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After 36 Years, DC Comics To Publish Rick Veitch's Final Swamp Thing

After 36 years, DC Comics has confirmed that they will publish Rick Veitch's final four issues of Swamp Thing in 2026

Published Thu, 09 Oct 2025 12:46:05 -0500

by Rich Johnston

Last updated Fri, 10 Oct 2025 09:53:11 -0500

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Article Summary

DC Comics to finally publish Rick Veitch's lost Swamp Thing finale after 36 years in March 2026.
The legendary unpublished Swamp Thing #88-91, held back since 1989, will be released for the first time.
The collection features work by Rick Veitch, Michael Zulli, Vince Locke, Tom Mandrake, and Trish Mulvihill.
The new edition, Swamp Thing by Rick Veitch Book Three, includes never-before-seen issues and extras.

At the DC/Vertigo panel at New York Comic Con, DC confirmed the publication of a story that we have been waiting on for almost thirty-six years. The conclusion of Rick Veitch's run on Swamp Thing from 1989. With the four final, unpublished issues… unpublished until 2026, that is. And credited to Rick Veitch, the late Michael Zulli, Vince Locke, Tom Mandrake and Trish Mulvihill.

After 36 Years, DC Comics To Publish Rick Veitch's Final Swamp Thing — Swamp Thing #88

DC Comics has been publishing collections of the Rick Veitch Swamp Thing series that followed Alan Moore on the series, and that came to a rapid halt when DC Comics chose not to publish the editorially greenlit and finished Swamp Thing #88, drawn by Michael Zulli, featuring Swamp Thing, travelling through time, meeting Jesus Christ and becoming the cross on Calvary. Rick Veitch left the book as a result of the decision, swearing off DC and other creators who had been ready to take over the book after Rick Veitch's run, Neil Gaiman and Jamie Delano dropped out in sympathy. The book then went on hiatus until one Doug Wheeler,who didn't know about the controversy, took it over.

In March last year, Bleeding Cool ran the story "Might DC Comics Finally Publish Rick Veitch's Swamp Thing #88 In 2025?" in which Rick Veitch stated, "So I am told a Gmail account has been set up to collect opinions on whether or not DC should publish Swamp Thing 88. And that these will be read by folks at DC. So if you have an opinion, let them know at: publishswampthing88@gmail.com. Obviously, I e-mailed it. As it seems did quite a few folk. And now the listing for the final Rick Veitch Swamp Thing collection has some interesting aspects to it.

One, it is ten dollars more, at $39.99, than the previous two volumes at $29.99. And two, it claims to include four issues of a comic book that simply does not exist. Swamp Thing/Vertigo Special #1-4. DC has never published such a book. Could… could those four issues be the unpublished and uncompleted Swamp Thing #88-91? It seems so…

Swamp Thing by Rick Veitch Book Three: Time Upon a Once Paperback – March 17, 2026
by Rick Veitch, Tom Mandrake, Tom Yeates
The Roots of Horror Twist Through Time. A journey through DC's dark corners–past, present, and future–with Swamp Thing as your haunted guide. As Rick Veitch deepens his visionary take on the character, Swamp Thing becomes untethered from the present and spirals across time. From Revolutionary battlefields to Arthurian legends, each stop is a meditation on violence, identity, and the monstrous. Meanwhile, Abby and John Constantine face disturbing revelations of their own in the here and now. A thematically rich chapter in DC's horror canon. Collects The New Titans #0, Swamp Thing #80-87, Swamp Thing Annual #5, Neil Gaiman's Midnight Days Deluxe Edition #1, and Swamp Thing/Vertigo Special #1-4.

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