Swamp Thing Vol. 2 #030

Description

Cover by Steve Bissette and John Totleben.

“A Halo of Flies” written by Alan Moore, penciled by Steve Bissette, inked by Alfredo Alcala, colored by Tatjana Wood and lettered by John Costanza.

The madness begins! Arcane’s wave of chaotic terror is moving fast, and now everything and everyone evil is heading toward Swamp Thing country in “A Halo of Flies”!

Arcane is back as the returned man. He is spreading his evil around the country and attracting all the darkness to gather with him at Houma. He begins by telling the captured Abby of his resurrection. He states that after dying he was descending to the “cobwebbed lands” but he manages to break free of the pull of the dead and returned to the real world in a sort of astral form. His body was burned and broken and so he could not rejoin with it but instead he orchestrated events that led him to where he was now.

Arcane tells Abby that he was the cause of everything that had happened recently. He was the one who influenced the ouija board to release the demon known as the Monkey King. He was the one who choreographed Matt’s car crash, and ultimately it was he who took Matt’s body to exact his revenge. He leaves Abby with his undead minions and they take her, while Arcane unleashes an evil so strong it causes the mad Joker to stop laughing, and it even resonates in space where the The Monitor pick its up. Arcane head outside and it begins to snow.

In the snow Swamp Thing walks towards the house and finds Matt floating; he is confused but the voice inside Matt tells him to guess again, and this time Alec knows what he is dealing with. Rather than fight Arcane allows Swamp Thing to enter the house and find Abby. When he walks into the room he finds her still, in her bed. Alec exits the room with Abby in his hands and as a tear falls exclaims: “How… long…? How long has she been dead!” all the while Arcane laughs.