Swamp Thing

[Jeff of Earth-J]

I started reading Swamp Thing from the very beginning... sort of. When I was a kid, I liked superhero comics and not much else (no western, no war, etc.). I also gravitated toward Marvel, so Swamp Thing had two strikes against it right out of the gate (to mix a metaphor or two). I remember seeing titles such as Swamp Thing and Kamandi on the spinner racks but not giving them a second look (or even a first). Even when I walked into a comic book shop for the first time in my life several years later, it took some time for me to overcome my preconceived notions regarding such titles as Daredevil (Frank Miller's) and Swamp Thing (Alan Moore's). Then, in 1986, DC released the Roots of the Swamp Thing reprint series and i started at the very beginning (#1) if not exactly from the very beginning (1972). 

Skip ahead 15 years. I'm now married. My new bride is not wholly unfamiliar with comic books and is willing to read more. I recommended a list of 8 or 10 of my favorites (including the Wein/Wrightson and the Moore/Bisette/Totleben runs of Swamp Thing), most of which she read. I had tens of thousands of comics in my collection at that time, enough to keep us busy reading and discussing for years. But she became interested in comics I didn't have, such as the post-Moore Swamp Thing as well as the complete run of Fables (which I myself still have not read). We spent the next however-many-it-was months collecting backissues of Swamp Thing plus I added those two titles to my pull & hold. 

At this point Tracy has read literally hundreds more issues of Swamp Thing than I have. We don't have every issue (she finally lost interest after the "New 52"), but we have quite a few. Ironically,  it was "Brightest Day" which reignited my own interest, so some of the more recent issues she has not read. I like to "prorate" the cost of my comics by a) reading them multiple times, or b) giving them to my wife to read. We get the best value from those comic we both read multiple times. To that end, we have decided to work our way through every issue we own from 1972 to 2018.

We recently led a discussion through every issue/series in Terry Moore's "SiP-verse" but, if we complete it, this project is more than twice as long. We invite you along for the ride. 

Wein/Wrightson - p1

Nestor Redondo - p2

The "Mopee Thing" - p3

Miscellaneous - p4

Martin Pasko - p5

Alan Moore - p8

Rick Veitch - p25

Doug Wheeler - p31

Nancy Collins - p33

Grant Morrison & Mark Millar - p37

Mark Millar - p38

[Jeff of Earth-J]

ISSUE #2:

Note photo-cover. A blurb on this issue and the next actively tie-in to the movie. Come to think of it, the movie being filmed in North Carolina may have something to do with this series beginning there. 

I forgot to mention that, in issue one, Swamp Thing lost his hand during an altercation with a group of hunters. It is this severed hand (we learn this issue) from which Dr. Kay got the tissue sample he analyzed. 

While Swamp Thing is dealing with the mob, in the confusion Harry Kay chloroforms the little girl. (There is a building in town with a sign that says "Totleben Funeral Home"; I suspect he was giving Yeates uncredited inking assistance, which may have led to him scoring the job officially later on.) Swamp thing pursues Kay's car all through the night. He finally finds it abandoned near a cornfield early the next morning. He follows the tracks into to field and too late discovers it's a trap as a crop duster renders him unconscious. He awakens six hours later and 100 miles away in a sawmill owned by the Sunderland Corporation. "Mr. G." calls himself "Grasp" and has a pair of mechanical hands. 

Sunderland wants the bio-restorative formula for use growing forests for lumber, but Grasp has a personal stake because Dr. Kay has told him it might be modified to work on human tissue so that he might grow a new set of hands. Grasp is threatening Casey via closed circuit television, but the Swamp Thing either can't or won't reveal the formula. (A caption explains that Alec Holland never committed the formula to memory and that his notes were destroyed.) Grasp orders Kay to kill Casey, but turns off the TV so he doesn't have to watch. A few minutes later they hear a shot. It's all over.

Or is it? Casey has used telekinesis to attack Dr. Kay, and the shot he fired missed. Meanwhile, Grasp is feeding Swamp thing into a buzzsaw with the intention of reverse engineering the formula from his body. Suddenly, the bonds holding Swamp thing loosen and he is able to free himself. A fight ensues, and the ax Grasp is wielding sparks against the saw blade and sets the mill afire. Swamp thing somehow realizes that Casey is still alive and sets out to free her with Grasp in pursuit.

In Rosewood, Illinois, high school student Cathy Newquist invites her boyfriend, Stiv, in to watch TV. Lizabeth Tremayne is on The Tonight Show telling Johnny Carson about her new book. Cathy's mom decides it's time for her to go to bed (it's a school night, after all), and walks into the living room to find her daughter lying dead.

Back in North Carolina, Swamp Thing and Casey seek shelter in a cavern near the mill. Grasp is following them with a laser rifle. the ledge he is standing on breaks, and Grasp falls into the water far below. Swamp Thing and Casey hop a freight train bound for St. Louis. A figure crawls from the debris of the burned mill as the train enters Rosewood, IL. 

[ClarkKent_DC]

During the Bronze Age, Marty Pasko, Elliot S. Maggin and Cary Bates were the go-to writers for Superman and Action Comics and the other Superman titles. Pasko was the inaugural writer for DC Comics Presents, and also wrote for the World’s Greatest Superheroes newspaper comic strip, and lots of other stuff for DC and for Marvel, including Blackhawk and the Secret Six feature in Action Comics Weekly.

Jeff of Earth-J said:

I am not overly familiar with the comic book work of writer Martin Pasko. I know him primarily through this series, and the wrong-headed version of E-Man he did for First Comics in the '80s.

That series was my introduction to E-Man, and the only one I've enjoyed, as the ones I've seen since lacked the element (heh) of parody of other comics titles. (The issue featuring a parody of The Uncanny X-Men was pitch-perfect, with one page in particular nailing Chris Claremont's overblown writing, right down to misplaced captions that told you what previous panels showed you.)

Here's Pasko's obituary in The Comics Journal: "Martin Pasko: 1954-2020"

[Jeff of Earth-J]

I'm familiar with the broad strokes of Pasko's career but, not having read the Superman family of titles to any great extent until post-Crisis, I am largely unfamiliar with his comic book work... although, now that y'all've started to mention some titles, I am familiar with the Dr. Fate issue of First Issue Special, the World's Greatest Superheroes newspaper strip, and his work for Action Comics Weekly... and the Superman paperbacks he wrote in the wake of the movies, now that I'm thinking of it. Regarding E-Man, I didn't like those issues because Joe Staton didn't like them. Staton once mentioned his "editor" at First who thought the only objective of satire was to hurt someone and, as co-creator of E-Man, Staton didn't believe that's what the character was all about. 

NOTE: Mike Gold was the actual editor of the series, but I got the impression in the interview I read that Staton was referring to Pasko. In either case, I consider the First version to be "wrong-headed" for that reason. Also, in my ever-humble opinion, the best E-Man was the original ten issues he and Nicola Cuti did at Charlton Comics, which has been reprinted a number of times. If you haven't read that, you haven't read E-Man. If you have read that and still don't like it, I can't help you.

ISSUE #3:

Swamp Thing's hand has new grown back (for reasons undisclosed). As the train is passing through Rosewood, IL, Swamp thing and Casey are attacked by a pack of punk vampires and become separated, Swamp Thing in Rosewood, Casey on the train. Swamp Thing goes to town in hope of finding a train schedule and is captured by a family of vampire hunters, virtually the only human beings left. The family consists of Larry Childress and his son Steven, Larry's sister Hillary Downs and her son Bob. One of the boys is carrying a copy of Lizabeth Tremayne's book, and Swamp thing points to it to tell them who he is.

Speaking of Liz Tremayne, she is on the same train as Casey, now on it it's way to Pineboro, Arkansas. In addition to being an author, Tremayne is also a TV journalist and is travelling to Pineboro with her (so-far-unnamed-and-I-don't-remember)  assistant to cover a serial killer who is targeting minority children. 

Back in Rosewood, Larry wants some dynamite and offers to trade information about train schedules if Swamp thing will get it for him. Swamp Thing steals the dynamite from the local subsidiary of the Sunderland Corporation (which also publishes Tremayne's book, BTW). Because running water kills vampires, Larry plans to use the dynamite to blow the dam and flood the town. Larry and Steven become separated from Hillary and Bobby, but Larry intends to go ahead with the plan no matter what.

What Steven doesn't know is that his dad's plan to flood the town involves suicide, and he needs his son along to pull it off. Steven objects, but Larry blows the dam anyway and they both are lost in the flood. Meanwhile, Swamp thing is searching for the missing Hillary and Bobby. He finds Bobby in chains, hanging from the ceiling of the local arcade. Bobby says they were about to kill him but the sun was coming up, so they chained him to eat for "breakfast" when the sun went down, which is right about now. All of a sudden, the teenage punk vampires start coming out of the pinball machines, which they have hollowed out and are using for coffins. Hillary has become a vampire and is about to kill her son, who is forced to watch as the swamp Thing impales her on a loose board.

Swamp thing and Bobby get to the roof of the arcade just as the flood waters hit, putting all the vampires to their final rest. The roof is torn from the building and they are swept downstream to safety, where Swamp Thing says his goodbyes. Meanwhile, Lizabeth Tremayne has met the mute girl Casey and has broadcast her story on nationwide television.

When I first read this story, in 2017, I got a strong feeling of deja vu, as if I had read it before, but I knew I hadn't. After some concentrated thought, it eventually occurred to me that I was thinking of Alan Moore's sequel, which I that time I had never re-read. Every time I start to re-read Alan Moore's Swamp Thing, I used to always start over at the beginning, but I'd usually peter oput after the first arc. Consequently, I have read the first arc many times, succeeding arcs with decreasing frequency. But I'm determined to get through it all now. 

[Jeff of Earth-J]

ISSUE #4: Pineboro, Arkansas, the serial killer has claimed 12 victims, all children, all eviscerated and mutilated. But a suspect has been caught: local children's show host Barnard "Uncle Barney" Stryker. The sister of one of the victims, a young girl interviewed on TV by Liz Tremayne, suggested that the murderer should be locked in "a white room... with nothing on the walls except the pictures of all the little boys and girls he killed," which is exactly what Pineboro's Sheriff Bingham proceeds to do, civil rights be damned. 

Tremayne and her "assistant" (actually associate producer Paul Feldner) are given the use of Stryker's old office. The local affiliate is considering running another children's show in place of "Uncle Barney" but Liz is lobbying for them to carry her syndicated In-Depth Magazine show instead. Pasko seems to be advocating the position that children are pampered and protected, and that children's television doesn't do an adequate job of preparing them for the real world. Meanwhile, Swamp Thing rides into town in the back of a truck carrying watermelons. He did happen to catch some of the TV coverage Liz did with Casey, but he's also following a mental compulsion to find her. At the state children's home, Casey escapes.

In his cell, Stryker argues with an unnamed demon that is possessing him and controlling his actions. The demon departs Styker's body, literally "burning him out" in the process. The demon moves on to the body of Paul Feldner. Casey knows Feldner is the demon just as the demon knows who Casey is, and Swamp Thing finds them both just as they find each other. Although his hand has grown back, Swamp Thing is still weakened by whatever it is that is killing him and is easily defeated by the demon in Feldner's body. After being thrown from a bridge, Swamp Thing trails Feldner to a slaughterhouse where he has taken Casey. 

Casey will not make a good "meal" for the demon because she is not naive and trusting. In order to save Casey, Swamp Thing offers his own powerful body in exchange for her life. the demon accepts, but it is all a trick to trap the demon in the deep freeze, killing it. The plan works, but Swamp Thing is captured and Casey disappears. Tremayne turns Swamp thing over to a research facility owned by the conglomerate she works for, the Sunderland Corporation. 

"Much later," it is reveled that the "Uncle Barney" show has been replaced by "Aunt Polly". the issue is dedicated "To the good people of Atlanta, that they may put the horror behind ..." 

[Jeff of Earth-J]

ISSUE #5: Swamp Thing awakens in the back of an ambulance as it pulls into the Barclay Clinic in South Dakota. He hears screams coming from inside and kicks the door off the vehicle in an attempt to escape. He is subdued, however, by the same drug Harry Kay once used against him. Inside the clinic, he meets Dr. Dennis Barclay, a "psychic healer" who heals him by touch. the clinic which bears his name has something of a shady reputation, but Barclay wins his trust and vouches for Dr. Kay. (As we will later learn, however, despite the name of the clinic, Dr. Kay is Dr. Barclay's boss.)

Back in Arkansas, we learn that Paul Feldner as well as Casey Clancey has disappeared. We also learn that the badly burned and disfigured person who crawled from the ruins of the burned sawmill in #2 was Harry Kay. He has spent the last few days lying low and has finally contacted the Sunderland Corporation who arrange to fly him to the Barclay Clinic. While his is talking on the pay phone, he transforms back into his uninjured self. 

Back in South Dakota again, the Swamp Thing hears more screams and goes to investigate. Meanwhile, Liz Tremayne has arrived and is greeted by Dr. Barclay, who tells her all about Alec Holland. They follow the same screams to the basement of the facility where they not only come face-to-face with Swamp ting, but also a roomful of artificially-created  (but sentient) beings called "receptors". One of them has wounds identical to those of the Swamp Thing which were supposedly "healed" by Dr. Barclay. Another, badly burned, speaks with the voice of Harry Kay. Just then, the real Harry Kay arrives. Lioz slips Swamp thing a note that they don't trust Kay and are not on his side. 

Dr. Kay reveals that the "receptors" were biologically engineered to transfer wounds from their hosts, and that Dr. Barclay has no "psychic healing power" after all. Dr. Barclay and Liz have disconnected the receptors so that now they feel the pain they are leeching from the clinics patients. They revolt, and Kay and his guards run one way, and Swamp Thing, Kay and Dennis another. The receptors catch up to Kay and his guards as they are about to board a helicopter. With concentration, the receptors reverse the process which incapacitates the guards, but oddly not Harry Kay, who takes off in the helicopter. He radios the Sunderland Corporation to arramge a meeting about the S.S. Haven to discuss the recapture of the Swamp Thing and the "disposition" of two former employees, Kay and Dennis.

In a stolen ambulance, Swamp thing, Kay and Dennis realize they are fugitives as they search for Casey and Paul.

[Jeff of Earth-J]

ISSUE #6: Three days have passed since Swamp thing, Liz and Dennis have fled from the Barclay Clinic in South Dakota. they have "traded" their stolen ambulance for a stolen VW microbus and are now parked outside a hospital in Limbo, NC. Apparently, Casey's mother was not quite as dead as we had been led to believe. Dennis, masquerading as a doctor on staff, has sneaked into her room just in time for her to awaken from the coma she's been in for the past two weeks since her husband shot her in #1. she says that he "did the right thing," and gives Dennis a locket which will somehow help them find her daughter (whose name is actually "Karen" BTW). "And when you do," she adds, "kill her. for god's sake--KILL HER!" 

Back in the van, Swamp Thing notices the initials "K.C." on the locket, which he realizes is where he got "Casey" from. they are being followed by a helicopter, a semi-trailer and a cruiser of fake state highway patrolmen. The semi sets up an ambush by blocking the road. Liz is captured, but Paul and Swamp thing escape. Harry Kay is in the helicopter, and it is on its way to Miami, when the where the Haven (a cruise ship, not a private yacht) is docked. Kay's pilot (and partner?) is Milton. Their primary objective has been the girl, Casey (or "Karen") all along, and Milton resent being diverted to the Haven for an executive committee meeting. 

General Sunderland is there in person, and we learn that Harry Kay is an ex-Nazi. We learn that the Haven's trip to the Bahamas will take them right through the spot when a Sunderland ship supposedly went down six years ago carrying a deadly virus. Unseen by passengers or crew, giant red tentacles climb up the ship from the water. Meanwhile, Swamp Thing and Dennis are in the Everglades. Dennis found a brochure of the Haven while passing through Palm Beach, so they know it is a cruise ship based out of Miami. they hope to get there before the ship departs. Dennis admits he has developed feelings for Liz. While Swamp thing uses psychometry to find "Casey" via the locket, Milton uses a similar technique to to tap in.

Sunderland's men catch up to Casey/Karen in Providence Canyon in Georgia. Paul rushes out to them, pleading to be rescued from her. By this time, Dennis and Swamp thing have stowed away aboard the Haven in a packing crate. They split up to search for Liz. Dennis finds her, dressed in a chainmail bikini, on her way into Sunderland's cabin with a bottle of champagne. She has been drugged. He knocks her out with a neck pinch, and finds his way to her stateroom by the key she's carrying. On the other side of the ship, Swamp thing is attacked by red tentacles. 

In Sunderland's cabin, Harry Kay is arguing with General Sunderland. Sunderland is anxious for Liz to arrive, but concludes that Maitland, her body guard, must be taking liberties. It's getting late and he must be on his way to the masquerade party. In Liz's cabin, Dennis has knocked Maitland unconscious and has found his donkey costume. He has also stolen some B-12 from the ship's sickbay to snap Liz out of her trance. They proceed to the masquerade party as well. when it comes time to unmask, many of the party-goers are revealed to have a single red eyeball in the middle of their foreheads. 

[Jeff of Earth-J]

ISSUE #7: ...all of which comes as a surprise to General Sunderland ("Avery H." BTW) and "special operative" Harry Kay, so they're not behind it. Sunderland flees to his waiting hydrofoil, ordering Kay and "Maitland" to follow. Kay is onto Dennis and Liz, however. He stays behind, gives them his Luger, and send them off to seek one of the ship's motorized lifeboats. First, though, he askes Dennis to pistol whip him in the jaw so the story he tells Sunderland will be convincing. This turn of events has Dennis (but not Liz, who was kidnapped and drugged by him) questioning whether or not Kay is a bag guy after all. 

Meanwhile, Swamp Thing is is fighting the tentacle creature(s), which seem(s) to have grown from the crew's uniforms, in the ship's hold. He follows it/them to the ships swimming pool, where he discovers a giant red brain with 16 tentacles. the creature's story is that it evolved from micro-organisms sent into space (probably by a dominant species as a test) which crash-landed in the Atlantic Ocean years ago. There they remained, unobtrusive, until the Sunderland ship sank. At that point, the experimental herpes virus carried by the ship combined with the alien micro-organism to create what it is now. 

On the hydrofoil, Liz and Dennis have run into some trouble reaching the lifeboat. they retreat to sick bay where Dennis performs some additional tests. Meanwhile, Harry Kay has informed Sunderland that Maitland and Tremayne are dead, killed by the creatures. He broke free just in time to make it to the hydrofoil, which has by now docked in Puerto Plata in the Domican Republic. While Sunderland arranges transport back to the U.S., Kay slips away to contact Milton. Back in Georgia, Casey/Karen has killed Milton's men. the more we learn about her past, the more mysterious she becomes. The one thing we know for sure is that she is becoming increasingly powerful. She departs with Paul Feldner in her control, and Milton answers Harry Kay's call and tells him that he knows where she's going.

Back at sea, the monster has retreated underwater and Swamp Thing has followed. First though, he found Dennis and Liz and they compared notes. The monster has retreated underwater, where it has been cobbling together parts of the ships it has wrecked in order to create a spaceship for it to go home. But even if it leaves, the virus will remain behind, infecting any ship that passes through the area. It finds the Swamp thing's "blood" (or "sap") repugnant, though, so Dennis creates a poison from it to deal with its thralls, while Swamp Thing goes underwater to blow up the creature itself.

He succeeds, but the resultant explosion is so powerful that it destroys the Haven as well, however, Dennis and Liz do make it to a lifeboat in time. Meanwhile, the Swamp Thing washes up on a nearby island. the last thing he sees before passing out is a tyrannosaurus. 

[Jeff of Earth-J]

ISSUE #8: This issue's story is presented in the style of several old movies, specifically King Kong, Casablanca and Citizen Kane. Dennis and Liz land on the other side of the same island Swamp thing washed up on, but reality keeps shifting around them. Whenever a "character" in the "movie" dies, it reverts to a skeleton wearing army dog tags. Meanwhile, Kay and Milton encounter Paul Feldner and Karen in a New Jersy airport, about to charter a plane to the "Fatherland." Feldner is referred to as the "catalyst," and the girl's "change" has begun. It is clear that Feldner has been a confederate of Kay and Milton's all along. Up until now, I hadn't been certain whether "Milton" was his first name or his last, but this issue gives him a surname: Grossman. Also, Karen has aged; she appears to be about 12 or 13 now. 

Back on the island, Dennis speculates that the matter transmutation they have been experiencing is caused by "chemically-induced changes in brain function... yielding paranormal abilities." He was an army medic, and he recognizes the dog tag of a soldier who went down with the New Hampshire on its way from Florida to Puerto Rico in the post Viet Nam era. Six of the soldiers aboard had been exposed to "Agent Blue" in the war and, upon their release, couldn't cope with civilian life for one reason or another, so they re-upped. When the ship went down, these six soldiers realized they could recreate reality out of their own heads.

At this point, Liz Tremayne gives them a dressing down she really had no right to make. [I was going to transcribe it at this point, but changed my mind.] I don't know if this is Martin Pasko espousing his own views through Liz or not, but later Dennis calls her on it and they have a big argument. the "island" turned out to be created from the troop transport itself, and the "characters" were the ship's dead crew. One of the six soldiers creates a helicopter to fly the main cast to safety, but the other five soldiers die when their illusion comes apart. 

"Harry Kay's true identity... Karen clancy's terrifying secret... Sunderland's ultimate scheme... and Alec Holland's fatal illness. At last, the revelations begin--NEXT!"

[Richard Willis]

ISSUE #1:

"Something stirs here. Beneath the dark, limpid waters of the great dismal, the stirring is sudden and violent--in stark contrast to the water's gentle flow. These are tidewaters here in this North Carolina swamp. 

I've caught up with your postings. My trades collection begins with issue #21, “The Anatomy Lesson,” at which time I will be joining the discussion.

Your transcription (above) suffers from the fact that your source is the all-caps lettering of most comics. It should be “of the Great Dismal.” The Great Dismal Swamp is huge and overlaps the border between North Carolina and Virginia. It includes the Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge and the neighboring Dismal Swamp State Park of North Carolina. It was a hiding place on the Underground Railroad. I haven't been there, but I thought i recognized the name.

[Jeff of Earth-J]

Did not know that. Thanks!

[Jeff of Earth-J]

ISSUE #9: The soldier dies enroute and the helicopter he created with the power of his mind disintegrates over the Jersey Shore. At the private airfield, Harry Kay and Milton Grossman confront Karen Clancy and Paul Feldner. Karen is "pyrotic" and sets Feldner aflame. Grossman is psi-adept and Karen taps into his power to communicate telepathically with Harry Kay. During this use of her power, she matures to a teenager. She now realizes that Feldner is not the "catalyst", but another man working for Kay, David Marx, is. (Marx is wearing a Star of David and a yarmulke, which raises the question in my mind why is he working for an ex-Nazi?") Marx agrees to accompany Karen on the charter flight to Germany, leaving Harry Kay and Milton Grossman to take Paul Feldman's body to Sunderland's facility in Washington, D.C. for treatment. Dialogue between Kay and Grossman reveals that they are, in fact, working against Sunderland. 

Via the locket, which Swamp Thing has been wearing around his neck for several issues now, he learns that she is on her way to Germany. In a motel room, Dennis is shaving (but not his moustache), and Liz has dyed her hair black. They are both clad only in towels, which suggests they are on increasingly intimate terms with each other. Swamp Thing is soaking in the tub. (Dennis is not a botanist or a biochemist, but he speculates that keeping Swamp Thing from drying out may retard whatever process it is that's killing him.) Both Dennis and Liz are concerned about Swamp thing's mental health, now that he has learned how Karen mentally manipulated when she though he was the catalyst. 

Back at the facility in Washington, Grasp (whose real name is Ellenbeck and who obviously survived his fall in the NC cavern in #2, has been following Kay and Grossman from the New Jersey airfield), reports to Sunderland, who informs him that a mysterious "client" is behind the order to terminate Alec Holland. Sunderland does not believe that Liz is dead because that information came from Harry Kay, whom Sunderland no longer trusts. Meanwhile, Kay is in the sub-basement of that very facility in an attempt to revive Feldner (by use of a "receptor") to find out what he knows. By use of his psi-talent, Grossman knows that Swamp Thing and company have learned (on the news) that the associate producer of In-Depth Magazine has been taken to a Sunderland facility for treatment. Because the South Dakota facility is the only one they know of, that's where they're heading. Kay sends Grossman on ahead. 

A few days later, Swamp Thing and his friends find the Barclay Clinic closed and (apparently) deserted. They find a file which reveals that "Harry Kay" is actually Helmut Kripptman, a genetic scientist "whom Senator Dreban called 'second only to Joseph Mengele in his disregard for the sanctity of human life'" and who was smuggled into the U.S. after WWII by the intelligence community against the orders of President Truman for use against the Communist bloc. Suddenly they are confronted by a Sunderland goon squad, but Milton Grossman appears and uses psionic energy beams fired from his eyes to melt the gun of one of the guard's, then snap his neck and cause him to explode. after that, he attacks Swamp Thing. This attack transformed Grossman into a misshapen grotesquerie. 

Swamp Thing awakens just as Harry Kay (or Kripptman, rather) arrives with a fully healed Paul Feldner. Feldner could provide no useful information, however, so Kripptman proposes an alliance with his former partner, Dr. Dennis Barclay. Barclay refuses, and Kripptman orders Grossman to attack, which he does, "tearing into the Swamp Thing, mutating him, reshaping him against his will... into a living, growing instrument of death."

[The Baron]

Don't you hate when that happens?

Jeff of Earth-J said:

ISSUE #9: The soldier dies enroute and the helicopter he created with the power of his mind disintegrates over the Jersey Shore.