FACTOID
FROM THE BOG
The title of this issue might come from an Alice Cooper song, from the 1971 Killer album (according to fan Scott Maykrantz.)
There is a 1998 book by Canadian poet Len Gaparini called A Halo of Flies, and Tom Hazelmyer had a band by that name in Minneapolis in 1986-1991.
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5:1 This scene is from issue 19, page 7. Dr. Kripttmann (whom Arcane refers to here as the "pawn") helped Arcane in a fiendish plot which was about kill himself, Abby and Swampy, but he found the strength to destroy Arcane at the last moment. Kripttmann's distinctive eyeglasses can be seen here.
8:5 This flashback scene is from issue 25, page 11, in which Matt telekinetically causes Abby's clothes to float before him.
NOTE: A "LOST" PAGE
Page 12 was omitted from the 1990 trade paperback reprint of the series ("Swamp Thing: Love and Death"). These are characters who were created for the CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS "maxi-series", which began five months later in April 1985. The Monitor was a powerful pan-dimensional being who secretly observed and studied events in the DC comic universe for several months prior to the CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS series. He briefly appeared with his assistant Lyla (a.k.a. Harbinger) in almost every DC title during that time. In the CRISIS maxi-series it was finally explained that he planned to save all the parallel universes by combining them into one universe. The universes were threatened by the evil Anti-Monitor. Swamp Thing learns of the Crisis in issue #46.
Click the image at right to read the "lost page"!
Likewise, in the 1990 trade paperback, a page with these characters was omitted from issue #31.
12:1 The word "watchman" in the caption– Moore is famous for writing the WATCHMEN series.
12:3-4 Trigon, demonic father of Raven, is a character from the TEEN TITANS. The Spectre will appear in Annual #2.
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13:1 (or page 12 in the trade paperback) Arkham Asylum is where most of Batman's enemies are incarcerated in Gotham City. Woodrue fought ST in issue #24. Arkham is visited by ST in issue #52
and is visited by Constantine in issue #66.
18:5 (or page 17 in the trade paperback) Why does the license plate say GMJ? Is it a reference to the Catholic Italian insignia for "Giuseppe Maria Jesus"?
The bumper sticker says "Proud to be coonass." "Coonass" refers to the Cajun people of the southern Louisiana region, and while some are proud of the ethnic slang term others find it offensive. The writer mentions this on page 23 of his book "Alan Moore's Writing for Comics."
COMMENT: In the original printing, the "zombies" had yellow skin, whereas in the trade paperback they are gray.
COMMENT: This issue is reprinted in black and white as ESSENTIAL VERTIGO: SWAMP THING #10, August 1997.
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