Monstrous Relationalities: The Horrors of Queer Eroticism and “Thingness” in Alan Moore and Stephen Bissette’s Swamp Thing

Abstract

Following a one-off appearance in the comic horror anthology series House of Secrets, Len Wein and Bernie Wrightson’s Swamp Thing was given its own title run from 1972 to 1976. In the series, scientists Alec and Linda Holland work diligently at a biorestorative formula that encourages the sustainable growth of plants and greenery regardless of environment. Because of the highly classified nature of their work, the couple and their formula are hidden deep within the Louisiana swamp and placed under the protective detail of Lt. Matthew Cable. However, even under Cable’s watchful eye, Alec and Linda’s work is tragically interrupted when a nefarious crime syndicate places a deadly explosive device in their laboratory. The ensuing catastrophic explosion forces Alec to hurl his flaming body into the nearby swamp, where it mixes with the remnants of his formula to produce a “muck-encrusted” caricature of the man he once was (Wein and Wrightson 1972, p. 31). No longer human, Alec emerges from the shallows of his would-be grave a humanoid-vegetal hybrid known only as “Swamp Thing.”¹ When the creature returns days later to its home on land, Swamp Thing finds it is too late to save Linda, who has been shot and killed by syndicate goons. The rest of the series traces Swamp Thing’s journeys as it attempts to evade detection by Cable, who mistakenly suspects the monster for Linda’s murder, while simultaneously protecting Cable and, eventually, the plucky Abigail Arcane from bizarre evildoers and various Monsters of the Week.