Warn of the Red or How Animal Man is awesome again
The New 52. Bold new era for the DC Universe, new elements to old characters, accessible enough for anyone out there to understand and grow fond off. In a day and age where The Walking Dead, American Vampire and Kick Ass are some of the most popular books in the market enters Animal Man, from the mind of the fantastic Jeff Lemire about the life and times of Buddy Baker on and off superhero/activist/actor who balances his family life with the bizarre mythos of his powers.
PLOT:
Jeff Lemire is also the writer of Sweet Tooth, a book that is consistently great in all terms (art, plot, letter column?) and has a very bizarre feel to it too. For Jeff Lemire fans out there you know what I mean and to comic book fans that have never read his work let me say he is (and I mean this in a good way) the rational toned down (crazy-wise) Canadian version of Grant Morrison. He could very well be this generation's Grant Morrison. Enough about my writer praise though, Animal Man has always been a B-Lister superhero, his powers are not dumb niether is his costume or his personality, he has simply fallen under that category for his treatment in comic book history as a supporting cast member in the DCU, that is to me what makes his solo books so fantastic, a character that has nothing to lose both plot and marketing wise is one that can go to the most strange and unique places of a story and comeback affected with no repercusions whatsoever regarding the mainstream media or audiences. Grant Morrison once upon a time wrote Animal Man and it became a legendary run that developed the character in so many amazing ways that it freaked people out. Jeff Lemire here develops the plot as both a super hero/horror movie script, while he tackles his superhero life and how he uses his strange (they are weird) powers to protect the innocent he also creates a very disturbing subplot about the mythos in his powers and how they affect his everyday life as a family man. Both of this elements which on a review seem pretty dull are what makes the plot twist in this issue so powerful, the collision of these aspects in Buddy's life are what create the purpose of this book's existence, right in the final pages, what makes it stand out of the rest if you will. I'm sure this is confusing but believe me when I say ANIMAL MAN IS ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS IN THE NEW 52 RIGHT NOW, YOU WILL BE HOOKED.
ART:
I'm a big fan of proper Jim Lee shiny defined super hero art. This is the complete opposite, Travel Foreman creates just the right tone for Animal Man with his gritty and creepy looking art, almost reminding me of Kill Bill's O-Ren anime at some points (which is a good thing, that animation was great), it creates every scene's intended goosebumps perfectly, I have never been freaked out by superpowers before but watching the Web Of Life in action reaaaally creeped me out and I LOVED that. Dan Green's inks are instrumental for Foreman's art to work, more like any other inker needs a penciler in my opinion, the shades of black in this issue create the realism in Foreman's art and take it to next level which in the end generates some of the most bizarre pieces of artwork in the DCU right now.
SO:
Oh god. Get this, give it a chance because it is AMAZE-ING-AH. I cannot praise enough this book, everything was fantastic. If you are a Jeff Lemire fan this is MUST and If you have never heard of Jeff Lemire or Animal Man then pick this up too, it has a very unique story with one hell of a hook at the end of the issue that will have you begging for more. Well done DCNU, Animal Man was worth the wait. My stars here are justified, read Animal Man and if you agree comment back here to let me know what did you like about the book, if you hated it please let me know too :)
PLOT:
Jeff Lemire is also the writer of Sweet Tooth, a book that is consistently great in all terms (art, plot, letter column?) and has a very bizarre feel to it too. For Jeff Lemire fans out there you know what I mean and to comic book fans that have never read his work let me say he is (and I mean this in a good way) the rational toned down (crazy-wise) Canadian version of Grant Morrison. He could very well be this generation's Grant Morrison. Enough about my writer praise though, Animal Man has always been a B-Lister superhero, his powers are not dumb niether is his costume or his personality, he has simply fallen under that category for his treatment in comic book history as a supporting cast member in the DCU, that is to me what makes his solo books so fantastic, a character that has nothing to lose both plot and marketing wise is one that can go to the most strange and unique places of a story and comeback affected with no repercusions whatsoever regarding the mainstream media or audiences. Grant Morrison once upon a time wrote Animal Man and it became a legendary run that developed the character in so many amazing ways that it freaked people out. Jeff Lemire here develops the plot as both a super hero/horror movie script, while he tackles his superhero life and how he uses his strange (they are weird) powers to protect the innocent he also creates a very disturbing subplot about the mythos in his powers and how they affect his everyday life as a family man. Both of this elements which on a review seem pretty dull are what makes the plot twist in this issue so powerful, the collision of these aspects in Buddy's life are what create the purpose of this book's existence, right in the final pages, what makes it stand out of the rest if you will. I'm sure this is confusing but believe me when I say ANIMAL MAN IS ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS IN THE NEW 52 RIGHT NOW, YOU WILL BE HOOKED.
ART:
I'm a big fan of proper Jim Lee shiny defined super hero art. This is the complete opposite, Travel Foreman creates just the right tone for Animal Man with his gritty and creepy looking art, almost reminding me of Kill Bill's O-Ren anime at some points (which is a good thing, that animation was great), it creates every scene's intended goosebumps perfectly, I have never been freaked out by superpowers before but watching the Web Of Life in action reaaaally creeped me out and I LOVED that. Dan Green's inks are instrumental for Foreman's art to work, more like any other inker needs a penciler in my opinion, the shades of black in this issue create the realism in Foreman's art and take it to next level which in the end generates some of the most bizarre pieces of artwork in the DCU right now.
SO:
Oh god. Get this, give it a chance because it is AMAZE-ING-AH. I cannot praise enough this book, everything was fantastic. If you are a Jeff Lemire fan this is MUST and If you have never heard of Jeff Lemire or Animal Man then pick this up too, it has a very unique story with one hell of a hook at the end of the issue that will have you begging for more. Well done DCNU, Animal Man was worth the wait. My stars here are justified, read Animal Man and if you agree comment back here to let me know what did you like about the book, if you hated it please let me know too :)
