Swamp Thing is one of the greatest monster heroes in all comics, as well as arguably the best creation of DC's Bronze Age. Beginning life as the scientist Alec Holland, he was born anew in a Louisiana swamp after he and his wife were attacked by criminal goons. From there, Swamp Thing was taken to Eastern Europe, where he was left to begin a dangerous but epic journey all the way back to Louisiana.
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Swamp Thing is best known and defined by Alan Moore's signature run on the character. However, his first series by Len Wein and Bernie Wrightson was every bit as great and just as defining a run for the hero. Ranging from a tragic time travel adventure to meeting with a crashed alien, the original Swamp Thing series is a must-read for fans of DC, the Bronze Age, and monster heroes alike.
10 Swamp Thing #11 (The Conqueror Worms)
In Swamp Thing #11, Abby and Matt make their way through the Louisiana swamp after their run-in with Swamp Thing and an alien being. The duo came across mutated monsters before being taken by horrifying giant worms to a strange facility within the swamp.
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When Swamp Thing showed up to rescue the duo, as well as some other people, from the clutches of a wacky scientist, the worms revealed themselves to be intelligent. The malevolent beings sought to consume humanity — prompting Swamp Thing to destroy them.
9 Swamp Thing #13 (The Leviathan Conspiracy)
In Swamp Thing #13, Swamp Thing was captured by the military and held captive in a glass tank for experiments. After many cases of the hero protecting Matt and Abby, the two characters protested Swamp Thing's condition. It was in this issue that Matt finally realized Swamp Thing was Alec Holland.
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Considering the bulk of the first 12 issues had followed Matt Cable trying to solve the murders of the Hollands, the revelation was a relief for readers. When Abby and Matt set about rescuing Holland from captivity, it established their friendship and let Swamp Thing run free once more.
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8 Swamp Thing #3 (The Patchwork Man)
Abby Arcane is a fixture of Swamp Thing's history and lore, serving as a love interest for the mossy hero. Her debut was in the pages of Swamp Thing #3, where the hero encountered her after fleeing the destruction of Arcane's castle. There, it was revealed one of Arcane's Unmen was Abby's father.
When the townspeople descended on both Swamp Thing and Abby's father, the results were nothing short of tragic. In the violence, Abby's father was killed trying to save her, with Swamp Thing again being left to flee with a target on his back.
7 Swamp Thing #2 (The Man Who Wanted Forever)
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After Swamp Thing's transformation and revenge, he was taken by a group of sinister creatures, Anton Arcane's "Unmen." They transported the hero across the ocean to Arcane's Eastern European castle. There, the scientist and magician made the hero an offer too good to refuse.
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Arcane offered the hero a trade: he would restore the body of Alec Holland in exchange for control over the Swamp Thing's body. When Holland realized the offer was too good to be true, he confronted Arcane, resulting in the villain's apparent demise.
6 Swamp Thing #8 (The Lurker In Tunnel 13)
In Swamp Thing #8, Swamp Thing struggled through the freezing cold of a blizzard, happening upon a small town where he sought refuge. The townspeople led Swamp Thing to an old mine shaft, where they sent the hero. When he ventured into the depths of the mine, he came upon a terrifying sight.
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Swamp Thing encountered M'Nagalah, an ancient being of immense power, styled after the Elder Gods of Lovecraftian horror. It communicated with Swamp Thing, revealing its ancient age and nefarious intent. The comic had a great sense of cosmic horror to it.
5 Swamp Thing #7 (Night Of The Bat)
In Swamp Thing's search for the enigmatic Mister E, Swamp Thing hopped a train headed straight for Gotham City. Once there, the sight of him stirred up panic among the locals, requiring the intervention of Batman. Both heroes were looking for the same man, so their paths were bound to overlap.
The issue was most notable for the fight between Batman and Swamp Thing, the first of several matches between the two heroes. It helped establish Swamp Thing as a hero within the DCU and seemingly concluded Holland's revenge for the men who killed his wife.
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4 Swamp Thing #1 (Dark Genesis)
Swamp Thing #1 is responsible for the original origin story for Alec Holland's Swamp Thing. It begins with Alec and Linda Holland working on a bio-restorative formula in a Louisiana swamp when a pair of henchmen attacked them on the orders of the mysterious Mr. E.
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The issue is one of the most important books in Swamp Thing history, as it gave readers the set-up for the entire first series. Following his gruesome transformation, Swamp Thing was left alone and in search of revenge against those who took everything from him.
3 Swamp Thing #4 (Monster On The Moors)
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After his battle with Arcane, Swamp Thing hitched a ride on the wing of Abby and Matt's plane. Sometime during their flight, the plane crashed in Scotland. After being pulled from the wreckage, the characters were attacked by a violent werewolf on the foggy moors.
Swamp Thing #4 was everything a Bronze Age monster comic should be, from the eerie rural setting to the terrifying werewolf attacker. It also helped establish to Matt and Abby that Swamp Thing wasn't the murderous monster they had believed, setting up their later quest to help him.
2 Swamp Thing #9 (The Stalker From Beyond)
In Swamp Thing #9, the mossy hero finally reaches his destination back in the swamp where he was created. However, upon reaching the barn he'd worked in, he discovered a crashed alien spaceship, which was being repaired by its alien passenger in a bid to get home.
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Swamp Thing and the alien had a brief battle, where the alien believed he had killed the hero. When he finally tried to depart, the arrival of Matt Cable and other humans inadvertently resulted in damage to the alien's ship — and the death of its inhabitant.
1 Swamp Thing #12 (Eternity Man)
After his encounter with a scientist and his monstrous worm captors, Swamp Thing stumbled upon a mysterious glowing rock in the swamp. When he tried to investigate, he was transported back to prehistoric times, where a man saved him from a dinosaur attack.
As Swamp Thing's journey through time continued, he noticed the man in different eras. When he discovered that the man was cursed to wander time alone and could only be saved by being killed by a friend, the man asked Holland to help him. Bound by ethics, he was unable to oblige — and the man's curse continued.
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