The story begins in Metropolis, with thousands of birds dropping dead in the sky. In Gotham, all the bats in Batman's cave die. And in Aquaman's ocean, it's the fish. Meanwile, Dr. Alec Holland is working at a construction site until Superman finds him and urges him to get back to work on his biorestorative serum. Alec has memories of being a big, green monster, and is concerned that his formula--which would allow vegetation to grow in the harshest environments, will threaten the world since plant-life is extremely violent. Slow, but violent. Then, in Arizona, there's a dust storm that uproots a mammoth dig and rearranges it into some kind of monster. In fact, a weird fly goes into a guy's ear and possesses him-- and this, at least to me, suggests the return of one of Swamp Thing's best villains--Anton Arcane.
This first issue of "The New 52" SWAMP THING is disappointing, as SWAMP THING doesn't make an appearance until the very last panel. After all, how can anything measure up to the Lein Wein/Bernie Wrightson original, of the whole Alan Moore/Steve Bissette run?