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Swamp Thing Giant Vol 1 4

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"Dead Falls": Upon spotting his bloody footprints with his lamplight in the labyrinthine tunnels, George realizes he's been running his circles. This reminds him how he got to here. After hitting a bull's eye with a dart to impress a woman, she bought him the drink they made the et on but found

Swamp Thing Giant #4 is an issue of the series Swamp Thing Giant (Volume 1) with a cover date of July, 2019. It was published on May 19, 2019.

Synopsis for "Dead Falls"

Upon spotting his bloody footprints with his lamplight in the labyrinthine tunnels, George realizes he's been running his circles. This reminds him how he got to here. After hitting a bull's eye with a dart to impress a woman, she bought him the drink they made the et on but found its taste was quite bad. As he prepared to go to church which he had promised his mother he will every Sunday, he starts feeling doozy. The woman takes him to a room and uses a lever to drop him down into the tunnels below. As he recovered from the fall, he heard sailors talking about shanghaiing him. The drink he had soon knocked him out, as the sailors talked about him working hard for them and stuffed him into a crate bound for Asia.

After waking up, George realized he was still in the Portland tunnels and found the ground near his crate littered with glass, so he would leave behind a trail of bloody footprints. Back in the present, the sailors catch up to him, but he fights back against them since he's no longer delirious with the drink that was served to him. The sailors however merge into a monstrous being, but it gets stopped by Swamp Thing before it could eat him. George watches in horror as the two fight, before Swamp Thing rips the demon's two heads off. He runs away despite Swamp Thing requesting him to stop and comes across an exit, which Swamp Thing encourages him to take before the demon reintegrates.

George comes upon a room where Briar is practicing necromancy. As he gets puzzled, he gets told to his shock by Swamp Thing that he's been running in the tunnels for 132 years and already died long ago due to the infection in his feet after they were pierced by the broken glass he stepped on, but he's running from a demon seeking to make his spirit a slave. He denies it, but soon finds the spirit of his mother calling him home. As he goes with her, Briar tells Death to fulfill its part of the bargain in return for the soul. Death, who knows they want the help of Confederation of Remains, tells them that that the Barren escaped his death like them, but assures they will all die before vanishing.

As they head out, Swamp Thing tells Briar that it was the first time he saw her afraid, but she reveals that she was just trying to avoid letting him know that Death gave her a key as a clue. Two tourists wanting to go on a tour of the tunnels ask her if they really saw the lamplight or the bloody footprints said to sometimes appear in the tunnel, she tells them to not waste money before baffling them by showing them someone who had really died but is still alive - her.

Appearing in "Dead Falls"

Featured Characters:

Supporting Characters:

  • Briar Woodrue
  • Death
  • George (Flashback and main story) (Dies)

Antagonists:

  • Demons (Flashback and main story)

Other Characters:

  • Alec Holland (Mentioned only)
  • The Barren (Mentioned only)
  • Confederation of Remains (Mentioned only)

Locations:


Synopsis for "The Hunt, Part Four: The Rot"

This story is reprinted from Animal Man (Volume 2) #4.

After encountering the Hunters Three at her home in San Diego, Ellen Baker packs her son Cliff into the car and has their acquaintance Detective Krenshaw drive them both to Sacramento where her mother keeps a farm. However, Ellen is not aware that one of the hunters has assumed Krenshaw's form, and that the real detective has been stuffed into the trunk.

Meanwhile, in The Red, Ellen's husband Buddy is fighting with the other two hunters. Unfortunately, he is plainly outmatched. The totems of the Parliament of Limbs appeal to his daughter Maxine, who they know to be the next Avatar of the Red, to make a stand and save her father. Reluctantly, she approaches the attackers, and with her mind on protecting Buddy, she uses the power of the Red to blast away the hunters. The totems admit that despite the hunters' apparent disappearance, they are not defeated. Buddy, meanwhile has been very gravely injured.

The Red 002

Maxine saves her father

Arriving in Sacramento at the farmhouse of Ellen's mother Mary, the third hunter struggles to maintain his form, knowing that he must feed soon. Ellen goes inside to greet her mother, leaving Cliff outside with the hunter. When Cliff realizes that there's someone locked in the trunk, the hunter grabs him.

Again, the totems call on Maxine to use her abilities to heal her father. She is incredulous, as she is only four years old, and knows nothing about biology. Even so, she leans over her father's wound, and feeling that it is much like clay, she moulds her father's flesh back together and he is healed.

Recovered, Buddy demands to know what purpose the Hunters might have with a little girl, regardless of her apparent power. Using fleshy tendrils, the totems pass on information directly into the pairs bodies. The Hunters Three were once human Avatars of the Red, just as Maxine is meant to be. They protected the lifeweb from threats, and when their time had ended, they were to take their place among the totems in the Parliament of Limbs. However, a corrupting force led the three of them astray to a deeper, darker place: The Rot.

For the first time, the hunters have an opportunity to lay claim to a living Avatar, as they are all dead. If they were to take control of her, nothing would hold the Rot at bay, and it would spread throughout the lifeweb. It is Buddy's task to protect Maxine at all cost. While he cannot himself become an Avatar, it is his duty to protect the next Avatar as her father and as an agent of the Red. The totems reveal that Buddy will not be alone in his efforts against the Rot, as there are other forms of life outside the Red. Alec Holland can help, though he may not yet realize his role. Additionally, a totem - a cat - decides to accompany Buddy and Maxine, despite the cost of being unable to return to the Parliament of Limbs.

Back at the farmhouse, Ellen vents to her mother about the chaos she has faced recently, with her husband's powers acting up, and Maxine apparently developing her own at such a young age. Mary blames Buddy, naturally, arguing that he has brought this chaos down on his family by choosing to become a superhero. Ellen admits that despite having warned that if his heroics brought any strangeness home with him, it would have to stop, she loves him, and can't put her foot down. Suddenly, Ellen looks out the window, and realizes that Cliff has gone missing.

In the woods nearby, the hunter drags the unconscious body of Detective Krenshaw and Cliff to the edge of a lake. He demands that Cliff draw his father and sister out, so that he can gain control of an Avatar. Krenshaw wakes up and tries to escape, but the hunter notices and grabs him by the neck, preparing to feed. Ellen hears Krenshaw's screams and grabs a rifle from the shed, heading out to save her son.

Meanwhile, Buddy, Maxine, and the cat fly back to their home in San Diego, confused to find their front door and garage open. Maxine asks the cat its name. Though it was originally called "Socks" in its past life, it prefers the name it gained in the Red: Ignatius. Naturally, Maxine prefers Socks. Buddy and Socks realize that the Hunters Three were at the house, and when they head inside, they find the place torn apart, and no sign of Ellen of Cliff.

Ellen rushes through the woods, and arrives at the lake's edge in time to see Cliff cowering behind a rock as the hunter devours Krenshaw's body.

Appearing in "The Hunt, Part Four: The Rot"

Featured Characters:

Supporting Characters:

Antagonists:

  • The Hunters Three (Real name revealed) (Flashback and main story) (Origin)

Other Characters:

Locations:

Items:


Vehicles:

  • Krenshaw's Car (First appearance)

Concepts:

Synopsis for "Desert Five O'Clock"

This story is reprinted from Swamp Thing (Volume 5) #4.

William Arcane finds his way to a diner by the side of the road in West Texas, and orders a vanilla milkshake. The man behind the counter is taken aback by the fact that William is wearing scuba gear in order to prevent him from inhaling any airborne bacteria. He admits that he has come from the Shepherd Institute, but that he left. The man becomes suspicious, and in response, William causes the man's hand to decay and rot, causing him incredible pain. Likewise, he taps into each of the patron's bodies, causing little areas of rot like decaying teeth and dead skin to grow and kill them. Alone, he enjoys his vanilla milkshake.

Later, Abigail Arcane and Alec Holland track him to the diner, but he has already gone. Abby marvels at how strong the boy already appears to have grown. She decides that they should get some rest in the meantime, on the grass where there will be fewer elements of death to be used against them. Setting down on the grass, Alec can't help but stare as Abby removes her jacket. He has memories of being with her romantically as the Swamp Thing. Even so, with the call of The Green so strong in his head, the last thing he can think about is making a move on her.

Falling asleep, Alec dreams of The Green and the Parliament of Trees. The Parliament warns that a kingdom of Rot is being built in the deadlands of the western deserts, and yet he ignores their call to arms. Alec responds that he doesn't want to make the sacrifice - to give his human body up as host to a swamp thing. The other members of the parliament are angered, reminding him that each of them made the sacrifice of their own free will in answer to the call of the Green.

The trees explain that The Rot is the third element, in opposition to both the Green and The Red. Though the Red and the Green would both take the world for themselves if they could, they work in balance to keep the Rot at bay. In the battle, the Green and the Red found no warrior greater than man. It is a great honour to be called to the Green to become a protector and warrior. Despite Alec's reticence, the Parliament announces that it can go on without him as their intended warrior king, but he puts them at great risk by failing to face his destiny.

Alec explains that in his own way, he is fighting by tracking down William Arcane. The Parliament warns, however, that it is not William who is the greatest danger, but Abigail. When the time comes, she will bow to the terrible power of the Rot, and if Alec stays with her, she will be his downfall - and the downfall of all life on Earth. Alec thinks about her, and despite knowing in the back of his mind that they are right, his memories are telling him otherwise. Sternly, the Parliament commands him to kill her before it is too late.

Alec and Abby wake up at the same time, the ground around them split in two with flowers sprouting around Alec and death and decay all around Abby. Clearly, Abby has had a similar dream in which she was tormented by the Rot.

Abby gets up and prepares to leave without Alec, but he insists on going with her. She warns that the deadlands will sever his connection to the Green and leave him powerless to defend himself. He responds that his memories of her from the Swamp Thing's life are so strong that she is the only thing in his life that feels like home, and so he will not leave her. Together, they make their way to the deadlands, while William gathers his army.

Appearing in "Desert Five O'Clock"

Featured Characters:

Supporting Characters:

Antagonists:

Other Characters:

Locations:

Items:


Vehicles:

  • Abby Arcane's Motorcycle

Concepts:

Synopsis for "Blue Devil: A Night in the Life"

This story is reprinted from Shadowpact #4.

Blue Devil wakes up in Metropolis to the sound of his landlady, Mrs. Cohen screaming for him from downstairs. She asks him to retrieve her cat, Snowball, out from under the bottom of a parked delivery truck. Blue Devil performs his good deed for the day, and even earns the appreciation of several neighbors.

That evening, he telephones Ragman and tells him that he might be late for the regularly scheduled Shadowpact meeting. His schedule is thrown into even further disarray when he has to stop a mugger from attacking a young woman in an alleyway.

Meanwhile, two demons named Mister Green and Mister Gray arrive on Earth and begin hunting Blue Devil. They represent the Demonic Retrieval Corps and are charged with bringing Blue Devil back to Hell. To further complicate matters, a large red dragon appears and begins tearing through the streets of Metropolis. Blue Devil manipulates Green and Grey into fighting the dragon, and after they subdue the creature, he turns the Trident of Lucifer against both of them, sending them back down to Hell.

Appearing in "Blue Devil: A Night in the Life"

Featured Characters:

Supporting Characters:

Antagonists:

  • Mister Gray
  • Mister Green

Other Characters:

Locations:

Items:

Vehicles:


Notes



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