Swamp Thing (Volume 2) Issue 128

## "Toxic Shock"

"*Damn it, I know this sounds selfish-- but what am I going to do when he's gone?*"
―Abby Holland
## Synopsis

### "Toxic Shock"

Swamp Thing traverses The Green, heading to the point at which its pain is greatest. He ends up in New Jersey, where he encounters Proteus - a creature capable of ingesting toxic waste, and who was once a man working for the Sunderland Corporation. Swamp Thing attacks the monster, discovering that its touch burns through him because it is so toxic.

In Washington, D.C., Constance Sunderland expresses some regret at having lost Dr. Binwey to the monster. She commands her people to find and contain Proteus before he becomes front-page news. Angrily she sends her board members out of the room so she can meet with a man named Doctor Polygon. He is an eccentric man, on whom the only information Sunderland could find was an insulting testimony by John Constantine. Coyly, Constance Sunderland asks him what he knows about resurrecting the dead.

In Louisiana, Abby Holland commiserates with bartender Jo-Jo over their mutual friend Chester Williams's intentions to move to New Orleans in order to become a teacher. Despite her happiness for him, Abby knows that she will miss him. Back in the swamp, Tefé Holland draws a picture of herself with her father, and shows it to the double that he created of himself. Though the double is not fully present in mind, it reacts with pride.

While the Swamp Thing brawls with Proteus, a Sunderland Corporation helicopter flies overhead and a sniper sends a bullet through the monster's brain. Proteus dies, but Swamp Thing is left injured by his toxic touch. Even so, he must heal the land, and so he absorbs the toxins from the water table into himself.

In the swamps, Abby expresses her worry to the creature she believes is her husband that she will be lonely without Chester to be her human friend. With some effort, the creature tries to comfort her, and the effort makes her happy. The two of them make love in their own, intimate way. Disapprovingly, Lady Jane listens through the door, knowing that Abby will not accept the deceit, should she find out.

Swamp Thing wanders the woods, full of toxins. He finds that he cannot enter The Green, realizing that his body is so full of poison that it could bring danger to The Green if he were to enter it. Resigned, he attempts to simply walk home until the poisons are neutralized, but eventually he finds it more difficult to go on and collapses.

Elsewhere in Louisiana, Representative Ben Barron makes a call to the police reporting a case of child endangerment. He suggests that Abby Holland's behaviour makes her unsuited to taking care of a child. He hopes to get revenge on the Swamp Thing for speaking against him during the gubernatorial elections.

## Appearances

### "Toxic Shock"

#### Individuals

* Swamp Thing
* Abby Holland
* Lady Jane
* Tefé Holland
* Sunderland Corporation
	+ Constance Sunderland
	+ Mr. Winter/Proteus
	+ Smithers
	+ Dr. Polygon ***(First Appearance)***
* Rep. Ben Barron
* John 'Jo-Jo' Jones

#### Locations

* New Jersey
* Washington, D.C.
* Louisiana
	+ Houma

## Notes

* This is the final issue of *Swamp Thing* to be released as part of the DC Universe before the switch to the Vertigo imprint.

## External links

* *Swamp Thing (Volume 2)* Issue 128 on DC Wiki
* *Swamp Thing (Volume 2)* Issue 128 on Comic Vine