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Swamp Thing Vol 2 62

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"Wavelength": Near the Source Wall, Metron examines the plight of two giants who hoped to gain access to the Source by enlarging themselves. Suddenly, he hears a signal and follows it into the sleeve of one of the giants' spacesuits. Inside, h

Somehow the Vegetable was able to attain the correct vibrational pattern and at the last possible instant, open the Final Barrier and provide an Answer to the Ultimate Question... At the expense of his own Sanity.
— Metron

Swamp Thing (Volume 2) #62 is an issue of the series Swamp Thing (Volume 2) with a cover date of July, 1987.

Synopsis for "Wavelength"

Near the Source Wall, Metron examines the plight of two giants who hoped to gain access to the Source by enlarging themselves. Suddenly, he hears a signal and follows it into the sleeve of one of the giants' spacesuits. Inside, he finds some interesting flora growing, but beyond that, he discovers a giant Mother Box. After shrinking it down to a manageable size, he sets a course for Highfather's staff.

Unfortunately, he finds himself immobile. His Mobius Chair's energy source was depleted by the shrinking process. Angrily, Metron kicks the Mother Box, which rendered his chair useless, away. However, he is surprised when that same Mother Box transmits the consciousness of the Swamp Thing there, and into the plant life which Metron had collected earlier.

Swamp Thing discovers the Mother Box, and believes that it has told him that he was brought there because Metron wishes to enter the Source. Metron responds that he merely wants to go to Apokolips. Swamp Thing states that no, Metron's destiny lies with the Source, and so does his own. With the help of the Motherbox he can transport Metron into the Source and back out again.

Swamp Thing alters his appearance into that of a chair, and uses the Mother Box to lift off, and fly toward the Source. He explains that having learned how to control his electromagnetic field, he can transcend the barrier by altering his vibrations.

After an uncomfortable transition through the barrier, they burst into the domain of the Transmuters – beings posted along the fringes of reality, working the compost of creation into higher matter. One of them notices them, and they are forced to escape before they are transmuted. Swamp Thing alters his vibrational pattern at the last second, bringing them past the final barrier. What the two of them see in the Source is too much for Swamp Thing to handle. Metron manages to focus on certain elements, seeing all of creation's marvels and follies.

Metron recounts the tale to Darkseid, who laughs, revealing that what they had seen was not the Source, but an Aleph – a point from which one can view all other points in time and space. This information depresses Metron, as he'd hoped to barter the information gleaned from the source in exchange for X-Element, the fuel for his Mobius chair. Even so, Darkseid wonders if information about the Swamp Thing's nature could help him solve the Anti-Life Equation. Metron explains the Swamp Thing's nature, and notes that he has already left for earth.

Metron reveals that the Mother Box had to remove most of Swamp Thing's memories of the Aleph. Darkseid asks to view the record of those memories. The record shows that Swamp Thing thought only of his wife, Abby. The moments he observed spread from past to future, but all ending in fire and death. The images drove Swamp Thing mad.

In exchange for the information, Darkseid offers Metron the X-Element, then, crushing the Mother Box in his fist, he curses that he had forgotten to add the element of love to his equation.

Appearing in "Wavelength"

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Notes

  • Swamp Thing's journey with Metron makes him the first human being in the DC history to travel outside the main DC Multiverse into the Greater Omniverse which is referred to as the "Great Scheme of Things" by Metron. However, the Mother Box removes this event from his memory.
    • After witnessing the work of the Transmuter, Metron refers to the omniversal particles (from which the various "Creations" are made of) as Higher Matter. These particles are returned back to the Source after the "death" of a multiverse.
  • During the journey between the Multiverse and what's beyond, just before reaching the Void, Swamp Thing and Metron end up in an "aleph", a "point where all the other points in Time and Space" can be glimpsed. This representation is coherent with the future concept of Hypertime and suggests that this issue is actually the first proper appearance of Hypertime before its introduction in The Kingdom #2.
    • Similarly, before journeying into the Greater Omniverse, the two beings travel to an extradimensional plane of existence where "gross and soulless madder are the dominant life forms" and almost lose their sanity. These details, along with the look of this realm, suggests that it is actually the Area of Madness, or simply Madness, which is the realm of Delirium of the Endless and the dimension that is accessed by Earth-85 Shade the Changing Man.
  • This issue is reprinted in Saga of the Swamp Thing: Book Six and Swamp Thing: Reunion.

Trivia

  • This is the first issue of Swamp Thing (Volume 2) written solely by Rick Veitch.
  • The story seems to be heavily influenced by "The Aleph", a short story by Jorge Luis Borges who also cameos in the Aleph sequence.


See Also


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