One of the strangest monstrosities in the entire DC Universe is officially back in action.

After yet another person goes missing in the marshlands outside Gotham City, the eponymous duo of Poison Ivy/Swamp Thing: Feral Trees #1 finds themselves investigating the very same mystery. As it turns out, something, or someone, has driven the trees in the Crest Hill Woods into a murderous frenzy. Even more surprising, not even the Kettle Hole Devil has any idea what is happening to this particular patch of the Green, only that even the trees he is supposed to protect have turned on him for seemingly no reason whatsoever.

• Written by G. WILLOW WILSON
• Art by MIKE PERKINS
• Colors by MIKE SPICER
• Letters by HASSAN OTSMANE-ELHAOU
• Main cover art by JASON SHAWN ALEXANDER
• Variant covers by CLAYTON CRAIN, JESSICA FONG, MIKE PERKINS & MIKE SPICER, and ASHLEY WOOD

First seen in the pages of 1986’s Swamp Thing #47 by Alan Moore and Stan Woch, the Kettle Hole Devil is a being not all that dissimilar from Swamp Thing himself. Once an ordinary brewery worker back in the 1920s, the man who became the Kettle Hole Devil was attacked and left for dead in a vat of fermenting hops. This, like Alec Holland’s own experiences, led the man to form a strange connection to The Green and the Parliament of Trees, ultimately ushering in his transformation into the Kettle Hole Devil of today.

Eventually, the Kettle Hole Devil took it upon himself to teach Swamp Thing how to properly command his powers and communicate with The Green. Though they shared a common connection, the Kettle Hole Devil wasn’t entirely convinced that Swamp Thing was fit for a place among the Parliament of Trees. This kicked off a vicious confrontation between Swamp Thing and the fused elementals who became the Wild Thing, which included the Kettle Hole Devil. Following the Wild Thing’s defeat and the eventual destruction of the Parliament of Trees, it was assumed that the Kettle Hole Devil had also perished.

The disappearances seen in the pages of Poison Ivy/Swamp Thing: Feral Trees #1 are just the latest mystery to befall the swampy marshes outside of Gotham City. Recently, an entirely new locale has cropped up seemingly out of nowhere, drawing the attention of multiple Gotham mainstays. Gretchen Felker-Martin and Atagun Ilhan’s story “Boots and Handbags” from the recently released Poison Ivy #25 saw Killer Croc stumble upon this mysterious new town while confronting a pair of overly aggressive hunters. Rather than investigate, however, Killer Croc chose to stay on his side of the swamp, far from whatever malevolent forces lie in wait in the newest addition to Gotham’s sprawling landscape.

Poison Ivy/Swamp Thing: Feral Trees #1 is on sale now from DC Comics.

Source: DC Comics

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