Avery Carlton Sunderland

Avery Carlton Sunderland is a fictional businessman featured in comic book titles published by DC Comics. He is part of the Pre-Crisis Earth-One mainstream DC Universe, but his characterization and history were preserved in the Post-Crisis continuity. The character was introduced in Saga of the Swamp Thing #6 in October, 1982.

Overview
General Avery Carlton Sunderland was the President and CEO of the Sunderland Corporation - a scientific research firm that worked closely with the government agency known as the D.D.I. Sunderland became involved with Doctor Alec Holland's research into a top-secret Bio-restorative formula. When an accident claimed the lives of Alec and his wife Linda, Sunderland set about learning as much as he could about them. He had a private military unit track down the creature known as the Swamp Thing, whom he believed was the mutated form of Alec Holland and succeeded in capturing it.

He also disinterred Linda Holland's remains and discovered that trace elements of the Bio-restorative formula had bonded themselves to her skin, but the elements produced no discernible mutations or side-effects.

Determined to unlock the secret behind the formula, Sunderland used his resources to have botanist Jason Woodrue released from prison. He blackmailed into working for him and had him study the Swamp Thing's remains inside of his corporate office in Washington. Woodrue determined that the Swamp Thing was not Alec Holland at all, but rather was a being of pure vegetable matter that had been exposed to Holland's remains, and by extension, the Bio-restorative formula. As this body of vegetative matter became self aware, it mimicked Holland's consciousness and actually believed itself to be Holland. Sunderland did not care about Woodrue's findings, and only concerned himself with the commercial potential that the Swamp Thing might yield. Declaring that Woodrue was no longer of use to him, he fired him. Woodrue was not prepared to back to prison quietly. Before leaving the facility, he shut down the building's security systems, including the cryogenic units that kept the Swamp Thing contained. When the Swamp Thing revived, he read Woodrue's notes and learned the truth about his origins. With the hope of one day becoming human again forever denied, the Swamp Thing flew into a rage. He found General Sunderland and gripped him with both arms, holding him tight to his chest until he suffocated within his mass.

Upon his death, Sunderland's soul was consigned to Hell.