Covering Swamp Thing’s involvement with JLD (2012-2015)…
The Justice League Dark series, which featured a team of various occult-related characters, was introduced in the first wave of New 52 comics in 2011. Through his association with various Vertigo-related characters (particularly John Constantine), Swamp Thing made various guest appearances in the series, finally joining the team full-time at around the beginning of the ‘Forever Evil: Blight’ crossover in 2013. Swamp Thing’s adventures with the JLD do not seem to have any impact on the events of the regular Swamp Thing series.
Appearances that I consider to be fairly minor are indented, though I have treated as major any appearance where the JLD is a focus of the issue and Swamp Thing is a contributing member of the team.
Justice League Dark #10
“The Black Room, Part 2”, August 2012
Jeff Lemire [w], Mikel Janin [p]
Constantine and his associates travel to the House of Mystery with a map to the Books of Magic. Constantine opens the map, unwittingly setting off a trap set by Felix Faust. The Demons Three are unleashed and bring the map to Faust, who is confined at A.R.G.U.S headquarters. Meanwhile Madame Xanadu has an apocalyptic vision and sees the Justice League Dark and others lying dead in a pile. In her vision, she is attacked by Constantine who demands that she prevent him from accessing the Books of Magic.
Swamp Thing appears in a panel in Xanadu’s vision.
Justice League Dark #19
“Horror City Part 1: House of Misery”, June 2013
Jeff Lemire, Ray Fawkes [w], Vicente Cifuentes [p], Mikel Janin [p, c]
Deadman visits Steve Trevor at A.R.G.U.S., who wants Deadman to be an informer within the Justice League Dark. Constantine narrowly avoids being murdered by the Cult of the Cold Flame in an explosion at a racecourse. Constantine’s link to the House of Mystery is temporally broken and the House is stolen. He recounts this story to Madame Xanadu, Deadman, and Frankenstein at Xanadu’s house in Greenwich Village before summoning Swamp Thing to help find the house. Swampy locates the House but is trapped by Doctor Destiny, while the rest of the group and the citizens of Manhattan are forced to endure nightmarish visions.
Justice League Dark #20
“Horror City Part 2: The Nightmare Gospel”, July 2013
Jeff Lemire, Ray Fawkes [w], Vicente Cifuentes [p], Mikel Janin [p, c]
Frankenstein and Xanadu are rescued by Flash and they all help to save Deadman and Constantine. They find the House of Mystery where Swamp Thing’s powers are being used to spread the magical wood of the house. The heroes approach Doctor Destiny, who claims to be Xanadu’s son.
Justice League Dark #21
“Horror City Conclusion: Die Die Die My Darling!”, August 2013
Jeff Lemire, Ray Fawkes [w], Mikel Janin, Vicente Cifuentes [p]
Madame Xanadu sees a vision of the future where she kisses Deadman and Doctor Destiny destroys them. In the present, Destiny explains that the Cult gave him a powerful ruby. Deadman frees Swamp Thing and then takes possession of the House itself, while Swamp Thing captures Destiny. Xanadu kills her son and takes his ruby.
Justice League Dark #23
“Trinity War Part 5 of 6”, October 2013
Jeff Lemire [w], Mikel Janin [p]
Various superheroes fight each other for Pandora’s Box, which corrupts whomever touches it. Constantine and Zatanna escape with the Box and are transported to Greece, finding Madame Xanadu in a nearby underground bunker just as Batman and others arrive. The Outsider (Alfred Pennyworth of Earth-3) appears and reveals that the Box is actually a doorway. Meanwhile, a weakened Superman and members of the Justice League escape the rubble of the destroyed A.R.G.U.S headquarters.
Swamp Thing appears in one panel when Shazam seizes Pandora’s Box and causes a magical disturbance throughout the world. Part of the ‘Trinity War’ crossover.
‘Forever Evil: Blight’ Crossover The ‘Blight’ crossover was a subplot of the larger ‘Forever Evil’ event, which involved the emergence of a team of supervillains from Earth-3 called the Crime Syndicate. Justice League Dark #24 Trinity of Sin: Pandora (2013) #5 Trinity of Sin: The Phantom Stranger (2013) #13 Justice League Dark #25 Trinity of Sin: The Phantom Stranger (2013) #14 Constantine (2013) #9 Trinity of Sin: Pandora (2013) #6 Justice League Dark #26 Trinity of Sin: The Phantom Stranger (2013) #15 Constantine (2013) #10 Trinity of Sin: Pandora (2013) #7 Justice League Dark #27 Trinity of Sin: The Phantom Stranger (2013) #16 Constantine (2013) #11 Trinity of Sin: Pandora (2013) #8 Justice League Dark #28 Trinity of Sin: The Phantom Stranger (2013) #17 Constantine (2013) #12 Trinity of Sin: Pandora (2013) #9 Justice League Dark #29 |
DC Universe vs. The Masters of the Universe (2013) #3-#6
#3: “Dark Orko”, January 2014
Keith Giffen, Tony Bedard [w], Andres Ponce, Derliz Santacruz, Dexter Soy [p]
#4: “Worlds Collide”, March 2014
#5: “Worlds Collide”, April 2014
Keith Giffen, Tony Bedard [w], Pop Mhan [p]
#6: “Cracking Skulls”, May 2014
Keith Giffen, Tony Bedard [w], Pop Mhan, Eduardo Francisco [p]
In #3, He-Man appears to have killed Superman while the Justice League were possessed by Skeletor. Constantine convinces the Justice League Dark to help He-Man prevent Skeletor and Orko from stealing Earth’s magic. In #4, He-Man’s allies fight the Justice League who are trying to avenge Superman’s death, though Batman believes that only a decoy Superman was killed. Elsewhere, Superman is still alive and trapped inside Orko. In #5, Skeletor is confronted in the House of Secrets, but convinces He-Man and his allies to band with him to stop Orko, who has absorbed some of Horde Prime’s power and become evil. In #6, He-Man’s allies destroy the syphons that are supplying Orko with magic, while He-Man travels to Trolla and frees Superman. Everybody then attacks Orko, eventually destroying the Horde Prime skull that has corrupted him. Earth’s visitors then travel home to Eternia.
Swamp Thing makes some brief, and mostly background appearances in these issues, accompanying the Justice League Dark with a slightly different team membership. The most notable appearance occurs in #4 when he prevents a fight between Green Lantern and Moss Man. This whole miniseries (6 issues) seems to be outside of any regular DC continuity.
Scribblenauts Unmasked: A Crisis of Imagination (2014) #3
May 2014
Josh Elder [w], Adam Archer [p]
Maxwell and Lily join the Justice League of America to investigate a spate of violent incidents around the universe.
Collects chapters 5 and 6 of the comic originally released digitally. Swamp Thing appears in one panel, alongside members of the JLD. This series ties into the related videogame rather than the regular DC Universe.
Justice League Dark #30
“Aftershocks”, June 2014
John Marc DeMatteis [w], Andres Guinaldo [p], Mikel Janin [c]
Constantine is drinking in a bar when he is attacked by Deadman, who is angry at Constantine for trapping him inside Sea King’s body and for abandoning the group. After Nightmare Nurse hits on Zatanna at the House of Mystery, Zatanna decides to investigate Asa’s past. Frankenstein and Black Orchid decide to leave the group. Constantine barges into the House of Mystery to see Zatanna, expressing his disappointment that Zatanna preferred his demonic doppleganger, while Zatanna responds that the demon was an aspect of him. The pair decide to part ways. Zatanna is about to formally ask Swamp Thing to join the group when Nightmare Nurse bursts into flames. When the Nurse recovers, she claims to be a woman named Alice, not Asa.
Batman and Robin (2011) #31
“The Hunt for Robin: City of Cold”, July 2014
Peter J. Tomasi [w], Doug Mahnke [p]
Batman tracks Damien Wayne’s body to the site of Nanda Parbat, but Frankenstein explains that the whole city was moved to another dimension following the events of ‘Forever Evil: Blight’. Frankenstein agrees to accompany Batman on his journey.
Swamp Thing appears in one panel as Frankenstein relates their capture by Felix Faust in the ‘Blight’ storyline. The cover lists this comic as Batman And Frankenstein.
Justice League Dark #31
“Nightmares”, July 2014
John Marc DeMatteis [w], Andres Guinaldo [p]
Alice Winter pleads for help, claiming that Asa stole her body. Zatanna enters Alice’s psyche and learns that decades ago Alice was a sickly woman until her nurse Asa possessed her. The House of Mystery convinces Swampy to join the team. Asa pulls Constantine into an astral region called the Between where she has been trapped. They are attacked by the consciousness that resides there but they manage to escape back to the physical world. Constantine and Asa travel to the House of Mystery and fight with the rest of the team until Asa accidentally possesses Zatanna.
Justice League Dark #32
“Between!”, August 2014
John Marc DeMatteis [w], Andres Guinaldo [p], Mikel Janin [c]
The team fights Zatanna/Asa and Constantine opens a portal to the Between in an attempt to suck Asa into it, but the whole House of Mystery is transported. Asa abandons Zatanna’s body, apologises, and appears in her true form, which is a multi-headed creature. Asa explains that she had possessed Alice to save them both. The consciousness in the Between attacks the House. Asa stays behind to fight while the rest of the group teleports the House back to the physical world. Zatanna has retained part of Asa’s soul and is able to resurrect her, and Asa and Alice recombine so that they both may live.
Justice League Dark #33
“Paradise Lost”, September 2014
John Marc DeMatteis [w], Andres Guinaldo [p]
Constantine has rejoined the team but no-one really likes or trusts him. Deadman suddenly has a vision of Nanda Parbat and a strong desire to travel there, but the rest of the team are not able to locate the city using magic. Deadman wanders off and meets someone who appears to be Brahma Dass: a being originally responsible for transforming Boston Brand into Deadman. Dass helps Deadman to travel to another dimension to Nanda Parbat on an enchantment in the form of a dragon. Once Deadman arrives, however, he finds that he has also transported a being known as Pantheon who wants to destroy the city. Meanwhile the rest of the team try to find Deadman and are attacked by living enchantments. They travel to Nanda Parbat but find that it has been destroyed, and they are overpowered by the Pantheon. Deadman awakens in chains and finds that he has become a living Boston Brand again.
Justice League Dark #34
“Paradise Lost Conclusion”, October 2014
John Marc DeMatteis [w], Andres Guinaldo [p], Mikel Janin [c]
The real Brahma Dass helps Boston Brand escape from the tower where he has been imprisoned but they are attacked and Brand dies, transforming back into Deadman. Meanwhile, Swamp Thing helps the rest of the team to escape their captor. Swampy explains that Pantheon is the conglomeration of thousands of old gods that were once cast away by the people of Nanda Parbat during their Enlightenment. Pantheon was awakened when Nanda Parbat was transported to another dimension. The team meets up with Deadman again and, with guidance from Dass, he possesses Pantheon. This causes the creature to break apart and the city is restored.
Trinity of Sin: Pandora: Futures End (2014) #1
“Sacrifice”, November 2014
Ray Fawkes [w], Francis Portela [p]
Pandora repairs the Box and the Seven Deadly Sins emerge, which Pandora now recognises as different versions of herself. She explains to them that they have battled many times, and each time the lone survivor has brought about the death and rebirth of the Multiverse. Instead of repeating this process, Pandora draws all of her parts together into herself so that the Multiverse can survive.
A Swamp Thing referred to as Pamela (probably Isley, aka Poison Ivy) is killed by Pandora (here appearing as the sin Sloth) in a previous version of the Multiverse. Released in a variant with a lenticular cover.
Justice League Dark Annual #2
“War of the Houses!”, December 2014
John Marc DeMatteis [w], Klaus Janson, John Stanisci [p], Guillem March, Tomeu Morey [c]
After failing to seduce Zatanna, Constantine wakes up in a strange house where he meets a woman who claims to the human embodiment of the House of Secrets. The House recruits ex-members of the JLD (Frankenstein, Madame Xanadu, Black Orchid and Andrew Bennett) to help Constantine prevent the House of Mystery from destroying the world. Meanwhile, Zatanna and the current members of the JLD are warned by the House of Mystery about the dangers posed by the House of Secrets. The two groups of heroes fight while the two Houses use this conflict to produce an enchantment that merges them together into the House of Wonders. Zatanna realises that the people who tricked them are diseases that have infected the Houses. The heroes decide to break the enchantment using the K’am’deva curse on Contantine and Zatanna, which will cause one of them to forget that they ever loved the other. The spell works and the House is destroyed.
Justice League Dark #35
“The Amber of the Moment Part One: Long before Yesterday”, December 2014
John Marc DeMatteis [w], Thomas Derenick [p], Guillem March [c]
Zatanna finds herself in a strange land with a younger version of her father Zatara, who saves her from a creature called a Mome-rath. Zatara brings Zatanna to their family home where she meets her mother and childhood self. Zatara explains that he found a doorway to the beginning of time, a place of pure magic, and brought his family there. Zatanna first believes his story may be true and that she has forgotten this part of her childhood, but later realises that Zatara conjured his family with his thoughts. They are attacked by Mome-raths again, and Zatanna realises that she invented the creatures from her imagination as a child. She then realises that even her father isn’t real, and he disappears
Secret Origins (2014) #6
“Deadman: Life After Death” (pp. 15-23), December 2014
John Marc DeMatteis [w], Kevin Stokes [p]
This story recounts the origin of Boston Brand, including his murder and transformation into Deadman, his encounter with Brahma Dass, and his decision to stay on Earth and help others.
Swamp Thing appears in one panel at the end of the Deadman story, which depicts the Justice League Dark.
Justice League Dark #36
“The Amber of the Moment Part Two: Long After Tomorrow”, January 2015
John Marc DeMatteis [w], Andres Guinaldo [p], Guillem March, Tomeu Morey [c]
Swamp Thing, Nightmare Nurse, Bennett and Frankenstein find themselves at the end of time, trapped on a fragment of Earth that is floating through space. Without the Green, Swamp Thing begins to deteriorate. The group is attacked by Felix Faust who resembles a giant insect. They destroy Faust but this causes the atmosphere to disappear so Faust is healed. Faust explains that he is lonely, and he saves Swamp Thing by taking him to a rose that he has preserved. The group decide to venture over the edge of time but they are attacked but an even bigger Felix Faust who created the creature they met. The two Fausts fight and the rest of the group escape into space on a ship that Asa has conjured, before the last piece of the world dissolves. Meanwhile, Zatanna remains trapped in the magic land at the beginning of time.
The New 52: Futures End (2014) #37
March 2015
Brian Azzarello, Keith Giffen, Dan Jurgens, Jeff Lemire [w], Aaron Lopresti [p]
Amethyst recounts the events of five years ago when the Parademons of Apokolips attacked Gemworld and were then trapped there by Constantine’s spell. Madison is injured after trying to break herself and Jason Rusch out of the Firestorm matrix, while Dr. Polaris attacks Metropolis. FIfty-Sue survives Mercy’s death-touch and escapes with the Cadmus Island DNA lab. Terry McGinnis and Cal Corcoran are attacked by a Batman/Joker cyborg.
Swamp Thing appears in a flashback as Amethyst recalls fighting alongside the JLD to save her homeworld.
Justice League Dark #38
“The Amber of the Moment Part Four: Dark Reunion”, March 2015
John Marc DeMatteis [w], Andres Guinaldo [p], Guillem March, Tomeu Morey [c]
The heroes aboard Asa’s ship are saved by a plant-like being, while the heroes in the Kingdom of Now are also saved from the black wave-like shape by a tree. Zatanna finally communicates with the World Tree, who brings the rest of the JLD to Zatanna. The Tree also creates the House of Mystery which allows the team to escape, but only as far as the centre of time (the Heart of Chronos) where they discover that gremlins have been rupturing the timestream. Zatanna has become more powerful but even she is not able to defeat them.
Constantine (2013) #22
“One Last Trick”, April 2015
Ray Fawkes [w], Jeremy Haun [p]
Constantine tries to save the family and friends of his Earth-2 counterpart, taking them through various layers of their universe to Earth-0, while being pursued by Darkseid.
One one page, Constantine and co. travel past the Green, which is being attacked by Apokolips’ forces.
Justice League Dark #39
“The Amber of the Moment Part Five: Pralaya”, April 2015
John Marc DeMatteis [w], Andres Guinaldo [p]
The heroes fight the time-gremlins as time collapses, but Asa, Xanadu and Zatanna manage to freeze time. They meet Pralaya, the goddess if the void, who explains that the K’am’deva curse weakened reality and she merely accelerated the deterioration of the timestream. She tries to convince them to embrace nothingness but most of the JLD resist, except Zatanna who lets Prayana absorb the team.
Justice League Dark #40
“The Amber of the Moment Part Six: Ouroboros”, May 2015
John Marc DeMatteis [w], Andres Guinaldo [p], Guillem March, Tomeu Morey [c]
The Constantine who Zatanna imagined into existence at the beginning of time watches the destruction of the team from the House of Mystery. Constantine imagines Zatanna back into existence and, together, they create a version of Swamp Thing. The House is attacked by Prayana but Swampy is willingly absorbed, while Zatanna uses him to grow the World Tree. This defeats Paryana, restores the universe, and frees the real Justice League Dark. The real Zatanna sends the imagined versions of Zatanna and Constantine back to the beginning of time to be together. The House is then transported back to Earth where the team meets the real Constantine, and Zatanna disbands the JLD.
Secret Origins (2014) #11
May 2015
Bryan Hitch, Alex Sinclair [c]
Contains stories that summarise the origins of Black Canary, Red Lantern Guy Gardner, and John Constantine.
This issue includes an origin of John Constantine, but Swamp Thing does not appear. However, all of the JLD appear on the front cover.
[w] denotes writer, [p] denotes penciller, but I have included both penciller and inker if both are credited equally as artists. [c] denotes cover artist, but I have mostly only included the last in instances where Swampy is illustrated by someone other than the inside penciller.