Swamp Thing (Volume 2) Issue 92

## "La Terre Qui Disparait"

"*With another source of life stolen... the land slips away quietly... few taking notice... of the slow approachment of death.*"
―Swamp Thing
## Synopsis

### "La Terre Qui Disparait"

Abby Holland visits the Terrebonne Parish cemetery, hoping to visit the grave of her once-husband Matt Cable, carrying her new daughter Tefé in one arm and her husband Swamp Thing in flower pot under the other.

The caretaker of the cemetery reveals that Matthew was cremated, because the hospital wouldn't pay for a burial. Abby is a little disappointed, but she and her family head into the crypt. They notice that the cemetery seems to be sinking, and the crypt's floor is flooded somewhat. While Abby takes some time to speak to Matthew's ashes, Swamp Thing lets his roots taste the water on the floor.

He realizes soon that the water has been contaminated with salt from seawater. Tracing through The Green, Swamp Thing discovers that the contamination is the result of canals dug by oil companies for convenience. Unfortunately, the influx of salt water destroys the balance of nature in Louisiana.

Elsewhere on the swamp, an old man named Adras Mouton hitches a ride on a boat back to his home from a fishing trip. He arrives to find that his wife Dorisca has passed away in the process of making a basket. For the Acadian people, this is God's Day, and Adras is heartbroken that God would decide to take his wife from him on this day.

Taking the basket from his dead wife's hands, and slowly unravelling it, Adras recalls how their relationship first bloomed. They carved their names into a tree near the church, and as the medicine man for the town, they were a well respected couple. They befriended the creature they called Le Bon Gumbo, but eventually their children were forced to learn English and forbidden to speak french, and the environment was affected negatively. As he recalls this, he begins braiding the unravelled basket, wishing that he could return things to the way they were, and restore the balance of nature.

As a result of his wish, a magic effect causes the state of Louisiana to fight back against the pollutants and industry that have caused it to sink into the ocean. Their friends of old are resurrected as Zombies, and the sudden upheaval of land causes significant destruction in civilized areas.

At the church, Gene LaBostrie senses an imbalance in nature, realizing that the changes that are occurring are the result of a conjo; an old Acadian magic spell. He sees the risen dead walking through a thick mist across the graveyard and deduces that he knows of only one man who could cast such a spell.

As Abby and her family leave the crypt, it soon becomes clear that something's not right. As a group of zombies surround them, Swamp Thing holds his wife and child out of harm's way. However, as the reanimated corpses look on him, they turn and walk away, mumbling "Le Bon Gumbo" to each other. He reaches out to seek the source of the magic, and leaves Abby and Tefé in the cemetary while he searches for it.

Swamp Thing finds his way to Adras' house, where the old man mistakes him for Alex Olsen, the previous Swamp Thing. Adras begs for the land to be restored to its former state, but Swamp thing responds that the land has already been restored - but too fast. The balance of life in the swamps is being destroyed.

LaBostrie bursts into the cabin demanding to know what Adras has done. He states that this is bad magic, and commands the old man to undo it. Adras denies having done anything, as his dead wife begins to come alive. LaBostrie points to the wall, where Adras has taken the basket and woven it into a new shape: a star which creates a powerful hex. Without realizing it, Adras has cast a conjo over the Earth.

Dorisca wakes, and catches her husband's attention and explains that he must let her go. Together, they rip down the hex, restoring the land to its former state of pollution and population. The zombies return to their graves, and the state sinks back into the ocean.

Afterward, Adras lays flowers upon his wife's grave stone, which has been erected in the shade of the tree in which they carved their names.

## Appearances

### "La Terre Qui Disparait"

#### Individuals

* Swamp Thing
* Abby Holland
* Gene LaBostrie
* Adras Mouton
* Zombies
* Dorisca Mouton ***(Appears only as a corpse)***
* Tefé Holland
* Alex Olsen ***(Flashback Only)***
* Lucèsse
* Etienne
* Togène

#### Locations

* Louisiana
	+ Terrebonne Parish
		- Houma

## External links

* *Swamp Thing (Volume 2)* Issue 92 on DC Wiki
* *Swamp Thing (Volume 2)* Isssue 92 on Comic Vine