastle. Constantine returns to the Casanova Club, the site of Mucous Membrane's debut earlier in the year, along with his mates, Frank North, visiting from his home in California; John's girlfriend Judith, whom he met at the Borth Beach Ashram while studying tantric yoga; Anne-Marie, a 40-year-old psychic who secretly loves him; Ritchie Simpson, a Dead-head, computer freak and quantum magic pioneer; musician Gary "Gaz" Lester, a Hippie and dabbler in magic; and 12-year-old Benjamin Cox, a boy genius and expert on arcana. Entering the club, they find the basement filled with dead bodies, all torn to pieces. Upstairs, young Astra Logue dances in a frenzy, mumbling about her father's sexual abuse. Calming her, Constantine learns that the Norfulthing has killed and raped everyone in the club. Recognizing the work of a terror elemental, he decides to summon a demon to defeat it, something he's never done before. The Norfulthing returns and rapes Ben Cox, but Frank North shoots it with a rifle, scaring it off. Leaving Astra upstairs with Anne-Marie, Constantine prepares the ritual with Gaz and Judith's help. However, he botches the ritual-intending to summon Sagatana, Duke of Darkness and Despair, he uses the wrong sigil and conjures Nergal, Archduke of Mendacity. The demon appears to Anne-Marie in Constantine's form, seducing her and then spraying her face with acid, causing her to jump out a window. Astra walks downstairs as the Norfulthing returns. To their shock, Astra kills the creature and they realize she is possessed by the demon. Gloating over Constantine's mistake, the demon claims Astra as its prize, opening the doors of Hell to engulf them both. Constantine tries to lead the girl out of Hell, but Frank (thinking them dead) blows up the building as a last resort, and Constantine barely makes it out alive. To his horror, he retains only her hand-the rest is trapped in Hell. The demon leaves, promising he'll see them all again some day. The events of this day leave Ben Cox with a stutter, drive Gaz to drug abuse, and push Anne-Marie to join a nunnery. Ritchie leaves magic for a career in computers, Judith starts working with abused children, and Frank takes a motorcycle trip around the world. Constantine pays the worst price, as he suffers a breakdown and is committed to Ravenscar Secure Facility for the Dangerously Deranged. Though unaware of Nergal's true identity, he vows some day to learn the demon's name and avenge Astra.

John Constantine, Hellblazer #11: "Newcastle-A Taste of Things to Come"

NOTE: These events are first mentioned in Swamp Thing #46 and then again in Hellblazer #7, though the reader does not actually get to witness them until this tale, four issues later. The DC Heroes Role-Playing Game Magic Sourcebook erroneously places these events in 1980.

Some in the magic community, such as the Phantom Stranger, are incorrectly informed that John Constantine was killed during the botched exorcism at Newcastle.

Swamp Thing (Series 2) #46: "An American Gothic-Revelations"

Alternate Timeline: The Golden Boy—John Constantine's stillborn twin in the "real" world, given a chance at life and the same name—succeeds in saving Astra's life at Newcastle. This time, the battle is with Satan himself. Astra joins Constantine's band of followers, who revere him as the Magus.

John Constantine, Hellblazer #40: "Twins—The Magus"

Early 1978 to early 1980 A.D.

John Constantine spends the next two years at the Ravenscar Secure Facility for the Dangerously Deranged. He is eventually cured, though his friends' ghosts will continue to hanut him for years to come. At Ravenscar, Dr. Roger "Piggy" Huntoon maintains a file consisting of his clinical notes and Constantine's own journal, found charred but readable in a wastepaper basket. The journal tells of Constantine's incestual thoughts toward his own sister Cheryl, whom he secretly used to watch undressing when he was a youth in the 1960s. At Ravenscar, Constantine is given medication that stops him from dreaming for several months. Determined not to lose his spirit, however, he stops taking the pills. Cheryl never visits, for she is engaged to Tony Masters at the time and pregnant with their daughter, Gemma, and feels she has enough to worry about. Huntoon's notes recommend that he be kept under close observation and a strict regime, not to be underestimated as he possesses a high IQ and an amoral intelligence.

John Constantine, Hellblazer #7: "Ghosts in the Machine"

NOTE: Hellblazer #33 establishes that Constantine was back on the street at the start of the Falklands Wars, which began in April 1980. This places his release before April 1980, pushing the Newcastle back to early 1978.

Constantine is horribly mistreated at Ravenscar, not only by Dr. Huntoon himself but also by guards disgusted by what they believe he did to Astra Logue. Subjected to painful electric shock therapy to eliminate his "delusions" of demons, he is never quite the same again after the experience.

John Constantine, Hellblazer #8: "Intensive Care"

Several attendants, having children themselves, decide to teach Constantine a lesson by breaking his fingers and knocking his teeth out. In the morning, the doctors conveniently ignore the bruises left from the nighlty beatings. Constantine comes to hate the staff, but only because they won't cut his throat and end the agony.

John Constantine, Hellblazer #50: "Remarkable Lives"

While at Ravenscar, Constantine befriends a psychic patient named Una, who hears voices in her head as a result of her mental abilities.

John Constantine, Hellblazer #25: "Early Warning"

October 1978 A.D.

As a favor to General Sunderland, Eric Neiderman ("the Needleman") assassinates a Central American revolutionary. As "the Needleman," he becomes one of Sunderland's best assassins.

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

1978 to 1988 A.D.

After Newcastle, Ritchie Simpson begins working as a computer technician at the Weetiebrix Factory, in the Barton Road Industrial Estate. There, using the factory's advanced computer technology, a bit of quantum magic and a does of chemognosis (he gets high on marijuana), he discovers how to hack into the electronic reality and place his consciousness in the computer. Over the next ten years, he and Constantine keep in touch, and he uses the technique to find information for his friend.

John Constantine, Hellblazer #7: "Ghosts in the Machine"

Felicia Kyle and Albert Cowper are among the suspects in a diamond theft at the Gotham Gem Exposition. The District Attorney is unable to get an indictment due to insufficient evidence. However, Kyle is soon imprisoned for an unrelated crime.

The Brave and the Bold #176: "The Delta Connection"

Corporal Jerry T. Haggerty dies when the U.S. Army troop-carrier New Hampshire sinks en route to Puerto Rico. Six crewmen survive (Cheeto, Juice, Reef, DiCenzo, Gitlin and Fox) die of exposure to a defoliant called Agent Blue in the Viet Nam War. Able to create illusions out of thin air thanks to the defoliant, they build an island from the wreckage of the ship and use the bodies of the crew to live out their lives in recreated scenes of such classics as Casablanca, King Kong and Citizen Kane. Their devotion to the game is complete, for they know that to let the illusion break would cause their deaths.

The Saga of the Swamp Thing (Series 2) #8: "Here's Lookin' at You, Kid"

Gotham City youth Kristin Hobermann is born. At age six, she will idolize Alec.

Swamp Thing (Series 2) #53: "The Garden of Earthly Delights"

Sociopath Alan Bolland, expelled from U.S. military service for assaulting a general, joins the Ku Klux Klan. This pattern continues throughout his life, culminating in three failed marriages, membership in an ultra-fundamentalist religious group, recruitment into a terrorist organization and a fiery death.

Swamp Thing (Series 2) #68: "Reflections in a Golden Eye"

Father Kelly, a priest at Saint Augustine's Parish Hall in New York―where Alec and Linda Holland were wed―raises $800 in donations for charity. The next night, at a church cabaret, a magician asks his assistance with an illusion, and he accepts to entertain the children. Making him vanish, the mage consigns him to Hell, then fills the air with insects to disperse the crowd. The magician is a Retriever, a demon who locates and removes a pivotal force of good in a deprived community, disrupting the balance between good and evil and plunging the area into despair. Kelly accepts his plight without complaint, trusting God, for as Hell's Missionary, his role is to teach the Lord's word in the Abyss.

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

October 31, 1979 A.D.

Wonder Twins Zan and Jaina, Super Friends from the planet Exor, attend a Halloween party where Gotham's most rich and famous are dressed as assorted heroes and villains. Among the costumes are Swamp Thing, Solomon Grundy, Man-Bat, Etrigan the Demon, Bizarro and (from the Marvel universe) the Hulk. Batman and Robin are there, though none realize they're the real Caped Crusaders. Also attending is Jimmy Olsen, covering the event for the Daily Planet. At midnight, sorcerer Felix Faust casts a magic spell. Unable to remove their masks, the guests fall under his control. His plan: to steal valuable gems from the rich-Bruce Wayne's Temple Sapphire, Gordon Paige's Abbas Ruby, Ivor Hale's Quatermain Diamond and Portia Beale's Zoroaster Emerald. Unless they give him the gems, he will not release them from their current forms. Batman and Robin try to stop him but are felled by his magic, so Olsen and the Wonder Twins sneak out to get help. Jaina flies away to find Wonder Woman and Aquaman, while Olsen summons Superman. The Super Friends crash the party, but Faust uses his magic to force the disguised partiers to attack, giving them the actual strength and powers of the beings they resemble. As Aquaman grappels with the masker dressed as Swamp Thing, his comrades battle the other creatures. At last, Jimmy Olsen and Zan rush at Faust, knocking him unconscious and ending his hold on the others.

Super Friends #28: "Masquerade of Madness"

NOTE: This story, based on the Super Friends cartoon series, was collected with others in a trade paperback entitled Super Friends: Truth, Justice and Peace.

Winter 1979 A.D.

On a cold Winter evening, Superman and Alec prowl Metropolis by air and sewer, respectively, searching for Solomon Grundy. Alec hopes examining him will yield clues to a cure, for Grundy was also spawned from a swamp. He sees Superman and Grundy fighting and holds Superman at bay. Superman is confused, for though Interpol lists the Swamp Thing as dangerous, Batman has said otherwise. Superman breaks off Alec's arm, but Grundy defeats him with Alec's help and follows Alec to another chamber, where rudimentary tools allow him to test Grundy's skin. Superman later takes a sample of the sewer water to Dr. Klyburn of S.T.A.R. Labs to discover how this latest incarnation of Grundy returned from the dead. Lois Lane arrives, flirting with Superman in a form-fitting new dress, but their flirtation is halted by the arrival of a second Grundy, who fights mercilessly until Superman buries him in the Everglades. Overhearing this news on a radio, the first Grundy rushes to the surface, where sixty other Grundys have also arisen from the sewers. Klyburn develops a serum to destroy all the Grundys, which Superman does at once, much to Alec's frustration. Though Grundy's different body chemistry holds no hope for a cure, the thought of so much killing upsets him.