Rick Veitch, Michael Zulli, and Vince Locke’s Swamp Thing 1989 #1 comes to comic shelves this April
DC has announced that Swamp Thing 1989 #1, the long-awaited, fully restored, lost issue that begins the conclusion of Rick Veitch’s acclaimed late-1980s run on Swamp Thing will be released in April 2026. After more than three decades, Veitch’s ambitious final epic will be released under the DC Black Label across four issues, published monthly through July.
Written by Rick Veitch, with art by original penciler Michael Zulli and inked by Vince Locke, Swamp Thing 1989 #1 completes the comic Veitch and Zulli intended to deliver as Swamp Thing #88. In this issue, Swamp Thing is cast back through time and encounters a humble carpenter whose presence will alter the creature’s destiny and send ripples through the DC Universe. The issue also 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.
The main cover by Rick Veitch reflects the quiet tension and symbolic weight of the story’s historical setting. Variant and foil covers by Michael Zulli present painterly imagery of Swamp Thing that captures the emotional and mythic intensity surrounding this pivotal moment in Swamp Thing’s saga.
The issue will be released with its original trade dress, period-accurate numbering on the cover, facsimile-style paper stock, and vintage ads, Swamp Thing 1989 #1 begins the journey to Veitch’s final Swamp Thing saga, running as it would have been published in 1989.
DC Black Label is completing the work exactly as it was intended. The long-lost Swamp Thing #88, now called Swamp Thing 1989 #1, features art by the late Michael Zulli, who returned to work on the issue before his passing in 2024, completing the painting featured as the variant cover. Working closely with Zulli’s wife, Karen Zulli, DC selected Vince Locke, Zulli’s longtime inker, to complete the issue over his original pencils while preserving the integrity of Zulli’s original vision.
Veteran Swamp Thing series artist Tom Mandrake will illustrate the brand-new Swamp Thing 1989 #2-4, which would have been Swamp Thing #89–91, bringing Veitch’s never-published storyline to its intended conclusion. For Swamp Thing 1989 #2-4, colorist Trish Mulvihill honors the palette and spirit of legendary series colorist Tatjana Wood while letterer Todd Klein brings the same reverence to the work of original Swamp Thing series letterer John Costanza.
Swamp Thing 1989 #1 is a 32-page comic book priced at $4.99 US, with a card-stock variant available for $5.99 US and a foil variant for $7.99 US. The new series begins on April29, 2026.
