Swamp Thing went from a short story in one of DC's mystery books to, under the run of Alan Moore, changing what we think of comics and the nature of storytelling in the medium. DC even created a new imprint - Vertigo - to contain his adventures and those inspired by the title. The impact of this one title continues to be felt industry-wide to this day.
With the weight of its past reputation, Swamp Thing continues to be a high watermark for storytelling, forcing creators to bring their 'A' game to the title. Many of the best have added their own stories and takes to the tale of Alec Holland, a scientist who only wished to help those around him, and ended up a monster for his trouble.
Swamp Thing Annual #1, 2016: "The Hidden"
Swamp Thing finds out not only that Abby Arcane is dead, but that he'd met both her and her villainous uncle Anton as a young man. His memory of the time was destroyed by the venom of Arcane's plants. His time with the Arcane's was brief, but long enough to fall in love with Abby and nearly get killed by Anton.
Written by Scott Snyder and Scott Tuft, it's a sweet story of mystery and lost love. Scott Synder's run on Swamp Thing was fairly brief but under-rated, as stories like this one show. It is a beautiful love story of the first meeting between Alec and Abby, ending in a brutal battle with Uncle Anton. Synder mixes love and horror and does it well.
House of Secrets #92: "Swamp Thing"
Alex Olsen and his wife Linda are an Edwardian couple, living in a rambling mansion overlooking a swamp. He's a scientist with a jealous partner, Damian. Damian arranges for the lab to blow up, and buries Alex in the Swamp, claiming there was nothing left of the body. Alex, now a hulking Swamp Thing, roams the grounds hoping to see Linda.
This is the first Swamp Thing story, and reader response was such that a regular series was proposed as a separate title. Created by Len Wein and Bernie Wrightson, Swamp Thing would go to become two movies of varying quality, and a successful TV series with a later reboot. He would nearly become an industry unto himself.
Swamp Thing #1, 1972: "Dark Genesis"
Scientists Alec and Linda Holland are working on a bio-restorative formula for the US government when they are threatened by thugs working for the 'Conclave'. Alec is injured in an explosion, drenched in his formula, and transformed into a Swamp Thing. The thugs have also killed Linda, and he vows to hunt them down in revenge.
Adapting the first short Swamp Thing story into a running series meant a lot of changes had to be made. The time period would have to be updated, Alec and Linda are now both scientists, and she ends up dead, adding to his motivation, and a secret society is added as villains, but the original pathos is still there.
Swamp Thing Vol. 3, 2001:
Brian K. Vaughan’s run on the title focused less on Alec Holland and more on Tefe Holland, daughter of Swamp Thing and Abby Arcane, and on her journey of understanding what and who she is. Tefe was something her father was not, both a Plant and Flesh Elemental, something that fascinated Alec and worried him as well. This focus on Tefe and the women in her and Alec's life turned off some fans, as they felt Swamp Thing was now second fiddle in his own book. Vaughan's run has been unjustly overlooked.
Swamp Thing Winter Special
Swamp Thing struggles through a blinding Winter storm, trying to protect a small boy. The boy tells him how ST fought the 'snow monster', but Thing's memory is vague, he needs the green again. He realizes that the child is not real, that it's the avatar of the storm, and he must kill it to stop winter. The child dies and melts away, winter ends.
A truly chilling story by Tom King, this book is heartbreakingly subtle and goes to the root of the character. Swamp Thing is a protector, of nature, of earth, of those around him. The storm burdens him with a child that he has to protect, but he cannot if he is to live.
Swamp Thing #140-144, 1994: "The Root Of All Evil"
Alec Holland finds himself separated from his Swamp Thing body and trying to get back to it. To do this, he needs to go on a vision quest, making reuniting a journey of the mind and soul. Meanwhile, Alex's mindless body is on a destructive rampage and is threatening the life of Abby.
After the runs of Moore, Veitch, and Collins, Grant Morrison and Mark Millar bring back psychedelic horror with Swamp Thing #140-144, collected as 'The Root of All Evil'. The story of typical of Morrison at the time, trippy and weird, and Millar's black humor edges the book. This marks the debut of Vertigo, a highly influential DC imprint.
DC Comics Presents #85, 1985: "The Jungle Line"
Superman is infected by spores from Krypton, causing him to lose his powers and descend into feverish madness. He's dying. Encountering Swamp Thing, Alec is able to communicate through the spores and Superman, calming him and curing him. Swamp Thing sees him through the night then walks back into the swamp.
Superman and Swamp Thing are two characters whose paths would not normally cross. Alan Moore does it in a way that honors and respects both characters and their separate worlds. It's a beautiful story, sensitively written, combining the current Swamp Thing artist Rick Veitch and Superman inker Alan Williamson to create the best of both worlds.
The Saga of the Swamp Thing #37-50, 1985: "American Gothic"
A mysterious new figure has entered Alec's life and is bent on leading him on a chase from one adventure to the next, and he seems to know more about Alec and his plant elemental boy than he is letting on. He's John Constantine, supernatural magician/conman. And he's going to complicate the DC Universe for years to come.
One of the many things Alan Moore's run on Swamp Thing was introduce new elements in the character, but it also brought in long-lasters characters like John Constantine has managed to step away from the title to have a long life of his own in his own title, and in movies and TV.
Swamp Thing #56, 1987: "My Blue Heaven"
Escaping killers, Alec leaps his consciousness to another world, a planet of unrelenting blue. It starts to drive him mad. He recreates Abby, his hometown, but it all reminds him of his loneliness, his loss, and his own fear of making another leap into the unknown.
Alec is lost, and he has lost and is now in a blue 'heaven' that's really a hell. Far from Abby, far from the earth's green heart that sustains his body and soul, he is crushed by the boredom and pain of all that is gone. That Alan Moore sustains what could have been a couple of pages in another book for an entire issue and makes it a highlight of the run is masterful.
The Saga of The Swamp Thing #21: "The Anatomy Lesson"
Holland is shot and kept frozen and then dissected by Jason Woodrue. Woodrue finds that Swamp Thing isn't Alec Holland at all, he is a plant that thinks he's Alec Holland. He explains this to his employer who fires him. Woodrue turns off the security and the freezer where Swamp Thing is kept. He knows you can't kill a plant with bullets.
Alan Moore's incredible run on Swamp Thing begins with this ingenious explanation of the reality of Swamp Thing, that he's not a man transformed, he's a transformed plant. This changes the nature of the character, making Swamp Thing a plant elemental and of nature rather than of the human world.