Sam Fang primarily covers news for CBR, with over a decade of experience writing about entertainment and pop culture and degrees in both journalism and art.
DC Comics has confirmed a long-awaited and fully restored lost issue that will finally give fans proper closure of Rick Veitch's acclaimed 1980s run on Swamp Thing. It will be released under DC's Black Label beginning in April.
DC announced the new limited series, which is being billed as Swamp Thing 1989, today, with the first issue set to hit stands on April 29, 2026. Fully restored, the saga will complete what Veitch and original penciler Michael Zuli intended to deliver as Swamp Thing #88 during the original run. The story sees DC's terrifying hero cast back through time and encountering "a humble carpenter" whose presence will alter the creature's destiny and send ripples through the DC Universe.
Swamp Thing's new story isn't the only exciting DC Comics character fans will be able to see. DC's announcement of the series teased that Swamp Thing 1989 #1 "sets the stage for the long-anticipated origin of Etrigan the Demon and catapults Swamp Thing on his mythic journey back to the Big Bang and beyond."
Fans will be able to purchase the main cover by Veitch, with variants and foil covers by Zulli also planned for release. Swamp Thing 1989 was originally announced at New York Comic Con 2025, where it was revealed that DC would finally publish the then-controversial storyline which was pulled before publication. To honor the issue that's waited three years to go to print, DC is presenting it with its original trade dress, period-accurate numbering on the cover, facsimile-style paper stock, and even vintage ads — exactly as it would have been published in 1989.
Veitch was personally selected by iconic Swamp Thing writer Alan Moore to continue the series back in the 80s, and Veitch's writing went on to earn its own similar level of acclaim. When original plans for Swamp Thing #88 were halted, Veitch left the title, abruptly ending his three-years of work on the title. DC revealed that Zuli returned to work on the upcoming issue before his passing in 2024, and the publisher worked closely with his wife, Karen Zulli, to select Vincent Locke — his longtime inker — to complete the issue over his original pencils and preserve his vision.
Swamp Thing 1989 is set to continue after the first issue, with veteran artist Tom Mandrake illustrating issues #2-4, which would have been published as Swamp Thing #89-91. These issues will bring Veitch's never-published storyline to its originally intended conclusion.
Rick Veitch Responds to DC Publishing Swamp Thing 1989
Image via DC ComicsIt may have taken decades for his intended vision to go to print, and Veitch revealed it's all due to DC and Swamp Thing fans. "[T]he response from readers was immediate and overwhelming," Veitch said in DC's press release. "It helped make the final decision to publish these issues. I am grateful to the fans for stepping up, and to DC’s team, especially editor Alex Galer and Editor-in-Chief Marie Javins, for pulling off the impossible."
DC Comics Executive Editor Chris Conroy said that "this is a historic moment for fans of Swamp Thing and of DC's legacy." He added, "the restoration of this material honors the spirit of the original creative team and allows readers to experience a defining chapter exactly where it always belonged. You will be able to put these into your long boxes as if this run had never ended."
Swamp Thing 1989 #1 goes on sale on April 29.
Created by Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson
English (US) · 