As the new Swamp Thing battles against the Suicide Squad, the truth behind how he was bonded to the Green and became an avatar finally comes out.
WARNING: The following contains spoilers for The Swamp Thing #7, on sale now from DC Comics.
One of the biggest developments heading into the Infinite Frontier era was the introduction of a new human host for Swamp Thing named Levi Kamei. An Indian man bonded to the elemental forces of the Green, Levi reconciled with a troubled family history while acclimating to his new role as the DC Universe’s latest plant-based superhero. And as Levi briefly received guidance on his new status quo from an echo of Swamp Thing’s previous host Alec Holland, the mystery behind how he developed his own connection to the Green remained unclear until Levi’s recent showdown with the Suicide Squad in his native India.
A conflict between Swamp Thing and the Suicide Squad had steadily been brewing for some time, with the head of the nefarious Prescot Industries reaching out to his old acquaintance Amanda Waller for a big favor. Waller assigned a small branch of Task Force X led by Peacemaker to track and take down Swamp Thing for further examination. Among the lowlifes that Peacemaker leads into the untamed wilderness is the old Justice League Dark character Nightmare Nurse, a magical antihero who can tap into her targets’ minds. And in The Swamp Thing #7, by Ram V, Mike Perkins, Mike Spicer and Aditya Bidikar, Nightmare Nurse’s tampering with Levi’s mind finally reveals the tragic story of how exactly he became the latest avatar of the Green.
As the Swamp Thing lies prone in a remote cave, Nightmare Nurse probes his mind to learn more about her enigmatic quarry. This investigation reveals that, prior to becoming Swamp Thing, Levi actually worked for Prescot Industries and attempted to convince his father to sell his land to the corporation. Levi reasoned that the business interests would propel his old home and people into the future rather than being stuck in their old ways. When Levi was stonewalled by his father and the village council, he crafted a report that forced the acquisition through anyway, with the ensuing struggle over the village’s nearby lands growing violent.
It was this rift between Levi and his father and betrayal of his village’s lands to a conniving corporation that the Green was attracted to, sensing Levi’s deep inner anguish when his father was shot and killed in the clashes with the authorities. Alec Holland had similarly been a man in deep pain before becoming the Green’s avatar, mortally wounded by a rigged explosion while he was conducting botany experiments on the Louisiana bayou. And with the source of Levi Kamei’s pain and bond to the Green revealed, Nightmare Nurse gives Levi an offer to permanently erase the traumatic memories from his psyche and sever his connection to the Green and the curse of Swamp Thing forever.
Reminded of an old folktale about a noble young man who shouldered the burdens of an entire mountain because he had the fortitude and strength of character to carry out such a herculean responsibility, Levi turns down Nightmare Nurse’s offer. Levi’s ascension and curse as Swamp Thing isn’t a happenstance occurrence but one of atonement for sins past against his family and people. And Levi himself is far more connected to the Prescot Industries than initially presented, with the corporation both responsible for killing his father and facilitating this family betrayal in the first place.
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