Swamp Thing (Volume 2) Issue 58

## "Exiles"

"*Could you deliver a* message *for me... ? A* Louisiana *woman... named Abigail Cable... Tell her... I'm alive... and that one day... I will come... Please tell her. It would do... so much... to bridge the* light years*... between us...*"
―Swamp Thing
## Synopsis

### "Exiles"

Adam Strange steps outside in the morning to look at the liquid animals that live within Sardath's pool. He is accosted by Keela Roo, a visiting Thanagarian. She asks her what her people want the Zeta-Beam for, having asked for it in exchange for helping Rann with its famine. She gives the impression that their assistance is essentially a selfless gesture, as it only satisfies Thanagarian curiosity. Adam then questions her professed noble intent, and she responds that in exchange for killing Rann's monsters, Adam exacts the price of the princess Alanna's love, and a life of glamour and prestige. For this reason, she argues that Adam cannot take the moral high ground. She flies away, leaving Adam speechless.

Adam puts on his uniform while his wife uses a special device to determine whether she is pregnant. The result is not yet evident, though. She and Adam then go for a ride using his jet pack, and as they fly above Ranagar, Alanna spots the Swamp Thing on a nearby roof. Adam prepares to fight it, but when Swamp Thing speaks in English that he has come to return Adam's pack to him, the man relents. Swamp Thing admits that he is the same Swamp Thing that attacked Gotham City, and they determine that they had collided with each other in the Zeta-Beam.

As they are talking, it suddenly occurs to Adam that the Swamp Thing could use his abilities to make the vegetation of Rann grow back, and heal the famine that has struck there. Swamp Thing agrees to try, and they decide to present their idea to Sardath. When Sardath and the elders agree to accept Swamp Thing's help, the Thanagarians become angry, as they had relied upon getting the Zeta-Beam in exchange for *their* aid.

Swamp Thing wanders into the desert, and then reaches into The Green, hoping to find some living vegetation whose growth he can encourage. Just as he finds one, and begins to latch onto it, his connection is severed when one of the Thanagarians cleaves through his torso with an axe. The axe attack proves to be a distraction, as Keela Roo appears and zaps him with a mind-eater – a device which could conceivably kill him.

Adam, alerted by the blast of the mind-eater's beam, rushes to Swamp Thing's rescue. Scira Ek quickly gives chase to Adam, gaining on him with his axe. Cleverly, Adam releases the full burn of his jet-pack into Scira Ek's face, and the blinded hawkman plummets to his death on the ground. Unfortunately, Keela Roo is right behind him, and her superior skill in aerial combat sends Adam reeling.

Desperately, Adam returns to Sardath's pool. Just as he passes over it, one of the liquid animals within emerges, and envelopes his Thanagarian pursuer. Keela Roo struggles to breath within the liquid body of the creature, and within three minutes, she is drowned.

With the Thanagarians disposed of, Swamp Thing finally reaches the healthy vegetation deep under the surface of Rann, and encourages its growth. The planet's land becomes healthy, and the famine will end. Later, Adam and the Swamp Thing discuss why the Thanagarians may have wanted the Zeta-Beam. Swamp Thing suggests that they may have meant to attack Earth, but Adam brushes it off. Adam suggests that Swamp Thing may be able to resolve his bio-electrical issues that prevent him from returning to earth somewhere on the planet J586 – which has a vegetable civilization.

Before Adam is taken by the Zeta-Beam, Swamp Thing asks him to deliver a message to his wife Abby that he is alive, and somewhere out there hoping to return. Adam promises to deliver the message, and the Swamp Thing leaves for J586.

After Swamp Thing has left, Alanna rushes outside and embraces Adam, exclaiming that she is finally pregnant. This is a doubly important pregnancy, because it will mean the first instance of a fruitful Rannian womb in perhaps decades. As they embrace happily, the Zeta-Beam kicks in, and Adam is taken from his wife's arms. She will be left to raise their child by herself until the next Zeta Beam appears.

## Appearances

### "Exiles"

#### Individuals

* Swamp Thing
* Adam Strange
* Alanna Strange
* Sardath
* Thanagarians
	+ Keela Roo ***(Dies)***
	+ Scira Ek ***(Dies)***
* Rannians

#### Locations:

* Rann
	+ Ranagar

#### Items

* Rannian Jet Pack
* Adam Strange's Ray Gun
* Zeta-Beam
* Menticizer

## External links

* *Swamp Thing (Volume 2)* Issue 58 on DC Wiki
* *Swamp Thing (Volume 2)* Issue 58 on Comic Vine