Alex Olsen

Alex Olsen was the original Swamp Thing and his relation to the better known Alec Holland Swamp Thing was explained in Alan Moore's work as them both being just two of a vast amount of "Swamp Things" that are always born in similar circumstances when the world has need of them.

Name:

Alex Olsen

Publisher:

DC Comics

Real name:

Alexander Olsen

Aliases:

Swamp Thing

Birth date:

None

Gender:

Male

Powers:

Healing
Plant Control
Super Strength

First issue:

House of Secrets #92 Swamp Thing

See at ComicVine

Origin

Alex Olsen was a talented young scientist in Louisiana in the early 1900's married to a woman named Linda. Alex's assistant, Damian Ridge, was secretly in love with Linda and plotted the death of his friend. He tampered with Olsen's chemicals killing him in the explosion and dumped his body in the near by swamp. Ridge used Linda's grief to win convince her to marry him, only to one day become confronted with Alex Olsen again, now risen a humanoid pile of vegetable matter. Olsen killed Ridge but Linda did not recognize him and ran away leaving Olsen to wonder the swamps alone as a monster.