The following contains spoilers for Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths #4 and The Flash #785 on sale now from DC Comics.
Swamp Thing's first appearance in DC's Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths is a significant omen. His presence signals, for one thing, the merging of forces from both superhumans and supernatural heroes. The event’s latest push into the mystical realm also hints at what Dark Crisis superheroes are sensing -- there’s something at play even darker than Deathstroke’s belligerence or Pariah’s zealotry for world-swapping. Swamp Thing believes the Great Darkness is behaving as if it’s corrupted by something. This epiphany calls forth revelations found in Swamp Thing comics from 1985 that tie into Dark Crisis' prequel. The Darkness as it's described in these old issues also hints that Barry Allen's alternate wasteland in Dark Crisis tie-in, The Flash, may hold the key to calming the Darkness once again.
While the true Barry from Earth-0 darts around Pariah's prison worlds, studying their nature, Dark Crisis, now at its halfway point introduces the supernatural side of the crisis. Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths #4 (by Joshua Williamson, Daniel Sampere, Alejandro Sánchez, and Tom Napolitano) pays tribute to Zatanna and John Constantine, two different Swamp Things. These appearances may be nothing more than nostalgic cameos, however, they provide significant insight, reminding fans the Great Darkness is a being with a particular nature. While Dark Crisis’ superhero cast connects the dots between Pariah and their dream-world prisons, DC's magical heroes are working to learn more about the ultimate anomaly behind it all.
In this issue, Allen Scott’s Green Lantern leads Wonder Girl, Super Boy and Nightwing down to the headquarters of Justice League Dark where they encounter Swamp Thing. Nightwing recalls that Black Adam claimed the Great Darkness was controlling Pariah and the Dark Army. He asks Swamp Thing if it could also be controlling Deathstroke. He is doubtful as he sees the Darkness differently since he once visited the Spirit World and met the Great Darkness back in 1985's Swamp Thing #49-50 (by Alan Moore and Stan Woch). Nightwing's theory just doesn't hold up for him because the Great Darkness he knows doesn't care for power or the material world in general. Perhaps the nature of its origins is a good place to start to truly understand it.
Alan Moore’s Swamp Thing: The Summoning opens with a dark bird carrying a dark pearl that will awaken the Great Darkness after a set of warlocks summoned it. Swamp Thing hears many things about the Great Darkness before he encounters it. It's a pre-Satan primordial darkness. As a “shadow falling upon paradise,” the Darkness is an entity no science-based defense can stop. It’s an entity that even demons fear. The Guardians of the Universe (extraterrestrial superheroes) can't detect it as an anomaly. On Earth-1, Solavar, King of Gorillas' top scientists are unable to defeat it. Alexander Luthor, the sole superhero of Earth-3, exclaims that not even his science can stop it. The Great Darkness is so ethereal and uncanny it causes Brainiac a living computer to feel fear for the first time.
Swamp Thing approaches the entity in the Spirit World and walks right into the Great Darkness. It responds peacefully because unlike the many creatures trying to physically assault it, Swamp Thing enters willingly without any wrath. He explains some of what he learned from this encounter -- the Great Darkness is neither good nor evil and only has a desire to gain knowledge. It doesn’t seek control over anyone.
What Swamp Thing doesn't mention is that ultimately the Darkness does not want to be alone, and will reach out to the Light. The dark pearl carried by the bird that births it is yet another significant detail in Swamp Thing #49. August’s Dark Crisis tie-in, The Flash #785 (by Jeremy Adams and Amancay Nahuelpan) has an alternate Barry Allen from a wasteland world in possession of a pearl he calls the last bit of magic in the world. His task, he says, is to take it “where this all started”. By the end of Dark Crisis #4, the Darkness overcomes Lex Luthor and the Legion of Doom but strangely leaves Black Adam unaffected. A multiverse is born, and the Great Darkness is still spreading.
With these details in mind, it’s clear that the Darkness covets Light, and magic is necessary to disarm it. If the dark pearl from the old Swamp Thing tie-in is the yin, then Mad-Max-style Barry Allen most certainly is the yang. The alternate Barry may have the answer to subduing this existential threat. Swamp Thing suggests someone or something must have corrupted the Darkness for their own purposes hinting there’s an epically powerful force at work. The Darkness spreads only when summoned, and it destroys only when it's after something it covets. As superheroes gather in the Hall of Justice to discuss the nature of the multiverse, DC's magical heroes will hopefully join them and contribute their knowledge regarding the supernatural forces at play.
Swamp Thing and his fellow magical heroes are an excellent team to help theorize on such ambiguities. He proves that he's the necessary hero to consult since he’s the only being extraordinary enough to survive speaking to the Great Darkness. These details pulled from prequel tie-ins are what’s making Dark Crisis such a good read for fans of Marv Wolfman-style epics with DC universe-wide casts. It's also about time DC magical heroes played major roles in a story featuring a magical pearl and the metaphysical Great Darkness.