Swamp Thing Annual #6 (1991)

Resting, finally, after a battle with The Grey, Abby Holland and her husband the Swamp Thing wonder if they'll ever have a normal life with their young daughter Tefé. These worries are compounded by the fact that their home in the Louisiana swamp was destroyed in a hurricane. Without much prompting, Swamp Thing surprises his wife by building an entirely new home within seconds, one which is a bit more human than the previous one. Somewhere, a boy named Tommy has been locked in the trunk of a car. Days ago, he was kidnapped by a bad man who pretends to be his father. They have stopped in a few times along the way, but Tommy has been visibly afraid, threatening to blow his captor's cover. Finally, the trunk opens and the man throws Tommy into the Bayou, where he drowns. Outside Houma, a group of thugs has grabbed a homosexual man and driven him out onto a deserted bridge. Calling him vicious names, they throw him to the ground and urinate in his face. The man begs for his life, promising not to tell anyone about what happened. The leader of the thugs disbelieves him, and shoots him in the head, letting his body fall into the Bayou. In the swamp, Abby wakes from a nightmare in which she saw her daughter Tefé riding a sheep into a slaughter house. The slaughter house then changed into a Stonehenge like ruin, and filled her with a sense of dread. On the same bridge over the Bayou, a man named Merle smokes a cigarette while his pregnant and feverish wife sits in the back of his car. He is disgusted by her, and believes that her condition is her own fault. She would like to be taken to a hospital, but he is more concerned about what her fluids have done to his car's upholstery. Rather than pay any hospital bills, Merle simply throws her into the Bayou. Abby returns to town and surprises her old friend Chester Williams. He is happy to see her, and explains that the house weathered the hurricane fairly well. Abby asks after Chester's girlfriend Liz, but Chester seems downcast when he explains that she is with a friend. Liz' appears to be in some kind of romantic relationship with her friend Barb, whom she met through a rape crisis hotline. Barb is planning to move back to Portland, Oregon. Liz doesn't feel ready to lose her friend or to tell Chester her real feelings. As Barb leaves, Liz is left wondering what to do. Abby and her daughter do some shopping at the grocery store until they are accosted by a man named Carl Vinter. He is looking for his lover Bill Ingersol, the man who was killed by the homophobes over a month ago. Abby sadly explains that she has not seen the man before, and Carl tries elsewhere as Abby places a milk carton showing a missing persons photo of Tommy. In a bar outside of Houma, Tiger la Rue attempts to make a pool shot, but Chuck and Rene distract him. They owe him money, and he takes them out to his van to receive their payment. He reaches into his van, taking out a crowbar, only to turn and find the two men with guns trained on him. They tie him up, take him out to the bridge, beat him with a bat, shove mud into his face, and then throw him into the bayou. As he sinks, Tiger swears vengeance. Tiger's death seems to be a turning point. The bayou takes each offering and converts them into a creature. Swamp Thing remains unaware as a heart begins beating in the Bayou Perdu. The creature shares the consciousness of each person who died there. The horrifying chimera rises from the water, and swears vengeance on the guilty. Out in the swamp, Gene LaBostrie sees a silhouette on the horizon and calls out to Le Bon Gumbo - his name for the Swamp Thing. He is disturbed to find that it is Les Perdu. The creature decides not to kill him, and dives into the water. Meanwhile, Chuck and Rene scour Tiger's old house looking for a stash of cocaine. Searching, they eventually discover his stash hidden inside of a Coca Cola can. Planning to sell it, the men are ecstatic. Suddenly, the house begins to shake violently. The house is eventually destroyed, and the men crawl out a window. Turning around, they discover Les Perdu, which chooses to kill them. Gene LaBostrie rushes to the Swamp Thing's home looking for help. He explains that there is a monster out on the swamps and that it is headed toward town. Swamp Thing knows that his family is staying in town, and makes his way. At that same time, Abby and Chester decide to go out to a local bar together for some fun. The main event of the evening is called a "chicken drop." The bartender feeds a chicken a laxative, and then the patrons bet on which number on a chart that the bird is going to relieve itself on. At that same bar, Merle has found another woman, and Carl Vinter asks the men who murdered his lover if they've seen Bill Ingersoll. The leader of the homophobic thugs becomes enraged, thinking he's been ratted out. The bartender throws him out, fortunately. Nearby, Merle and his new woman stumble out into the street as the shadow of Les Perdu approaches. The monster bites off Merle's hand, and his woman's screams lead both the bartender and the thugs to attack. The thugs are all devoured by the creature. Carl rushes out, and looking into the monster's face, he realizes that his lover Bill is somewhere within it. Swamp Thing arrives on the scene, but the police arrive moments later, and Les Perdu disappear. The locals believe that the attacker was the Swamp Thing, and Abby and Chester are forced to vouch for him. Carl admits that the two creatures are not the same, and the police move on. Abby asks Swamp Thing what the monster was, and he responds that he saw no monster. Elsewhere in Bayou Perdu, the creature it birthed feels only sorrow.