Cover: Rick Veitch (signed)
4:2 The alien Dominators appear to have killed Swamp Thing in last issue..
4:4 Re: the sign on the tent - Before serving as Vice-President and later President of the USA, George Bush was head of the CIA and supported the regime of General Manuel Noriega. After Bush was elected President in 1988, the USA invaded Panama to overthrow Noriega, who was eventually tried and imprisoned in the USA for drug trafficking.
4:6 Swampy and Abby were able to conceive a baby with the help of John Constantine in #76..
5:2 The Sprout is the spirit of the next earth elemental (i.e. - "Swamp Thing"). Its lack of a body caused severe consequences to the cosmos, until they allowed it to take the form of Abby's baby.
5:3 We saw how nice the home looked last issue..
6:1 Note the alien on the far right, and the rings on the table.
6:4 Note the rings on the table. Swampy created one out of vegetation for Abby and left it for her in last issue..
7:1 The rings have fallen on the floor, at bottom left.
8:4 Fay Wray was the screaming female victim menaced by King Kong in the classic movie.
9:1 Link from 8:6 = "SNOP"/"SNIP"
9:3 Roy Raymond endured the prolonged horrific experience of being trapped in a limousine with the "Wild Thing" in the last several issues.
9:6 Terrebonne Parish General Hospital is where Matt Cable's comatose body is.
WGBS is the television station in Metropolis. It covered the Superman press conference in issue #79.
10:1 Raymond's assistant Lipchitz died in the limo, as seen in #74.
10:2 President Ronald Reagan got his start as a Hollywood actor.
10:3 Roy Raymond seems to be changing back into a heroic character, rather than the despicable exploiter he's been shown to be thus far in SWAMP THING.
12:4 This is one of the alien Dominators seen last issue..
12:5 Swamp Thing was ejected from Earth in #53..
14:1 Link from 13:6 "egg"
14:5 This barn is where Alec Holland worked when he became the Swamp Thing, as seen in issue #28.
17:2 The Litany Against Fear, from the classic sci-fi novel Dune by Frank Herbert:
"I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain."
19:5 ST clashed with the otherwise non-threatening alien in an unfortunate misunderstanding in the original SWAMP THING series #9 (1974).
21:3 Another Green Lantern of Earth, Hal Jordan, appeared in ST#24. Medphyll, an alien Green Lantern, appeared in #61.
21:5 "Millenium" ????????
21:6 Batman met Abby in #53 and speaks up for her in Annual #5. Batman and Guy Gardner were members of the Justice League.
23:4 This alien's mate's ship crashed in a very similar-looking sequence in the original SWAMP THING series #9 (1974).
23:5 He says "will" because Green Lanterns' rings are controlled by willpower.
24:5 Abby had Swamp Thing take her former husband's wedding ring in issue #76.
COMMENT: At the end of 1987, a story called the "Invasion!" took place in most of the DC Comics series. This issue was billed as an "Invasion!: First Strike" crossover. This issue is another good example of how a series does not have to have it's continuity derailed to accomodate a publisher's marketing gimmick, if written properly. With that in mind, I won't trouble you with the distracting details.
Like the "Millennium" crossover event", "Invasion!" had nowhere near the impact of the CRISIS. Suffice it to say that a number of alien races (including the Thanagarians, as foreshadowed in SWAMP THING 57) tried to invade the Earth at this point. Adam Arnold's website has a good summary of the "Invasion!"
COMMENT: This issue contained a full-page advertisement promoting the launch of Neil Gaiman's SANDMAN series.
COMMENT: In late 2006, DC Comics collected issues 77-81 and ANNUAL #3 in the trade book "Swamp Thing: Infernal Triangles". SWAMP THING ANNUAL #4 has not been reprinted yet.
