This weekend’s escapist, light-hearted superhero post from Balladeer’s Blog will look at some of DC’s Swamp Thing covers that fit the Halloween Season.
SWAMP THING Vol 1 #3 (March 1973)
Title: The Patchwork Man
Villains: Dr. Anton Arcane and his Patchwork Man
NOTE: Scientist Alec Holland developed a bio-restorative chemical formula to help plant and animal life survive under hostile environmental conditions. A group of villains called the Conclave wanted the formula for their own purposes and murdered Alec and his wife Linda when they would not sell them that formula.
Alec’s body was dumped in the swamp, where the bio-restorative chemicals his body had been soaked in interacted with his own anatomy, the mud and the plant life in the swamp, letting him rise from the dead as a murk-monster. The Swamp Thing retained Alec Holland’s intelligence but could not speak for the first several issues.
Synopsis: The Swamp Thing was searching through the laboratory of his foe, Anton Arcane, genetic engineer and sorcerer combined. He winds up battling another of Arcane’s macabre creations, the Patchwork Man, one of the villain’s Un-Men. Continue reading
OMAC Vol 1 #1 (October 1974) 
Because of the danger of this assignment, Buddy is first used as a test subject for Operation OMAC (One Man Army Corps). The test is a success and when needed, the everyday Buddy Blank can be infused with superpowers by the GPA’s orbiting satellite called Brother Eye. 
BLACK LIGHTNING Vol 1 #1 (April 1977) 
Jefferson Pierce was a gifted athlete from high school on up and even won medals in the Olympics. Disdaining celebrity, he became a teacher and ultimately moved back to the slums where he grew up and taught at Garfield High. 
ACTION COMICS Vol 1 #1 (June 1938) 
Superman takes down a wife-beater, saves Lois Lane from horny gangsters and clears a woman falsely convicted of murder by tying up the real killer – and even smashing his way into the governor’s mansion to make him call off her imminent execution. 
FLASH Vol 1 #155 (September 1965) 
DETECTIVE COMICS Vol 1 #437 (November 1973) Later reprinted multiple times in Trade Paperback collections of the entire new Manhunter saga. 
Christine travels to Nepal to investigate this new Manhunter’s recent actions which saved the life of a wealthy philanthropist. Via flashbacks from her informant, she learns that the new Manhunter has been battling an organization which made several clones of Paul Kirk and has been using them to carry out the assassinations that Manhunter is blamed for because the clones wear blue costumes like his red one. 
FIRST ISSUE SPECIAL Vol 1 #12 (March 1976) 
ADVENTURE COMICS Vol 1 #461 (February 1979) 
Synopsis: Bill Jensen, a corrupt former D.A. just released from prison, has been gifted with superpowers like the ability to shoot mystic energy blasts, conjure up unearthly fire, walk up walls, produce a force field and more. He refuses to reveal how he has gained these powers. 
ALL STAR COMICS Vol 1 #70 (February 1978) 
Those villains are helmeted criminals known by numbers instead of names and led by the mysterious Number 1. Strike Force has over a score of members, and they wield high-tech weaponry and equipment. 
ALL STAR COMICS Vol 1 #64 (February 1977) 
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