The Good
In this issue, we get a split between the present and the future. In the present, Maxine and Socks have met up with William Arcane who says he's one of the good guys. In the future, all hell has broken loose as Animal Man, and friends, go on a mission to discover who is being held captive in Metropolis.
I love the scene cutting back to Maxine and Socks with William Arcane. It's a frustrating moment because the choices the characters make will have you screaming at the book "don't do it!" Very rarely have I had a moment with a comic like that. There was a different artist on this section as well, Timothy Green II on pencils and Joseph Silver on inks. This is one of the few cases where I think a different art team truly works on one section of the book because we're seeing a completely different side of the story, so it becomes necessary to have a different style of art here.
Any book that opens up with Gorilla Grodd getting punched in the face is a book I want to read. That being said, this issue opens up with a great action sequence which leads Animal Man, and company, to a journey into Metropolis. As they go on this journey, as the reader, I had it in the back of my mind that I knew exactly where this was all going and how it was going to end.
Luckily, writer Jeff Lemire is far from predictable and gives us something different and a bit better which leads us to believe there's much more to the Red and the Green than we ever could imagine.
Buddy's dream sequence is a big stand-out moment in this issue. It's incredibly creepy, and it says a lot about how Buddy sees himself as not only a hero, but also a father.
The Bad
I had a few minor problems with Steve Pugh's art in the opening pages. Aside from everyone making the exact same face in the opening panel, but I didn't like how he drew Frankenstein's face. It felt like that stoic element to it was gone.
The Verdict
Once again ANIMAL MAN delivers a fantastic and incredibly bizarre issue. I love the cast of characters here, especially Steel, and I really enjoyed the jump between the future and the past. For once, I really enjoyed the switch-up between artists, and I love what Jeff Lemire is doing with this book story wise. My only complaint was that I didn't like how artist Steve Pugh drew Frankenstein. He looks a bit different, facially, than how we see him currently in JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK.
Overall, I love this issue and series, and I'd highly recommend you pick it up.