Swamp Thing #157 (of 171)
Sink or Swim: Chapter Six of River Run
August 31st, 1995
The story of Anna, who has led Swamp Thing into a dizzying journey through alternative worlds, is revealed in the penultimate chapter of 'River Run.'
In the sixth story of River Run, Sink of Swim, the origin of Anna, Swamp Thing's ghostly damsel-in-distress, is revealed.
Anna had an okay life. She made a living writing comic books, plenty of money, and a hot boyfriend who did all her cooking and cleaning. That was all until she received a chain letter in the mail. When she ignores it, that's when her bad luck starts. Her publishers go bankrupt, her bank accounts are wiped clean, her boyfriend disappears in the bathtub, her house gets flooded, and she's pregnant. When she moves in with her sister and gets an abortion, Anna's horrified when her hand turns into water. At the same time, her sister get's run down by a hit-and-run driver. Left all alone, Anna has nothing left but to finish her book, River Run, but after too many expired deadlines no in interested anymore. So, she tries to kill herself with an overdose, but she uses allergy medicine by mistake. On her second attempt, she swallows a cup filled with a dozen different types of household cleaning chemicals. That does the trick.
With both Anna and Swamp Thing done with the last story, Anna dissolves into water that gets sucked into a sewer grate. Swamp Thing picks up her book, and discovers a seventh story. Anna and the Parliament of Waves.