title: Hong Kong–Mainland China conflict

text: In 2015, The University of Hong Kong governing council rejected the appointment of the recommended candidate Johannes Chan (Dean of the Faculty of Law 2004–2014) to the post of pro-vice-chancellor in charge of staffing and resources. The governing council's decision, the first time that a candidate selected by the committee has been rejected, is widely viewed as political retaliation for Chan's involvement with pro-democratic figures. A majority of HKU Council members are not students or staff of the university, and many were directly appointed by then HKSAR Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying, the majority with Pro-Beijing views. The decision has received international condemnation, and is widely being viewed as part of a Beijing-backed curtailing of academic freedoms that will damage Hong Kong's academic reputation.


title: Hong Kong–Mainland China conflict

text: Since the end of 2014 Hong Kong protests, professors and lecturers with pro-democracy views or sympathies have experienced media smear campaigns from pro-communist newspapers, harassment from paid Pro-Beijing mobs, cyber-attacks, unrenewed contracts, rejection of jobs or promotions, suffered demotions or blocked from taking senior management positions by university councils, where most members are appointed by the Chief Executive, who are loyal to Beijing.


title: Hong Kong–Mainland China conflict

text: The Hong Kong Bar Association has claimed that Beijing has undermined Hong Kong's judicial independence and rule of law through the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPCSC) interpretation of the Hong Kong Basic Law. These controversial interpretations have led to the legal sector of Hong Kong to stage rare silent protests over these interpretations and since 1997 four have been held. It is feared that China wants the Hong Kong's judiciary to become the same format and have the same characteristics as in the mainland.


title: Hong Kong–Mainland China conflict

text: The first march took place in 1999, when the NPCSC issued the first interpretation of the Basic Law relating to the issue of the right of abode of Chinese citizens with Hong Kong parents. The second was held in 2005 after the NPCSC interpreted a provision in the Hong Kong Basic Law regarding the chief executive's term of office. The third was held in June 2014 over Beijing's issuance of a white paper on the one country, two systems policy, which stated that judges in Hong Kong should be "patriotic" and are "administrators" that are supposed to co-operate with the Executive Branch of Hong Kong, whereas many in Hong Kong believe the Judiciary, Executive and Legislature are independent from each other, as is standard in Western democracies. The fourth march occurred in November 2016, over Hong Kong Legislative Council oath-taking controversy, with over 3000 lawyers and activists parading through Hong Kong in silence and dressed in black.


title: Hong Kong–Mainland China conflict

text: In late December 2017, in response to the co-location agreement in West Kowloon, the Hong Kong Bar Association issued the following statement: "The current co-location arrangement is in direct contravention of the Basic Law and if implemented would substantially damage the rule of law in Hong Kong. The rule of law will be threatened and undermined if the clear meaning of the Basic Law can be twisted and the provisions of the Basic Law can be interpreted according to expediency and convenience."


title: Hong Kong–Mainland China conflict

text: During the 2014–2015 political reform period, after months of public consultations, the NPCSC issued its decision to allow Hong Kong to have universal suffrage in 2017, with the caveat that candidates would have to be approved by a nominating committee. This triggered the 2014 Hong Kong protests, with many protestors calling it "fake democracy" and political screening that is not genuine universal suffrage. The protests failed to deliver any concessions, but in June 2015 the reform package was voted down by a majority of the legislators, thus showing a lack of popular support for the political reform package.


title: Hong Kong–Mainland China conflict

text: The 2016 Legco elections, 2017 NPC elections and 2018 Hong Kong by-elections saw potential candidates being disqualified by Returning Officers of the Electoral Affairs Commission who had been given the power to conduct unaccountable political screening. This resulted in the disqualification of six candidates in 2016, 10 in 2017 and a further three in 2018, who were claimed by the Returning Officers to have held "incorrect political views". These elections included a confirmation form where candidates have to accept Article 1 of the Basic Law and swear to uphold the Basic Law. The returning officers believed the candidates were not sincere about complying with Article 1 of the Basic Law (that Hong Kong was an inalienable part of China), thus they were disqualified. This was interpreted by Hong Kong Watch as indicating that there was no fair, open, certain and clear procedure to regulate the process, as the final decision rests on a civil servant's opinion, resulting in arbitrary decisions. In the 2018 Hong Kong by-elections, Agnes Chow was disqualified on the basis that Demosisto's advocacy of "self-determination" after 2047 "could not possibly comply" with Basic Law, despite her fellow party member Nathan Law being allowed to participate and winning a seat in the 2016 Legco elections on exactly the same election platform.


title: Hong Kong–Mainland China conflict

text: In May 2018, the government announced that support for the Basic Law (particularly Article 1) would be required for all candidates for the upcoming District Council elections in 2019.


title: Hong Kong–Mainland China conflict

text: On 28 May 2020, China's National People's Congress approved the controversial national security laws for Hong Kong, which aim at cracking down protests and ban "any acts or activities" that the communist government considers to endanger China's national security. The critics have called this new legislation a "killer blow" to Hong Kong's autonomy and freedoms. The legislation allows the government's national security agencies to operate in Hong Kong.


title: Hong Kong–Mainland China conflict

text: In June 2020, a law was passed, making it an offence for those who insult the National Anthem of the People's Republic of China. In addition, the bill goes beyond insulting the anthem, as part 4 of it dictates that primary and secondary education in Hong Kong must incorporate the national anthem in their curriculum, including its singing, history and etiquette regarding it.


title: Hong Kong–Mainland China conflict

text: On 11 March 2021, China's National People's Congress approved the controversial electoral laws for Hong Kong, which aims to ensure a system of "patriots governing Hong Kong". The reforms expanded the number of seats in the Legco and Chief Executive Election Committee, but reduces the number of directly democratically-elected seats. Hong Kong Government officials and pro-establishment figures have hailed the reforms as a way to shut out "anti-China" forces from the political structure whereas the pro-democracy camp in Hong Kong criticised the reforms as a "major regression" in democracy.


title: Kishwer Merchant

text: Kishwer Merchant Rai (born 3 February 1981) is an Indian television actress and model. Merchant is well known for acting in the shows "Hip Hip Hurray", "Ek Hasina Thi", "Itna Karo Na Mujhe Pyaar", "Har Mushkil Ka Hal Akbar Birbal", "Pyaar Kii Ye Ek Kahaani" and "Kaisi Yeh Yaariyan". She was a contestant in the reality show "Bigg Boss 9" in 2015.


title: Kishwer Merchant

text: Merchant was born into an Ismaili (Aga Khani Khoja) family in Mumbai to Siraj Merchant and Rizwana Merchant. She started her career in 1997 with the TV show "Shaktimaan", in which she played Julia, an assistant. She then played Nonie in the popular show "Hip Hip Hurray" from 1998 to 2000. Kishwar then appeared in many successful popular shows like "Babul Ki Duwayen Leti Jaa", "Des Mein Niklla Hoga Chand", "Kutumb", "Kasautii Zindagii Kay", "Kayaamat", "Hatim" and "Khichdi".


title: Kishwer Merchant

text: Kishwar appeared in many Balaji shows like "Kkavyanjali" and "Kasamh Se". In 2007, she played the positive role of Tamanna in Sanaya Irani and Arjun Bijlani's popular youth show "Miley Jab Hum Tum" in 2008. She is very popular for playing Haseena in the popular Sukirti Kandpal and Vivian Dsena series "Pyaar Kii Ye Ek Kahaani". She also played a role of Sonia in the second season of the hit show – "Chhoti Bahu".


title: Kishwer Merchant

text: In 2012, Merchant was seen in two shows "Amrit Manthan" and "Arjun". Then came many shows like "Hongey Judaa Na Hum" and "Parvarrish". She appeared in the popular shows "Ek Hasina Thi" as Raima, "Madhubala – Ek Ishq Ek Junoon" as Ananya, "Kaisi Yeh Yaariyan" as Nyonika and "Itna Karo Na Mujhe Pyaar" as Dimpy, sharing the screen with many popular actresses like Drashti Dhami and Sanjeeda Sheikh.


title: Kishwer Merchant

text: Merchant was a participant in the reality TV show "Bigg Boss 9" along with her boyfriend Suyyash Rai in 2015. She was paired with Aman Yatan Verma. Merchant, was forced to quit the Ticket to Finale task in its last leg and walked out of the house involuntarily with Rs 15 lakhs.


title: Kishwer Merchant

text: In 2016, Kishwar made her comeback with Balaji's popular show "Brahmarakshas", playing the main antagonist- Aprajita.


title: Kishwer Merchant

text: In April 2017, Kishwar was seen in yet another Ekta Kapoor's show, "Dhhai Kilo Prem", which airs on Star Plus. She played a cameo appearance as Shilpa. In May 2017, she was seen in Rashmi Sharma's "Savitri Devi College & Hospital" on Colors, but later she quit the show. Kishwar was also playing Asha in &TV's show "Gangaa", which stars Aditi Sharma. The show went off air on 2 June 2017.


title: Kishwer Merchant

text: In 2010, Kishwer Merchant started dating co-actor Suyyash Rai. They got married on 16 December 2016. On 2 March 2021 the couple announced that they were expecting their first child.


title: Kat DeLuna

text: DeLuna began pursuing a career as a singer when she was a teenager and later signed with Epic Records. Her debut single, "Whine Up", released in 2007, went on to become a commercial success, entering the Top 40 in numerous countries and topping the "Billboard" Hot Dance Club Play chart. Her debut studio album, "9 Lives" (2007), failed to see the success of its lead single. The album's third single, "Run the Show", became a hit in various territories, and reached number two on the Hot Dance Club Play chart.


title: Kat DeLuna

text: Following the commercial performance of her first album, DeLuna was dropped from Epic Records. DeLuna continued to record both collaborations and soundtrack singles. DeLuna later began working on her second studio album, "Inside Out" (2010), which received a limited release through Universal Music Belgium. The album spawned a number of singles, notably "Party O'Clock", "Unstoppable", "Push Push", and "Dancing Tonight" featuring Lil Wayne, Akon, and Fo Onassis respectively. "Viva", the North American edition of the album, was slated to be released later that year; however, this never materialized. DeLuna released the compilation album "Loading" in 2016. Wanna See U Dance was released as the first single back in 2012. DeLuna is currently working on her fourth studio album.


title: Kat DeLuna

text: In 2007, DeLuna won "Best New Artist" at the Los Premios MTV Latinoamérica 2007 awards. In 2008, she won "Best New Artist" and "Best Urban Artist" at the TMF Awards. DeLuna's single, "Whine Up", won the award for "Latin Dance Club Play Track of the Year" at the 2008 Latin Billboard Music Awards. She also won a Casandra Award in 2008 for "Best International Artist".


title: Kat DeLuna

text: DeLuna was born and raised in The Bronx, New York City, to Dominican parents. At a young age, DeLuna and her family moved to the Dominican Republic. When she was 12, DeLuna performed onstage and was heard by Milly Quezada who commended her vocals. Friends and family recognized her talent at an early age, but it was not until she moved back to the United States at age 14, to Newark, New Jersey, that DeLuna realized her potential as a singer. She attended Benjamin Franklin Elementary in Newark, and was taught by Nicholas Straus. DeLuna then attended the Newark Arts High School, which was the only school she applied to. While there, DeLuna and her friends formed an R&B group called Coquette. DeLuna had a tough upbringing and was raised in poverty. She spent her time listening to Aretha Franklin and Billie Holiday records, which she imitated daily on her karaoke machine.


title: Kat DeLuna

text: At age 15, DeLuna entered a Coca-Cola sponsored karaoke competition. Her version of "I Will Always Love You" took first place. It was through this competition that she met Cuban salsa singer Rey Ruiz. Ruiz gave DeLuna this advice: "Nobody knows you better than you do, and nobody can help you if you can't help yourself." DeLuna began writing her own music and has continued to do so. In 2004, while DeLuna was 17, Coquette opened for a Cassidy concert in New Jersey. In 2006, DeLuna chose to pursue a solo career and was signed by Epic Records.


title: Kat DeLuna

text: After being signed to Epic Records, DeLuna began working with producers such as RedOne and Jane't Sewell-Ulepic, among others. The two worked together to produce the majority of the songs on DeLuna's debut album. On May 15, 2007, DeLuna released her debut single, "Whine Up". The title comes from the Caribbean English pronunciation of "Wind up", meaning to move one's hips on the dance floor. The single received mixed reviews from critics. AssociatedContent had a positive review of the song, stating "On the song Kat goes back forth between singing in English and Spanish. The song is catchy and fills a void currently in the marketplace. Elephant Man adds his traditional high energy approach and the song is a surefire hit." "Billboard" also spoke highly of the song, claiming "Talk about a summertime sure thing. Nineteen-year-old Dominican Kat Deluna is prepped to combust with a platinum-plated debut so certain you can practically smell the smoke emanating from its juicy one-spin hook and manic tempo. Accompanied by reggaeton queen Ivy Queen and dancehall staple Elephant Man, aka the Energy God, the bilingual crossover beauty – who grew up in poverty in the Dominican Republic and the Bronx before studying music at the New Jersey School of Performing Arts – combines Caribbean cadence with a novel mesh of hip-hip, R&B and merengue. Deluna's launch single offers ultimate seasonal sizzle – over the airwaves, on the beach, down the highway and across dance floors. A "Whine" to be heard loud and proud the world over." The single experienced commercial success. In the US, the single debuted at number 24 on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 singles chart. In the following weeks, the song would continue climbing the charts until it reached a peak of number 29, becoming her only US Top 40 hit. The single also topped the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart, which monitors plays songs in night clubs. The single peaked at number 43 on the Hot Latin Songs chart. On the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, the single peaked at number 12. It reached the Top 20 of the Pop 100, peaking at number 14. The single charted well internationally; it reached the Top 20 of the Canadian Hot 100, peaking at number 15, as well as reaching a peak of number 7 in Belgium and France. The single peaked at number 18 on the Australian ARIA Charts, and at number 13 on the Romanian Singles Chart.


title: Kat DeLuna

text: DeLuna's debut album, "9 Lives", was released on August 7, 2007. The album peaked at number fifty-eight on the "Billboard" 200, selling 11,000 copies in its first week. The album has since sold near 200,000 copies in the United States. The album was also well received commercially in the international market. In Belgium, the album debuted inside the Top 20, peaking at number 16. The album reached the Top 20 in Finland, where it peaked at number 15 on the official album chart. In France, the album debuted at number 24. On the Ö3 Austria Top 40 chart, the album peaked at number 64. The album was successful in Poland, where it peaked at number 12 on the official albums chart. DeLuna chose to release "Am I Dreaming" as the second single. It began receiving airplay on Latin radio stations, leading to its peak of 26 on the U.S. Billboard Latin Tropical Airplay chart. Despite its early success in the Latin music industry, further plans for the single were immediately scrapped for unknown reasons, and a new single has yet to be chosen.


title: Kat DeLuna

text: At the Los Premios MTV Latinoamérica 2007 awards show, DeLuna won the Best New Artist award. In late 2007, DeLuna collaborated with Omarion on the single "Cut Off Time", which was the lead single from the "Feel the Noise" soundtrack. The song peaked at number 23 on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles and at number 123 on the Hot 100. In December 2007 DeLuna announced that "Run the Show" would be the second single. It was released on January 15, 2008, for radio airplay. The US version of the song features rapper Busta Rhymes, while the international release of the single features Don Omar. The version on the album is different again, with guest vocals from Shaka Dee. The single has become one of DeLuna's biggest hits to date. "Run the Show" reached the Top 10 in several countries, including Finland, where it peaked at number 2; Belgium, where it reached number 5; and Romania, where it peaked at number 8. In the US, the failed to chart on the Hot 100. It did, however, peak at number 17 on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 singles chart. Despite its failure on the Hot 100, the single managed to rise to number 2 on the Hot Dance Club Play chart, only one spot lower than "Whine Up". After the release of "Run the Show", the album was re-released on Akon's record label. Due to the poor performance of the single in the US, plans for the album's re-release in America were scrapped.


title: Kat DeLuna

text: At the 2008 TMF Awards in Belgium, DeLuna won awards for Best New Artist and Best Urban Artist. At the Latin Billboard Music Awards 2008, DeLuna won the "Latin Dance Club Play Track Of The Year" Award for her single "Whine Up". Shortly after the award shows, it was announced that "In the End" would be released as the third international single. The single was her first to receive no release whatsoever in the US. Due to a lack of promotion, the single failed to make an impact on music charts. In Belgium, it peaked at number 31 on the official singles chart. In October 2008, "Breathing Your Love", a collaboration with Swedish singer Darin Zanyar, was released and went on to reach number 2 in Sweden and number 13 in Finland. DeLuna was dropped from Epic Records in 2008, and signed a record deal with Universal Motown. She began work on her second album, and premiered a new song, "Calling You", on her MySpace page and her official website in 2008.


title: Kat DeLuna

text: In September 2008 DeLuna's performance of "The Star-Spangled Banner" at a Dallas Cowboys Monday Night Football game against the Philadelphia Eagles was roundly booed. The crowd felt that DeLuna's vocals were "scathing" and overwrought. The event garnered much media attention, and landed the number one-spot on "Billboard" Magazine's "10 Worst National Anthem Performances Ever" in 2010.


title: Kat DeLuna

text: In January 2009, DeLuna released "Unstoppable", featuring Lil Wayne, as a single from the "Confessions of a Shopaholic" soundtrack. The song was originally due to be the lead single from her second album but its release was cancelled. The music video for "Unstoppable" premiered on Kat DeLuna's MySpace profile on January 23, 2009. The song was released for radio airplay on February 24, 2009. In Canada, "Unstoppable" peaked at number 80 on the Canadian Hot 100.


title: Kat DeLuna

text: In April 2009, DeLuna announced the album's title, "Inside Out". In May 2009 DeLuna released "Dance Bailalo" as a digital-only promotional single. The song had a generally positive reception. Letssingit said of the song, "[Bailalo] demonstrates DeLuna's innovative new sound by blending tropical samba rhythms with new school dance melodies. This infectious combination paired with her seductive lyrics lure listeners to let loose and hit the dance floor hard." Internet blogger Perez Hilton commented on the song as well, saying "('Dance Bailalo' is) one of the most scorching dance singles we've heard all year!" Hilton called the song the next "Summer Jam". The single failed to chart on the Hot 100, but reached number 2 on the Hot Dance Club Play chart. It entered the top 30 on Latin charts, where it peaked at number 34.


title: Kat DeLuna

text: In June 2009, DeLuna performed alongside Shontelle at New York City's Fashion Industries High School prom as the star of My Prom Style's official website feature, the "Ultimate Prom" fashion reality series. Three aspiring teen designers competed to design a dress to wear to the prom, and a pattern of the winning dress was then produced and sold nationwide by Simplicity Patterns. In February 2010, DeLuna participated in a Spanish remake of "We Are the World" called "Somos El Mundo", alongside other Dominican singers such as Juan Luis Guerra, Milly Quezada, Eddy Herrera, Romeo (Aventura), Fernando Villalona and Latin artists such as Paulina Rubio, Thalia, Belinda, Luis Fonsi, and Chayanne, among others. The piece was a fundraiser for victims of the 2010 Haiti earthquake. Also in 2009, DeLuna recorded a track titled "Shake It Up" with Big Ali for his album "Louder". The single was a commercial failure, failing to chart on any charts worldwide.


title: Kat DeLuna

text: In April 2010, DeLuna released "Push Push" featuring Akon, the lead single from her second album. During her mini promotional tour in Belgium and France in September, DeLuna signed a new contract with Universal Music Belgium. When asked of how the song with Akon came about, DeLuna said it was an accident. When they ran into each other at the studio one day, "He said, 'I have something I wanna show you,'" DeLuna said. "He played the beat and I went crazy." The single was a critical success. The "New York Daily News" wrote, "The [song] is a simple, fun and insanely catchy song with a multilayered oh-oh-oh refrain by DeLuna, a solid contribution from Akon on the bridge and a thumping beat that's sure to bring the house down at the club." MTV compared the song to recent releases by Lady Gaga, saying, "Push Push", the first single from DeLuna's "Inside Out" album starts out with some "oh-oh-oh's" that wouldn't sound out of place on a Gaga record. "Push Push" was produced by Radio, but it still contains some of RedOne's signature sounds." The single achieved some commercial success internationally. It debuted and peaked at number 84 on the Canadian Hot 100, mainly due to digital downloads. The single achieved greater success in Europe, where it peaked at number 37. In Belgium, "Push" became her third Top 20 hit on the singles chart, when it peaked at number 15. The single became her first Top 10 hit in France since "Run the Show", peaking at number 9.


title: Kat DeLuna

text: DeLuna announced on Twitter that the second single from the album would be "Party O' Clock". On October 22 the single was released on iTunes. On November 2, DeLuna released a video premiering her release of "Inside Out" in Belgium and confirmed the track listing for the album. "Inside Out" was released on November 5, 2010, in Belgium. It was commercially successful in the country, debuting and peaking at number 16 on the official album's chart. The video for "Party O'Clock" was released on December 15, 2010. "Dancing Tonight" was the next single from the album, and she shot video in New York City on December 21–23, 2010. "Dancing Tonight" debuted as the No. 1 Breakout on the Billboard Dance Chart. The video for the song premiered on March 23.


title: Kat DeLuna

text: On July 29 the video for the single "Drop It Low" premiered on her YouTube channel, and the single was released September 27. "Drop it Low" first surfaced on DeLuna's international-only release 'Inside Out,' which is being re-worked for the American album that will be called 'Viva.' The song is produced by Belgian producer "Eightysix", who has been responsible for her single "Dancing Tonight" as well, which hit No. 1 on the Billboard Dance Chart in the US and No. 36 overall for most played dance song on the 2011 Billboard Year End Dance Chart.


title: Kat DeLuna

text: Shortly after Jennifer Lopez released her single "On the Floor" on February 22, 2011, many of DeLuna's fans, as well as critics, claimed that "On the Floor" plagiarised DeLuna's 2010 single "Party O'Clock". In a statement issued to the "New York Daily News," DeLuna said "It's cool that artists like J.Lo are inspired by my musical sound and style. ... Jennifer helped pave the way for Latinas like myself. I love her", and insisted that there was not an issue. Following previews of the music video for "On the Floor", DeLuna changed her mind about how she felt with the claims of copying. In another interview with the "New York Daily News," several days after the first, she said "I've seen this before, where the more established artist tries to take the vision and artistic ideas away from an emerging artist, and assumes no one will notice because of their bigger shadow... Luckily, my loyal fans and the power of the Internet have let the 'Kat' out of the bag". DeLuna had previously said she was inspired by Lopez, and saw her as someone who opened doors for people like her to sing. When Lopez was asked about the issue on the Latin-American entertainment program "Despierta America", she replied, "What? Really? I'm not aware of that...," and when asked a second time, she insisted she had not heard about the comparisons. It was alleged that "J.Lo's camp specifically requested that nothing about the DeLuna debacle be brought up during the interview."


title: Kat DeLuna

text: On July 11, 2012, Kat DeLuna released her new Spanish single, "Sobredosis" (featuring El Cata) on her official YouTube account. On August 21, 2012, Kat DeLuna premiered a new music video, for the single "Wanna See U Dance" on On Air with Ryan Seacrest. Also the same day the single became available to buy on iTunes. On August 24, 2012, Vevo released "Wanna See U Dance" music video on artist's official account. "Sobredosis" became available on iTunes on September 10, 2012. In 2013, she released a new single, "Stars".


title: Kat DeLuna

text: In 2015, DeLuna released a new single "Bum Bum" which featured fellow American R&B singer-songwriter Trey Songz. On February 26, 2016, Kat released a new single titled "What a Night" featuring American singer Jeremih. The song sampled the Four Seasons 1975 single "December 1963 (Oh, What a Night)".


title: Kat DeLuna

text: DeLuna announced her first compilation titled "Loading". It was released on August 5, 2016. The album features previous singles "Drop it Low", "Wanna See U Dance (La La La)", "Sobredosis", "Stars", "Bum Bum" and "What a Night", in addition to four new songs. The Japanese Deluxe Edition of "Loading" has a different track listing with new songs exclusive to Japan. "Loading" is considered DeLuna's third studio album in Japan.


title: Kat DeLuna

text: In October 2018, DeLuna released the single "Nueva Actitud" featuring Arcángel. She also filmed a music video for the song and premiered it via "Billboard". DeLuna released her new single "Last Night In Miami" on May 17, 2019. DeLuna released "Only One" on June 5, 2019.


title: Crime Story (American TV series)

text: Crime Story is an American crime drama television series, created by Chuck Adamson and Gustave Reininger and produced by Michael Mann, that aired on NBC, where it ran for two seasons from September 18, 1986, to May 10, 1988.


title: Crime Story (American TV series)

text: The show premiered with a two-hour pilot—a film which had been exhibited theatrically—and was watched by over 30 million viewers. NBC scheduled the show to Tuesdays at 9pm opposite ABC's "Moonlighting" on its fall schedule but moved it to Fridays at 10pm in December. It moved to Tuesdays at 10pm in fall 1987 before being cancelled after two seasons.


title: Crime Story (American TV series)

text: Set in the early 1960s, the series depicted two men—Lt. Mike Torello (Dennis Farina) and mobster Ray Luca (Anthony Denison)—with an obsessive drive to destroy each other. As Luca started with street crime in Chicago, was "made" in the Chicago Outfit and then sent to Las Vegas to monitor their casinos, Torello pursued Luca as head of a special Organized Crime Strike Force. Torello, his friend Ted Kehoe, and Luca had grown up in Chicago's "The Patch" (Smith Park) neighborhood, also called "Little Italy" or "Little Sicily" and the haunt of the Forty-Two Gang.


title: Crime Story (American TV series)

text: The show attracted both acclaim and controversy for its serialized format, in which a continuing storyline was told over an entire season, rather than being episodic, as was the case with most shows at the time (including "Miami Vice").


title: Crime Story (American TV series)

text: The first season follows Chicago Police Detective Lieutenant Mike Torello (Dennis Farina) and his pursuit of organized crime from Chicago to Las Vegas, circa 1963–64. At the beginning of the series Torello is the head of the Major Crimes Unit (MCU), a squad of hard-boiled cops that includes Detective Sgt. Danny Krychek (Bill Smitrovich), Det. Walter Clemmons (Paul Butler), Det. Nate Grossman (Steve Ryan) and Det. Joey Indelli (Bill Campbell).


title: Crime Story (American TV series)

text: At the center of Torello's crosshairs is rising young mobster Ray Luca (Anthony Denison). Initially Luca is an independent thief and killer whose crew, which includes Pauli Taglia (John Santucci) and Frank Holman (Ted Levine), specializes in robberies, burglaries and home invasions. Through his connection to Chicago crime boss Phil Bartoli (Jon Polito), Luca catches the attention of national crime figure Manny Weisbord (Joseph Wiseman), a character inspired by the legendary gangster Meyer Lansky. Luca impresses Weisbord with his desire to leave the streets and move up in the management ranks of organized crime. He assigns one of his men, Max Goldman (Andrew Clay), to be a middleman between himself and Luca.


title: Crime Story (American TV series)

text: Luca tells Weisbord and Bartoli of his plan to take over the Las Vegas bookmaking operation of Noah Ganz (Raymond Serra). He is told to negotiate a deal, but instead instigates the theft of Ganz's gambling book. However, this backfires when Torello gets wind of it and catches Frank Holman in the act, which results in the book falling into the hands of MCU. When a crime war threatens to break out with Ganz's organization, Weisbord and Bartoli order Luca to clean up his mess. In typical fashion Luca solves the problem by massacring Ganz and his thugs.


title: Crime Story (American TV series)

text: Torello finally manages to get a solid murder indictment against Luca. Meanwhile, Holman, who escaped custody only to be hunted down again, has made a deal with U.S. federal prosecutor Harry Breitel (Ray Sharkey) to provide information about the mob in exchange for immunity. Among his lies is a made-up story that he paid off Chicago cop Mike Torello. The murders of Ted Kehoe, a childhood friend of Torello with ties to the organization, and his associate Marilyn Stewart convince Breitel to take Luca, Taglia and Bartoli to trial. Torello finds himself being investigated by Breitel and the feds for corruption, based primarily on the testimony of Holman.


title: Crime Story (American TV series)

text: At a bar Luca casually asks strait-laced public defender David Abrams (Stephen Lang), whose father once had mob connections, for advice. That advice leads Luca to subpoena Torello to testify for the defense at his trial. Abrams is furious when he discovers the result of his conversation with Luca, who has also tried to convince Abrams to work for him. When Luca learns that Abrams is applying for a job as a Justice Department attorney, he worries that Abrams will now come after him. He orders Abrams killed—but by mistake the car bomb intended for the lawyer kills Abrams's father instead.


title: Crime Story (American TV series)

text: Manny Weisbord, in the meantime, is planning to relocate the majority of his organization to Las Vegas, with interest in having a legitimate business to launder money and provide future profits. To this end, he has called upon the services of casino board member Steve Kordo (Jay O. Sanders), who is looking to sell his plans to the highest bidder. Phil Bartoli, along with some of the other Organization members, express disinterest, as they are more concerned with immediate profits than the future. Weisbord sends Ray Luca to Las Vegas with the assignment of taking over the casinos. Luca takes along his dim-witted but brutally violent sidekick Taglia to be his muscle. First, though, he murders Bartoli and all those opposed to the relocation.


title: Crime Story (American TV series)

text: With Abrams' help, Torello nullifies Holman's credibility as a witness. The corruption investigation against Torello is dropped and Breitel is taken off of the case. Unfortunately, the case Torello has built against Luca has been destroyed by Breitel's interference. Justice Dept. Assistant Attorney Gen. Patrick Hallahan (Jann Wenner) offers Torello the chance to head up a new federal Organized Crime Strike Force to root out mob activities in Las Vegas. To assist him on the legalities side he will be aided by David Abrams, now a Justice Dept. attorney. The members of his MCU staff, Indelli, Clemons, Krychek, and Grossman, were reassigned to work with him in the Federal Strike Force, based upon, among other things, the fact that they had "the finest arrest/conviction record on the Chicago police force."


title: Crime Story (American TV series)

text: In Vegas, Ray Luca sets about a takeover of the casinos in his usual violent, thuggish manner, which includes the murder of the resort-workers union leader and a federal agent planted by the Strike Force. When Frank Holman resurfaces, Luca makes him sorry for bringing him to trial, before hiring him on again as a casino manager. Luca soon becomes so drunk with his own sense of power and invincibility that he alienates those around him. Steve Kordo in particular is worried, as Luca's actions are veering away from the legitimate plans he had and strengthening the Strike Force's case; despite the massive profits from the business, Luca continues to use dishonest methods, simply because he can.


title: Crime Story (American TV series)

text: Torello and Abrams finally get enough proof of skimmed profits and rigged games to rescind Luca's gaming license and bar him from entering any and all casinos. Infuriated, he impulsively goes after Goldman, whose wife he had been sleeping with (among other women); he then sends Holman to try and kill Goldman with a car bomb, but Goldman survives. When Luca (still seething from being banned from his own casino) brutally rapes Pauli Taglia's girlfriend, a distraught Taglia turns against his boss and implicates Luca in the union leader's killing to Torello's Strike Force, just as Luca gets the ban on his license lifted. Luca goes on trial for multiple murders, but cleverly orchestrates a mistrial by having Holman tamper with the jury and making sure the judge learns of it. Luca is then released on bail pending a new trial. He apologizes to Pauli, who forgives him out of loyalty, though it is an agonizing decision since it means abandoning the one person who was genuinely decent towards him.


title: Crime Story (American TV series)

text: Luca tries to force casino owner Nat Martino to sell out his interest, but Martino's refusal threatens a mob war. Weisbord orders Luca to make peace, but instead the hot-headed Luca murders Martino. Torello and his men had set up the killing as a (somewhat) failed trap, and a gunfight ensues. Luca flees through the streets of Vegas, he and Torello shooting each other several times, before being rescued by Pauli. The wounded Luca wakes up in an isolated desert shack thinking he is safe, only to discover that Taglia has brought them to a restricted government nuclear test area. The season ends with an A-bomb being exploded on site, presumably obliterating Luca and Taglia as they attempt to escape.


title: Crime Story (American TV series)

text: In the second season, Torello and his cops are shocked when Ray Luca and Pauli Taglia reappear in Las Vegas alive and well... and even more shocked to learn that the U.S. government has made a secret deal with Luca and given him immunity in exchange for his cooperation. Assistant Attorney General Hallahan tells Torello that elements within the government have made a marriage of convenience for their own political agenda. If they continue their pursuit of Luca, they will be operating without official sanction.


title: Crime Story (American TV series)

text: Despite Luca's outward appearance of propriety, Torello is convinced the gangster chieftain is anything but. When the Strike Force puts him under surveillance, Luca goes to court to get a restraining order. David Abrams argues that Luca's history of violence justifies the surveillance, but his personal vendetta against Luca for his father's death becomes obvious, and the judge grants the injunction.


title: Crime Story (American TV series)

text: Torello and his men aren't the only ones angered by Luca's return to Las Vegas. His abrupt reappearance doesn't sit well with Max Goldman and Steve Kordo. In Luca's absence they now run the mob's Vegas casino interests, and despite Luca's assurances that he has no intention of pushing them out, they feel threatened. Publicly they welcome him back with open arms, but privately they begin to plot against him. Kordo tries to hire a hitman to kill Luca, but is instead warned that the Outfit wants Luca alive because he is too valuable to its operations.


title: Crime Story (American TV series)

text: Abrams is so embittered by the failure of the system he believes in that he resigns from the Justice Dept. Though he says he is leaving Las Vegas, Torello discovers he actually intends to kill Luca. Torello and Krychek rush to Luca's house just in time to prevent the killing. Luca thanks Torello, who says he did it for Abrams.


title: Crime Story (American TV series)

text: Abrams descends into a haze of alcohol and drugs. Luca finds him strung out on peyote and lies that it was Chicago crime boss Phil Bartoli who ordered the hit that accidentally killed Abrams's father. He tells Abrams he was born to be part of the Outfit and offers him a job as his personal lawyer if he ever decides to clean himself up. Soon after, to the Strike Force's disbelief, Abrams shows up at Luca's door and takes the job.


title: Crime Story (American TV series)

text: When Manny Weisbord is stricken by a heart attack and lies near death, Luca flies an internationally known South African surgeon to Las Vegas to secretly perform the first heart transplant—with a heart from a murder victim supplied by Taglia. With Weisbord lying near death, Goldman and Kordo meet to discuss their uncertain future. Concerned Luca will take them both out if the old man dies, Goldman argues for killing Luca preemptively and insists Kordo is the only one who can get close enough to do it.


title: Crime Story (American TV series)

text: What they don't know is that Torello's men have them wired and overhear their plot. Torello tells Goldman that Weisbord is now expected to live, which means any hit on Luca is a death wish. Goldman races to Luca's penthouse and throws Kordo out a window as he is about to shoot Luca. Afterward, Torello makes it clear that he now expects Goldman to be his snitch.


title: Crime Story (American TV series)

text: The murder of a reporter writing a story about Luca leads the Strike Force to discover the truth about Luca's secret activities. Luca has made a deal with the U.S. military to smuggle weapons out of the country to revolutionary causes the government secretly supports. In exchange, the military turns a blind eye to the fact that Luca is smuggling narcotics into the U.S. from Mexico and Asia.


title: Crime Story (American TV series)

text: With this evidence, Hallahan convinces Congress to convene hearings to investigate the unholy alliance between the U.S. government and organized crime. But just as Luca is testifying, the hearings are adjourned because of a national emergency: North Vietnam has attacked a U.S. warship in the Gulf of Tonkin. Hallahan gets a warrant for Luca's arrest anyway, but Luca flees the country with Taglia and Goldman before it can be served, headed for Latin America. Hallahan gives Torello's Strike Force his blessing to pursue Luca onto foreign soil, but warns that outside the U.S. their badges will mean nothing.


title: Crime Story (American TV series)

text: In a small banana republic, Luca sets up a new base of operations for his international criminal empire, buying off politicians, military and police with the mob's money. Unable to have Luca extradited, the Strike Force attacks Luca's drug lab in the jungle. Furious at Torello's interference once again, Luca orders the president to have him arrested. The president refuses—and Luca promptly shoots him dead and installs a new president better to his liking. Later, however, the local army executes a coup and their ranking colonel appoints himself leader; while not receptive to Luca's influence, he tolerates him for the money he brings to the republic.


title: Crime Story (American TV series)

text: In a confrontation between the Strike Force and the local police, Krychek is captured and thrown into a hellhole of a prison. Torello and the others stage a rescue. Luca decides to rid himself of this thorn in his side once and for all, and orders Torello killed.


title: Crime Story (American TV series)

text: In the dead of night Torello meets with his secret source inside Luca's organization: it is David Abrams, whose sellout to Luca has all been an act. Abrams warns Torello about the planned hit and also reveals the location of a major drug shipment. When the Strike Force captures the narcotics, Luca concludes that Abrams is an informant. He offers to trade Abrams to Torello for the shipment. The trade is made—but Torello's men have planted explosives on the drugs, and the shipment is blown up.


title: Crime Story (American TV series)

text: An assassin attempts to kill Torello, but Abrams is badly wounded instead. While Clemmons and Indelli race Abrams to a doctor, Torello and the others pursue Luca to an airfield, where he, Taglia and Goldman are about to leave the country. Torello and Krychek manage to board the plane as it is taking off. In the ensuing airborne fight, Taglia accidentally shoots the pilot, causing the plane to plummet toward the ocean below. Torello and Luca continue to wrestle as do Krychek and Goldman. The final shot is an explosion of waves caused by the plane's impact, with the fate of the cops and criminals unknown.


title: Crime Story (American TV series)

text: After the success of the first season of "Miami Vice", television producer Michael Mann had complete freedom from NBC to produce another show. Originally, Universal Pictures was going to finance "Crime Story" but decided against it because of the projected costs ("Miami Vice", a Universal show, was already being produced for higher than the average $1 million per episode rate). A small studio called New World Pictures Ltd. agreed to finance the show, with a chance to sell it overseas while Universal retained the domestic syndication rights.


title: Crime Story (American TV series)

text: According to Mann, the genesis of the project was to follow a group of police officers in a major crimes unit in 1963 and how they change over 20 hours of television, "in 1980, with very different occupations, in a different city and in a different time". He was influenced by the television series "Police Story", and based "Crime Story" largely on the experiences of Chuck Adamson, a former Chicago police detective of 17 years. Mann asked Adamson and Gustave Reininger to write the series pilot and a show bible. Reininger was a former Wall Street international investment banker who had come to Mann's attention based on a screenplay he had written about arson investigators, and a French film that he had written and produced. Reininger researched "Crime Story" by winning the confidence of Detective William Hanhardt, who put him in touch with undercover officers in Chicago. They sent him on meetings with organized crime figures. Reininger risked wearing a body microphone and recorder. After visiting the crime scene of the gangland slaying of bookmaker Al Brown, Reininger backed off his Mob interviews. Adamson claimed that the stories depicted in the series were composites rather than actual events that happened, "but they'll be accurate".


title: Crime Story (American TV series)

text: In a June 1986 press conference, Mann said that the first season of the show would go from Chicago in 1963 to Las Vegas in 1980. He said, "It's a serial in the sense that we have continuing stories, and in that sense the show is one big novel". Mann and Reininger's inspiration for the 1963–1980 arc came from their mutual admiration of the epic 15+ hour film, "Berlin Alexanderplatz", by German director Rainer Werner Fassbinder. Mann said, "The pace of our story is like the speed of light compared to that, but that's the idea—if you put it all together at the end you've got one hell of a 22-hour movie". Mann predicted a five-year network run for the show. However, due to budgetary constraints, the need for four sets of period cars proved to be too expensive. Tartikoff eventually allowed their series to move to Las Vegas for the last quarter of the 22 episodes. Ultimately, the show encompasses only the years 1963–64.


title: Crime Story (American TV series)

text: NBC head Brandon Tartikoff (who had started his career in Chicago) gave an order for a two-hour movie, which had a theatrical release in a handful of U.S. theaters to invited guests only. Tartikoff also ordered 22 episodes which allowed Reininger and Adamson to tell a story with developing character arcs, and continuing stories (instead of episodic, self standing shows). Two episodes were made every three weeks, with shooting taking up more than 12 hours in a day, seven days a week. By the second season, an average episode cost between $1.3 and 1.4 million (roughly the same as "Miami Vice") because it was shot on location, set during the 1960s (requiring period-accurate props and costumes), and featured a large cast.


title: Crime Story (American TV series)

text: Hilda Stark worked as an art director on the pilot episode and was asked back by Mann after seven episodes to become the show's production designer. To achieve the period look of the show, she and her design team would go to second-hand and antique stores, run advertisements in newspapers seeking articles from the period, and sometimes build furniture if they could not find it. According to Stark, the overall design or look of the show featured "a lot of exaggerated lines. We go for high style—sleek lines... We go for the exaggerated shapes that recall the era". Stark and her team also came up with a color scheme for the show that featured "saturated color, and certain combinations—black, fuchsias—reminiscent of the '50s". She found inspiration in a library of old books and magazines, in particular "Life". For the vintage cars in the show, they bought or rented from private owners.


title: Crime Story (American TV series)

text: The theme song is "Runaway" by Del Shannon. "Runaway" was a 1961 hit for Shannon, who re-recorded it with altered lyrics after Michael Mann had asked to use the song for the show.


title: Crime Story (American TV series)

text: Like "Miami Vice", "Crime Story" featured heavy use of up-and-coming actors; a number of them made appearances in both shows. Lead actors Dennis Farina, Bill Smitrovich, and John Santucci all appeared in multiple episodes of "Miami Vice" (though only Farina played a recurring character).


title: Crime Story (American TV series)

text: When the show debuted on September 18, 1986, the two-hour pilot had a 20.1 national Nielsen rating and a 32 percent audience share. The ratings dipped when it was counter-programmed against ABC's "Moonlighting". By October, the show was dropping in the ratings. The show was moved to Friday nights after "Miami Vice" on December 5, 1986 where its ratings improved but it still lost to "Falcon Crest". NBC temporarily pulled "Crime Story" off the schedule after the season finale on March 13, 1987. In order to get more people to watch, Farina and other cast members promoted the show in five U.S. cities.


title: Crime Story (American TV series)

text: "The New York Times" wrote, "With its first-rate cast, "Crime Story" might have had the offbeat, compelling authenticity of an Elmore Leonard novel. But the show looks suspiciously as if it would be more than willing to settle for the mindless glitz of "Miami Vice"". In his review for "The Washington Post", Tom Shales wrote, "When the smoke clears away, a viewer may feel impressed yet unmoved. But then, if all the smoke cleared away, there'd be no show".


title: Crime Story (American TV series)

text: John Haslett Cuff, in his review for "The Globe and Mail", wrote, "The characters and locales are as greasy as the rain-soaked streets, and in the show's best moments there is a dangerous glitter that happily transcends the cartoon violence of too much television".


title: Crime Story (American TV series)

text: "Time" magazine's Richard Zoglin praised the show for being "the most realistic TV cop show in years, yet the emotions reach almost baroque heights".


title: Crime Story (American TV series)

text: In their 1988 book, "The Critics' Choice — The Best of Crime and Detective TV", authors Max Allan Collins and John Javna chose "Crime Story" as one of the "Top 10 Best Police TV Series (Police Procedurals) of All Time".


title: Crime Story (American TV series)

text: "Crime Story" and its imitator "Wiseguy" were the prototypes for later arc-driven television series, such as "24" and "The Sopranos" that have continuing story lines over multiple episodes. In addition, in another measure of this series' influence, numerous actors and actresses that originated on "Crime Story" in recurring or guest-starring roles later ended up on "Wiseguy", including Ray Sharkey, Steve Ryan, Debbie Harry, William Russ, Anthony Denison, Stanley Tucci, Ted Levine, Patricia Charbonneau, Darlanne Fleugel, and Kevin Spacey.


title: Crime Story (American TV series)

text: Unusually for a television show at the time, the entire series (except for the unaired episode) was released on a series of VHS tapes in 1991 from a label called Starmaker. This is the only official release which has the original music.


title: Crime Story (American TV series)

text: On November 15, 2011, Image Entertainment released "Crime Story- The Complete Series: 25th Anniversary Edition" on DVD in Region 1. The 9-disc set contains all 44 episodes of the series. However, it has been criticized for having a visual quality no better than when the episodes were originally broadcast, and for removing songs from the soundtrack because they were too expensive to license.


title: Crime Story (American TV series)

text: As of May 1, 2019, the entire series is available on Amazon's Prime Video except in some place like Australia. The previous music licensing issues have not been resolved, with original songs still replaced on the soundtrack.


title: Hell's Kitchen (British TV series)

text: Hell's Kitchen is a British cookery reality show, aired on ITV, which featured prospective chefs competing with each other for a final prize. Four series aired between 2004 and 2009, three presented by Angus Deayton and the fourth and final series presented by Claudia Winkleman.


title: Hell's Kitchen (British TV series)

text: Series 1 of "Hell's Kitchen" in the UK was broadcast from 23 May to 6 June 2004, airing live nightly for two weeks.


title: Hell's Kitchen (British TV series)

text: The premise was head chef Gordon Ramsay teaching ten celebrities how to cook. The celebrities were placed in a specially constructed London restaurant-kitchen with the task of catering for a clientele of famous people. Eliminations were determined by a series of public votes (in the style of "Big Brother"). One notorious moment saw Amanda Barrie repeatedly trying to strike Ramsay when she became irate.


title: Hell's Kitchen (British TV series)

text: Jennifer Ellison was declared the winner. A follow-up programme was made afterwards called "Hell's Kitchen: School Reunion", which saw Ellison and the show runner-up, James Dreyfus, team up to organise a healthy dinner service for the children at Ramsay's former school, Stratford Upon Avon High School.


title: Hell's Kitchen (British TV series)

text: The format was overhauled as the show was turned into a competition between two kitchens run by "celebrity chefs" Gary Rhodes and Jean-Christophe Novelli. The second series featured ten members of the public competing for a prize of £250,000, with which the winner could start his or her own restaurant. They were split into two teams of six, one red (tutored by Gary Rhodes) and the other blue (led by Jean-Christophe Novelli). A new and much larger restaurant was built to accommodate the fact that there were now two kitchens.


title: Hell's Kitchen (British TV series)

text: The only things that remained the same in the second series were the music, by composer Daniel Pemberton, and the presenter, who was still Angus Deayton. Elimination was still down to voting.


title: Hell's Kitchen (British TV series)

text: Series 3 was due to begin in mid-2006, with Jean-Christophe Novelli as the sole head chef; however, ITV made the decision to take a break from producing "Hell's Kitchen". The network then announced in February 2007 that it had commissioned a new series of the show, to begin in late 2007.


title: Hell's Kitchen (British TV series)

text: The new series began on 3 September 2007 at 9:00 pm. Michelin starred Marco Pierre White was the new head chef. White had two sous chefs, Matthew and Timothy. The series reverted to the original format of having celebrities as contestants.


title: Hell's Kitchen (British TV series)

text: Series 4 began on 13 April 2009. Marco Pierre White returns as Head Chef/teacher. Claudia Winkleman took over as host, replacing Angus Deayton. Nick Munier returned as Maitre d', as did Sous Chefs Matthew and Timothy. This series there was one kitchen with grey and dark red tiles. The first four sackings were Marco's responsibility, while the other four sackings were down to a public vote (the person with the lowest number of votes left Hell's Kitchen).


title: Hell's Kitchen (British TV series)

text: Most countries adapt to the American version, airing pre recorded weekly instead of airing live daily, no presenter and just a voiceover, a challenge with the winner earning a reward and the loser doing a punishment, the customers being mostly from the public instead of celebrities with their loved ones and eliminations made by the head chef and not through viewer voting. In the Australian and German versions, it follows English version, where the contestants are celebrities with no professional culinary backgrounds, many may also be complete novices in cooking in general.


title: Swamp Thing (comic book)

text: The fictional character the Swamp Thing has appeared in five American comic book series to date, including several specials, and has crossed over into other DC Comics titles. The series found immense popularity upon its 1970s debut and during the mid-late 1980s under Alan Moore, Stephen Bissette, and John Totleben. These eras were met with high critical praise and numerous awards. However, over the years, the Swamp Thing comics have suffered from low sales, which have resulted in numerous series cancellations and revivals.


title: Swamp Thing (comic book)

text: The first "Swamp Thing" series ran for 24 issues, from 1972 to 1976. Len Wein was the writer for the first 13 issues before David Michelinie and Gerry Conway finished up the series. Horror artist Berni Wrightson drew the first 10 issues of the series, while Nestor Redondo drew a further 13 issues, the last issue being drawn by Fred Carrillo. The Swamp Thing fought against evil as he sought the men who murdered his wife and caused his monstrous transformation, as well as searching for a means to transform himself back to his human form.


title: Swamp Thing (comic book)

text: The Swamp Thing has since fought many villains, most notably the mad scientist Anton Arcane. Though they only met twice during the first series, Arcane and his obsession with gaining immortality, aided by his nightmarish army of


title: Swamp Thing (comic book)

text: Un-Men and the Patchwork Man (Arcane's brother Gregori Arcane who, after a land mine explosion, was rebuilt as a Frankenstein Monster-type creature by his brother), became the Swamp Thing's nemesis, even as the Swamp Thing developed a close bond with Arcane's niece Abigail Arcane. Also involved in the conflict was the Swamp Thing's close friend-turned-enemy Matthew Cable, a federal agent who originally mistakenly believed the Swamp Thing responsible for the deaths of Alec and Linda Holland.


title: Swamp Thing (comic book)

text: Despite Wein's writing the first 13 issues, only the first 10 issues of the original "Swamp Thing" series had been collected in trade paperbacks or reprint comics, primarily due to the popularity of Wrightson's artwork, stopping rather than concluding the story arc. Wein ended his run as writer by having the Swamp Thing reveal his identity to Matt Cable and ultimately avenging the death of his wife by killing Nathan Ellery. The full Wein 13-issue run was released in hardcover by DC in June 2009 as "Roots of the Swamp Thing", volume 4 of the 9-volume book series the "DC Comics Classics Library".


title: Swamp Thing (comic book)

text: As sales figures plummeted towards the end of the series, the writers attempted to revive interest by introducing fantasy creatures, sci-fi aliens, and even Alec Holland's brother, Edward (a plot point that was never referred to or even mentioned again by later writers), into the picture.


title: Swamp Thing (comic book)

text: The appearance of Holland's brother toward the end of the series marked a series of plot developments, designed to provide the series with a happy ending, which generated much controversy. In "Swamp Thing" #23, Alec finally regains his humanity and while the creature was on the cover of the 24th and final issue of the series (albeit transforming into human), Holland appeared as human throughout the interior story. The cover illustration showed a yellow muscular creature, Thrudvang, beating up the Swamp Thing; the interior showed Holland imagining the Swamp Thing beating up Thrudvang, in similar positions but with roles reversed—the issue itself depicting Holland and his new love interest (and his brother's research assistant) running away from Thrudvang. A battle between the Swamp Thing and Hawkman was promised for the next issue, but no such battle occurred until "Swamp Thing" (vol. 2) #58.


title: Swamp Thing (comic book)

text: During the short-lived revival of "Challengers of the Unknown" in issues #81-87, also by Gerry Conway, the Swamp Thing returned as Alec Holland who, without continually producing and self-medicating with the bio-restorative formula, reverted into the form of the Swamp Thing. Holland, along with the Challengers of the Unknown, encountered the supernatural being known as Deadman (though they were unaware of Deadman's presence), a fact that would confirm the post-Wein Swamp Thing stories existence in DC Universe continuity years later when Deadman and the Swamp Thing met again during Alan Moore's run as writer. The Swamp Thing also appeared with the Batman twice in "The Brave and the Bold" #122 and 176 and with Superman in "DC Comics Presents" #8. In the latter, by Steve Englehart, he tried in vain to stop Superman from committing what he perceived as genocide (using a compound developed by S.T.A.R. Labs) on 60 Solomon Grundys living in the sewers of Metropolis.


title: Swamp Thing (comic book)

text: In an issue dated May 1982, DC Comics revived the "Swamp Thing" series to try to capitalize on the summer 1982 release of the Wes Craven film of the same name. The title, called "The Saga of the Swamp Thing", featured in its first "Annual" the comic book adaptation of the Craven movie. Now written by Martin Pasko, the book loosely picked up after the Swamp Thing's appearances in "Challengers of the Unknown" #81-87, "DC Comics Presents" #8, and "The Brave and the Bold" #176, with the character wandering around the swamps of Louisiana as something of an urban legend that was feared by locals.


title: Swamp Thing (comic book)

text: Martin Pasko's main arc depicted the Swamp Thing roaming the globe, trying to stop a young girl (and possible Nazi-affiliated Anti-Christ) named Karen Clancy from destroying the world. The series also featured back-up stories involving the Phantom Stranger by Mike W. Barr, which led to a collaboration between the Swamp Thing and the Stranger in a guest run by Dan Mishkin that featured a scientist who transformed himself into a silicon creature. The primary artist for the bulk of Pasko's run was Tom Yeates; towards the end of the run he was replaced with Stephen R. Bissette and John Totleben (who began by inking Yeates' pencils). Bissette and Totleben, who had known Yeates at the Joe Kubert School of Cartoon and Graphic Art, had been ghosting various pages for Yeates, and were given the assignment on Pasko's recommendation.


title: Swamp Thing (comic book)

text: In issue #6, editor Len Wein declared, in response to a published letter, that Alec never had a brother and that every Swamp Thing series story after issue #21 of the original series never happened. The letter, however, questioned why the Swamp Thing had reverted, which had already been explained in the "Challengers of the Unknown" run. A later column pointed this out, so they said they would not deliberately contradict it, even though they would still go from the assumption that it never happened.


title: Swamp Thing (comic book)

text: The arrival of Bissette and Totleben came as Pasko, who wrote the second "Brave and the Bold" team-up shortly before he began the series, resurrected plotlines from the original series. Abigail Arcane and Matt Cable were brought back and shown to be married, though this development had a darker side: Cable had been tortured via repeated electroshock treatments by his black-ops superiors over his decision to stop working for the government in order to marry Abigail. The electroshock treatments caused permanent brain damage for Matt, resulting in him being unable to work and, ironically, granting him psychic ability in the form of being able to create lifelike mental illusions. Pasko also resurrected Anton Arcane, now a grotesque half-human/half-insect cyborg with an army of insectoid Un-Men who ultimately cannibalized their creator after the Swamp Thing was forced to kill Arcane.


title: Swamp Thing (comic book)

text: Pasko left the book with issue #19, which featured the (third) death of Arcane, the second of which, from "Swamp Thing" #10, was reprinted in "The Saga of the Swamp Thing" (vol. 2) #18. He would be replaced by British writer Alan Moore.


title: Swamp Thing (comic book)

text: As "Swamp Thing" was heading for cancellation due to low sales, DC editorial agreed to give Alan Moore (at the time a relatively unknown writer whose previous work included several stories for "2000 AD", "Warrior" and Marvel UK) free rein to revamp the title and the character as he saw fit. Moore reconfigured the Swamp Thing's origin to make him a true monster as opposed to a human transformed into a monster. In his first issue, he swept aside the supporting cast Pasko had introduced in his year-and-a-half run as writer, and brought the Sunderland Corporation (a villainous group out to gain the secrets of Alec Holland's research) to the forefront, as they hunted down the Swamp Thing and "killed" him in a hail of bullets.


title: Swamp Thing (comic book)

text: "The Saga of the Swamp Thing" (vol. 2) #21 (Feb. 1984), "The Anatomy Lesson", signaled a change in the character's mythos by having an obscure supervillain, the Floronic Man (Jason Woodrue), perform an autopsy on the Swamp Thing's body and discover it was only superficially human, its organs little more than crude, nonfunctional, vegetable-based imitations of their human counterparts, indicating that the Swamp Thing could never have been human. The Swamp Thing was not Alec Holland, but only believed it to be so: Holland had indeed died in the fire, and the swamp vegetation had absorbed his consciousness and memories and created a new sentient being that believed itself to be Alec Holland. The Swamp Thing would never be human again because he never "was" human to start with. Woodrue also concluded that, despite the autopsy, the Swamp Thing was still alive and in a deep coma due to the bullet wounds and imprisonment in cold-storage.


title: Swamp Thing (comic book)

text: Moore would later reveal, in an attempt to connect the original one-off Swamp Thing story from "House of Secrets" to the main Swamp Thing canon, that there had been dozens, perhaps hundreds, of Swamp Things since the dawn of humanity, and that all versions of the creature were designated defenders of the Parliament of Trees, an elemental community also known as "the Green" that connects all plant life on Earth.


title: Swamp Thing (comic book)

text: The Swamp Thing went catatonic due to the shock of discovering what he really was, after having killed Sunderland in a fit of rage and escaped deep into the Green. Woodrue went insane after attempting to connect to the Green through the Swamp Thing, and Abby had to revive the Swamp Thing in order to stop Woodrue after Woodrue killed an entire Louisiana town. Swamp Thing returned to the swamps of Louisiana, and encountered Jason Blood (Etrigan the Demon), then gave a final burial for Holland's bones.


title: Swamp Thing (comic book)

text: Matthew Cable, gravely hurt in the previous storyline, was revealed to have been possessed by Anton Arcane, and Abby unwittingly had an incestuous relationship with him. After a fight, Cable was thrown into a coma, and Abby's soul was sent to Hell. In "Swamp Thing Annual" #2, modeled on Dante's "Inferno", the Swamp Thing followed Abigail, encountering classic DC characters such as Deadman, the Phantom Stranger, the Spectre, and Etrigan en route, and eventually rescued her.


title: Swamp Thing (comic book)

text: The relationship between the Swamp Thing and Abby deepened, and in "Swamp Thing" (vol. 2) #34 ("Rites of Spring") the two confessed that they loved each other since they met, and "made love" though a hallucinogenic experience brought on when Abby ate a tuber produced by the Swamp Thing's body (this served as a segment in the film "The Return of Swamp Thing", where the Swamp Thing produces a fruit and the ingestion of the fruit makes Abby to see the Swamp Thing as a handsome man, and then they make love). The controversial relationship between a plant and a human would culminate in Abby being arrested later for breaking the laws of nature and conducting a sexual relationship with a nonhuman. Abby ultimately fled to Gotham City, leading to a story arc featuring the fourth encounter between the Swamp Thing and the Batman. Before that, the "American Gothic" storyline introduced the character John Constantine (later to star in his own comic "John Constantine, Hellblazer") in issues #37–50, where the Swamp Thing had to travel to several parts of America, encountering several archetypal horror monsters, including vampires (the same clan he fought in "The Saga of the Swamp Thing" (vol. 2) #3), a werewolf, and zombies, but modernized with relevance to current issues. Around this time, Moore had the Swamp Thing encounter Superman a second time, in "DC Comics Presents" #85. The storyline began with the Swamp Thing's old body being completely destroyed, and growing a new one. Constantine encourages the Swamp Thing to use the power for transportation, and the Swamp Thing learns to do so with increasing speed. The "American Gothic" storyline ended with a crossover with "Crisis on Infinite Earths", where the Swamp Thing had to solve the battle between Good (Light) and Evil (Darkness). He also met the Parliament of Trees in issue #47, which was where Earth elementals like him lay to rest after they have walked the Earth, and it was here Moore solved the continuity problem of the first and second Swamp Thing: the first Swamp Thing, Alex Olsen, was now a part of the Parliament.


title: Swamp Thing (comic book)

text: Although Abby was eventually released (the Batman having pointed out that there were probably several non-humans, such as Superman, Metamorpho, Starfire (Dick Grayson's girlfriend), and the Martian Manhunter, partaking in relationships with human beings), the Swamp Thing was ambushed by soldiers using a weapon designed by Lex Luthor. Luthor's weapon destroyed the Swamp Thing's psychic connection with the Earth, whilst the Swamp Thing's body was destroyed by napalm. Unable to regrow a new Earthly body, the Swamp Thing was presumed dead. However, the Swamp Thing's consciousness had instead fled to outer space, in search of a planet that was amenable to his new psychic wavelength. In the first tale of the Swamp Thing's extraterrestrial activities ("My Blue Heaven", #56), the Swamp Thing came upon a planet colored entirely in shades of blue, and on which there was no intelligent life. In this particularly popular issue, the Swamp Thing populated this lonely blue planet with mindless plant replicas of Abby and other reminders of his lost Earth.


title: Swamp Thing (comic book)

text: In issue #60, entitled "Loving the Alien", the Swamp Thing actually becomes the father of the numerous offspring of an alien cosmic entity after she "mates" with him against his will.


title: Swamp Thing (comic book)

text: Moore's run included several references to obscure or forgotten comic characters (the Phantom Stranger, Cain and Abel, the Floronic Man), but none so prominent as in issue #32, when he broke with the serious and moody storyline for a single issue. In the story "Pog", Walt Kelly's funny animal comic character Pogo (created in 1943) and all of his woodland friends show up as costumed visitors from another planet, looking for an unspoiled world after their own utopia was overrun and destroyed by brutal monkeys.


title: Swamp Thing (comic book)

text: Moore began a trend (continued by Neil Gaiman, among others) of mining the DC Universe's vast collection of minor supernatural characters to create a mythic atmosphere. Characters spun off from Moore's series gave rise to DC's Vertigo comic book line, notably "The Sandman", "John Constantine, Hellblazer", and "The Books of Magic"; Vertigo titles were written with adults in mind and often contained material unsuitable for children. "The Saga of the Swamp Thing" was the first mainstream comic book series to completely abandon the Comics Code Authority (CCA); after the CCA denied issue #29 the seal of approval, DC created an imprint to publish the series under and no longer submitted issues of "The Saga of the Swamp Thing" to the CCA for approval.


title: Swamp Thing (comic book)

text: Moore's final issue, #64, was dated September 1987. At that point, regular penciller Rick Veitch began scripting the series, continuing the story in a roughly similar vein for 24 more issues. Shortly after issue #65, "Swamp Thing Annual" #3 was produced, this time focusing on DC's super-apes, such as Congorilla, Sam Simeon, and Gorilla Grodd. The Batman guest-starred in issue #66. "Hellblazer" also began soon after "Swamp Thing" (vol. 2) #67, and the two series had storylines which crossover to each other during "Hellblazer"'s first year under writer Jamie Delano. In Veitch's "Swamp Thing" stories, the Parliament of Trees, having believed the Swamp Thing dead, grew a Sprout to replace him. Unwilling to sacrifice an innocent life, he convinced them that he would take the Sprout as his own child, and eventually impregnated Abby (now his wife) with it by possessing John Constantine's body. After the completion of this storyline, the Swamp Thing sought to resolve his need for vengeance against those who had "killed" him during his showdown in Gotham City, culminating in a showdown with Lex Luthor (and Superman) in "Swamp Thing" (vol. 2) #79 and a confrontation with the Batman in "Swamp Thing Annual" #4.


title: Swamp Thing (comic book)

text: It was during this time that the Swamp Thing first encountered the Black Orchid in Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean's three-part graphic novel. Later, during the "Invasion!" crossover event, the Swamp Thing was thrown into the past, and traveled through time trying to return to the present. The story was published in "Swamp Thing" (vol. 2) #80–87. One issue of this storyline [#84] focused upon the Swamp Thing's regular supporting cast. In this issue, Matthew Cable died during his coma and arrived in the land of the Dreaming, where he encountered Morpheus and Eve. Cable would later be written into "The Sandman" by Neil Gaiman as Matthew the Raven.


title: Swamp Thing (comic book)

text: Veitch's term ended in a widely publicized creative dispute, when DC refused to publish issue #88 because of the use of Jesus as a character despite having previously approved the script, in which the Swamp Thing is revealed to be the cupbearer who offers Jesus water when he calls for it from the cross. The move was said to be made due to controversies then arising from the Martin Scorsese film "The Last Temptation of Christ". Artist Michael Zulli had already partially completed the art. The move disgusted Veitch and he immediately resigned from writing. Neil Gaiman and Jamie Delano, who were originally slated to be the next writers, sympathetically declined to take up the helm. Gaiman, however, was cooperative enough with the editorial staff to write "Swamp Thing Annual" #5, featuring Brother Power the Geek, to fill the series hiatus, which led into the run of the new Swamp Thing writer, Doug Wheeler. The "Annual" was reprinted in "Neil Gaiman's Midnight Days".


title: Swamp Thing (comic book)

text: From September 1989 to July 1991, Doug Wheeler wrote issues #88–109. Wheeler quickly wrapped up Veitch's time travel arc and oversaw the birth of Abby and the Swamp Thing's daughter Tefé Holland. The remaining tenure of Wheeler's run focused upon a longstanding war between the Parliament of Trees and the Gray, a fungus-themed elemental realm in opposition to the Parliament of Trees.


title: Swamp Thing (comic book)

text: Wheeler's run was drawn by Pat Broderick and Mike Hoffman. Broderick's work had a more traditional, adventure-comics look than previous artists on the series. John Totleben continued to contribute painted covers up to issue #100.


title: Swamp Thing (comic book)

text: Seeking to revive interest in the series, DC brought horror writer Nancy A. Collins on board to write the series, first with "Swamp Thing Annual" #6 before moving on to write "Swamp Thing" #110–138.


title: Swamp Thing (comic book)

text: Collins dramatically overhauled the series, restoring the pre-Alan Moore tone of the series as well as incorporating a new set of supporting cast members into the book. Collins resurrected Anton Arcane, along with the Sunderland Corporation, as foils for the Swamp Thing. Collins also moved the series, which had focused on the Swamp Thing's time travel adventures and explorations into other-dimensional realms, back to normal society by having the Swamp Thing and Abby set up shop in southern Louisiana and attempt to live a normal life with friends and family, culminating in the introduction of the elemental babysitter Lady Jane into the supporting cast. It was during her run that DC officially launched the Vertigo imprint and "Swamp Thing" #129 was the first issue to carry the Vertigo logo on the cover. Collins wrapped up her run by having the Swamp Thing promise Abby that he will never leave her side. He then breaks his promise and creates a secret double to stay and protect Abby as he goes into the Green during an environmental crisis. Abby feels betrayed and leaves a despondent Swamp Thing behind. He retreats into the Green, and when Lady Jane reaches out to him, it sparks into a love affair. Arcane returns and arranges an abduction of Abby to force Tefe to use her powers to grow him a healthy body. The ongoing stress from constant attacks and dealing with Tefe's powers leads to Abby rejecting Tefe and eventually leaving town with her new boyfriend. Fearing for Tefe's safety, Lady Jane betrays the Swamp Thing and kidnaps Tefe into the Green, so that she can be trained by the Parliament of Trees.


title: Swamp Thing (comic book)

text: "Swamp Thing Annual" #7, published around this time, was the final annual issue as part of the Vertigo crossover event "The Children's Crusade". Collins also wrote a Swamp Thing story for the anthology one-shot "Vertigo Jam". Shortly after Collins' departure, "Black Orchid" series writer Dick Foreman wrote a two-part crossover between the two titles, "Black Orchid" #5 and "Swamp Thing" #139.


title: Swamp Thing (comic book)

text: With issue #140 (March 1994), the title was handed over to Grant Morrison for a four-issue arc, co-written by the then-unknown Mark Millar. As Collins had destroyed the status quo of the series, Morrison sought to shake the book up with a four-part storyline which had the Swamp Thing plunged into a nightmarish dream world scenario, where he was split into two separate beings: Alec Holland and the Swamp Thing, which was now a mindless being of pure destruction.


title: Swamp Thing (comic book)

text: Millar then took over from Morrison with issue #144, and launched what was initially conceived as an ambitious 25-part storyline where the Swamp Thing would be forced to go upon a series of "trials" against rival elemental forces. This led to a series of lengthy storylines by Millar as the Swamp Thing fought rival elemental beings and in the process, became champions of the five main Elemental Parliaments: Trees, Stone, Waves, Vapor and Flames. It was during this time that the Swamp Thing also encountered the Batman's enemy Killer Croc, in a failed attempt to resolve the character's ongoing storyline in 1995's "Batman" #521–522, "Swamp Thing" (vol. 2) #159-160, and "The Batman Chronicles" #3.


title: Swamp Thing (comic book)

text: The series was later cancelled. Explanations for the cancellation vary, from low sales to Millar himself having become bored with the series. Despite of it, Millar decided to leave the title which, in turn, caused DC to cancel the series.


title: Swamp Thing (comic book)

text: Millar was given the job to wrap up the series, which would end with "Swamp Thing" (vol. 2) #171. John Totleben would return to illustrate the covers for issues #160–171.


title: Swamp Thing (comic book)

text: Millar's final arc for the series had the Swamp Thing, due to his success in beating the other Elemental Parliament Champions, become godlike and unapproachable by mortals, even as his estranged wife Abby returned to try to reconcile with him. With help from John Constantine, Abby sought to keep the Swamp Thing from destroying humanity so that the Parliament Elementals could claim control over Earth. In the end, the Swamp Thing unites all of the Elemental Parliaments into one collective hive mind with him in control of it. Achieving a global sense of consciousness, the Swamp Thing sees through the worldview of every living thing upon the planet and find the good and the potential in even his worst enemy. This is shown most notably with the final resurrection of Anton Arcane who, during his most recent stay in Hell, befriended a priest that was unfairly condemned to Hell and in the process renounced evil and became a born-again Christian.


title: Swamp Thing (comic book)

text: The Swamp Thing thus spares humanity and becomes a Planetary Elemental, representing Earth itself, and joins the Parliament of Worlds, which is made up of all the other "enlightened worlds" (the only others actually named were Mars, who greeted the Swamp Thing into their number, and Oa; due to its destruction some time before [in "Green Lantern" #0], Mars lamented Oa could not witness Earth's induction). This was the most significant change made to the character since Moore's reinterpretation, though in the Michael Zulli story "Look Away" (found within the 2000 special issue "Swamp Thing Vertigo Secret Files and Origins" #1) the Swamp Thing ultimately returns to normal and renounces his status as a Planetary Elemental, due to his belief that he was more effective a figure as a normal elemental being living in the swamp.


title: Swamp Thing (comic book)

text: After being overlooked for inclusion in countless DC Universe crossovers since "Invasion!", the Swamp Thing reappeared in the coda for the DC Universe crossover event "The Final Night", appearing at Hal Jordan's funeral alongside John Constantine. In 1997, the Swamp Thing was written into "Aquaman" (vol. 5) #32–33 by Peter David and attended the funeral for the ghost of Jim Corrigan in "The Spectre" (vol. 3) #62 by John Ostrander, which was the final issue of that series.


title: Swamp Thing (comic book)

text: Early 1998 saw the production of Jon J. Muth's Vertigo graphic novel "Swamp Thing: Roots". The "Sandman" spin-off "The Dreaming" #22–24 written by Caitlin R. Kiernan saw Matthew Cable's return to human form, his uneasy reunion and final departure from his ex-wife Abby (now married to the Swamp Thing) and Cable's restoration to his dream raven form. Matthew the Raven died in "The Dreaming" story "Foxes and Hounds" in issues #42–43, a fact that was later touched upon by the 2000 special issue "Swamp Thing Vertigo Secret Files and Origins" #1. The final week of 1999 saw the Swamp Thing teaming up with other Vertigo heroes from the DC Universe in the one-shot special "Totems".


title: Swamp Thing (comic book)

text: Written by Brian K. Vaughan and drawn by Roger Petersen (issues #1 – #11) and Giuseppe Camuncoli (issues #12 – #20) in 2001, the third series focused on the daughter of the Swamp Thing, Tefé Holland. Even though she was chronologically 11–12, the series had Tefe aged into the body of an 18-year-old with a mindwipe to try to control her darker impulses, brought about by her exposure to the Parliament of Trees. Due to the circumstances under which she was conceived (the Swamp Thing, possessing John Constantine, was not aware he was given a blood transfusion by a demon), she held power over both plants and flesh.


title: Swamp Thing (comic book)

text: The idea of using a teenage female protagonist was a fresh one, but many longtime fans rejected the series, which cast the Swamp Thing as a guest star in his own book. Also, many fans were wondering what happened to the Swamp Thing's status as a Planetary Elemental, which culminated in the story being told in the pages of the 2000 special issue "Swamp Thing Vertigo Secret Files and Origins" #1. Tefé's story was discontinued at issue #20, whereupon after eating from the Tree of Knowledge she saw visions of two possible futures and chose neither. The Swamp Thing would not appear again until Mike Carey's run on "Hellblazer" in issues #184–185 and #192–193, leading into the fourth "Swamp Thing" series.


title: Swamp Thing (comic book)

text: The fourth series began in 2004, with rotating writers of Andy Diggle (#1–6), Will Pfeifer (#7–8) and Joshua Dysart (#9–29). In this latest series, the Swamp Thing is reverted to his plant-based Earth elemental status after the first storyline, and he attempts to live an "eventless" life in the Louisiana swamps. Tefé, likewise, is rendered powerless and mortal.


title: Swamp Thing (comic book)

text: Meanwhile, a rogue consciousness, calling itself the Holland Mind, was living in the Green. As of issue #15, botany professor Jordan Schiller, an influential man from Alec Holland's past, has been summoned to the swamp by strange visions and memories, apparently manipulated by this rogue consciousness. The full purpose for this manipulation was revealed in issues #21–24. In sacrificing his power, the Swamp Thing lost much of his Alec Holland personality. Now he is restored to his proper station and power and has resumed his romantic relationship with Abby, as of issue #25. Beginning with issue #21 onward, Eric Powell ("The Goon") provided covers for the series.


title: Swamp Thing (comic book)

text: The Floronic Man returned in #27–29, his mind splintered in the aftermath of "Infinite Crisis". Issue #29 was the final issue of the fourth volume, which had been cancelled due to low sales numbers, despite fan-supported efforts to save the series.


title: Swamp Thing (comic book)

text: The Dysart series deals with the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in the last 12 issues of the series. Most notable is the fact that real estate tycoons had been wanting to develop the Lower Ninth Ward of New Orleans.


title: Swamp Thing (comic book)

text: The Swamp Thing was relaunched as an ongoing series in 2011 as part of "The New 52", a company wide relaunch by DC comics. It was written by Scott Snyder and drawn by Yanick Paquette. Taking off from the end of "Brightest Day", the series follows a resurrected Alec Holland who wants to put the memories of the Swamp Thing behind him. He is approached first by an earlier incarnation of the Swamp Thing, representing the Parliament of Trees. This Swamp Thing informs Holland that he is a unique individual who would have become a legendary warrior for the Parliament and the Green, the essence of all plant life. When Holland died, the Parliament created a creature which thought it was him as a substitute. Holland rebuffs the creature's entreaties that he assume the mantle of the Swamp Thing. Next, he is approached by Abigail Arcane, the former lover of the Swamp Thing. She enlists him to help save her half-brother William Arcane, before he becomes the champion of the Rot, the force of decay, once known as the Swamp Thing's archenemy, Anton Arcane. While traveling cross-country, Holland and Arcane find themselves increasingly attracted to each other. After confronting William, who has already become a servant of the Rot, Abigail is captured and taken away. At the same time, the Parliament of Trees comes under attack and is about to be destroyed. Realizing his mistake, Holland accepts the mantle of the Swamp Thing as the only way to save Abigail and prevent the Rot from triumphing.


title: Swamp Thing (comic book)

text: Issues #8 and 9 were drawn by Yanick Paquette and Marco Rudy. Issue #10 was drawn by Francesco Francavilla, and #11 by Marco Rudy. Issue #12, which featured Animal Man, was a collaborative effort between Scott Snyder, Jeff Lemire, Marco Rudy, Dan Green, and Andy Owens. Issue #13 subsequently returned to Yanick Paquette drawing.


title: Swamp Thing (comic book)

text: After the conclusion of Scott Snyder's tenure on the series, Charles Soule took over with issue #19. His run on the series has the Swamp Thing fighting with Jason Woodrue, now known as the Seeder in the new continuity, who gained power over the Green after saving Alec Holland in the past. The Seeder eventually becomes the new Avatar of the Green after the Swamp Thing chooses not to kill him. Holland manages to escape from the Green by becoming one of the Parliament of Trees and grabbing Woodrue to tap into the power of the Avatar. He manages to convince the Parliament that he is better by making all plant life, including the algae in the oceans and seas, to become hyperactive and produce massive amounts of oxygen, which makes all other beings feel lazier. The Parliament agrees and makes him the Avatar once more.


title: Swamp Thing (comic book)

text: From March to August 2016, a six-issue miniseries was published, written by Swamp Thing co-creator Len Wein and pencilled by Kelley Jones.


title: Swamp Thing (comic book)

text: The new series, retitled as "The Swamp Thing", started March 2021 and being written by Ram V and pencilled by Mike Perkins. The series was planned to be a ten-issue miniseries until it was extended to 16 issues.


title: Swamp Thing (comic book)

text: "Swamp Thing" has so far been collected in the following collections published by Vertigo and DC Comics:


title: Swamp Thing (comic book)

text: The entire Alan Moore run (save his first issue, "Swamp Thing" #20, which was not reprinted until 2009) from #21-64 was first collected in the U.K. in the late 1980s as a series of black and white trade paperbacks. Because DC had been reluctant to reprint the complete Moore run, these trades became highly popular amongst fans of the series, a popularity which was further fueled by them not being distributed in the U.S. Release of hardcover reprints began in 2009, with the first volume including "Swamp Thing" #20 for the first time.


title: Taufik Hidayat

text: Taufik Hidayat (born 10 August 1981) is an Indonesian retired badminton player. He is a former World, Olympic, Asian Games, and Asian champion, and the youngest world number one in the men's singles. Hidayat has won the Indonesia Open six times (1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2006).


title: Taufik Hidayat

text: When he was young, he joined the SGS club, a badminton club in Bandung, where he trained under Iie Sumirat.


title: Taufik Hidayat

text: At age 17 he won the Brunei Open and reached the semifinals of the 1998 Asian Championships and the Indonesia Open. In 1999, Hidayat won his first Indonesian Open title. In the same year he also reached the final of the All England and the Singapore Open but lost the finals to his great rival Peter Gade and his senior in the national team Heryanto Arbi respectively. Hidayat achieved the world number one ranking when he was still 19 years old in 2000 after winning the Malaysia Open, Asian Championships, Indonesia Open and was once again runner-up at the All England Open where he was defeated by Chinese player Xia Xuanze.


title: Taufik Hidayat

text: Hidayat participated in the men's singles competition at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney. In his first Olympics, he was eliminated in the quarter-finals by Ji Xinpeng of China.


title: Taufik Hidayat

text: Hidayat won the men's singles gold medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics defeating Hidetaka Yamada of Japan and Wong Choong Hann of Malaysia in the first two rounds. Hidayat defeated Peter Gade of Denmark 15–12, 15–12 in the quarter final and Boonsak Ponsana of Thailand 15–9, 15–2 in the semifinal. Playing in the gold medal match, He defeated Korean Shon Seung-mo 15–8, 15–7 in the final to win the gold medal.


title: Taufik Hidayat

text: In the same year, Hidayat successfully retained his Indonesia Open title by defeating Chen Hong 15–9, 15–3 in the final and won his second Asian Championships title.


title: Taufik Hidayat

text: In August 2005, he won the men's singles title at the World Championships defeating world number one Lin Dan of China 15–3, 15–7 in the final. With this title, he became the first men's singles player to hold the Olympic and World Championships title in consecutive years.


title: Taufik Hidayat

text: Hidayat won the men's singles gold medal at the Asian Games in 2002 Busan and 2006 Doha. He also won the 2007 Asian Championship, and two men's singles gold medals at the Southeast Asian Games in 1999 Bandar Seri Begawan and 2007 Nakhon Ratchasima.


title: Taufik Hidayat

text: Hidayat competed in the 2008 Summer Olympics but he was eliminated in the second round by Wong Choong Hann of Malaysia.


title: Taufik Hidayat

text: For the fourth time, Hidayat participated in the Summer Olympics. Hidayat competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics but he was eliminated in the round of 16 by Lin Dan of China.


title: Taufik Hidayat

text: Popular media has at times focused on the perceived rivalry between Hidayat and Chinese player Lin Dan, referring to the two as "arch rivals".This was the last time that Hidayat participated in the Summer Olympics.


title: Taufik Hidayat

text: He married the daughter of Agum Gumelar, Ami Gumelar, on 4 February 2006. They had a daughter in early August 2008, named Natarina Alika Hidayat. She was born shortly before he had to leave for the World Championships.


title: Taufik Hidayat

text: In December 2012, Hidayat officially open a badminton training center named Taufik Hidayat Arena (THA), located at Ciracas, East Jakarta. This "house of badminton" is both named and owned by Taufik.


title: Taufik Hidayat

text: Hidayat's shot-making strengths were his backhand (as he is perhaps most famous for his backhand smash, revered for its unusually high generation of power), forehand jump smash, drop shot (reverse slice in particular), smooth footwork and deceiving net play. Hidayat's forehand jump smash in the 2006 World Championships was once the fastest smash recorded in singles competition; he recorded in a match against Ng Wei. This power on both his forehand and backhand, combined with his tenacity at the net and scope for deceptive shots, provided him with an extremely diverse weaponry on court, making him one of the most difficult players to face on the open circuit. Criticisms were aimed at his occasional lack of fitness, impatience with loud crowds, and his propensity to return a net shot with another net shot even when his opponent was dangerously close to the net.


title: Taufik Hidayat

text: The BWF Superseries, launched on 14 December 2006 and implemented in 2007, is a series of elite badminton tournaments, sanctioned by Badminton World Federation (BWF). BWF Superseries has two level such as Superseries and Superseries Premier. A season of Superseries features twelve tournaments around the world, which introduced since 2011, with successful players invited to the BWF Superseries Finals held at the year end.


title: Taufik Hidayat

text: The BWF Grand Prix has two levels, the BWF Grand Prix and Grand Prix Gold. It is a series of badminton tournaments sanctioned by the Badminton World Federation (BWF) since 2007. The World Badminton Grand Prix has been sanctioned by International Badminton Federation (IBF) since 1983.


title: Taufik Hidayat

text: Record against Superseries finalists, World Championships semifinalists and Olympic quarterfinalists.


title: BMW N43

text: The BMW N43 is a naturally aspirated four-cylinder petrol engine which was sold from 2006-2013. It replaced both the BMW N46 and BMW N45 engines. However the N43 was not sold in countries with high sulfur fuel, therefore the N45/N46 engines remained in production alongside the N43.


title: BMW N43

text: In 2011, as part of BMW's shift to turbocharging, the N43 was replaced by the BMW N13 turbocharged four-cylinder engine. The N43 suffered various problems in service - breakage of the cam chain plastic guides leading to oil starvation as the debris blocked the oil strainer, and problems with the injectors, coil packs and the NOx sensor.


title: BMW N43

text: The N43B16 has a displacement of and produces and . It is the successor to the BMW N45 engine and, as per the N45, does not have Valvetronic.


title: BMW N43

text: In 2009, the N43B20 replaced the N43B16 in the 116i. Power remained at , however torque was increased.


title: Durga Khote

text: Durga Khote (14 January 1905 − 22 September 1991) was an Indian actress, beginning as one of the foremost leading ladies of her times, she remained active in Hindi and Marathi cinema, as well as theatre, for over 50 years, starring in around 200 films and numerous theatre productions.


title: Durga Khote

text: In 2000, in a millennium issue, "India Today" named her among "100 People Who Shaped India", noting: "Durga Khote marks the pioneering phase for women in Indian Cinema", she was one of the first women from respectable families to enter the film industry, thus breaking a social taboo.


title: Durga Khote

text: She also ranks among the top ten actresses in mother roles in Hindi cinema, most notable among them were as Jodhabai in K. Asif's "Mughal-e-Azam" (1960); as Kaikeyi in Vijay Bhatt's classic "Bharat Milap" (1942); her other memorable roles as mother were in "Charnon Ki Dasi" (1941); "Mirza Ghalib" (1954); "Bobby" (1973) and "Bidaai" (1974). She has received the highest award in Indian cinema, the Dadasaheb Phalke Award (1983), for lifetime contribution to Indian cinema.


title: Durga Khote

text: Khote was born as Vita Lad to a Brahmin family which hailed from Goa and spoke Konkani at home. Her father's name was Pandurang Shamrao Lad and her mother's name was Manjulabai. She grew up in a large joint family in Kandewadi. She was educated at Cathedral High School and St. Xavier's College where she studied for B.A. While still a college-going teenager, she married into the Khote family and settled down with her husband.


title: Durga Khote

text: By the age of 26, Durga Khote was a widowed mother with two young sons; Bakul and Harin. She had to seek work in film to support her children. In doing so, she became a pioneer of sorts: She hailed from a traditional family and the film industry was regarded as the preserve of the base and the bawdy. Also, most of the female characters were played by men at the time.


title: Durga Khote

text: Durga Khote debuted in a minor role in the obscure 1931 silent film "Farebi Jaal", by the Prabhat Film Company, followed by "Maya Machindra" (1932). She was soon promoted to play heroine in the 1932 double version (Hindi and Marathi) "Ayodhyecha Raja", another Prabhat film, which was the first ever Marathi talkie, and proved to be a runaway hit, where she played the role of Rani Taramati. Indeed, she ventured yet another pioneering trend: Despite working closely with the Prabhat Film Company, she broke away from the "studio system" (exclusive contract with a studio to work in its films on a monthly salary) then in vogue and became one of the first "freelance" artistes of that era by working occasionally with the New Theatres, East India Film Co. (both at Calcutta), and Prakash Pictures.