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SWAMP THING
#47
"The Parliament of Trees"

(22 pages)
Writer: Alan Moore
Artist(s): Stan Woch and Ron Randall
Colorist: Tatjana Wood
Letterer: John Costanza
Editor: Karen Berger
Swamp Thing Created by Len Wein and Bernie Wrightson

Cover: Steve Bissette and JohnTotleben (signed)


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FACTOID
FROM THE BOG

"Jack-in-the-Green" (page 16:3) is from a legend of a leafy "Green Man" dating back to ancient pagan times, comemmorated in the English Morris Dance song. During old May Day fertility rituals, a person would dress up as Jack in a leafy costume. Many cathedrals feature the leafy face in their stonework. The cover of the "Swamp Thing: A Murder of Crows" trade book (which reprints issues 43-48 and Annual #2)is based on a common "Green Man" sculpture. For more information, read The Green Man by Kathleen Basford and Mike Harding's website.

1:1 This is the first appearance of Howard Fleck.

4:1 The Jackson House figured in ST #41 and 42.

5:2-3 "Secrets & Mysteries" reminds Abby of her dream in #33, wherein she visited the House of Mystery and the House of Secrets.

6:1 Link: "anywhere in the world"

8:3 Perhaps this is the giant sloth which Bruce Chatwin wrote about in In Patagonia (1977).

8:5 The legendary "Elephants' Graveyard" is a place where elephants instinctively go to die at the end of their lifespan. Such a place would be a goldmine to ivory hunters.

14:1 Alex Olsen first appeared in the very first SWAMP THING story in HOUSE OF SECRETS #92, which was reprinted in the aforementioned SAGA OF THE SWAMP THING #33.

14:3 This is the first appearance of the Albert Höllorer elemental.

Bog Venus was the first human-based earth elemental. Together with Ghost-Hiding-In-The-Rushes, St. Columba, and the Kettle-Hole-Devil (this is the first published appearance of all) they form a Committee to ensnare ST permanently into the Parliament of Trees in issue 68, but he dispatches them in issue 69 and persuades them to move to other planets in #74.

16:3 This is the first appearance of "Jack-in the-Green".
SANDMAN creator Neil Gaiman wrote one of his earliest stories for DC Comics about Jack-In-The-Green, but it was never produced and published until many years later in the DC Comics trade collection "Neil Gaiman's Midnight Days" (and that's the only place you'll find it!)
Jack-In-The -Green also appears in the 2002 ,HELLBLAZER SPECIAL: LADY CONSTANTINE mini-series.

16:4 "Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht"="Silent Night, Holy Night"

17:4 ST will indeed experience time travel in an ill-fated storyline by Rick Veitch, culminating in #90.

20:4 The Daily Mirror is a British newspaper.

21:4 "Newcastle" is a city where Constantine tried to perform an exorcism with some others, including Benjamin Cox, Frank North, Judith and Anne-Marie. The results were disastrous, resulting in Constantine's confinement at Ravenscar asylum. Although often hinted at, the details are not revealed until the publication of HELLBLAZER #11. Newcastle is also the home city of real-life singer Sting who was the visual inspiration for Constantine.

Comments: For more info on Patagonia, see last issue's note from Gonzalo Fonseca.
Tefé is a river in the Brazilian state of Amazonas which runs past a city also named Tefé. It is part of the Amazon River, the largest natural drainage system in the world. The Amazon Rain Forest makes up half of the Earth's remaining rain forest, also constitutes its largest reserve of biological resources. There has been growing concern in recent decades about the devestating effects of deforestation there, which has drastic repercussions for the entire planet. Tefé will be the name of Swamp Thing's daughter, who stars in her own series in the year 2000, also titled SWAMP THING.

COMMENT: In 2001, DC Comics collected/reprinted issues 43-50 in a trade book titled "Swamp Thing: A Murder of Crows"



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