Plot
American Freak focused on a completely new set of characters of the Un-Men mythos created by Len Wein and Berni Wrightson, which were described as the offspring of the original Arcane Un-Men.
The plot of American Freak revolves around the second-generation son of two of these "horribly disfigured creatures", a 23-year-old man named Damien Kane. Per this miniseries, the Army conducted painful, inhumane experiments on the captive Un-Men, toward the goal of "mating" them and then producing a "serum" to eliminate deformity in the offspring (the military application of all this is not made clear). The serum proved unstable and all the offspring except for Damien Kane died. Kane developed normally until he turned 23 years of age, at which time (the beginning of this miniseries) he began to horribly mutate. The story follows Kane's painful transformation into a freak, and his escape (with the assistance of a telepathic, still-at-large-in-the-swamps first-generation Un-Man named Crassus). Crassus tricks Kane into traveling with him to Romania, promising the lad that his "creator", Arcane, might be able to help reverse the mutation. Of course, it is a trick: Crassus knows that Arcane is no longer in his castle redoubt. Crassus's secret goal is to make Kane rescue a gaggle of other next-generation Un-Men from the clutches of a depraved millionaire who forces them to perform in a private sideshow.
Through some form of prophecy that is never explained, the next-generation Un-Men recognize Kane as "the One" they have long expected to deliver them from captivity. Kane reluctantly helps his cousins revolt and slaughter their tormentors. The Un-Men then board a private jet for America, where they proceed to set the captive, cryogenically frozen original Un-Men free. Army soldiers and guns are involved, and ultimately Kane's love interest—a bald, legless and psychically powered second-generation Un-Woman named Scylla—is mowed down with bullets. The original Un-Men—mute and apparently retarded—toss themselves into a conveniently situated vat of acid, thereby making a statement about the tragic pathos of freakdom. Meanwhile, Crassus vanishes into the darkness of the swamp.
The military experiments are exposed, and Kane and his fellow survivors become celebrities, gracing the cover of Life magazine and appearing on TV talk shows. An embarrassed federal government grants them their own reservation settlement (on a former nuclear bomb testing site) and goth teens pay homage to the freaks at the camp perimeter. The Un-Men have become caged curiosities yet again. At the end of issue #5, Kane has mutated into a brooding endomorph, a veiny elder statesman narrating his tale from a private cave high above the new Un-Men encampment.
The Swamp Thing is a superhero in American comic books published by DC Comics. A humanoid/plant elemental creature, created by writer Len Wein and artist Bernie Wrightson, the Swamp Thing has had several humanoid or monster incarnations in various different storylines. The character first appeared in House of Secrets #92 in a stand-alone horror story set in the early 20th century. The character then returned in a solo series, set in the contemporary world and in the general DC continuity. The character is a swamp monster that resembles an anthropomorphic mound of vegetable matter, and fights to protect his swamp home, the environment in general, and humanity from various supernatural or terrorist threats.
Bernard Albert Wrightson was an American artist, known for co-creating the Swamp Thing, his adaptation of the novel Frankenstein illustration work, and for his other horror comics and illustrations, which feature his trademark intricate pen and brushwork.
Leonard Norman Wein was an American comic book writer and editor best known for co-creating DC Comics' Swamp Thing and Marvel Comics' Wolverine, and for helping revive the Marvel superhero team the X-Men. Additionally, he was the editor for writer Alan Moore and illustrator Dave Gibbons' influential DC miniseries Watchmen.
In DC Comics' DC Universe, a metahuman is a human with superpowers. The term is roughly synonymous with both mutant, inhuman and mutate in the Marvel Universe and posthuman in the Wildstorm and Ultimate Marvel Universes. In DC Comics, the term is used loosely in most instances to refer to any human-like being with extranormal powers and abilities, either cosmic, mutant, science, mystic, skill or tech in nature. A significant portion of these are normal human beings born with a genetic variant called the "metagene", which causes them to gain powers and abilities during freak accidents or times of intense psychological distress.
The Floronic Man, also known as the Plant Master, Floro, and the Seeder, is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics.
Anton Arcane is a supervillain appearing in American comic books by DC Comics. the character first appeared in Swamp Thing #2, and was created by writer Len Wein and artist Bernie Wrightson. He is the archenemy of Swamp Thing, the protagonist of the comics.
Steve Niles is an American comic book author and novelist, known for works such as 30 Days of Night, Criminal Macabre: A Cal McDonald Mystery, Simon Dark, Mystery Society, and Batman: Gotham County Line.
Dr. Death is a supervillain appearing in publications by DC Comics. The character was created by Gardner Fox and Bob Kane as an enemy of the superhero Batman, and first appeared in Detective Comics #29. He is notable as the first traditional supervillain to be encountered by the Batman, as well as his first recurring foe.
The Creature Commandos are a fictional DC Comics team of military superhumans originally set in World War II. The original team was introduced in Weird War Tales #93, created by J. M. DeMatteis and Pat Broderick. The team was composed of a human team leader, a werewolf, a vampire, a Frankenstein's monster, and a gorgon.
Swamp Thing is a 1982 American superhero horror film written and directed by Wes Craven, based on the Vertigo/DC Comics character of the same name created by Len Wein and Bernie Wrightson. It tells the story of scientist Alec Holland who is transformed into the monster known as Swamp Thing through laboratory sabotage orchestrated by the evil Anton Arcane. Later, he helps a woman named Alice Cable and battles the man responsible for it all, the ruthless Arcane. The film did well on home video and cable and was followed by a sequel, The Return of Swamp Thing, in 1989.
The Return of Swamp Thing is a 1989 American superhero film based on the DC Comics' character of the same name. Directed by Jim Wynorski, it is a sequel to the 1982 film Swamp Thing, having a lighter tone than its predecessor. The film has a main title montage consisting of comic book covers set to Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Born on the Bayou", and features Dick Durock and Louis Jourdan reprising their roles as Swamp Thing and Anton Arcane respectively, along with Sarah Douglas and Heather Locklear.
"Herbert West–Reanimator" is a horror short story by American writer H. P. Lovecraft. It was written between October 1921 and June 1922. It was first serialized in February through July 1922 in the amateur publication Home Brew. The story was the basis of the 1985 horror film Re-Animator and its sequels, in addition to numerous other adaptations in various media.
The Un-Men are a group of fictional characters in the DC/Vertigo Comics universe. Created by the writer/artist team of Len Wein and Berni Wrightson, the Un-Men made their first appearance in 1972, in issues #1–2 of the original Swamp Thing comic book series. The characters made subsequent appearances in later issues of Swamp Thing and its successor series, The Saga of the Swamp Thing, and in the 1994 five-issue Vertigo miniseries, American Freak: A Tale of the Un-Men. In August 2007, Vertigo launched The Un-Men, a monthly comic book series chronicling the further exploits of these characters. 13 issues of that title were published.
Abigail Arcane Cable Holland is a fictional comic book character in the DC Comics Universe. She is the spouse/partner of Swamp Thing and the mother of Tefé Holland. Holland's psychic powers include empathy, telepathy and telekinesis. She first appeared in Swamp Thing #3 and was created by Len Wein and Bernie Wrightson.
Swamp Thing is an animated television series based on the Vertigo/DC Comics superhero character Swamp Thing. The series is short-lived, with the pilot episode airing on October 31, 1990 followed by four additional episodes airing weekly from April 20 to May 11, 1991. It aired on YTV from 1991 to 1993 in Canada. Produced by DIC Animation City, the series corresponded with Kenner's Swamp Thing action figure collection released in 1990. Despite the animated series' brief run, various merchandise was also produced in 1991 resulting in the only significant marketing platform ever created for the character. This is the final animated series from DC Comics to not be produced by Warner Bros. Animation.
Matthew Joseph Cable is a character appearing in DC Comics' Swamp Thing series. Introduced in Swamp Thing in November 1972, he dies and is later resurrected as Dream's raven in Neil Gaiman's rendition of The Sandman.
The fictional character the Swamp Thing has appeared in seven American comic book series to date, including several specials, and has crossed over into other DC Comics titles. The series found immense popularity upon its 1970s debut and during the mid-late 1980s under Alan Moore, Stephen Bissette, and John Totleben. These eras were met with high critical praise and numerous awards. However, over the years, the Swamp Thing comics have suffered from low sales, which have resulted in numerous series cancellations and revivals.
Stretch Armstrong and the Flex Fighters is an American animated series produced by Hasbro Studios and distributed by Netflix. It is based on the 1970s action figure Stretch Armstrong. The Netflix series features a brand new superhero universe, new characters, new villains, and new lore. The series was developed by executive producers Kevin Burke, Victor Cook, and Chris "Doc" Wyatt.
Alec Holland is a fictional character in comic books published by DC Comics. He is most notably a character in the various Swamp Thing series.
