All I know of him is from "crossover" stuff like Infinite Crisis or appearances in the Justice League, etc. (And that he's from San Diego, which I like, since I'm from there as well).

I came across a post a relative while ago saying he was actually very powerful (and the person never answered my request for a follow-up/clarification). And in a recommendation thread I just heard it described as a horror comic. I know the property wasn't originally main-DC, but from my experiences with Buddy I never would have guessed that (or that he's that powerful (given he can just do what animals do)). Has he always been this way? Or is it just since the reboot? I know very little about him (apparently).

PreNew 52 Animal Man could combine more than one animals powers together. Any animal smaller than him is made relative to his size(using the durability of a cockroach makes him incredibly durable). He could also use the powers of alien races(I believe he has used the abilities of a sun eater or something).

@joeagentofhand1: Could he mimic the physiology of an alien? (ie: theoretically become a kryptonian & get superman's powers under a yellow sun), or is it just limited to "natural powers"? (like if a species was telepathic, he could use that ability through a means other than physiology)

Man, I wish I remember where I read this (...guess I could look through my post history...but feeling lazy, lol).

Was it a "horror" comic? (or at least not "normal" super-hero)

Animal Man's wife smacked around Mirror Master and made him look like a joke.

Theoretical he could, but I do not remember if he has or hasn't. I would say PreNew 52 was not "normal" but I do not remember the PreNew 52 series that well. The current series I will say is somewhat of a "horror" comic.

Ah, so it's one of those "on paper their power-set is FAAAAR beyond what writers actually have them do" situations? (Like how Beast Boy technically should be able to morph into anything because it's been stated it's only limited to what he can imagine, yet he sticks to pretty standard creatures for the sake of the story/characterization). That is, if AM was used in a battle-thread, he could easily win in most cases because he could "steal" the powers of virtually anyone on earth? (despite never actually doing that in the comics - like how Flash would stomp most opponents based on physics (near-light = near-infinite mass = devastating punches) - despite him rarely taking advantage of this in canon).

Could you elaborate on what that means? I don't read anything outside traditional hero comics, and AM doesn't strike me as a monster/magic-user who I would imagine in that genre easily.

Just with his animal abilities he is quite powerful(he could control lightning to a degree, stun opponents like a pistol shrimp, shoot acid, be invisible, run as fast as a car, etc). I believe in the current Animal Man run he was able to run about the same speed as a mutated Flash. The reason why I consider the book horror like is due to some of the imagery in the book, not really the content itself.

@lightsout: He's one of those characters that is powerful but not talked about much or gone into detail with. Well in terms of power he's pretty much an enhanced beast boy since he gets to keep his form. I don't think he'd get supermans solar panel thing since he doesn't change his anatomy around he just gets the feats of animals so he wouln't be able to shapeshift or use telepathy since its a biological thing for them. Who knows? Its not like comics use science.

Yea, it does get confusing because they attempt to, but ignore important things. Like I can only imagine they've had AM use super-strength from an ant or beetle, yet those things are strong because of being very small & having exoskeletons (including simple surface-area/volume ratios that are much different at small sizes). So if AM isn't changing his biology/physiology he has to be using some sort of "energy" to fuel the strength he's drawing on (and then, why would he even need to "draw upon" any animal in the planet's "morphogenic field"? He should be able to harness the energy to make boost his abilities no matter the animals on a planet).

I remember in Infinite Crisis he drew upon an alien animal that could shoot lightning. Black Lightning is a human and humans are animals, so I would have to imagine he could do the same with him, despite not having the same genes that BL does that lets him do his thing. Then logically he should be able to steal from say, a Martian.....I should quit before I get frustrated, lol (with not so much the comic-science, but the lack of logic/consistency).

I'm surprised no one mentioned this....

I don't know about pre-52 Animal Man, but current Animal Man isn't too powerful. It's his daughter that's the real powerhouse. She can literally resurrect herself and other animals from the dead, and this is just the tip of the iceberg in regards to her powers. Basically she's integral to the survival of the DCnU's Earth.

Basically the New 52 Animal Man and Swamp Thing comic books are a type of super-zombie horror comic. Similar to Green Lanterns Blackest Night, but completely separate In the DCnU there are three forces constantly struggling against one another. Technically none of them are evil (or atleast that's what the comics say, even though some of the art says otherwise), but sometimes one force gains a significant advantage over the other two forces and it's up to those other two forces to restore the balance of power.

They are called The Red, The Green, and The Black.

The Green represents all plant life. Swamp Thing is the avatar of the green and the protector of all plant life on earth.

The Red represents all animal life on earth. Animal Man's daughter is the avatar and protector of the Red. Of course because she is way to young to take up her responsibilities, The parliament The Red gave Animal Man his powers so he could protect his daughter. Of course Animal Man only has a fraction of his daughters power. Basically his daughter is all that stand between the zombie apocalypse and all animal life on earth.

The Black aka The Rot is the power of death. Antoine Arcane was the avatar of The Rot, but he recently lost his power because he was corrupt and really evil. Basically he causes a zombie apocalypse in the DCnU and Swamp Thing and Animal Man team up to stop him. Arcane's daughter, Abigail Arcane has taken his place as avatar of The Rot. She's basically a good avatar of The Rot.

It's a really good book. You should read Swamp Thing and Animal Man. Technically the Frankenstein comic book was also part of this story line as well. but I couldn't get into it.