Original cover sketch by Bissette

1:2 Agents of the DDI used a weapon (designed by Lex Luthor) to try to kill Swamp Thing in issue #53, and Swampy was presumed dead, and hasn't been seen since then.

8:5 The imitation Abby poses like Botticelli's painting of Venus.

9:4 The imitation Abby talks with the same cadence as Swamp Thing...written with...elipses.

14:3 Swamp Thing's consciousness was based on the late Alec Holland who died in a chemical explosion in the swamp. Holland's wife, Linda, also died in the explosion. Swamp Thing thought he himself was Holland for many years, and still uses Holland's name.

14:4 Matt Cable, Abby's husband, was a supporting character in SWAMP THING. He was an investigator who pursued Swampy. Cable went into a permanent coma in Annual 2.

16:1 The window ad "We Give Blue Stamps" refers to the "S&H Green Stamps" which were given away at supermarkets in the United States from the 1930s until the late 1980s. The stamps could be redeemed for prizes.

16:2 The poster advertises "The Blue Lagoon", a 1980 film starring Brooke Shields.

16:4 The sign advertises the insurance company "Blue Cross/Blue Shield".

22:4 "Blue Valentines" was the title of a 1978 song by Tom Waits. A Waits song was referenced at the end of issue 26.

22:5 MYSTERY IN SPACE was the title of a comic book which began in 1951, later starring Adam Strange.

COMMENT: The planet in this issue appears again (with issue #67's guest-star, Solomon Grundy, on it!) in STARMAN #48-49, written by James Robinson and David Goyer (1998). Art at left by Yeowell & Keith Champagne.

COMMENT: The front inside cover (usually reserved for advertisements) of the original printing of this issue featured a black and white full page illustration of a "Death Certificate" for the ST. (Click image at right to enlarge.)

COMMENT: In 2002, DC Comics collected issues 51-56 in the trade book "Swamp Thing: Earth to Earth".