The Good

If you're thinking about picking this book up, do yourself a favor and also pick up Swamp Thing 12; however read this issue first. These two books work perfectly with each other. It's an amazing ride from Animal Man to Swamp Thing and a seamless transition. Well, let's just focus on Animal Man, for now, shall we?

This is the cross over we've all been waiting for as Buddy and his family finally meets Alec. Cliff stays at the hotel because he seems sick, so it's just Buddy, his wife, Maxine, and Socks. We get to see what the world will look like if the rot takes over in one of Maxine's visions, and it is frightening. Obviously, Alec and Buddy need to do something about this, and they take off to stop the rot once and for all. Fantastic story from start to finish, even though it may have been a bit slower than previous issues. Something crazy is going on with Cliff as well, and I'm dying to figure it out what the Rot version of Buddy did to him in the previous issue.

Writer Jeff Lemire, once again, does a great job of story telling and developing each character so they feel just as important as the main character. Also, obvious props to Scott Snyder who also worked on this script. I'm glad their doing this together and not separate, so each book flows well into each others.

Artist Steve Pugh does another fantastic job here. I loved his panel work for the flashback sequences and the flash forward sequences. It's very original. The best page in this issue, by far, is when Buddy becomes one with the red in order to find Swamp Thing. It's a dynamic layout and pretty bizarre. This is what I love about Animal Man.

There is a couple of pages of quick summary, which is great for new readers here, since so much has happened in this book in the past 11 issues.I'm glad their doing this so people who have only read Swamp Thing can see how great this book has been and currently is.

The Bad

Buddy's outfit changes from the Animal Man issue to the Swamp Thing issue. You will notice this when you buy both books.

The Verdict

A cross-over that seems to work? Yes! This issue of Animal Man is a huge success. However, you NEED to buy Swamp Thin as well to really appreciate where this story is going. This is a great story here. Lemire and Snyder work incredibly well together in the writing department, and as always, Steve Pugh does a great job. I couldn't have been happier with this issue.

Seriously, go buy this and Swamp Thing.

By the way, I just noticed GMan's Swamp Thing review went up.