Enter the RED
When I last spoke to Jeff Lemire in Toronto I told him I was excited for this series since I trust his writing and I know his love of classic Vertigo. Like me he is a fan of Jamie Delano and Delano's run is suppose to be more of his inspiration rather then the metaphysics of Grant Morrison. This choice of Jeff to be more character driven of the many facets of Buddy Baker is what makes this issue good.
Jeff Lemire has done his study and his knowledge is shaped nicely in the scripts, where Buddy is unraveled for new readers. Lemire first dissects the public persona of Buddy with the mock interview, later we see the family elements that drive Buddy. Later we get into the nervous system of Buddy and his connection to "The Red".
My only problem with this comic is the earlier family pages Travel Foreman leave a lot of dead space and I found it distracting. The mundane family life was may be intended to be highlighted with great gaps of space and when the surreal dream sequences become vivid that became reality. The black and white (and red) pages are a nice example of synergy between Lemire and Foreman. Those pages are laid out as if Jeff's mind was in Travel's head while they were constructing them, they are some of the nicest paged from the second week of the 52.
Animal Man was as good as I expected. Jeff Lemire really love the classic Vertigo characters and I trust he will uphold the Vertigo voice. I am also grateful for Travel Foreman since he seems to be a good match for Jeff on this book.
Cheers
- Silkcuts
