Swamp Thing (Volume 2) Issue 103

## "Exodus"

"*Give up now and surrender... your individualism to The Grey.*"
―Alan Hallman
## Synopsis

### "Exodus"

In the Louisiana swamps, Abby Holland and her companions wake inside the Swamp Thing's protective sheath of plant matter, which saved them all from a violent hurricane. Their home was completely destroyed, along with most of the attackers sent by Matango to capture their daughter Tefé. Unfortunately, the Shaman Najagarjuk was killed.

Knowing that The Grey's threat is still a danger to them, Swamp Thing determines to take Tefé away to be placed under the protection of the Parliament of Trees. Though Abby is reluctant to deal with the Parliament again, she acquiesces, with his promise that he will return within moments of travelling with the child through The Green. He leaves her there with Brenda, a scryer and coroner who was helping them to recreate Tefé's body when the hurricane hit.

Nearby, Matango senses that Tefé is travelling through The Green without being tethered to a human body, making her vulnerable to his influence. He has his followers awaken one of his more powerful minions to capture the girl and her father.

In The Green, Swamp Thing and Tefé are attacked and pulled into fungal growths by a creature looking much like the Swamp Thing himself, only grey and decayed. he claims to be the Swamp Thing's older brother.

Back in the swamps, Brenda checks on Abby's twisted Ankle and the two of them begin walking toward town. However, they are suddenly startled by the appearance of Matango. Strangely, the Swamp Thing's discarded husk of a head seems to ward the creature off, and despite her twisted ankle, Abby is forced to run away with Brenda.

Trapped inside a creature of The Grey, the Swamp Thing's captor introduces himself as Alan Hallman, a scientist who had been trying to develop a formula to help repair damaged crops until he was chosen by the Parliament of Trees to be an earth elemental: the Swamp Thing's predecessor. Hallman states that within this creature of The Grey, Tefé and the Swamp Thing will be broken down and converted into fungus, before Matango gathers them up and reforms their consciousnesses in his Chamber of Dreams.

Abby and Brenda run until they discover an abandoned oil platform. They hope that the radio still works, so they can call for a helicopter. Inside, though, the radio seems not to work. Looking out the window, Abby realizes that she can't see Houma on the skyline, and wonders if it too has been destroyed by the hurricane.

As the creature's toxins start to break him down, the Swamp Thing attempts to reach out to the interstellar frequencies of the worlds beyond The Green and The Grey. Hallman is impressed, but ultimately the effort is useless. Knowing that he needs more power than he's got, Swamp Thing reaches out to Tefé for her to lend him some of hers. With her help, they blast a hole in the side of the creature, and escape.

Inside the oil platform, Matango makes his way inside, sending his leaf-spies in to find them women. Brenda blasts a gust of leaves with a fire extinguisher, and they fall to the ground uselessly. Abby wonders if Brenda knows any magic with which to fight off Matango's inevitable arrival. She has learned some magic from her grandfather, but she needs a dead body to make it work. Abby realizes that Matango is dead, and they form a plan.

As Matango arrives, Abby tries to hold him off by throwing the Swamp Thing's discarded husk of a head at him, but it falls aside with no effect. Matango stands imposingly over Abby and she screams for Brenda to hurry with her spell. Suddenly, though, the Swamp Thing rises out of the remains of his head, and grips Matango in his fists. As he does so, Matango disappears.

Brenda's spell was a success, and, looking at the reunited couple, she demands to know when they're all going to get out of the swamp.

## Appearances

### "Exodus"

#### Individuals

* Swamp Thing
* Abby Holland
* Tefé Holland
* Brenda
* Matango
* Alan Hallman
* Shama Najagarjuk ***(Dies)***

#### Locations

* Louisiana
	+ Houma

#### Concepts

* The Grey
* The Green

## External links

* *Swamp Thing (Volume 2)* Issue 103 on DC Wiki
* *Swamp Thing (Volume 2)* Issue 103 on Comic Vine