Swamp Thing (New 52) Vol. 1 #0

The mysteries of Alec Holland and Anton Arcane revealed!

Throughout history, Arcane has slaughtered the champions of the Red and the Green, and only Alec has escaped death – but for how much longer?

Here we find a small girl walking through a blizzard in Manitoba, Canada in 1897. She is searching for the “Green Man” to bring back the spring. She passes out just as that generations Swamp Thing appears. He carries her to his home where he nurtures her back to health. She tells him that the cold is killing everyone in town, and he consoles her by telling her to be patient, that soon he will bring about a great spring. She responds by telling him she doesn’t want the cold to end.

Suddenly the girl stretches and grows until out from the girls skin appears Arcane. They fight but soon Arcane kills that avatar. He states that that had not been his first avatar murdered. We flash forward to the Louisiana swamps and see Arcane once again disguised in skin. This time hidden in one of Alec Holland’s friends. They are toasting to the success of the bio-restorative formula. Here Arcane thinks back to all the avatars of red and green that he has killed over the years. Later that night after the toast Arcane sneaks into Linda and Alec’s home so that he can kill him, but find only Linda. He takes her body and goes after Alec who is not home; rather he is working late in the lab.

As Arcane goes to visit Alec he talks to him (while in disguise) and calms him from his stress. Then as he leaves he opens a pipe to release flammable chemicals and drops a bunsen burner which causes the lab to ignite. Holland runs out of the burning lab and, alight, he falls into the swamp murk. Arcane burst out of his guise and taunts the trees of the swamp. In Brazil the Parliament of Trees hears Arcane’s victory, but one former avatar has an idea to save Alec. Five years later we flash forward to a hand bursting out of the swamp.