7 Comic Book Story Arcs That Were Never Finished (And Why)

By Ewan Paterson /

7. Rick Veitch's Swamp Thing

DC Comics

Swamp Thing was Vertigo's darling to the eighties and nineties, and for good reason. Alan Moore had done amazing things on the character alongside a number of artists, among them Rich Veitch. Veitch would later take the reigns on Swamp Thing as a writer, but it all came to an abrupt close when he decided that Jesus Christ himself would appear in the book's 88th issue.

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DC - specifically editor Jenette Khan, in what was admittedly an out of character move for the then president of the publisher - was apparently anxious that the publication of the issue could trigger a religious backlash due to concerns over blasphemy, and so decided that it wouldn't be published. Veitch promptly departed the series and DC as a whole, justifiably vexed that the publisher had stifled his creative freedom over what was effectively a non-issue.

This of course meant that Veitch never got the opportunity to finish his arc. The reigns were handed to Doug Wheeler, who took the series in a different direction thereafter.

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