Swamp Thing: Down Amongst the Dead Men

[alicemacher]

Moore, Bissette and Totleben pay homage to The Divine Comedy in this tale that received the 1985 Jack Kirby Award for Best Single Issue.


From Swamp Thing Annual #2 (Jan. 1985). 13.33 pages out of 40.

It's been a day since Abby's and Arcane's deaths and Matt's lapse into a coma after managing to restore his wife's breathing and heartbeat but not her soul, which remains in the afterlife.







Resisting the temptation to lose himself once again in the Green's tranquility, the Swamp Thing presses on to the afterlife, and is shocked to find it empty, except for a woman and her young son who've just died in a car accident. As they head toward the Light, leaving him still more confused, Deadman comes by and says hello.





Deadman escorts the Swamp Thing through the region, a sort of antechamber for the other afterlife realms, but there's no sign of Abby. He suggests the creature check Heaven, although Deadman's not allowed to accompany him there. Fortunately, someone who is allowed shows up.





The Swamp Thing asks if Heaven is the Phantom Stranger's home. "No," he says, "I fear I have long since become a stranger in paradise."







Abby's nowhere in Heaven either, so there's only one realm left to visit. Before the Swamp Thing can enter Hell, though, he and his guide must seek permission from the Spectre, who guards the border between order and chaos. The Spectre recognizes the Stranger, but not the Swamp Thing, whom he identifies as an "Earth elemental" -- another bit of foreshadowing. He confirms that Abby's in Hell, and says she must remain there. The Swamp Thing lunges at him, only for the Stranger (wisely) to restrain him and plead his friend's case, saying Arcane had no right to consign Abby there.





Swampy: "Stranger... who was... Jim Corrigan?" Stranger: "He was... while he lived."

As they approach the gates of Hell, the Stranger tells his companion they must part ways. Everyone must enter Hell alone, "otherwise, how could it truly be Hell?" Then Etrigan (who gets nearly all the best lines in this issue) happens by.







The Swamp Thing comes across Sunderland, now the slave of a demon who's making him polish his hooves with his tongue. At least that's what he's supposed to be using, so the demon rips out his tongue. Although responsible for his death (when not in his right mind), the Swamp Thing is horrified. So we get a page of theodicy, immediately followed by my favourite moment in this story.







Sure enough, Etrigan and the swamp creature come across Abby, whose beauty is still intact despite her (notably silent) agony. To keep it that way, Etrigan joins his companion in fighting off demons who want to divide up her body parts. Eventually, the Demon tells the Swamp Thing to just pick Abby up and run while he opens a portal for them to the land of the living. Arcane, outraged that his revenge is about to be undone, gives chase with other demons in tow.









A landmark comic, not just because of the eloquent and moving story, but also because it was (as far as I know) the first attempt to weave several DCU occult characters into a single mythological framework. Moore would continue doing so in his "American Gothic" arc for Swamp Thing, as would Gaiman and others in The Books of Magic. And as Justice League Dark continues to do today.

Next: the Swamp Thing meets... Pogo Possum? Well, sort of.