WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Future State: Swamp Thing #1 by Ram V, Mike Perkins, June Chung and Aditya Bidikar on sale now.

Swamp Thing Alec Holland has something of his own mythos within the wider DC Universe. Writers revamp him frequently and with each revamp comes a new facet to the character’s powers. In Future State: Swamp Thing #1, Ram V and Perkins give Alec a new Swamp family in a world where humanity was overtaken by climate change. The most prominent members of the family – Indigo, Calla and Heather – embody archetypes that will inform the rest of the arc. Alec’s new tribe aren’t the first Swamp People, though. What makes them unique is that Alec created them himself; they aren’t Avatars of the Green.

Indigo is the least trusting member of Alec’s self-made family and is the fool of the group. Less court jester and more Fool from King Lear, Indigo speaks truth to power and predicts where his leader’s actions will take the tribe. Indigo disturbs Alec the most when he claims that Alec feels the tribe isn’t good enough for him anymore; that he’s seeking out human survivors because his humanity is more powerful than his connection to the tribe. Alec keeps Indigo around despite his naysaying, perhaps conscious that he offers valuable criticism. While Alec feels closer to the tribe than Indigo claims, Ram V foreshadows at the end of the issue that contact with humanity will prove disastrous for the Swamp Thing.

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Calla is the youngest-appearing tribe member and represents the Innocent. She sits with Alec atop the Statue of Liberty at the beginning of the issue and asks him to speak to her of the world that died. She is the cipher for the reader and a beloved member of the tribe. Ram V may use Calla’s trust to summon up the most pathos in Indigo’s foretold tragedy.

Heather falls between Calla and Indigo, acting as Alec’s second-in-command, but turning skeptical of his actions as the tribe ventures through the frozen wilds of Canada. When the tribe discovers that a human has murdered one of their own, Heather seeks justice, but Alec intercedes with absolute authority. After Alec turns her away so he can speak to the human, Indigo offers his own opinion to Heather. Despite her violent response to his claims that Alec has found a new favorite, Heather appears contemplative of Indigo’s words.

Alec himself is the “Green Father” of the tribe. Ram V and Perkins use interstitial moments to describe a different aspect of the Green Father’s creative process. He outlines constructing muscle, lungs and emotions in the new tribe. While he is part human, chosen to become the Avatar of the Green, his tribe are all plant, created from the Green in his image.

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Future State isn’t the first time beings like Alec graced the pages of Swamp Thing. The “Season’s End” story by Charles Soule and Jesús Saíz from the New 52 used several Avatars of the Green as major characters. Jason Woodrue (created by Gardner Fox and Gil Kane in 2012’s Swamp Thing Annual #1) was a foil to Alec. Soule and Javier Piña also created the characters Brother Jonah (Swamp Thing #21, 2013) and Lady Weeds (Swamp Thing Annual #2, 2013) to flesh out the expanded influence of the Green, Red and Metal. Each of these characters found their origin as Avatars of the Green, like Alec, which makes them different from Future State’s swamp people.

Ram V and Perkins craft an original tale in Swamp Thing lore with Future State, though they plant the seeds of coming events within the very first issue. The archetypal nature of Alec’s new family foreshadows a coming tragedy for the Swamp Thing. But their creation also hints at what may be possible for life on Earth in this bold new era.

KEEP READING: Swamp Thing: DC Just Gave Alec Holland a New Family Member