Swamp Thing: A Halo of Flies

[alicemacher]

From Issue 30 (Nov. 1984). Art by Stephen Bissette and Alfredo Alcala.

Arcane, having stolen Matt's body and reality-warping powers, spreads his malevolent psychic influence through the continent.





While doing so, he tells his captive niece that after he died, he rose out of Hell through sheer force of will and found his giant insectoid body.











Arcane's shockwave continues to emanate, causing disruptions in nature, amplifying people's hate into violence, and attracting the attention of the Monitor and his assistant Harbinger in an early pre-Crisis appearance. (There'll be another one the following issue.) The ripples, unsurprisingly, also affect the already-disturbed residents of a notorious institution:





Having dismissed his undead serial-killer servants so they can resume their live-person guises and find new victims, Arcane brings snow to the wetlands. And he reveals himself to the Swamp Thing, who's unmoved by his threats of vengeance until Arcane tells him he has Abby. The Swamp Thing follows him into the Cables' house, then goes up to the bedroom where he finds Abby and attempts to rouse her.