Alec Holland and his wife, Linda Holland, form a research team trying to "create gardens out of sweltering deserts." With Holland's Bio-Restorative formula, a country or organization could control who has food and who doesn't. It's a formula that people would be willing to kill to keep. Hidden away in a remote swamp, the Hollands work on the formula, but their location is known by a nefarious group, the Conclave, seeking the formula. Because Alec won't surrender the formula. The explosion sends the fiery form, formerly Dr. Holland, running into a swamp.

Unknown to the world, Dr. Holland rises from the muck, and the mire completely and wholly changes into Swamp Thing. He cannot let his wife see him as this deformed monster, but he also has to protect her. Lurking on the edges of the swamp, he destroys those men who "killed" him.

---