Swamp Thing, Vol. 2

Somewhere in Central America, Aztecs perform a ritual to invoke the aid of Xipetotec, the Flayed God. Swamp Thing hears someone calling him, and abruptly he is atop a pyramid in Central America, lauded as a god! He is shocked to learn of a blood ritual has summoned him. He learns that a Walter Kramer, a Sunderland employee, was killed during the ritual, and further that Sunderland sold them fertilizer that worked for two years, and then... killed the soil, damaged their children. They sought aid without success until they slew the Sunderland represenative to call Xipetotec, a call Swamp Thing involuntarily answered. He agrees to help them, drawing toxins out of the soil and prompting growth. But while he is doing that, soldiers come seeking the Kramer. And when they see what happened to him they open fire! Swamp Thing appears too late, but most of the local soldiers flee when he does. From documents Swamp Thing learns this project was a test of slow-acting defoliant. Sunderland was planning to sell this to the government for use against the drug cartels' fields. Rather than attack himself, putting those he cares about at risk, Swamp Thing collects the information and... delegates the job to others. That is how a manilla envelope drops onto the desk of... Clark Kent, reporter for a major metropolitan daily...