Strange Stories of the Swamp: Prof & Rex Meet the Boys from the Bog

Walter Haley and Rex Tyler were both successful scientists and tenacious troubleshoots. Founders of the Challengers of the Unknown and the Minute-Men of America, Walt as Earth-One's Prof and Rex as Earth-Two's Hourman developed chemical concoctions and at times possessed superhuman abilities. Both men encountered our two bog beings, Swamp Thing and Solomon Grundy.

During an adventure, Prof became infected by a space fungus originating from a cancerous alien entity known as M'nagalah that resided in caverns outside the town of Perdition. Only thanks to a timely assist from a then-human Alec Holland was Prof's condition actually diagnosed, although before he could administer a treatment, Holland reverted to his Swamp Thing form. He was on hand later when Prof was cured. Sadly, Alec was not, and was temporarily mentally controlled by the Challenger's arch-enemy Duncan Pramble aka the Multi-Man. That is, until freed of his influence.

Years earlier on a parallel planet, Solomon Grundy returned from his lengthy exile on the Moon back to Earth-Two, landing back in his home of Slaughter Swamp. This swamp was adjacent to Tyler Chemical, which had formerly been known as Bannermain Chemical, named after its founder (and Pramble's equally malevolent counterpart), and the chemical waste from this company may've contributed to causing Slaughter Swamp to spawn Grundy in the first place. Battling the bulky behemoth, Hourman along with Doctor Fate as well as a subdued Green Lantern were able to combine forces and restrain Grundy, placing him in an emerald energy prison globe orbiting the world.

While Swamp Thing’s pseudo-manhood as Alec Holland was brief, Solomon Grundy’s one-time genetic twin Dick Cashmere preserved his humanity. He presumably continued to lead his former life as a wealthy heir and amateur astronomer in Gotham City, unaware of the trouble the other “Dick Cashmere”caused as the Marshland Monster named Grundy. While M'nagalah was buried in a cave in under tons of rock, its corresponding cancerous enclave on Earth-Two Slaughter Swamp was instead cordoned off within an energy barrier when Solomon later returned to Earth.