Cover: Steve Bissette (signed)
4:4 Matt Cable has been comatose since issue #34.
5:1 Link from 4:5: "chime" over Matt's body / "clang" over Liz's body
5:2 Liz has been living with Abby since #54.
5:5 Matt Cable was in a bad car accident in #27 after which his body was posessed by Anton Arcane.
6:5 In issue #54 we learned that one of Liz's many phobias is drowning in the tub.
7:1 Link from 6:5: "beautiful" in a bathtub/"she's no dog" by a hot tub
Gus Foley fired a rocket launcher at Swamp Thing, as part of Wicker's DDI team (including Skinner and Cutley) that ejected Swampy from the planet in issue #53.
9:1 Link from 8:9: tub filling with blood / bottle full of fluid
another link= picture of bllod and bouquet / "blood and bouquets"
10:2 Wallace Monroe met Chester in Gotham City in #53.
10:2 Chester discovered that the tubers that grow off Swamp Thing's body have powerful psychedelic effects in #43.
10:5 Monroe and his wife, Treasure, first appeared in issues #35-36. His employer was indirectly responsible for her being poisoned by radiation. Hence, the radiation symbol in this panel.
11:5 Link to 12:1 = covering Mrs. Monroe / covering Skinner
another link = "goodnight" / "sleep"
12:1 After Foley's rocket launcher assault, Skinner hit Swampy with napalm in issue #53.
The CIA supported the Contras (short for contrarevolucionarios -- counterrevolutionaries) who tried to overthrow the Sandinista government in Nicaragua in the early 1980's.
14:5 Abby's kissing Matt's forehead.
15:4 Abby's been working at the rest home since #59.
15:5 Link to 16:1 = "to be alone" / "working alone"
16:4 "Iran-gate" is a play on the name "Watergate", the scandal which destroyed the administration of President Nixon. The Iran-Contra hearings indicted Col. Oliver North (among others) for secretly selling weapons to Iran in exchange for the release of hostages in Lebanon. This was against U.S. policy, and so was the use of profits to fund Contra rebels in Nicaragua. Supposedly the operation took place wiithout the knowledge of President Reagan and the Chiefs of Staff.
17:9 Link to 18:1 = "they stop" / "place to stop"
18:5 Link to 19:1 = "sleeping" / "wake"
19:3 See 16:4 about Oliver North.
20:1 The Tower Commission was a Special Review Board appointed by President Reagan to investigate the Iran-Contra scandal.
21:1 Link to 22:1 = rooted
22:1 Chester refers to the scene in #53 page 19.
22:3 In 1968-1971, the Fillmore East Auditorium in New York City hosted rock bands that would achieve great fame. The Grateful Dead played there several times.
22:4 Hunter S. Thompson is known for being the father of "gonzo journalism" and his experimentation with drugs.
COMMENT: This story draws a parallel between the DDI being punished (after they thought they'd gotten away with dispatching Swampy ) and the real-life CIA getting brought to justice when the Iran-Contra scandal came to light. For more exposes on the CIA, read Alan Moore's BROUGHT TO LIGHT.
COMMENT: Dwight Wicker was last seen in #53 and next appears in Hell with Skinner, Cutley and Foley in #66 .
COMMENT: Building on ideas from this issue, artist Steve Bissette proposed a Swamp Thing story to DC Comics.
COMMENT: Bill Sienkiewicz was called in to to ink this cover over Bissette's pencils when Bissette quit doing SWAMP THING covers. In his blog, he explains:
It became clear I was never going to get a shot at doing a painted cover: the dollars-and-sense of it was, painted covers paid, for a single cover, what it took me almost a full year to earn cumulatively doing the standard pen, brush and ink covers, and it just didn't make sense that the fellow who agreed to continue doing covers, month after month, was being in effect penalized for doing so.
In his July 22, 2018 Facebook post, Bissette explained:
Since DC didn't want us to paint anything, we did it for THE COMICS JOURNAL cover interview issue Dana Marie Andra (aka Mark Burbey, back then) pulled together. THEN DC wanted us to do painted covers—but only John got to paint. I never even got to audition. That's why I finally quit doing covers.You can see the pencil version of at his Myrant blog.
I was done, save for my part of the pencils for Alan's final issue #64, the scripting of #78 and Annual #4, and a little work on individual panels or pages when Rick asked me to pitch in during his run.Despite this, Bissette says he remains on good terms with editor Karen Berger.COMMENT: The title of this issue refers back to issue #20, "Loose Ends", which was Moore's first issue as writer.
HOUMA | URL KING | Feedback
Swamp Thing, all related characters, all images and symbols thereof, and all comic book titles herein are copyright and trademark of DC Comics, a subsidiary of Time Warner. This page is primarily dedicated to the non-commercial reviewing of comic books, and all reproductions of copyrighted material are in the service of reviews and commentary. None of the material herein may be reproduced for any commercial activities except those of DC Comics itself. This web site, its operators, and any content contained on this site relating to Swamp Thing are not authorized by DC Comics.
