As Swamp Thing readers may know, the Guardian of the Green has found himself in a plethora of tragically bizarre situations throughout his publication history. In perhaps one of the greatest issues of the Alan Moore run, we find our hero suffering from a sense of longing and loneliness that hasn’t been seen from him before. What follows is am incredible, yet somewhat disturbing, display of his power and psychological instability.
The issue, tilted My Blue Heaven, opens with Swamp Thing seeking refuge on a distant blue planet after having his consciousness effectively banished from the earth in a previous issue. While Swamp Thing adjusts to his new home, he can’t help but think of his girlfriend Abby Arcane, who he was forced to leave behind. Depressed and alone, Swamp Thing decides to explore his new planet as a way of coping with his sense of loss. However, as days pass, Swamp Thing finds that his loneliness is only getting worse, giving him the idea to use his powers in a strange fashion.
Fed up with being alone, Swamp Thing decides to create a duplicate body of himself to interact with. Afterward, the two bodies, both controlled by one mind, proceed to play multiple games of chess with each other. Though at first amused, Swamp Thing quickly grows bored of this, which pushes him to use his abilities in a more horrific manner. By manipulating some moss as a base, Swamp Thing begins to create a duplicate of his girlfriend Abby. When he finishes, Abby looks practically perfect in every way, except for her smile, which bothers Swamp Thing deeply.
After spending time and making love with his plant life Abby puppet, a still unsatisfied Swamp Thing decides to build a town for them to live in. In doing so, he also populates it with duplicates of his friends and family that he has lost along the way. One of which is John Constantine, who acting as Swamp Thing’s source of reason, berates and insults him for creating this illusion. This all comes to a head when Swamp Thing realizes he can’t replace the original Abby. During a heated argument between Swamp Thing and his fake girlfriend, our hero freaks out due to her smile still not looking right and beheads her in the process.
Horrified by what he has done, Swamp Thing completes rebuilding her body, but in the end, refuses to after realizing she could never compare to the real Abby. Still heartbroken, Swamp Thing kisses the decapitated head of his fake lover goodbye and walks away. Swamp Thing then leaves the planet in search of a way back to his home and more importantly, Abby.
What stands out about this story is that it’s Swamp Thing’s sense of longing and loneliness that defines it. Moore effectively hypothesizes how a godlike being would deal with something so human as a broken heart. It’s also tragic to see this heartbreak and banishment slowly break down Swamp Thing’s mental stability. Considering all this, My Blue Heaven is a beautiful example of how the comic medium can be used to express deep emotions through creative storytelling.
More: How Swamp Thing Will Be Different on The CW Than DC Universe
