Swamp Thing: Revelations

[alicemacher]

Warning for child abuse.


From Swamp Thing #46 (Mar. 1986).

Constantine, his associates Benjamin and Frank, and the Swamp Thing witness past, present and future collide in an apocalyptic scenario which includes dodos meeting the business end of a 1997 Ford, and Neanderthals freaking out upon finding themselves in a disco. When there's a lull in the chaos, John gives his friends their marching orders, just before he and the Swamp Thing are teleported into space.





In a scene parallel to Crisis on Infinite Earths #5, a massive audience of DCU characters listens to Alexander Luthor Jr. (a refugee from the doomed Earth-3, son of that world's good Lex) explain what Constantine has just told the Swamp Thing. Upon hearing the name Luthor, our protagonist experiences a vague premonition, then lets it go. (In Issue 53, we'll see why that premonition is justified, though the threat will be from post-Crisis, New Earth Lex Luthor.)





Hellblazer would of course early on retcon the Newcastle incident as having taken place in the late seventies, as having resulted in Constantine being in and out of the psychiatric hospital for a few years, and above all as something he never jokes about.

John introduces the Swamp Thing to Alexander, who mentions the Crisis will have an impact on the spiritual dimensions around Earth. The creature is skeptical that this should be the case, so Constantine invites him to teleport back to Earth and see for himself.





After witnessing several more phenomena like this, the Swamp Thing meets up again with Constantine, who returned to Earth as the Anti-Monitor attacked the satellite. The Swamp Thing concedes that the chaos within the physical multiverse is already impacting the spiritual realm. Constantine says that's the aspect of existence the Brujería are targeting. Having anticipated the Crisis, they've exploited it for their far more cataclysmic plans. And who are these Brujería?







These details are based, with some alterations, on actual Chilote mythology.

The sorcerors have used their psychic influence to cause outbreaks of "dark stuff" around the world, in order to increase belief in the paranormal and use the power thus generated to bring down an even greater darkness. That's why John's been directing the Swamp Thing to selected horror outbreaks across America, so he can learn from them.





Therefore, John and his team, including the Swamp Thing, must go to Patagonia, in order to stop the Brujería's Central Committee from completing the ritual that would summon this entity. Before they do so, however, Constantine intends to fulfill his end of the deal with the Swamp Thing. He tells him to travel to the source of the Tefé River in the Brazilian rainforest, where dwell the Parliament of Trees, who'll teach him what he needs to know about himself. First, however, he suggests the Swamp Thing spend some private time with Abby, as he may be gone a long while.

Meanwhile, Sister Anne-Marie finds herself lost in the streets of London as she searches for Judith, who's been out of touch with the team. Sensing she's being followed, she decides to take the Tube back to her hotel.

Comments

[tcampbell1000]

That subway scene really, really works.

This issue is notable mostly for Moore's approach to the giant intracompany crossover, which is pretty wild. Constantine more or less spoils the ending of DC's top-selling series just as an oh-by-the-way, and Alexander Luthor barely meets with him and Swamp Thing long enough to say, "Don't worry, I know you've got your own very important mission to handle, arguably just as important as what WE'RE doing and you'll be handling it on your own without interference from editorial, I mean from me and Harbinger and Pariah, in any way."

And yet Moore enthusiastically embraces the idea of "chronal chaos," which Wolfman and Perez had used largely as an excuse to involve DC's vast library of characters from different eras in one event. Largely, not exclusively: Perez had his fun with dinosaurs fighting starships, too. Still, Moore is able to give the ground game of the Crisis more texture, all in service of his larger plot goals and my favorite John Constantine line of all time: "Everything's interconnected, stupid."

It would be rare that Moore interacted with such multi-headed beasts, though he proposed something that looked a bit like one of them ("Twilight of the Superheroes") and did write a couple for Image, Judgment Day and Fire from Heaven, both of them generally enjoyable but instantly forgettable.

Legends mostly took place when Swamp Thing was off Earth and would've been a poor fit for him anyway, as it was about a wave of mistrust in superheroes, whereas Alec had no heroic status to lose in the eyes of most of the public. By the time Millennium rolled around, Moore was gone, though Veitch tried to work with its use of the Floronic Man, which obviously built on Moore's earliest stories. And after that, I stopped paying attention.

One small criticism, though: I'm not sure it's necessary or borne out by events for Constantine to assert that the Brujería "already own the Earth." No spoilers, but the Brujería don't really carry themselves like the Nine or Ten Guys Who Secretly Run Everything. You don't need to be in control of much to throw a bomb.

[alicemacher]

The subway scene at the end is great, yeah, and I had to include it even though it meant not posting more of the apocalyptic scenes (of which my favourite is the woman who tries to convince a gang of shiv-wielding werewolves that her coat is faux fur). Or the groovy psychedelic teleportation bits. Bissette and Totleben really outdid themselves on this one.

I think my personal favourite bit from this issue (not an easy choice, mind) is Constantine's inability to finish describing how the brujos make an invunche. Much as with "Mo-o-o-mmy needunt kno-o-ow" in an earlier issue, it's truly a "less is more" moment in which just enough is hinted at to leave the unspeakable rest up to our imagination. While I can understand Moore coming to loathe editorial restraints, and thus nowadays only publishing with the basically hands-off Top Shelf and Avatar, I think his writing lost something valuable once he adopted the "show all the gory details and sod the complainers" approach.

[kamino_neko]

Less is not Moore.

[tcampbell1000]

Oh, yeah, and I forgot to mention:

It's surprisingly effective to the mood that John, who up to this point has either been straightforward or darkly humorous in his tellings, actually cannot tell the story without breaking down. Whether that was because of Karen telling Alan "We've hit the line here, pal, sorry" or just Alan trying to emphasize that Constantine's a bit close to the edge, it's like if the Crypt-Keeper suddenly got tongue-tied and stared at us for a few quiet panels.

[icon_uk]

Due to being British, my problem with the London Underground scene (Sorry, it's not a subway) is that Morington Crescent is, of course, the name of a massively popular board game as well, which takes the edge off the drama just a little.

[scorntx]

A board game?!

So that's what's been going wrong all these years.
I've been playing the electronic version, in flagrant defiance of EU energy regulation laws and health and safety codes!

[icon_uk]

There's an ELECTRONIC version?

But how can that convey the cut and thrust, the cameraderie and betrayal, the unbearable ennui that can only be felt when two or more find themselves in Nibb because they changed lines at Green Park AND HAVE TO LOOK EACH OTHER IN THE EYE?!?

[scorntx]

Violently shocking anyone who makes a wrong move, mostly.

[icon_uk]

That seems fair.

[lego_joker]

In my humble opinion, the only part of Crisis actually worth reading. Everything else that's important, you can glean from Wikipedia.

That said, the Brujeria never really creeped me out as much as they probably should've, mainly because Constantine mentioning their initiation rites just gave me Naruto flashbacks. "Kill your best friend" sounds way too subjective a thing for magic, even Ancient Dark Magic, to track onto... or maybe I just don't have enough experience having actual friends...

[lissa_quon]

The whole - they kill their best friends - and wear dead men's skin!- its just too much. It's too "old hat" of a thing. It's not surprising or shocking - its more something you expect. Of COURSE they where the skins of dead Christians - of COURSE they toss skulls around. At this point you could say they dance naked under the moonlight and eat babies and its just another checkmark on the list.

I think "best friend" is just the colloquial for what it would be in an Ancient pact. Like your constant companion - blood brother - would be the term used in folklore probably. Oath bound. Someone you've had with you all your life.

Though I also argue that if you are the sort of person who does all this shit to join a coven - you probably didn't really value your friend or friendship enough to make this an actual sacrifice. It seems more just shaking off loose ends.

[alicemacher]

As I said, Moore didn't make up those "kill their best friends" and "wear dead men's skin" bits himself. They come from Chilote folklore.

[thezmage]

It’s fairly common to have to sacrifice something you hold dear in these. It doesn’t mean you didn’t care about them, you’d have to or it wouldn’t work, you just care about power more.

[icon_uk]

The actual folklore aspects of it to one side, the willing sacrifice of something (or even moreso someone) you love is fairly common in stories invovling black magic, it instantly proves you crave power more than you value human life and love, and by severing a link to something you love (Or if not a link, at least an artery) you lose a part of your link to what is good in the world.

[bruinsfan]

I do recall feeling chilled by the idea of a waterfall that could undo the metaphysical effects of baptism if one bathed in it long enough. That was the standout Brujeria rite to me. (It also establishes that at least some of their cult's practices are Post-Columbian rather than something going back all the way to prehistory when early humans were trucking with dark forces.)

[scorntx]

"Mornington Crescent"

Oh, Alan...

[alicemacher]

Sorry, could you expand on that?

[arilou_skiff]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mornington_Crescent_(game)

[icon_uk]

Ah. I see you beat me to that reference....

But then again, you strike me as the sort of person who would play the diagonals, but only north of Picadilly

[arilou_skiff]

Absurd, playing the diagonals north of Picadilly is only acceptable if you have first passed Blackfriars, which a gentleman would *never' do, as indicated in subsection 31, chapter 14.

[icon_uk]

Oh, you play Quadlington's Variation? I'm genuinely impressed, I've never had the nerve or, if I'm honest, correct number of progressions in play for that.

[zylly]

You know, the nature of the Crisis and all... it makes me wonder if any of the other Earths had counterparts to Swamp Thing. I know they retconned Grundy in as a failed elemental, but that's post-Crisis.

[alicemacher]

I know of one world that had a Green avatar who resembled Swamp Thing: the Earth-like planet in Lucifer's cosmos (from the first Lucifer series by Mike Carey).