The fight continues with talking cats, weird trippy universes, and Animal Man flying.
The Good
This book is so weird, and I love every second of it. Travel Foreman's art (pages 1-16) is fantastic. It's out there, and I love the way The Rot comes together and looks on the page. My favorite couple of pages in this issue was when Animal Man enters the Rot's world. It's dark, gritty, and incredibly spine chilling. Panels aren't traditional panels. They're rough around the edges and almost seem as though they were torn from a notebook.
The stakes are raised in this issue as the rot infects animals like a virus and spreads incredibly quickly. This is one of the coolest villains introduced in the New 52 above all others. It's new, interesting, and above all else, very creepy.
While the story is really cool and solid, for me, it all goes back to the art. It's more visually stimulating than anything else. This is a book that works just as well if it's just about the Rot or if it's just about Animal Man and his family, art wise. I can not say enough good things about the art style of this book.
The Bad
While I really like this book, I don't love it like a lot of people do. My biggest problem is that it may be just a little too "out there" for me. This is kind of the same problem I had with Jeff Lemire's Sweet Tooth. He's a fantastic writer, but it gets a bit too weird for me at times, story-wise.
The Verdict
I really enjoy this book. Travel Foreman and Jeff Lemire come together to make a haunting and very unique book. I love seeing the world of the Rot, and overall, think it's one of my favorite villains of the new 52. As much as I enjoyed the story, I think it's the art that stands out the most though. The only real problem I have is while this is an amazing book, personally, I'm not in love with it like so many other people are, but I do understand the appeal. I highly recommend this book and this series.