Swamp Thing (Volume 2) Issue 119

## "The Bad Man"

"*I will try... to do as you ask... but if he has harmed... my daughter in any way... I will kill him...*"
―Swamp Thing
## Synopsis

### "The Bad Man"

Tefé Holland is happy to have a new toy and be able to eat chocolate, but it seems to be taking a long time to get home, as the man who took her from the grocery store is driving them away. She's beginning to miss her mother.

Officer Rawls begins making routine questions of Swamp Thing and Abby Holland in order to begin his investigation into their daughter's kidnapping.

The kidnapper carries Tefé into a cabin in the swamp. With disgust, he yanks her dolly from her arms, and lets it sink into the water. The girl in tears, the kidnapper introduces her to her new "brother," another kidnapped child named Randy. The boy tries to talk back, complaining that he wants to be at home with his real sister. The kidnapper becomes angry, claiming that Randy is being selfish, and shoves Tefé into the boy's arms. He threatens that she'll be killed if Randy doesn't feed her and clean up after her.

The kidnapper is obsessed with having a big family, and dragging out a large chest, he pulls out from it the corpses of his own murdered parents, propping them up at the dinner table. Disgusted, Randy holds Tefé close to his chest.

Abby sees Officer Rawls off, asking if there's anything else she can do to help get her daughter back. The policeman offers that it would help the police out if she could try to prevent the Swamp Thing from taking the law into his own hands by killing the kidnapper. Meanwhile, Swamp Thing worries that the kidnapping may have been perpetrated by one of his old foes like Anton Arcane or General Sunderland. Suddenly he senses that his daughter is still somewhere in the Swamp. He takes a walkie-talkie from Officer Rawls and begins tracking her. Rawls asks that he leave the kidnapper alive, but Swamp Thing swears that if Tefé has been hurt, he will not hesitate to kill him.

Elsewhere, Les Perdu realizes that by killing the people who were responsible for its creation, the spirits trapped within it were allowed to be free. Sadly, Tommy is the last one remaining. Tracking the kidnapper, he finds Tefé's dolly floating in the swamp.

At dinner with the children and his parents' corpses, the kidnapper recounts how he came to kill his parents. His father used to beat him with his belt almost every day. His mother beat him too, once hitting him with a bottle, and damaging his eye. At night, his father would sexually abuse him. One day, he ran away at the age of 17, and lived on the road for years. Eventually, he began kidnapping hitchhikers, having learned well from his parents. Finally, one day, he returned home to confront his parents. He shot his mother through the head, and buried an ace in his father's skull.

After telling his story, the kidnappe becomes angry, and begins violently kicking and crushing his father's decaying body. The disgusting scene makes Tefé cry, and that only makes the kidnapper angrier.

In the swamps, Swamp Thing encounters Les Perdu. The creature delivers Tefé's doll, and Swamp Thing uses the walkie-talkie to report that he's getting close. Les Perdu leads Swamp Thing to the cabin, and declares that a bad man lives there.

Meanwhile, the kidnapper approaches Tefé with a knife raised, ready to torture and kill her. Suddenly, the floor bursts open and Swamp Thing springs up demanding his child back. Terrified, the kidnapper rushes out with Tefé in his arms, only to face Officer Rawls and several deputies. The kidnapper threatens that he will slit the girl's throat if he isn't let go, and knowing he means it, Rawls allows him to escape. Running away, he stops to take a brief rest, only to feel the chomp of Les Perdu's rows of teeth crunching down on his body, killing him.

With the last act of vengeance complete, Les Perdu collapses into the four bodies that once made it up, strewn about young Tefé, in tears. A comforting voice comes, and lifts the girl into its owner's arms.

Meanwhile, Swamp Thing gets Randy some medical help. Abby, however, is still concerned for Tefé's safety, unaware of Les Perdu's involvement. Swamp Thing assures her that Tefé will be fine. A voice announces that he is correct, and that the Bad Man is dead. The voice belongs to a female elemental, who introduces herself as Lady Jane. The Parliament has appointed her as Tefé's governess.

## Appearances

### "The Bad Man"

#### Individuals

* Swamp Thing
* Abby Holland
* Tefé Holland
* The Bad Man ***(Dies)***
* Anton Arcane ***(Flashback Only)***
* General Sunderland ***(Flashback Only)***
* Officer Rawls
* Lady Jane
* Randy

#### Locations

* Louisiana
	+ Houma

## External links

* *Swamp Thing (Volume 2)* Issue 119 on DC Wiki
* *Swamp Thing (Volume 2)* Issue 119 on Comic Vine