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Jim Kipp was the young son of Tressa Langford-Kipp.

He was born and raised in the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Jim Kipp was known to be a compulsive liar – a trait that caused him great tension between his mother and he. Tressa took him to the best psychologists in the city, but this did little to curtail the boy's behavior. He even went so far as to tell his physicians that Jim Kipp was not his real name.

When Jim was eleven-years-old, his mother brought him to stay with her mother, Savanna Langford at her family home in Louisiana. It was her hope that the vacation might cure Jim of his lying, but in truth, Tressa needed the time away from home as well. Tressa knew that she would not be able to stay permanently and decided to leave Jim there for the summer.

Jim enjoyed taking his row boat out onto the bayou and filming the local wildlife. It was during one of these ventures that he ran into a dwarf named Humphrey. Humphrey had been tied to a pole and left to die in the middle of the swamp by an evil scientist named Anton Arcane. Jim freed Humphrey and soon after ran afoul of one of Anton Arcane's hideous mutant experiments, Toad Boy.[1]

It was at this time that Jim had his first encounter with the wetlands guardian, the Swamp Thing. The Swamp Thing knew well of Arcane and his bizarre experiments and pledged to keep an eye over Jim. In time, Jim came to depend on the Swamp Thing anytime something in his life went awry.

In one instance, Jim capsized his row boat and nearly drowned. It was not the Swamp Thing that saved him this time, but rather, another of Arcane's mutant men, Falco.[2]

Another time, Jim pleaded with the Swamp Thing to use his powers to save the life of his mother, who had been fatally shot by a criminal named Eleanor.[3]

As time passed, Jim learned more and more about Anton Arcane and his true motivations. He sneaked into Arcane's laboratory one evening and witnessed Arcane crating up a group of sedated mutants. He was getting ready to ship them off to a labor camp in Mozambique. While creeping about, Jim made a noise and alerted Arcane to his presence. He ran from the laboratory and Arcane sent his conspirator Sheriff Andrews after him. Andrews captured Jim and brought him back to Arcane. He then faked Jim's death so that no one would ever suspect what had truly happened to him. Arcane packaged Jim inside a crate and shipped him to a labor camp in South America. The Swamp Thing knew that Arcane was behind Jim's disappearance and vowed to take his revenge, even if it meant going through Heaven and Hell.[4]


Transportation

Rowboat

Related

Footnotes


Alec Holland 02
Swamp Thing Character
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This character specifically relates to the Swamp Thing and is predominantly seen in the Swamp Thing family of titles. This character may be part of the Swamp Thing's supporting cast, a minor acquaintance, or one of his adversaries. This template will automatically categorize articles that include it into the Swamp Thing Characters category.

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