Comic Title: Roots of the Swamp Thing #4
Publisher: DC
Cover Date: October 1986
On Sale Date: July 3, 1986 Newsstand Date July 3, 1986
Source: DC Releases, #29
Dates lists as shipping July 3rd/July 31st are erroneous
The listed shipping date should be the release date

Newsstand Date July 3, 1986
Source: House Ad, Hex #14, Page IBC

Shipping Date June 10, 1986
Source: Comics Journal, #109

Copyright Date June 10, 1986
Source: Library of Congress, Copyright Office 1986
DC publication dates beyond April 1981 listed by the LoC
represent shipping dates NOT newsstand sale dates

Shipping Date June 10, 1986
Source: Amazing Heroes, #96

Cover Price: $2.00
Page Count: 48
Editor: Robert Greenberger

See Also: The Guide to DC Giants

Title: "The Lurker in Tunnel 13"
Pages: 20

Feature(s):
Swamp Thing (of Earth-1)

Writer: Len Wein
Artist: Bernie Wrightson

Reprinted From:
Swamp Thing #8 (1974)

Feature Character(s)

• Swamp Thing (last appearance in Swamp Thing #7; next appearance in Swamp Thing #9)

Villain(s)

• M'Nagalah (an interdimensional monster; first appearance; next appearance in Challengers of the Unknown #81)
• A grizzly bear (no further appearances)

Other Character(s)

• Ezekiel (an old man; dies in this story; no further appearances)
• Jason Monroe (Ezekiel's son; last named revealed in Challengers of the Unknown #82; next appearance in Challengers of the Unknown #82)
• Lydia and Jody (Jason's wife and son; no further appearances)
• Mutteridge (mayor of Perdition; no further appearances)
• Abraham (Ezekiel's father; in flashback; no further appearances)
• Residents of Perdition (Hector named; next appearance in Challengers of the Unknown #81)

Synopsis:
After leaving Gotham City, Swamp Thing walks through the woods in a snowstorm. He hears a scream from a nearby cave. He finds an old man and a grizzly bear. Swamp Thing kills the bear. He is too late to save the life of the old man, who issues a warning about the town of Perdition with his dying breath.

Swamp Thing carries the old man's body into the nearby town and is blamed for his death. A mob of townspeople attack, but Jason, the son of the dead man gets them to stand down when he realizes that his father was killed by a bear. He then helps Swamp Thing recover from his own injuries.

Jason's son wanders off, leading to a search party being formed. Swamp Thing joins them. The trail leads to an abandoned mining tunnel. The townspeople seem afraid to enter, so Swamp Thing goes in alone. Inside, he meets a creature named M'Nagalah, who has corrupted the town and seeks to add Swamp Thing to his own mass in order to grow more powerful. Swamp Thing defeats the creature by collapsing the tunnel.

When he exits the tunnel Swamp Thing realizes that the townspeople lured him to the tunnel intentionally. He storms off without noticing that the taint of M'Nagalah has infected Jason.