Len Wein's final story featuring Swamp Thing will be released next year by DC Comics on January 31 in Swamp Thing Winter Special #1. The influential writer and editor, who passed away in September, co-created the supernatural hero who debuted in The House of Secrets #92, and now fans will be able to see his final take on Alec Holland's monster, with artist Kelley Jones.
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Before he passed, Wein completed the script for the first issue of a new series with Jones, his partner on the 2016 Swamp Thing miniseries, and despite that series now being shelved, fans will still be able to soak in the first issue as Wein intended. "I'm completely grateful I got to do it," Jones said in an interview with Entertainment Weekly.
It picks up where their miniseries left off with Swamp Thing harnessing the power of the Green in the Louisiana swamps, only for Solomon Grundy to shake things up as he arrives in town with a kid he kidnapped from Gotham.
"[Wein's] major plan was pretty much a straight horror title. He kept stressing that angle to me -- that bringing up a lot of those DC horror characters was what would make the book more unique," Jones added. "His main thing was to stress that Alec was turned into Swamp Thing. He really wanted to stress that again. He felt that there was a lot of story potential in that."
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As for their final days working on the project, the artist said, "I sent him some scans of stuff and he gave me a cover idea that he was very excited about. He loved to be involved in that kind of aspect of it. Len was just old world comics. He loved collaboration. He loved to talk about the visuals."
Wein co-created Swamp Thing with Bernie Wrightson in 1971. He was 69 years old and will forever be remembered as a legend in the industry, for his endless contributions.