Lest We Forget

In the Brightest Day Aftermath mini-series The Search for Swamp Thing, John Constantine is puzzling out why the new Swamp Thing, this time around hosting the spirit of Alec Holland is acting like an Eco-terrorist and not the more neutral "Guardian of the Green" he is familiar with.

After returning from being exiled in space as an unintended consequence of an assassination attempt, ST attacked and killed almost all of those responsible for the attack. All of the deaths were ironic or horrific in nature a la The Specter but the following pages from Swamp Thing #63 (August 1987) are the most grisly.

Prior to "The Anatomy Lesson" the Swamp Thing was a character that things happened to. He was a spectator and often a victim. Afterwards he was a bit more pro-active and became less the warm and cuddly cabbage patch doll. This time the difference is that the spirit of Alec Holland might be a bit peeved at being murdered and is lashing out (even though Alec eventually found peace over the course of several stories). The result may be a nut-job spirit that needs to be exorcised from the Swamp Thing.