Barefoot Abby Holland
Barefoot Abby Holland with husband Swamp Thing.
Art by Eric Powell.
Publisher Vertigo imprint of DC Comics
First appearance Swamp Thing #3 (February-March 1973)
Created by Len Wein and Bernie Wrightson.
Full name:
Abigail "Barefoot Abby" Arcane-Cable-Holland
Affiliations:
Swamp Thing, Matthew Cable, John Constantine, Tefé Holland
Abilities:
Empathy, Telepathy, Telekinesis, Expert Barefooter, Scout, and Swimmer.
Barefoot Abby Holland is a supporting character in the DC Universe.
She is the wife and partner of the Swamp Thing and she is the mother of Barefoot Tefé Holland. Barefoot Abby's distinctive look comprises her natural beauty, her physically fit lean athletic figure, her always bare feet, and her beautiful hair. She possesses natural shining white hair, the color of fresh snow, with two overlapping black streaks of hair starting from above her gorgeous sexy wide forehead. Barefoot Abby's psychic powers include empathy, telepathy, and telekinesis. She first appeared in Swamp Thing #3 (1973)
Character Biography
Early Years
====================
Barefoot Abby Holland was born Abigail Arcane, in Transylvania, Romania in late 1955. The birth took place at Castle Arcane, her family's ancestral home. Barefoot Abby was born to Count Gregori Arcane and his beautiful wife, Barefoot Anise. Soon after, however, Gregori's jealous brother Anton Arcane had Barefoot Anise framed for witchcraft and Barefoot Abby's mother was burned to death at the stake by superstitious villagers, while Gregori watched helplessly in horror, protecting his infant daughter in his arms, as his wife died. Gregori was then forced by the government to share custody of Barefoot Abby with Anton, and was often called away on business commitments out of the country, leaving Barefoot Abby to her uncle's potential influence and abuses.
Despite having a troubled childhood filled with nightmares and abuses from those around her, Barefoot Abby managed to keep her sanity and cherished the rare moments she had to spend with her father. Barefoot Abby has always been a strong-willed, resilient barefooter her entire life, while living in the castle on the mountain. Barefoot Abby always went naturally barefoot everywhere, as she always is today. She adapted her always bare hands and always bare feet to the cold faster than most of the other always-barefoot girls of the village as a child, when otherwise warmly attired in the coldest of winter times. She loved freely running barefoot in the snow, building up her alertness, stamina and immunity to any illness. Barefoot Abby often encouraged young boys to always be barefoot like all of the commonly barefoot girls and women were, as well, as she clearly understood early on that the good practice of consistently being barefoot always promotes good health and peace of mind. When venturing barefoot outdoors, Barefoot Abby loved the good, comforting feeling of the natural earth beneath her always-bare feet, as walking around barefoot outdoors made her feel healthy and secure. She took on healthy summer interests in hiking with her constantly bare feet in the forests, swimming and diving, barefoot rock climbing, scouting, and sight-seeing alone, all of which fueled her interest in nature, ecology and environmentalism. She tried her best to be free-spirited and happy, to enjoy her life. Barefoot Abby's sweet personality became stronger and more vibrant as she matured into a good-natured, responsible adult, with her healthy seasoned underwater swimmer's physique and endurance, her life-long experienced barefooter's perfect body posture, her vitality, her awareness and sensibility living in natural environments. Her beautiful always-bare feet were well-pedicured, bathed nightly, often adorned with classical barefoot Transylvanian women's fashionable barefoot anklets and sexy barefoot toe-rings.
As a beautiful, healthy, intelligent, perpetually barefoot young woman, Barefoot Abby experienced a strong sense of empathy with others. At first this terrified her, but then she became more attuned to the ability to "feel" other people's emotions and used that advantage in ways to help them. Realizing her village needed a medic, she began to study first aid and the art of positive thinking. Barefoot Abby eventually became a very smart and ever-capable always-barefoot nurse. She rented and managed a children's clinic.
Barefoot Abby's father was later confronted by her uncle, who wanted to teach her the evil magical ways of the Arcane bloodline. Gregori forbid Barefoot Abby to cooperate with Anton. When Barefoot Abby refused to do Arcane's bidding, he ousted her from Castle Arcane and vowed someday to destroy her and the entire village. Not taking his threat seriously, Barefoot Abby began to live in her own clinic. However, when Gregori rushed home to save Barefoot Abby from certain danger, he wandered through the forest into a forbidden mine field and stepped on a land mine. While Barefoot Abby believed her father dead and herself an orphan, Anton secretly reconstructed Gregori as the hideous mute Un-Man known only as the Patchwork Man.
In the 1970s, the 17-year old Barefoot Abigail was still working at her clinic one day, when she was contacted by her future first husband, American government agent Matthew Cable. Barefoot Abby soon began her friendship with him, swaying Cable's suspicions of her possible involvement in her uncle's abduction of the fugitive Swamp Thing. Matt and Barefoot Abby witnessed the explosive destruction of Castle Arcane and Barefoot Abby realized that she was now free of her malevolent uncle. Abby was then suddenly abducted by the creature that was once her father, the now-mute and monstrous Patchwork Man, only to be rescued by the creature Cable was seeking-- the Swamp Thing.
Swamp Thing saved Barefoot Abby's life for the first time.
Art by Bernie Wrightson.
During the fight, Barefoot Abby was terrified, but her abilities allowed her to see that neither of the silent monsters wished her harm, so she pleaded with them to stop fighting. Then, she nearly plummeted down a chasm, but she was saved by both creatures. As the Swamp Thing carried Abby to safety, Barefoot Abby empathically realized the Patchwork Man was her loving father, as he fell to his seeming doom. Swamp Thing then delivered Abby to Cable, who had incited an angry mob from the village. Barefoot Abby watched as the mysterious Swamp Thing walked away, while Cable did nothing to stop him.
The next day, Barefoot Abby expressed interest in immigrating to the United States and working with Cable in his search for the Swamp Thing. Cable couldn't guarantee he would find work for Barefoot Abby, but he kept his promise to have her registered as a U.S. citizen in due time. During the plane trip to Cable's homeland, (on which Swamp Thing stowed away) Matt and Barefoot Abby were confronted by a monstrous werewolf and the man's deranged parents in the Scottish moors, who wanted to remove their son's curse by a total blood transfusion with Matt Cable. Swamp Thing destroyed the werewolf with a silver chandelier and saved Matt and Barefoot Abby yet again, allowing them to safely depart for America.
Once home, Matt became determined to find and unravel the secrets of the Swamp Thing. Barefoot Abby vowed to stay by his side through it all. Matt's employers sent him on another mission, however, but as fate would have it, Swamp Thing's travels brought him to precisely same location: Bürgess Town, Vermont. Matt and Barefoot Abby were taken hostage by the Conclave, the same criminal organization that created the Swamp Thing by the act of sabotage that took Alec Holland's life and caused the transformation of his corpse into a supernatural elemental form. Swamp Thing succeeded in rescuing Matt and Barefoot Abby from their captors' sadistic torture of them in Gotham City, and exacted revenge on his enemies, even confronting the Batman.
Sometime after Barefoot Abby's 18th birthday in late 1973, she and Matt spent time recovering and swimming at a Florida beach. Barefoot Abby began to develop feelings for Matt. She wisely reminded him that truth is nebulous and that he needed to discover the truth about the Swamp Thing, when next confronting him.
Months later in 1974, Barefoot Abby accompanied Matt into the Louisiana Bayou for the first time. She instantly fell in love with the swamp, and Matt had to momentarily keep her focused and alert, until she became familiar with the territory and could scout perfectly on her own. They were soon captured by political extremist Zachary Nail and his allies, the prehistoric Conquer Worms. There, Barefoot Abby and Matt took on a new companion, Jefferson Bolt. The Swamp Thing once again helped his friends, but failed to save Bolt's girlfriend, Barefoot Ruth. Barefoot Abby found herself standing in-between the two men. She constantly stopped their arguments over the Swamp Thing. They finally settled this by staging the Swamp Thing's dramatic capture.
During the Swamp Thing's confinement, Matt learned the shocking truth that the creature in fact believed himself to be Alec Holland. Matt related this news to Barefoot Abby, who urged him to correct his mistake, now that she had developed even stronger empathic feelings for "Alec" than for Matt. Owing Alec their lives, Barefoot Abby and Matt managed to fake the Swamp Thing's death with explosives, but only with the reluctant assistance of Bolt. However, the Swamp Thing refused to rejoin his friends and returned into hiding in the swamp.
Hurricane Carmen prevented Barefoot Abby and her friends from beginning their search for Alec, so they decided to wait out most of the hurricane season.
By 1975, 19-year old Barefoot Abby joined Matt in a confrontation with the demon Nebiros to save Swamp Thing from possession. Barefoot Abby telepathically sensed Alec's soul in a mystical globe and urged Matt to smash it. Freed, Swamp Thing battled and defeated the demon, who was soon forced back to Hell, after entering the body of the dying Jonathan Bliss, who had made the misguided attempt to incite Armageddon by invoking the demon in the first place.
The group soon discovered Bolt's abduction by the Conclave. The search took them to the dangerous island of Kala Pago, where they confronted the head of the Conclave for the last time, Nathan Ellery. Ellery's death at the hands of the Swamp Thing did not bring them relief, however, as their journey to Florida brought them into conflict with a satanic cult seeking to defy the mortal effects of old age, by stealing life energies from the young. Barefoot Abby went into a trance and displayed telekinesis to escape her bonds. She then stole the book used for the spell and telepathically summoned Swamp Thing to the rescue of Cable and Bolt. However, Alec once again left his friends behind, prompting yet another pursuit of him.
Later that summer, Barefoot Abby, Matt and Bolt located the Swamp Thing in Benson's Swamp, just outside of Gatorberg, Florida. Barefoot Abby had an unpleasant experience in Sloan's Diner, as the owner's bigoted feelings about Indians invaded her thoughts and forced her to run outside to seek relief. The group then redoubled its efforts to trackdown the Swamp Thing. However, what they found was a mindless duplicate, driven mad and attacking everyone in sight. The creature was blown up with dynamite, thus allowing the real Swamp Thing to avoid his friends, now that they thought he was dead.
New Developments
====================
After Matt had a subsequent encounter with the Doom Patrol sometime later he returned home to Barefoot Abby, now in her 20s, declared his love and proposed marriage which Barefoot Abby accepted. Despite the happy start of this union, all did not go well for the Cables. Matt often frequented strip bars without Barefoot Abby's knowledge. He then uncovered evidence of an illegal autopsy of Barefoot Linda Holland by his employers. To conceal this, they had Cable electroshocked, making him a terrible burden on his new young beautiful barefoot wife, as he was driven to drink due to his resulting loss of mental facilities.
By the end of 1983, the 28-year old Barefoot Abby was working as a waitress at the New Moon Motel Diner in West Virginia to actively support herself and Matt, for his drinking had only become worse. One evening while feeding a stray dog some scraps outside, she encountered Alec and they had a joyous reunion. She then startled him with the news that she was now married to Matt. Alec introduced Barefoot Abby to his new friends, Elizabeth "Barefoot Liz" Tremayne and Dennis Barclay. Barefoot Abby took all of them to see Matt, who was at last confronted by Alec over his alcoholism. Barefoot Abby learned the truth of what happened in Gatorberg, although Matt's confession for the group was more surprising.
Alec and Barefoot Abby were then abducted by Arcane and his new insectoid Un-Men. While at first they seemed to be doomed to Arcane, Alec's associate Helmut Kripptmann managed to save them by destroying both Arcane and himself. Alec then saved Barefoot Abby from the falling insectoid ship by plunging into a nearby lake. Swimming to shore, Barefoot Abby left Alec and returned home to Matt, who swore he would stop drinking. Barefoot Abby didn't believe him. She went outside again for a comforting barefoot walk. Then she saw Matt rush outside at the sound of an approaching helicopter. Thinking fast on her athleticly adept always-bare feet, Barefoot Abby pushed Matt into some bushes, as the helicopter shot a rocket that blew up their house. Meanwhile, Dennis and Barefoot Liz escaped a similar explosive death trap back at the motel, while the Swamp Thing was shot down and declared dead by the National Guard, while all of his surviving friends all went into hiding.
In 1984, Barefoot Abby and Matt returned to Louisiana to search for Alec, hoping that he wasn't killed. They began living in the town of Houma, where the couple made many friends, though they usually spent their time alone. They soon found the Swamp Thing has taken root in the ground. They were approached by Jason Woodrue, who explained the situation to them, insisting that the Swamp Thing was never really Alec Holland. Barefoot Abby later returned alone to the rooted Swamp Thing, crying and telling "Alec" that he was "human" before leaving.
On her next visit, Barefoot Abby was attacked by Woodrue who attempted to kill her repeatedly. The Swamp Thing unrooted himself, saving Abby, and confronted Woodrue, but not before the maniac had mass murdered an entire town. After ending Woodrue's threat and turning him over to the Justice League, Swamp Thing returned his attention to Abby. They settled the matter that he was not Alec Holland, but he was happy to have her in his life. They became loving and devoted friends.
As Barefoot Abby's relationship with Swamp Thing continued to grow, her marriage to Matt Cable falls apart. Barefoot Abby spent more time with Swamp Thing, returning to the simple barefoot outdoor pleasures she enjoyed in her childhood, such as learning to hold her breath diving deep underwater for much longer periods of time, while swimming greater distances. While relaxing after swimming at a lake, Barefoot Abby informed him she was now working barefoot at Elysium Lawns, a home for troubled teenagers and autistic children. Later that evening, she went gracefully barefoot into Baton Rouge to buy supplies, but she witnessed a terrible accident while John Constantine spied on her unnoticed in the crowd.
Barefoot Abby then met Jason Blood, who informed her the children are in danger. She took this as a threat, and she warned him to not get involved. That night, Barefoot Abby sensed the coming supernatural danger at Elysium Lawns and rushed barefoot there with Swamp Thing, where they confronted the demons Monkey King and Etrigan. Barefoot Abby quietly walked home alone, confidently barefoot as always, in the rain, and she was picked up by her husband, unaware he was possessed by Arcane.
Barefoot Abby later informed Swamp Thing her marriage was getting better. She called him "Alec" again and he told her not to. However, after he had buried the ghost of Alec Holland, he told her that he would be proud to use the name Alec. Later still, Barefoot Abby determined the truth behind Matt Cable's radical changes and comes to the horrific realization that Matt and all of his new working associates were zombies, and that she had been raped by her undead uncle when she thought he was her husband. Barefoot Abby attempted to escape, but Arcane prevented her. He then proceeded to magically murder her. Once she was dead, Arcane brought Swamp Thing to his house to find Barefoot Abby's dead body. Alec mourned Barefoot Abby's loss, then confronted Arcane. Matt Cable's soul re-emerged and damned Arcane to Hell. Matt used the remaining magic to re-animate Barefoot Abby's body, though he failed to retrieve his wife's soul. Having suffered a tragic car accident before giving in to Arcane, Cable slipped into a deep and permanent coma. Swamp Thing then journeyed into the afterlife to save Barefoot Abby's soul himself, helped by Deadman, the Phantom Stranger, the Spectre, and Etrigan. When Barefoot Abby revived, alive and well, she suddenly found herself half-naked outdoors, freezing in the winter snow with Alec crying joyfully over her.
In 1985, Barefoot Abby encountered Cain and Abel in a dream. They revealed to her the secret of the Parliament of Trees, but she soon lost this knowledge after she awakened.
That spring, Barefoot Abby learned that Matt would never emerge from his coma. She decided to end the marriage, despite being unable to get a divorce. She ventured out barefoot into the swamp once again and she proposed to Alec. But she then apologized, admitting the notion was foolish. Alec felt very honored, having loved her for many years. Privately handfasted, Alec and Barefoot Abby consummated their new marriage by sharing a hallucinogenic tuber.
Marriage To Swamp Thing
====================
Barefoot Abby's marriage to Swamp Thing proved to be as challenging as everything else in her life. One evening, she sensed Alec was in distress and rushed out barefoot to find him. While hiding from a police squad searching the bayou, Barefoot Abby realized that others were also in danger. She found Alec dying from toxic waste poisoning. He warned her to keep away from him, and that he would find a way to restore himself in a new body before expiring.
True to his word, the Swamp Thing lived again, in a tiny plant that Barefoot Abby psychically located and helped to nurture, while Alec regrew himself. He was impressed by Barefoot Abby's remarkable devotion to him. One day, the unique couple was visited by the mystic occultist John Constantine, who began to manipulate Swamp Thing in exchange for valuable information about his elemental powers.
Eventually, Alec's travels brought him home on a mission in Louisiana, dealing with a cursed plantation plagued by 19th Century ghosts and zombies. Barefoot Abby's inner strength proved invaluable, as she helped to evacuate the survivors. During the course of her relationship with Alec, Barefoot Abby learned to accept his strange abilities and bizarre tendencies, such as ingesting dead or dying animals into his body, or unexpectedly growing himself out of her bathroom sink in order to personally visit her at home. One night, Barefoot Abby even mistook one of Alec's abandoned husks for him. She made him promise that he would never die for as long as she lives.
Trivia
====================
When writer Peter David wrote the novel adaptation for The Return of Swamp Thing, he made Barefoot Abby Arcane's origins more like her comic book counterpart, describing her transformation into the vastly different Barefoot California Girl persona in the film, played by beautiful barefoot actress Barefoot Heather Locklear.
Barefoot Abby's last name changed twice between the first three Swamp Thing series. In the original series, her maiden name was Arcane. Throughout the second series, she retained her first husband's name Cable, even during Matthew's coma and after his death. In both the third and fourth series, Barefoot Abby finally had her last name legally changed to her current surname, Holland, which she also shares with her likewise beautiful always-barefoot daughter, Barefoot Tefé.
Barefoot Abby's controversial depiction in The Saga of the Swamp Thing #29 caused the book to abandon the restrictive Comics Code Authority, to become a more mature-themed series. Barefoot Abby also led the story in issue #29 rather than supporting it. She went on to again be the feature character in certain issues over the years. It is for this reason Barefoot Tefé became the main character in the third Swamp Thing series.
Like John Constantine, Barefoot Abby is one of the few DC Universe supporting characters that ages in real time, due to publication in the Vertigo imprint. She turned 50 years old in late 2005, having only been a teenager in her first appearance in 1973.
The cover of Swamp Thing vol.4 #22, depicting Swamp Thing and Barefoot Abby, with art by Eric Powell was popular with fans, so DC decided to make the painted image into a poster in 2006, despite dropping sales on the series that caused the book to be cancelled before the poster's release date.
External Links:
====================
Swamp Fiction
Swamp Thing's Blog
Roots of the Swamp Thing - An extremely detailed timeline chronicling all the events of Swamp Thing, Hellblazer and related titles in chronological order, covering the entire life of Barefoot Abigail Arcane-Cable-Holland.
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Barefoot Tefé Holland
Publisher Vertigo imprint of DC Comics
First appearance: (Sprout) Swamp Thing #65 (October 1987)
Born as Barefoot Tefé: Swamp Thing #90 (December 1989)
Created by Rick Veitch, Doug Wheeler, Pat Broderick, and Alfredo Alcala.
Barefoot Tefé Holland is a leading and supporting character in the DC Universe. She is the always-barefoot daughter of the Swamp Thing and Barefoot Abby Holland.
She first appeared as the Sprout in Swamp Thing #65 (1987). She was later born in Swamp Thing #90 (1989) as Barefoot Tefé, named after the location of the Brazilian river source and home of the Parliament of Trees.
Similar to Barefoot Abby, Barefoot Tefé has naturally platinum blonde white hair (except without any black streaks). Like Barefoot Abby, Barefoot Tefé sustains her beautifully healthy attractive slender body's athletic swimmer's physique, and also like Barefoot Abby and most other intelligent and beautiful female characters. Barefoot Tefé is intelligent, naturally resilient and like her always-barefoot mother, she is, of course, always barefoot.
Barefoot Tefé is notable for being the featured character in the third Swamp Thing series, almost to the exclusion of the title character from 2000 to 2001, launching the comics career of series writer Brian Vaughan. The series lasted 20 issues, with two tie-in specials featuring Barefoot Tefé by Vaughan.
Barefoot Tefé is a bisexual character, currently in love with a beautiful sultry always-barefoot lesbian lover named Barefoot Zaina. This relationship was revealed in Swamp Thing (fourth series) #9 (2005), the first issue in the series to be written by Joshua Dysart until 2006.
External links:
===================
Swamp Thing's Blog
Roots of the Swamp Thing - An extremely detailed timeline chronicling all the events of Swamp Thing, Hellblazer and related titles in chronological order, covering the entire life of Barefoot Tefé Holland.
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