"Lambs to the Slaughter" is the title to the thirteenth issue of the second Swamp Thing ongoing comic book series by DC Comics. It is the first of two stories presented in this issue. It was written by Martin Pasko with artwork by Tom Yeates. It was colored by Tatjana Wood and lettered by John Costanza. The second vignette is a six-page story featuring the Phantom Stranger titled "The Man Who Isn't There", and is written by Nicola Cuti with artwork by Fred Carrillo, colors by Anthony Tollin and lettering by John Costanza. Both stories were edited by Len Wein. This issue shipped with a May, 1983 cover date and carries a cover price of 60 cents per copy (US).
In the Fortress of the Beast, Swamp Thing, Liz, Dennis, and Dr. Kripptman are each tricked into hallucinations of their most painful memories which turn out to be traps to kill them. They survive the traps and discover that Grasp has also been a herald of the Beast all along. Karen Clancy then shows them a representation of the Beast and outlines their plan for starting a holy war leading to Armageddon.
It is at this point that the Golem that was previously released to kill Karen, charges at Liz (since she is wearing Karen's locket) and the Swamp Thing destroys it in a violent explosion just by looking at it. Swamp Thing deduces that he must have absorbed some of Karen's psychokinetic abilities during the time he wore the locket. Using his new power, he fights Karen and, after taking Von Ruhnstedt's pendulum from her, becomes powerful enough to kill her and Grasp. With both of the heralds of the Beast gone, the world is safe from armageddon (until the next incarnation of the herald arrives).
Swamp Thing throws the locket and pendulum over a bridge and then, with the help of Liz, Dennis and Kripptman, returns home to his swamp in Louisiana to restore and heal himself. General Sunderland, aware of Grasp's death, plans on stepping up his efforts to kill Swamp Thing.
Yehudi Jones is noticed by no one else in the world, and learns to get along by pilfering from people. But the Phantom Stranger forces him to reject his "non-entitiness" to save Rosa, a beautiful girl, from corruption by drug peddler Dan D. Candy.
Swamp Thing was found to be dying since the beginning of this run, as evidenced initially by his failure to regenerate a hand even after several days of time had already passed[1] and by Helmut Kriptmann's analysis of the severed hand's tissues.[1][2]
As of Swamp Thing, Vol. 2 #12, Dennis Barclay had learned that the disease was an artificial strain of E. Coli bacteria, which could be treated with antibiotics without healing the damage already done (and bound to kill him in two months).[3] The final panels of this issue solve that plot as he finally has the chance to treat his bacteria infection with antibiotics provided by Dennis Barclay.
