WARNING: The following contains spoilers for The Swamp Thing #1, by Ram V, Mike Perkins, Mike Spicer and Aditya Bidikar, on sale now.
A new Swamp Thing has recently been introduced into the DC Universe, and the new Avatar of the Green is dealing with his new identity about as poorly as you might expect. While his origins are still mysterious, it seems that a potential new rival knows far more about him than he does.
Called The Pale Wanderer, this murderer of the desert sands looks more like a zombie than he does an elemental representative like Swamp Thing. Despite this, he claims to be a desert who dreamed of being a man. Pale Wanderer's personified origin heavily resembles the one that Alan Moore gave to Swamp Thing when he rebooted the title in the '80s. Swamp Thing's newest foe may have much more in common with him than he realizes.
The Pale Wanderer
More so than Swamp Thing himself, the issue focuses on the legend of the Pale Wanderer. This urban myth was supposedly a veteran of the Civil War who had grown tired of human interaction and civilization. He eventually moved into a remote area, but even this wasn't secluded enough for his liking. Thus, he took to living in the desert, where he seemingly became a mystical, inhuman creature that personified the desert itself. This is not unlike Swamp Thing, who is essentially plant-life made into humanoid form.
The Pale Wanderer had attained a rather violent reputation, which he showcases when he attacks a group of police who were investigating his latest killing. Thankfully for them, Swamp Thing inadvertently teleports into the area, still unsure of what he is or how his powers work. The Pale Wanderer marvels at the new Avatar of the Green, noting how he had never seen a Swamp Thing in person before. He then remarks on their similarities, noting that they are both immortal ideas. The Pale Wanderer also refers to himself as a Desert that dreamed it was a man, perhaps referencing a classic revamping of Swamp Thing's origin.
The Anatomy Lesson
Alan Moore, Steve Bissette John Totleben and their collaborators completely changed Swamp Thing's origins when they took over The Saga of the Swamp Thing back in the 1980s. Beforehand, Swamp Thing had simply been Alec Holland, a scientist who was mutated into a plant-like creature after being exposed to chemicals and falling into a swamp. With Moore's retcon, however, this was no longer the case. Now, Swamp Thing was mutated plant matter that came into contact with the dying Holland and thus merely thought that it was Alec Holland. For this reason, it developed a humanoid form and even facsimiles of internal organs to imitate the human life that it never truly had.
This status as a plant that dreamed it was a man has stayed with Swamp Thing ever since, even inspiring the DC Universe TV show. It seems to be the origin of the Pale Wanderer, as well. By invoking this idea, but with a desert instead of plant life, it suggests that the Pale Wanderer is an elemental avatar just like Swamp Thing. It's likely that the Pale Wanderer's "human host" died at some point while secluding himself in the desert. From there, mystical forces came in contact with his body and sort of reassembled it to take on a more humanoid form, with the resulting wraith possibly thinking that it was still the original human.
Though how he's become the current Swamp Thing is still unknown, it's possible that Levi Kamei also has a similar origin of a reassembled "human" made out of plants. This possibility is made somewhat murky by the fact that Levi still has his human form, which the plant matter that thought it was Alec Holland did not. Either way, it would seem that the series is still heavily influenced by the work that Alan Moore did for the character decades ago.