In Tom Taylor and Trevor Hairsine’s DCeased: Dead Planet #3, Swamp Thing’s mission leads the character to brutally murder a Justice League villain.
WARNING: The following contains spoilers for DCeased: Dead Planet #3 by Tom Taylor, Trevor Hairsine, Gigi Baldassini, Rain Beredo and Saida Temofonte, on sale now.
In DCeased: Dead Planet #2, Swamp Thing and John Constantine formed a new version of Shadowpact that included Zatanna, Ragman, Blue Devil and Detective Chimp. Together, they traveled to Australia, where Swamp Thing insisted that the Green was in need of their help. When they got there, however, the found a fortress protected by both Hellfire and a zombified Plastic Man that killed both Ragman and Blue Devil.
Now, in Dead Planet #3, the remaining members of Shadowpact continue their mission to discover that this fortress is actually home to another settlement of survivors — one that is ruled by super-villains such as Gotham City crime boss Penguin, the mind-controlling Maxwell Lord, and the mad scientist Professor Ivo.
The mystical superheroes end up clashing with the villains, of course — but only after Swamp Thing makes the first move by straight-up murdering Max Lord.
When the surviving members of Shadowpact are taken in by Penguin and his forces, they learn that the super-villains have established a colony of survivors where they still manage to profit over the weak and the poor. They offer shelter, protection and nourishment to their people, and, in return, they work for them.
However, Swamp Thing rapidly discovers why he was called to this location in the first place — why he heard the Green call out in pain. It turns out the villains have taken the Floronic Man prisoner, and they are forcing him to produce fruits and nourishment for everyone. The Floronic may be a villain (he’s usually an enemy of the Atom), but his connection to the Green is the reason Swamp Thing is so furious. Swamp Thing is the protector of the Green after all, and he can’t stand aside while it’s being abused in this way.
Constantine implores the monster to keep the peace and talk things through, but Swamp Thing rapidly wraps his tendrils around Max Lord, demanding he free the Floronic Man and stop abusing the Green. Ever the confrontational villain, Max Lord defies Swamp Thing. But this time, the monster has no patience. Instead of asking again nicely, Swamp Thing simply squeezes tighter until Max Lord’s head pops right off.
It’s a totally brutal end for Max Lord — even for someone as dastardly as him. In previous issues of Dead Planet, we’ve seen how powerful and deadly Swamp Thing is when he faced the Anti-Living, killing them effectively. And now, we see that Swamp Thing has no concern for the living either — not if they threaten the Green.
But while it certainly feels like a well-earned comeuppance for Max Lord, the death of the villain, unfortunately, leads Penguin and Ivo to unleash the powerful Amazon on the rest of the team. Thankfully, Shadowpact is able to escape unscathed, but we learn that’s only the start of the superheroes’ trouble.
In fact, as we later learn, it doesn’t matter that Max Lord is dead — Penguin and Ivo have something far worse on their side: an entire army of Amazo robots.
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