Warning: spoilers for DC's The Doomed and the Damned #1, in stores now!
In DC Comics The Doomed and the Damned #1, Superman recruits Alec Holland aka Swamp Thing to investigate a small town whose sudden crop bounty appears to sicken and mutate those who eat the results. When both heroes realize the miracle is nothing but the work of mutated supervillain Clayface, the Batman rogue proves the change in scenery doesn't make him any less dangerous, as the Justice League members are forced to battle him not only for their lives but for the lives of all the villagers Clayface has tainted.
In the story by writer Amedeo Turturro and artist Max Fiumara, the work of businessman Clement Lisk catches the attention of Daily Planet reporter Clark Kent. Observed by deformed worker Ayla, Kent questions Lisk about his work, which has breathed life into this struggling town by providing produce, jobs... but also a rising toll of employees mysteriously falling ill. Suspecting the illness has something to do with Lisk's organic fruit, Superman revisits the work site, bringing along the Avatar of the Green, who confirms that while the fruit looks as it should, it is indeed abnormal. When the two heroes question Lisk again, his face and body begin to distort and change shape, revealing him to be Basil Karlo, the former actor turned supervillain called Clayface.
Clayface objects that his efforts have saved the town by giving the people sustenance which has come from his own body, but despite Superman pleading with him to do the right thing and help the villagers recover, the shape-shifter takes on both heroes, and the infected townspeople find their repeated ingestion of the fruit has converted them into extensions of Clayface's body and mind. No longer in control of themselves, Superman fights with Clayface while the possessed villagers attack Swamp Thing, showing they possess his powers as Ayla shreds Alec Holland by transforming into a modified crop harvester. Believing Swamp Thing has been killed, Superman is distracted long enough for Clayface to absorb many of the transformed villagers into himself, growing more massive and powerful than before. However, his new size and power levels mean nothing, as Swamp Thing is able to regrow himself inside Clayface's mass from spores in the air that Clayface absorbed during the battle.
Although his shape-shifting and ability to assume other identities upon recognizing them make him a formidable opponent to Batman, Clayface is no match for Swamp Thing. After bursting from Basil Karlo's chest, Swamp Thing wants to punish Clayface for his mockery of the Green but also for wasting his ability to live any life he should choose, a gift the former human-turned-avatar would have cherished.
It is only after a pep talk from Superman about how Swamp Thing can help Clayface by letting go of his anger and giving him the chance to fix things that Alec Holland stops and then extends a hand to the traumatized Basil Karlo, who has been reduced to a whimpering, misshapen blob covered in vines. Not only are the heroes able to heal most of the infected villagers, Swamp Thing uses his powers to restore vitality and real crops to the land, while Clayface recovers and is sent back to Gotham. While some lives were lost in the process, the heroes were victorious, the villain was defeated and imprisoned, and life returns to normal, although the ending suggests that a new Clayface may soon appear to haunt DC's future.
from ScreenRant - Feed https://ift.tt/3dDZseB
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