More Swamp Thing stuff only Mike cares about.
So I’ve covered a couple dropped plot points in Swamp Thing over the last year or two. There was that long-haired fella who actually set up the bomb that killed Alec Holland…and somehow managed to evade mossy justice at the Swamp Thing’s hands. And then there was the mysterious device we were told about (but never shown) that kept folks away from Alec and Linda Holland’s graves…the story of which was to be told in a future issue of DC Comics Presents, which, alas, did not come to pass.
Here’s another Swamp Thing plot development from the original series that’s since been lost: Abby Arcane’s mystical powers. In issue #15 (Mar/Apr ’75) by David Michelinie and Nestor Redondo, Swamp Thing is possessed by a demon, while his soul is trapped in a magic globe. Abby has a sudden, mysterious insight into how to stop the infernal creature:
She determines that smashing the globe will not only cause no harm to Swampy’s soul, but it will also sufficiently weaken the demon so that it may be defeated. It’s possible that it’s just a lucky guess, but the narrative as much as tells you that she had some kind of mystical hoohar goin’ on.
This new ability of Abby’s is next brought up in Swamp Thing #17 (July ’75), as Matt Cable and Abby have a brief conversation about her unusual talents:
Okay, “I sense evil” isn’t much of a magical insight, I suppose, but Matt mentions that she “keep[s] having” these feelings, though the only one we see “onscreen” is the event in #15.
The power moves beyond “lucky guesses” and “feeling evil” in #18 (Sept ’75), as the good guys are tied or chained up by the bad guys…but before things move too far along, Abby’s powers free her from her bonds:
…And while in her magical trance, she turns and apparently sees the Swamp Thing through the wall of the building in which she’s trapped:
She calls out to him, Swampy smashes through the wall Kool-Aid Man style, beats the crap out of some people, and the good guys win again.
Matt Cable has further questions about Abby’s powers:
…but that’s the last we hear of them, as after the two-part story in #19 and #20, Matt ‘n’ Abby disappear from the Swamp Thing saga, until about a dozen and a half issues into the ’80s revivial of the series. And, by the time they reappear, the “Abby’s powers” subplot is long forgotten. Matt has weird powers by that point, but that’s another story entirely.
…
I’m the only person who cares about this, I realize. Thank you for tolerating my bizarre obsessions.
