History Recap / SwampThingVolume2Issue41SouthernChange

* AngryBlackMan: Billy starts out this way. He tells his manager he's only doing the show as a "political statement." He calls Angela the "[[Literature/MobyDick Great White Whale]]" to her face. Billy also hates what he terms the "[[UncleTomfoolery Stepin Fetchit]]" dialogue written for him, and rejects Richard's (admittedly patronizing) attempts at moral support.

--> "Treading...between the cold stones...I have a sense...of other patterns...concealed beneath the world's skin...Buried mazes...that still determine the paths...of those who walk above."\\
'''-- The Swamp Thing'''

* JiveTurkey / PrettyFlyForAWhiteGuy: Richard praises Billy's acting with, "Billy, my man! That was some hot performance, bro'...".

* NatureHero / SpeaksFluentAnimal: The Swamp Thing cradles a dying bird, telling it not to be afraid and to just let go, "for the universe...is kind." Once it's dead, he places its body inside him, so that its decay will nourish his body "and nothing shall be wasted." Abby, looking on, is somewhat [[{{Squick}} weirded out]], but does her best not to show it.

* ShoutOut

* WhiteGuilt: Richard expresses this trope at the outset. He castigates Angela for her racist comments while ignoring or excusing Billy's racially-prejudiced insults about her. He also thinks he's supporting Billy by praising him in JiveTurkey slang. When Billy calls him out on this ("Us [[NWordPrivileges colored]] folk don't say that anymore!") and walks off, Richard says, "Jeez, what is it with those people?", suggesting he isn't as egalitarian as he thinks.

** The issue title comes from the Music/NeilYoung song "Southern Man," about the legacy of slavery and the UsefulNotes/KuKluxKlan.

* HollywoodVoodoo: Averted. Most of the issue's scenes are headlined with the dates of little-known but actual {{Voudoun}} religious festivals, such as Mystère de Grande Saint Anne and Communion Table of Dan Wédo. See [[http://www.angelfire.com/pop/bay55/SwampThing/SwampBook041.html Greg Plantamura's Swamp Thing Annotations]] for more information on these and other observances.

* NatureHero / SpeaksFluentAnimal: The Swamp Thing cradles a dying bird, telling it not to be afraid and to just let go, "for the universe...is kind." Once it's dead, he places its body inside him, so that its decay will nourish his body. Abby, looking on, is somewhat [[{{Squick}} weirded out]], but does her best not to show it.

* StealthPun: Abby tells the Swamp Thing there's "a lot of tension" on the set. In the foreground of that panel there's a water strider, an insect that can walk on water via ''surface tension.''

During the first rehearsal, the spirits of Wesley, Charlotte and William temporarily possess the actors. The director, unaware that the actors are also hallucinating each other as dressed in period costume, takes this as an inspired improvisation. A few days later, Richard, after having noted it's hard for him to think like a racist, falls under Wesley's control again as he angrily reprimands "William" while hallucinating that he's beating him. Meanwhile, the extras begin spontaneously decorating the house with flowers, as if preparing for a voudon festival, and the Swamp Thing, after dark, discovers odd salt patterns encircling the plantation's slave graveyard.

That night, coinciding with the voudon Mystère L'Orient festival, the director is distressed to find the extras lighting bonfires and dancing around them. Then Wesley/Richard turns up looking for Charlotte/Angela, and is outraged to learn they've gone into the house together. Oblivious to the director's protests, he conscripts two "slaves"/extras to accompany him inside, where he finds her in the midst of seducing William/Billy. And the violent scene from the issue's opening plays out word-for-word, through the possessed actors.

* AngryBlackMan: Billy starts out this way. He tells his manager he's only doing the show as a "political statement." He refuses to touch Angela during their love scenes and calls her the "[[Literature/MobyDick Great White Whale]]" to her face. Billy also hates what he terms the "[[UncleTomfoolery Stepin Fetchit]]" dialogue written for him, and rejects Richard's (admittedly patronizing) attempts at moral support.
* BigotVsBigot: Angela and Billy, at the outset, are prejudiced towards each other's races.

* HollywoodVoodoo: Averted. Most of the issue's scenes are headlined with the dates of little-known but actual Voudon religious festivals, such as Mystère de Grande Saint Anne and Communion Table of Dan Wédo. See [[http://www.angelfire.com/pop/bay55/SwampThing/SwampBook041.html Greg Plantamura's Swamp Thing Annotations]] for more information on these and other observances.

During the first rehearsal, the spirits of Wesley, Charlotte and William temporarily possess the actors. The director takes this as an inspired improvisation, though cautions them about "forgetting" the characters' names (which are different from those of the deceased inhabitants). A few days later, Richard, after having noted it's hard for him to think like a racist, falls under Wesley's control again as he angrily reprimands "William" while hallucinating that he's beating him. Meanwhile, the extras begin spontaneously decorating the house with flowers, as if preparing for a voudon festival, and the Swamp Thing, after dark, discovers odd salt patterns encircling the plantation's slave graveyard.

That night, coinciding with the voudon Mystère L'Orient festival, the director is distressed to find the extras lighting bonfires and dancing around them. Then Wesley/Richard turns up looking for Charlotte/Angela, and is outraged to learn they've gone into the house together. Oblivious to the director's protests, he conscripts two "slaves"/extras to accompany him inside, where he finds her in the midst of seducing William/Billy. And the violent scene from the issue's opening plays out word-for-word, through the possessed actors.

In the abandoned Robertaland plantation house near Houma, ghostly voices echo a tragic incident from the past. Wesley Jackson, the plantation owner, having discovered his wife Charlotte's affair with their slave William, had him tied to a post and made her watch as he prepared to skin him.

During the first rehearsal, the spirts of Wesley, Charlotte and William temporarily possess the actors. The director takes this as an inspired improvisation, though cautions them about "forgetting" the characters' names (which are different from those of the deceased inhabitants). A few days later, Richard, after having noted it's hard for him to think like a racist, falls under Wesley's control again as he angrily reprimands "William" while hallucinating that he's beating him. Meanwhile, the extras begin spontaneously decorating the house with flowers, as if preparing for a voudon festival, and the Swamp Thing, after dark, discovers odd salt patterns encircling the plantation's slave graveyard.

One month later, as the first day of shooting nears, the atmosphere on set has grown even stranger. Richard, outside of rehearsal, is now talking like a full-blown racist, while Angela makes a romantic/sexual gesture to Billy, who accepts them. On the first filming day, Abby spots Alice, an elderly black woman who serves lunch at Elysium Lawns, laying down salt around the graveyard. Alice seems confused as to why she's doing so, and alternates between calling Abby "Mrs. Cable" and "Mistress," as though she were a slave. She tells the Swamp Thing about this, and about the generally highly-charged atmosphere there, and suggests they both go check it out as soon as possible.

That night, coinciding with the voudon Mystère L'Orient festival, the director is distressed to find the extras lighting bonfires and dancing around them. Then Wesley/Richard turns up looking for Charlotte/Angela, and is outraged to learn they've gone into the house together. Oblivious to the director's protests, he conscripts two "slaves"/extras to accompany him inside, where he finds her in the midst of seducing William/Billy. And the tragic scene from the issue's opening plays out word-for-word, through the possessed actors.

In the abandoned Robertaland plantation house near Houma, ghostly voices echo a tragic incident from the past. Wesley Jackson, the plantation owner, having discovered his wife Charlotte's affair with their slave William, had him tied to a post and making her watch as he prepared to skin him.