Swamp Thingis one ofDC Comics' most fascinating characters and titles. Thescientist-turned-supernatural swamp creaturehas been a staple of darker DC stories since his creation via horror comics in the 70’s. The character often ends up on teams consisting of other supernatural or horror-themed heroes, protects his swamp or other vegetative environments from super-powered threats, or yearns over his lost love.
The stories that explore these themes are often trippy, metaphysical tales that balance the internal monologue of Swamp Thing with his ability to handle threats via brute force. As could be expected with such a specific and strange character, some of the best stories are the ones that don’t focus on classic superhero fare at all, and instead use the themes and styles of retro “science gone wrong” horror.
Year
1971
Like so many other Golden Age heroes and monsters, Swamp Thing made his first appearance in an anthology series before he had a series of his own.House of Secretswas a DC-produced horror series where each issue was a self-contained thriller story in the vein ofTales From the Crypt.
This issue starts as a semi-familiar mad science tale but eventually reaches the premise that the cover advertises, a large monster that is part man and part vegetation. It’s a great singular read because it showcases Swamp Thing for the first time and doesn’t fall onto atraditional comic bookcliffhanger.
1972
While it isn’t thebest standalone comicon the list, it feels necessary, especially afterHouse of Secrets, to include the first-ever issue of aSwamp Thingsolo series. The issue retells the story from House of Secrets, making a handful of small changes and expanding the cast and conflict so that it can be stretched for much longer.
This is still a tale of science gone wrong, love lost, and a quest for revenge, but readers who want any closure will need to keep reading through the original ’70s run to get it. The original run is peak early ’70s monster comic action and just starting here and going forward would be just as efficient as jumping around, but regardless, this issue will provide a nice context and reference point for anything on this list that follows.
1974
This issue is included in the original Swamp Thing run just mentioned, but also works on its own with only the context that Swamp Thing’s longtime enemy Anton Arcane is back, in a spirit form after being destroyed earlier. He summons an army of horrifying creatures called the Unmen and wants to capture Swamp Thing.
The plan goes well until the Unmen corner Swamp Thing in a cemetery where zombies come up from the ground to help him. It’s a classic macabre tale of ironic comeuppance.
1986
Swamp Thing has had plenty of crossovers, even being a member of The Justice League Dark, but most of them aren’t exactly fitting for a spooky evening read. However,his run-in with Batmanis an epic encounter, while still feeling like a true-to-form Swamp Thing story.
Swamp Thing comes to Gotham raging with anger and unleashes the full front of his physical power. As he grows to a towering size and begins to wreck Gotham,Batman has to step upto stop him or at least uncover why he is attacking the city.
2015
This run written in the 80’s by Grant Morrison and Mark Millar was lost for a long time before finally being released in 2015. When scientist Alec Holland is separated from his Swamp Thing form, he must uncover if the creature ever existed, and if so, if he wants to find a way to become it again.
It’s considered genuine psychological horror as large portions take place inside the mind of Holland and/or The Swamp Thing. It gets as dark and existential as a tripthrough a powerful monster’s thoughtsshould, and includes a number of horrifying hallucinatory creatures as well.
1985
The first full story arc to make to the list, this run from Alan Moore’sSagaseries centers around Swamp Thing’s first bigteam-up with occult detective John Constantine.Constantine does his best to turn Swamp Thing into his weapon against the creatures of evil, with varying levels of success.
This arc is a great spooky read because it is set in the South and written to homage to old tales of gothic Southern horror. There are ghosts, an old West shootout,a classical werewolf, and more scary nonsense. Plus, various artists collaborated across the 13 issues to give the arc different a variety of tones.
So many of Swamp Thing’s stories are built around his relationship with the love of his life, Abby Arcane, and their inability to be together due to, well, him being The Swamp Thing. This issue is done in the vein of traditional horror romance and finally gives them the briefest chance at being together.
Abby comes to the swamp to finally confess her feelings for Swamp Thing, and he gives her a plant that he believes will allow them to form a real connection. This plant takes her on a trip, alongside Swamp Thing, giving her a small glance into his existential horror of an existence. It’s beautifully drawn, romantic, and a bit upsetting all at the same time.
2018
Winter Specialis a recent addition to the character’s collection and it isn’t exactly a standard Swamp Thing story. Instead of a Louisiana swamp, the character is caught in the middle of a horrible blizzard, trudging through the snow, trying to regain the memory of how he got trapped there, and most importantly, trying to protect a young boy caught in the storm as well.
This story showcases how well writers have learned what characteristics make for a memorable Swamp Thing comic and how capable they are of transplanting those elements into a new setting.It has introspection, mystery, and a dark twistthat makes the ending a great one.
If it isn’t clear already, every Swamp Thing series juggles physical horror and deep introspection about existence and purpose. This leads to plenty of poetic issues full of deep thought, as well as just as many wacko plotlines that may not seem sensible outside of the context of the series.
This famous issue is built around the core conceit that Swamp Thing, to rescue the soul of his wife, must disconnect his subconscious from his physical body and transport it to Hell. Spoilers, but he does exactly that. The imagery of the Hell sequence is considered some of the most disturbing of any Swamp Thing issue and the ending, like so many others in the series, is a confusing mixture of melancholy, heroic success, and existential dread.
