DC Comics Presents #85 (September 1985)

When you're a superhero in the DC Universe, one can say you did not have it made until you got to team up with the "big guns". In said universe, that usually means meeting with a member of the Justice League, like say, Green Lantern, or Wonder Woman, or perhaps...Superman.

Superman teaming up with other heroes is nothing new. The DCU is full of them, and Superman even had his own book dedicated to his teaming up with other superheroes: DC Comics Presents. Going from 1978 to 1986, the book lasted 97 issues and got four Annuals. 

The issue we're looking at this week is a rather...unusual team-up. After all, Superman and the Swamp Thing are two characters that really did not have a lot in common. After all, one is an alien refugee (Yes, Superman is a refugee), and the other was a scientist-turned swamp monster. But that doesn't really matter when it comes to facing a common threat. This is DC Comics Presents #85!

The cover is a Rick Veitch piece. It depicts what looks like an angry Superman blasting away at the Swamp Thing with...white energy circle vision? I think it's meant to be depicted as using maybe his X-Ray or heat vision, but they tend to not be portrayed that way. The cover has that painted look to it. I like that. It gives the impression I'm looking at the cover of an old paperback novel. 

"The Jungle Line"
Writer: Alan Moore
Penciler: Rick Veitch
Inker: Al Williamson
Letterer: John Costanza
Colorist: Tatjana Wood
Editor: Julius Schwartz
Executive Editor: Dick Giordano

The story begins on Interstate 55, a road that goes from Illinois to Louisiana. A car is making its way southwards, the hot sun baking it like it was a delicious muffin. Mmm...muffin...

A man is driving down this road, sickly and sweating. But this man is no regular driver with a bad head cold. This is a man who should not get sick. Who should be immune to all Earthly disease. 

The Man of Steel swore he would never go on a bender on Thanagar ever again.

As Moore himself said, the Man of Steel is heading down south to die. As he drives, he starts seeing bizarre hallucinations. He sees blood-soaked forests, with all sorts of strange animals. So, what is going on here? How did one of the mightiest heroes in the DCU end up in this state?

No problem, you're getting one. We go back a bit earlier, when Clark Kent and Lana Lang were sent to cover a discovery made in a meteorite.

"The fungus seems to enjoy cursing us out..."

The meteorite itself is not the big deal. After all, they hit Earth all the time. But this particular meteorite has a strange alien fungus on it. It's quite a find, even though they're in a world that has its fair share of contact with alien life, Superman being one of the main examples of it. However, unlike the Man of Steel, this fungus won't resist thorough research. As Lana asks the scientist, a Dr. Everett, about the fungus, Clark secretly uses his microscopic vision on it, discovering that the fungus is Kryptonian. He feigns dizziness to leave the conference. Using his superhuman memory (remember, this is pre-Crisis Superman), he identifies the fungus.

"By Rao, Thanagarians used to make cheese with this stuff!"

The Kryptonian scientific name for it was avarel uthotis, but its common name was the bloodmorel. Native to the Scarlet Jungle on Krypton, it's a dangerous little fungus. It can permeate the skin and grows in the bloodstream. Symptoms of exposure include fever, bouts of incapacitation, hallucinations, chronic overexertion...and in 92% of all cases of infection...death.

The next day, Clark notices his powers are going haywire. They fade in and out. He takes the subway home instead of flying because of this. That night, he starts having hallucinations.

"Your underwear kept making dirty jokes, so we didn't invite them."

Yeah, imagine your clothes arguing over what you should do about your fate. Dr. Everett lets Superman take the meteorite to examine. I can imagine that Superman told him he wanted to make sure the fungus wasn't dangerous to humans. Superman tries to examine the meteorite with his microscopic vision until it cuts out. He accepts he's a dead man walking and tries to head somewhere to let the illness take its course, so...he goes down south. According to the comic, there are no superheroes based in the Southern US. That sounds so weird to me. He also takes the meteorite with him for...some reason. 

Clark falls asleep at the wheel, causing the car to crash. Thankfully, our man's invulnerability was working, so he survives it. He stumbles out of the car, still clutching the meteorite. He hallucinates that he's in the Scarlet Jungle on Krypton. Hey, this was supposed to be a teamup between Superman and Swamp Thing, right? So, where's the other half of this teamup? Where's ol' Swampy?

"Alright, who's making all this goldarn noise in my goldarn forest?!"

There he is! Swampy notices that Clark seems to still be alive after all of that which leads him to wonder who this man is. Meanwhile, Superman's long strange trip takes a turn for the darker.

"We're actually the most beautiful creatures here!"

Yup, the creatures taunt our man, saying that he's lived too long. He was supposed to have died on Krypton. He should not have outlived his world. Which is hilarious as by this point in the pre-Crisis continuity, he's not the only survivor. Supergirl, all the criminals in the Phantom Zone, etc. The creatures become skeletal and demand he join them in death.

Back in the real world, the former Alec Holland examines the alien fungus on the meteorite. Naturally, he doesn't recognize the species. He tries to establish contact with the fungus, only to get painful sensations. Sensations of a burning red sun. Sensations of crushing gravity. He realizes, "Yup, this thing ain't from Earth". Swampy looks at the downed Clark and realizes he may know who this man is.

Back in Hallucination Land, Superman tries to fight the skeletal monsters, screaming that he is not dead, nor does he belong there. They can't keep him here, as he is Superman. Swamp Thing opens Clark's jacket, revealing the Superman costume underneath. It's then that the Man of Steel wakes up and gives Swampy a warm greeting.

"AUGH! MY GLUBOK!"

Thankfully, the ex-Alec Holland is made of swamp muck, so he'll live, and the hole Superman blasted in him will heal up. While he heals, he watches the feverish Superman yell and scream, lost in his hallucinations. His screams knock trees down, wild heat vision melts boulders. His body is going into overdrive, which will burn him out and kill him.

Swampy has to help Superman, calm him down, and find a way to cleanse his system. But the fungus got the Metropolis Marvel all messed up. There's no way to get through to him, unless...the fungus!

Swamp Thing touches Superman's shoulder with one hand, and the fungus with another. This allows the former Alec Holland to get into Clark's mind, see his hallucinations.

"Oh man, Lois is going to murder me for forgetting to clean this basement."

Superman crushes his hand, naturally thinking that Swampy is another hallucination. He tells Superman he is dying. The Man of Tomorrow tries to fight Swamp Thing, but Alec is able to get through to him, pointing out that he's overexerting himself, burning himself out. Alec tells Superman to touch his hand and uses...the color green to heal him.

Ecto Cooler can cure anything! Even alien fungi!

His job done here, Alec leaves to let Superman rest. He's going to be just fine now. Yeah, the forest looks like a warzone, but he'll be fine.

Superman wakes up, feeling right as rain. The fungus has been purged from his system, and his powers are back in working order. He flies off, feeling refreshed and renewed. Swamp Thing is happy about this, the story ending with him wandering back into the swamps, as the sun rises to signal a bright new day. 

I did enjoy this issue. What I did like about it is that it's not your typical team-up story. Yes, it does use the formula of old-school team-up stories (The heroes meet, fight, then join forces), but it uses them in a unique way. 

The one main thing about the story that confuses me is how Superman got infected by the Kryptonian fungus. He didn't touch the meteorite, he presumably did not breathe any of the fungus, so how did he get infected? And also, how come nobody else was infected by the fungus? Did it just ignore humans? Also, how exactly did Swamp Thing heal Superman? Did he just...use the color green? Yeah, the story is a bit vague in places, if you couldn't tell. I did get a good chuckle out of the scene with the Clark Kent suit and 

I also liked the artwork. It had a good sense of storytelling, and the renditions of the hallucinatory monsters are terrifying. 

If you want to read this for yourself, check out the 2011 trade paperback DC Universe by Alan Moore. Thanks for reading this blog entry! If you liked it, show it off! Take care of yourselves and each other! Se you next time!

Saga of the Swamp Thing #21 (February 1984)

Before I begin this blog entry, I do have to apologize. Last week, I said I was going to talk about a comic story focused on Northstar for Pride Month. However, I made a goofup. I thought May was Pride Month, that was actually in June. I do apologize for this error, but I will look at that story next month, so that's something to look forward to. As such, this week, I thought it would be nice to focus on a character that's never really appeared in this blog before, and I wanted to review more DC stuff, anyway. Enjoy! 

Once upon a time, there was a man named Alec Holland. He was a brilliant doctor, working on a formula to help promote crop growth alongside his beloved wife Linda. The two hoped their formula would basically be a panacea for starvation. But this endeavor would end in tragedy. The two would end up getting attacked by agents of the criminal organization known as the Conclave. The Conclave blew up his lab, saturating Alec with the bio-restorative formula and knocking him into the swamps. He would emerge transformed into a living hybrid of man and plant. He would be known from then on...as the Swamp Thing. At least, that's what seemed to have happened...

Created by the both sadly missed Len Wein and Bernie Wrightson, the Swamp Thing first appeared in House of Secrets #92 (July 1971). Wein came up with the original idea for the Swamp Thing while riding on a subway train in Queens, New York. His basic sketch of the character would be refined by Wrightson, leading to the monster we know today.

The Swamp Thing would become quite popular in the 70s through the 90s, appearing in a cartoon, a couple of movies, and a live-action TV show in 1990. The character would get another short-lived show in 2019. He's also gotten numerous series over the years. 

The comic we're looking at this week is from the Swamp Thing's second series, which had started in 1982. Issue #19 saw the beginning of the character's adventures being chronicled by British writer Alan Moore. Moore was not the famous figure in comics he is now back at this time. Having been given free rein to do as he saw fit with the book, Moore took the book in a more mythic and monstrous direction. He wanted to make the Swamp Thing a true monster, and this issue would seal that fate for Mr. Holland. Let's look at Saga of the Swamp Thing #21!

The cover is a Tom Yeates piece, and it's pretty awesome, depicting the Swamp Thing menacingly walking towards a man. My only complaint about it is that the building doesn't quite match the building in the actual story. But maybe the change was done for atmospheric purposes. It does a good job selling the idea of the Swamp Thing as a horrific monster.

"The Anatomy Lesson"
Writer: Alan Moore
Penciler: Steve Bissette
Inker: John Totleben
Colorist: Tatjana Wood
Letterer: John Costanza
Editor: Len Wein
Executive Editor: Dick Giordano

The story begins with a man standing in a building, staring out in the sky on a dark and stormy night. He's enjoying a little wine, and contemplating some things. Life, the universe, that kind of thing. This man is Jason Woodrue, aka the supervillain known as the Floronic Man. And what he is actually contemplating? He's thinking about an old man. An old man who will be calling for help soon. And there will be blood. Lots of blood, likely. 

So, how did the Floronic Man end up here? Well, we've got to go back a bit. The Old Man, a General Sutherland, had hired him for a task, releasing him from jail in the process. The Old Man had shown Jason around his building. The half-man half-plant noticed that the building was empty, but that's because everything here is automated. Sutherland shows him a special surprise.

"We told him to chill out, but this is ridiculous!"

 Our man Swamp Thing, frozen and seemingly dead. Yeah, he got shot up in the last issue. And now that the Swamp Thing has joined the choir invisible, Sutherland wants an autopsy done on him. Why's that, you ask? Well, it's here we get a bit of a recap of Swamp Thing's origins.   

Sutherland explains that his men had exhumed Linda Holland's corpse. She was the only other person in the world that was exposed to the formula as much as Alec Holland was. The corpse was examined, and nothing was found. That was expected. It was in her tissues, but it wasn't supposed to have done anything to her. The formula was supposed to work only on plants. So, if that was the case...why was Alec transformed?

That's where Woodrue comes in. Being basically a human-plant hybrid himself, it's hoped he could provide some insight into Alec's transformation. Woodrue agrees to examine the body of the Swamp Thing. After all, he's got a "Get out of Jail Free" card out of this. The next day, the Floronic Man gets to work on the Autopsy of the Swamp Thing.

Page 43, Panels 4-6

Woodrue admits that he was excited to examine our hero's body. It's not often that the plant-powered villain gets to examine another being like himself. Maybe it will allow him to undergo a bit of self-discovery of his own. 

Weeks pass. Woodrue discovers that Swamp Thing does contain organs, but they seemingly are made of vegetable manner...and don't work at all. The next few weeks are rough ones for the Floronic Man. He has made no headway in solving the mystery of the Swamp Thing's body. His employer is growing dissatisfied with his lack of progress. The Floronic Man won't be stumped for long, though. One night, while tired, he read an essay on planarian worms...and it hits him.

Meanwhile, the Swamp Thing is regrowing.

Page 46, Panel 7

You see, there was an experiment done with planarian worms. One worm was taught to run a maze. It was then chopped up and fed to other worms...that were able to run the maze. Somehow, the worms were able to obtain the knowledge of how to run the maze from their comrade after eating him.

Yeah, it disturbs me, too. Evidently, this was a real experiment done by James V. McConnell in the 60s. The results he found were considered the product of observer bias. But this is the DCU. And this is the big answer to how Alec Holland was transformed into the Swamp Thing. His body was saturated with the bio-chemical compound he was working on. The compound couldn't have transformed him on its own. If that were the case, Linda would be a She-Swamp Thing. Huh. Imagine that. Somewhere out there in the DC Multiverse, Linda became the Swamp Thing. Anyway, what if the explosion had already killed Holland, and sent his corpse into the swamp?

The plants there get altered by the biochemical formula in Holland's body. They consume his corpse, getting Alec's conciousness, much like the planarian worms inheriting the knowledge of running a maze. They form themselves into a body, trying to imitate his old organs. A new being is born out of this, unware that he is no longer even human...and can never be again. Sutherland finds this...ridiculous. ...Dude, you are literally talking to a plant-man!

Anyway, because the old man is a dope, he fires Woodrue. Thing is, Woodrue is a supervillain, and supervillains do not like being slighted. Using the knowledge of the building (Sutherland had showed him the automated defenses while he was working on Swamp Thing), the Floronic Man unfreezes the Swamp Thing, allowing him to complete growing back from his old body. 

Sutherland comes down to look at the frozen body, and discovers that ol' Mr. Holland has managed to finish regrowing himself. He flees back to his office, and finds ol' Alec waiting for him.

Page 54, Panel 7

The files on Alec are on the man's desk, and our man/plant has had the opportunity to read through them. Further showing how dumb he is, Sutherland asks if Alec likes what he read. Woodrue predicted as he told this story that Alec would...not take the revelation well. The Swamp Thing pursues Sutherland all over the building. He tries to flee, but Woodrue messed with the security system. Again, the general slighted a supervillain. An it allows Swamp Thing to catch up to him and basically give the old man the Hug of Death.

The story ends with Woodrue sitting back in his apartment, having some wine...and plotting. Doing lots and lots of plotting.

Apologies for the lack of pictures, it's been a busy week for me, and I had no chance to get scans done. I'll have to get on that...and last week's, too. Sigh... 

This story is a classic for a reason. It's the story that blew up everything we thought we knew about our swampy hero, turning him from a tragic man into a tragic monster. In the 80s, Alan Moore was in a bit of a mood to deconstruct and blow up the superhero genre, for better and for worse. We see a bit of that here, taking a bit of plot hole in Swamp Thing's origin and turning it into something that utterly redefined that character. Bissette and Totleben's work on art is moody and helps give the comic the vibe of a horror film. It's really good.

Thanks for reading this blog entry! If you liked it, show it off! Take care of yourselves and each other! Stay safe, stay healthy, stay home, wash your hands often, get vaccinated, and wear a mask! Join me next time, when we return to the New Universe and meet a new generation of heroes, harnessing the power...of psi...