Brace yourself for a lot of blather; I thought I had this down tight, but as usual got chatty and just thought: oh well!
So in my last post I mentioned these two characters as the supporting cast of the original volume of Swamp Thing. The two are actually pretty tragic; Matthew Cable, the Lieutenant who failed to protect Alec and Linda Holland, and Abigail Arcane, the niece of quite possibly one of the most evil characters existing in the DCU. I don't know if Wein or Wrightson could have guessed the story arcs these two would follow over the next forty years, but I'll cut to the chase and rip the band-aid off for you.
After the events of Volume 1, Matthew and Abigail fall in love and marry, but Matthew suffers an accident that leaves him a psychotic abusive drunk with a peculiar sexual fetish for reanimated corpses (seriously, it's pretty twisted). He suffers atrociously and makes everyone around him suffer even worse, ultimately being possessed by the aforementioned evil uncle (Anton Arcane), and doing something so horrific that DC finally threw the Comics Code right in the trash with a big ol' middle finger to the censors (We love you, Alan Moore!). And that was that. By issue No. 29 in 1982, Volume 2 of Swamp Thing had made its crossover into the "mature readers" category and would lead the way toward the Vertigo line of mature comics ~ and ultimately the death of the Comics Code.
But what happened to poor horrid Matthew? Well, he sacrifices his life to save Abigail from her evil uncle and falls into a coma from which he never wakes. After countless more issues of suffering, Abigail shuts down his life support and basically euthanizes him as a mercy. So yeah, he's kinda dead these days.
Neil Gaiman took pity on him though (seriously, this was rough reading back in the day), and because Matthew died in a state of dreaming, reincarnated him as a companion for Dream in the Sandman series 7 years later (see below). It's never explicitly stated that this is Matthew Cable, but subtle clues indicate that it must be and it's generally understood to be canonically true. Though both Swamp Thing and the Sandman series have been playing out in DC's New 52 reboot, Matthew's place in this continuity and his ultimate fate have yet to be revealed.
So in my last post I mentioned these two characters as the supporting cast of the original volume of Swamp Thing. The two are actually pretty tragic; Matthew Cable, the Lieutenant who failed to protect Alec and Linda Holland, and Abigail Arcane, the niece of quite possibly one of the most evil characters existing in the DCU. I don't know if Wein or Wrightson could have guessed the story arcs these two would follow over the next forty years, but I'll cut to the chase and rip the band-aid off for you.
After the events of Volume 1, Matthew and Abigail fall in love and marry, but Matthew suffers an accident that leaves him a psychotic abusive drunk with a peculiar sexual fetish for reanimated corpses (seriously, it's pretty twisted). He suffers atrociously and makes everyone around him suffer even worse, ultimately being possessed by the aforementioned evil uncle (Anton Arcane), and doing something so horrific that DC finally threw the Comics Code right in the trash with a big ol' middle finger to the censors (We love you, Alan Moore!). And that was that. By issue No. 29 in 1982, Volume 2 of Swamp Thing had made its crossover into the "mature readers" category and would lead the way toward the Vertigo line of mature comics ~ and ultimately the death of the Comics Code.
But what happened to poor horrid Matthew? Well, he sacrifices his life to save Abigail from her evil uncle and falls into a coma from which he never wakes. After countless more issues of suffering, Abigail shuts down his life support and basically euthanizes him as a mercy. So yeah, he's kinda dead these days.
Neil Gaiman took pity on him though (seriously, this was rough reading back in the day), and because Matthew died in a state of dreaming, reincarnated him as a companion for Dream in the Sandman series 7 years later (see below). It's never explicitly stated that this is Matthew Cable, but subtle clues indicate that it must be and it's generally understood to be canonically true. Though both Swamp Thing and the Sandman series have been playing out in DC's New 52 reboot, Matthew's place in this continuity and his ultimate fate have yet to be revealed.
Meanwhile poor Abby has fared no better, though she outlived Matthew by three decades and through all the remaining volumes of Swamp Thing (we're on No. 5 these days). After her broken marriage and the horrors of what her uncle inflicted on her, Abby runs off with Alec and an unlikely but totally believable romance blossoms, leading to possibly one of the most bizarre three-way sex scenes in comic book history (and yet I challenge anyone reading the book to tell me they weren't glued to the page to see what was going to happen).
Anyway, instead of it being all roses and posies, however, being the common-law wife to a vegetable goes downhill after Abby gets pregnant, gives birth to a monstrous hybrid child (seriously, Tefe is one of the most screwed up things ever conceived in the DCU), loses Alec, lose Tefe, loses everything, basically.
But as if that wasn't sufficient torture, the New 52, with its chance to reboot her and give her and Swamp Thing another shot at happiness, instead takes the two down an even darker path in one of the most beautiful and saddest deaths ever foisted on the reading public.
So yeah, they're both totally dead now.
Anyway, instead of it being all roses and posies, however, being the common-law wife to a vegetable goes downhill after Abby gets pregnant, gives birth to a monstrous hybrid child (seriously, Tefe is one of the most screwed up things ever conceived in the DCU), loses Alec, lose Tefe, loses everything, basically.
But as if that wasn't sufficient torture, the New 52, with its chance to reboot her and give her and Swamp Thing another shot at happiness, instead takes the two down an even darker path in one of the most beautiful and saddest deaths ever foisted on the reading public.
So yeah, they're both totally dead now.
So enjoy playing dress up with these grim souls and remember that life is precious!
While no one ever stays dead in comic books (except Batman's parents), it will likely be a long while before we see these two again.
I kind of hope I'm wrong. Abby has been an integral part of the Swamp Thing saga for so long and frankly, I always thought Matthew was dealt a bum hand (and was actually happy to see him in Sandman, at least, even as a bird).
For now, though, think happy thoughts. While we're just covering Volume 1 here none of those horrible things have even been imagined yet and the possibility of doomed romance for any of them doesn't ever factor in.
For the plate you can see Abby's head is disconnected so that you can either make it swappable or glue it in place and arrange the hair as you like. For ideas on how to do this, check out Harley Quinn.
And speaking of Harley, she might have something coming up next!
While no one ever stays dead in comic books (except Batman's parents), it will likely be a long while before we see these two again.
I kind of hope I'm wrong. Abby has been an integral part of the Swamp Thing saga for so long and frankly, I always thought Matthew was dealt a bum hand (and was actually happy to see him in Sandman, at least, even as a bird).
For now, though, think happy thoughts. While we're just covering Volume 1 here none of those horrible things have even been imagined yet and the possibility of doomed romance for any of them doesn't ever factor in.
For the plate you can see Abby's head is disconnected so that you can either make it swappable or glue it in place and arrange the hair as you like. For ideas on how to do this, check out Harley Quinn.
And speaking of Harley, she might have something coming up next!