Swamp Thing #23.1: Arcane #1 3-D Lenticular Motion Cover 2013 NM

Swamp Thing #23.1: Arcane #1 is a single-issue comic book published by DC Comics in September 2013. Released as a core part of DC's company-wide "Villains Month" initiative during the Forever Evil crossover event, this issue highlights the twisted family history of the classic Swamp Thing antagonist, Anton Arcane. It features a highly collectible 3-D lenticular motion cover variant.

Key Creative Team

• Writer: Charles Soule
• Artist: Jesus Saiz
• Colorist: Matthew Wilson

Issue Plot Summary: "The Patchwork History"

• A Perfect Hell: Following his defeat in the massive Rotworld crossover event, Anton Arcane is trapped in a specialized pocket dimension within Hell. Curated by the Parliament of Decay, this prison is a flawless, beautiful, pastoral landscape where absolutely nothing can rot, decay, or die. For an avatar of decay, this lack of corruption keeps him entirely powerless, emaciated, and miserable.
• Abby's Quest: Abigail Arcane—Anton's niece and the newly appointed Avatar of the Rot—visits him in his prison. She demands to know the truth about what happened to her biological mother, of whom she has zero memories.
• The Twisted Truth: Anton recounts the dark, patchwork history of their family through flashbacks spanning centuries. He reveals that the woman Abby remembered as a child was just a caretaker he hired. In a horrific twist, Anton reveals that Abby herself accidentally killed her own biological mother when she was an infant. Lacking control over her inherited connection to the Rot, the baby's simple touch rotted her mother from the inside out.
• An Unholy Escape: Horrified and broken by the revelation, Abby leaves Anton to rot eternally in his non-decaying prison. However, the ever-sadistic Anton gets the last laugh. Before the gateway closes, he plucks out his own eyeball and throws it through the portal. The issue ends in the real world, showing a mother throwing away a piece of fruit sporting a strange patch of rot—revealing that Arcane has successfully planted the seeds for his eventual cosmic return.