Animal Man #65

Continuing to make my way through the last of the small stack of random comics I brought with me when we moved to Vietnam. Looking forward to heading home for a month-long visit and the chance to stock up on some new comics.

Title: Animal Man
Issue: 65
Date: November, 1993
Publisher: DC Comics (Vertigo)
Writer: Jamie Delano 
Penciler: Will Simpson 
Inker: Will Simpson 
Colorist: Tatjana Wood
Letterer: Richard Starkings 
Editor: Julie Rottenberg, Lou Stathis 
Cover: Randy DuBurke

This issue was mostly setup, with no big climactic battles, and the biggest bit of plot development saved for the last page, but it was also loaded with great dialogue and character development.

There is also lots of sex (none of it "on-screen") and even more talk about sex, as Ellen tries to get Buddy to help her experience his connection with the Lifeweb. This is new for both of them, and the ensuing discussion ranges from the nature of, well, nature, to the question of how much Ellen really wants to know about the "weird side" of Buddy.

Meanwhile Cliff and Lucy are exploring their own sexuality in a scene that felt very really and full of all kinds of awkward teenage emo. 

Maxine meets two new guests on their way to the farmhouse, and Buddy and Grandma have a discussion about God, who might or might not be paying a visit to the farm Himself.

This was one of those issues that nicely gets away from formula, lets the characters be themselves, and allows for some good interaction and some thoughtful dialogue, Not every "superhero" series (and I realize that Vertigo's Animal Man lives somewhat on the very outer edge of that genre) gets to explore the kind of philosophical questions that this issue delved into, and even fewer could devote an entire story to those questions. This was excellent, start to finish.

Rating: 8.5/10

Animal Man #5

Title: Animal Man
Issue: 5
Date: March 2012
Publisher: DC Comics
Writer: Jeff Lemire
Penciler: Travel Foreman, Steve Pugh
Inker: Travel Foreman, Jeff Huet
Colorist: Lovern Kindzierski
Letterer: Jared K. Fletcher
Editor: Kate Stewart, Joey Cavalieri
Cover: Travel Foreman, Lovern Kindzierski

Buddy and Maxine return from the Red to confront the third of the Hunters Three, but Maxine's inexperience with her own powers makes a bad situation much, much worse.

This is exactly what the current plot needed: Something to show that Maxine is not the all-powerful and all-knowing god-child. And perfect timing too.

There were also good moments from just about every member of the supporting cast as the situation degenerated from bad to near-apocalyptic. This was a good taste of how deadly an enemy the Rot is going to be, and it was delivered with good fast pacing and some unexpected twists.

Ending was a bit too much of a blatant marketing plot for my tastes, but overall a strong issue.

Rating: 7.5/10

Animal Man #4

Back to the New 52!

Title: Animal Man
Issue: 4
Date: February 2012
Publisher: DC Comics
Writer: Jeff Lemire
Penciler: Travel Foreman
Inker: Travel Foreman, Jeff Huet
Colorist: Lovern Kindzierski
Letterer: Jared K. Fletcher
Editor: Kate Stewart, Joey Cavalieri
Cover: Travel Foreman, Lovern Kindzierski

Two of the Hunters Three are fighting Buddy Baker in the Red's dimension while the third is currently impersonating a cop to get close to the Baker family.

And in spite of all that, this feels like a very transitional issue, dominated mostly by a huge infodump courtesy of the Red. The tension did pick up toward the end, but the opening fight scene (featuring a hulked-up Animal Man) didn't do much for me.

The visuals continue to be creatively shocking, especially the final scene.

Rating: 6/10

Animal Man #3

I didn't get another comic to review at Templecon today, so it's back to the New 52.

Title: Animal Man
Issue: 3
Date: January 2012
Publisher: DC Comics
Writer: Jeff Lemire
Penciler: Travel Foreman
Inker: Travel Foreman
Colorist: Lovern Kindzierski
Letterer: Jared K. Fletcher
Editor: Kate Stewart, Joey Cavalieri
Cover: Travel Foreman, Lovern Kindzierski

The pace of the plot picks up in this issue as the Hunters Three launch an all-out attack on the Baker family, both on Earth and in the Red.

The action back home is the more interesting scenario, as Ellen tries to escape from one of the Hunters only to find herself walking into a trap.

Meanwhile in the Red, Buddy meets the Totems (kinda the Red equivalent of the Parlaiment of Trees, or at least that's the vibe I got), and then fights to defend Maxine (who is, rather unfortunately, being referred to as the "Avatar" here) against the remaining two Hunters.

The pacing is good and the visuals are great, but a lot of this feels very familiar. The child savior must fight the war against the forces of the Rot, and Buddy doesn't want his daughter put at risk. And meanwhile, the rest of his family is in jeopardy.

I feel like I'm still waiting for this series to wow me with something really unexpected. Maybe next issue.

Rating: 6/10

Animal Man #2

Still working on New 52 #2's. Only one more after this.

Title: Animal Man
Issue: 2
Date: December 2011
Publisher: DC Comics
Writer: Jeff Lemire
Penciler: Travel Foreman
Inker: Travel Foreman, Dan Green
Colorist: Lovern Kindzierski
Letterer: Jared K. Fletcher
Editor: Kate Stewart, Joey Cavalieri
Cover: Travel Foreman, Lovern Kindzierski

Things go rapidly from strange to stranger in the Baker household, and Maxine tells Buddy that he needs to go "into the Red" to save the Old Tree, on which all other life depends. Conveniently, the map of the way into the red as appeared tattooed onto Buddy's skin.

Maxine as the mysterious prodigy with all the answers is walking a thin line on the edge of cliche territory, but the actual execution of the plot was pretty good in this issue. The art is surreal in places and intense everywhere, and the horror elements were pretty disturbing.

This is a solid follow-up to the first issue that delivers good emotional conflict, well-paced advancement of the plot, and some nice shocks along the way.

Rating: 7/10

Animal Man #1

Another character that spent some time as a Vertigo book. Now back in the main DCU for the "New 52".

Title: Animal Man
Issue: 1
Date: November 2011
Publisher: DC Comics
Writer: Jeff Lemire
Penciler: Travel Foreman
Inker: Travel Foreman, Dan Green
Colorist: Lovern Kindzierski
Letterer: Jared K. Fletcher
Editor: Kate Stewart, Joey Cavalieri
Cover: Travel Foreman

Clever opening with a first-page text feature that is a magazine interview with actor, animal rights activist, and semi-retired superhero Buddy Baker. Buddy isn't really sure what to do with himself, and the pressures to provide for his family are beginning to mount.

When he stops a distraught hostage-taker at a hospital, Buddy gets his first hint that something is not right in the morphogenic field that is the source of his powers.

The focus soon shifts to Buddy's daughter, Maxine, who really wants a pet puppy. Someone should have played the old song "dead puppies aren't much fun" for her.

There's also a very surreal (and pretty effective) dream sequence in here.

Horror, check. Family drama, check. Something weird going on with Maxine, check. Surrealism and bizarre dreams, check.

Yeah, this is an Animal Man book. It is, in fact, THE typical Animal Man story from the Vertigo run, and it left me with quite a bit of deja vu. I'm guessing this was a conscious decision, made to introduce new readers to they type of story that longtime fans expect from this title. While not all that new or original, it was handled well from start to finish.

Buddy Baker works really well as a sort of liberal "everyman" character. He's an environmentalist and a vegan, and he's got a complex family situation to juggle. And he's basically a well-intentioned nice guy. A lot of readers will relate to him (even readers who don't agree with him on his choice of a vegan lifestyle). It's hard not to relate to him.

The story moved along at a good pace and planted plenty of seeds for future action. It also had some creepy moments and a disturbing ending.

I would have liked some more originality, but this provided a good starting point.

Rating: 7/10