Roots of the Swamp Thing Vol 1 5



 The Stalker From Beyond 

Summary
Volume: 1 Issue: 5 Month: November Year: 1986

Credits
Editor in Chief: Jenette Kahn Head Writer: Len Wein Cover Artists: Bernie Wrightson Pencilers: Bernie Wrightson Inkers: Bernie Wrightson Editors: Joe Orlando

Synopsis
Cast of Characters:
 * Swamp Thing (Alec Holland)
 * Abigail Cable
 * Matthew Cable
 * Brad Samson

Locations:
 * Louisiana
 * Houma


 * Washington DC

Items:
 * None

First Appearances: Brad Samson (a government agent); an unnamed alien Final Appearances: Bard Samson; alien

Synopsis: Matt Cable is called back to Washington where he is assigned to work with a military task force led by captain Brad Samson. A UFO was sighted near the Louisiana swamps where Cable had begun investigating the Holland murders and his knowledge of the area is shown to be beneficial to the task force.

Meanwhile, the Swamp Thing has finally made it back to Houma, Louisiana and he arrives at the shack where he had been conducting his experiments. As he enters, he finds that the above-mentioned UFO had moved his space-craft inside the shack so that it could affect repairs. Swamp Thing and the alien briefly fight one another, but the alien overpowers him. He dumps Swamp Thing's body into the swamp.

Samson's team arrives and they find the alien. They slap a pair of hi-tech manacles onto it, and chain it to a tree. But Samson has no intention of following orders and brining it back to base. He intends on killing it.

Swamp Thing arrives, now realizing that the alien was peaceful and only attacked because it perceived Swampy as a threat. Swamp Thing stops Samson from killing the alien. He sets it free and guides it back to its ship.

The alien launches from inside the shack and blasts off into the atmosphere. However, it never completed the necessary repairs to its ship and it soon crashes back down onto the surface.

Credits
Head Writer: Len Wein Pencilers: Bernie Wrightson Inkers: Bernie Wrightson Editors: Joe Orlando

Synopsis
Cast of Characters:
 * Swamp Thing (Alec Holland)
 * Anton Arcane
 * Un-Men
 * Auntie Elsbeth Bellum (also in flashback)
 * Black Jubal (as a ghost; also in flashback)
 * Samson Parminter (in flashback)

Locations:
 * Unknown

Items:
 * None

First Appearances: Auntie Bellum (a slave); Black Jubal (a slave); Samson Parminter (an overseer) Final Appearances: Auntie Bellum; Black Jubal; Samson Parminter

Synopsis: Swamp Thing wanders through the swamp until he finds an old black woman outside of a shack named Auntie Bellum. Auntie tells Swamp Thing a tale of the slavery days when there was a thriving plantation owned by a man named Samson Parminter. Parminter was a ruthless overseer and frequently abused his slaves including a woman named Elsbeth. But Elsbeth's lover, Black Jubal, fought against Parminter to save Elsbeth. As punishment, Parminter had Black Jubal killed.

Shortly after hearing Auntie Bellum's tale, Swamp Thing heads towards an old, lost cemetery where he finds the Un-Men. Anton Arcane is leading the Un-Men and has come from the Balkans to capture the Swamp Thing. Arcane's body had been destroyed in their last fight, but he used his telepathy to command his Un-Men to fashion a new synthetic body for him. But Arcane's current form is a grotesque mockery of humanity. He wants to transfer his mind into the Swamp Thing's body in order to master its strength and power.

The two enemies begin fighting and it looks as if Swamp Thing is going to lose, until the tombstones from the graveyard topple over and the ghosts of Black Jubal and other slaves rise up. Black Jubal waves his hand towards Swamp Thing and he passes out. Then, Jubal and the others descend upon Anton Arcane and the Un-Men.

When Swamp Thing wakes up, he finds there is a new tombstone with Arcane's name written on it in blood. There is no sign of Auntie Bellum or the shack she had lived in. He finds another gravestone with the name Elsbeth Bellum etched onto it. Apparently Auntie Bellum was the ghostly lover of Black Jubal.

Credits
Head Writer: Len Wein Pencilers: Bernie Wrightson Inkers: Bernie Wrightson Editors: Joe Orlando

Synopsis
Cast of Characters:
 * Swamp Thing (Alex Olsen)
 * Damien Ridge
 * Linda Olsen Ridge

Locations:
 * Unknown

Items:
 * None

First Appearances: Swamp Thing I (a scienstist); Damien Ridge (Alex's colleague and rival); Linda Olsen Ridge (Alex's widow) Final Appearances: Damien Ridge (dies in this issue)

Synopsis: Sometime in the last century, Alex Olsen and Damien Ridge had been best friends. However, they both vied for the affections of a woman named Linda. Linda eventually married Alex and Damien had to endure his heartache in the form of the supportive friend. But his desire for Linda overrode the bonds of friendship and he conspired to eliminate Alex. He sabotaged the equipment in Alex's lab causing an explosion that killed him. Keeping the knowledge hidden from Linda, Damien buried Alex's body in the swamp.

Damien eventually married the widow Olsen and they lived together in an old Victorian plantation house. But Linda never recovered from Alex's death. As months passed, Damien began to suspect that Linda might soon learn the truth, so he prepared to kill her. But Alex had been resurrected as a swamp thing and broke into the house and killed Damien. Linda fled from the creature in horror, never realizing that the beast who saved her was her beloved Alex.

Trivia

 * Alex Olsen is actually the original Swamp Thing. Creators Len Wein and Bernie Wrightson retooled the character in order to create Alec Holland.

Recommended Readings

 * Swamp Thing (Volume 1) #9
 * Swamp Thing (Volume 1) #10

Related Articles

 * Swamp Thing image gallery
 * Swamp Thing appearances list
 * Abigail Holland image gallery
 * Abigail Holland appearances list
 * Anton Arcane appearances list