Brandon Borzelli's Geek Goggle Reviews
Animal Man #1
DC Comics
Lemire, Foreman & Green
The first issue of Animal Man I found to be clearly divided into two parts. The first part, I found to be rather dull and almost entirely uninteresting as it goes over the state of Animal Man now. However, the second part of the book dives into the horror end of the pool and does so with such force that I found the ending to actually be shocking and slightly grotesque (in a good way). Overall I thought the issue was good but didn't quite elevate to the level above "being a solid read".
As with every reboot (or in some cases relaunch) in the DCU, the first issue absolutely must establish the character and what part of their continuity is "in" and which is "out". This issue easily accomplishes much of this on the very first page. What Lemire does is provide a full page interview (all text) that is between himself and Buddy Butler aka Animal Man. This interview gives the new reader all that they need to know about the character. I felt like I knew exactly who Butler is and what he stands for and I have never read an Animal Man comic before in my life.
Butler then spends a few pages moping around with this family. These pages help to understand his post-super-hero life and it also provides some insight into the personalities of the family but it felt a little boring. Finally, something happens that springs Butler back into action as Animal Man. While this was good to see (this is an Animal Man comic book after all) I found this to also be kind of slow.
Finally the last five pages or so is when Lemire lets his freak flag fly. Butler has a rather bizarre and ugly dream sequence followed by a very surprising discovery and a heck of a cliffhanger.
Don't get me wrong, this is a very solid comic book. It's a well told story with a good mix of character development, action and back story. Lemire writes a good book. The artwork helps the story along and tells the tale in a very Jeff Lemire style as the panels bring out the emotions well whether they be shock, fear or just regular expressions from dialogue. Overall, both visually and through the writing you will find a good book.
However, as mentioned before I just wasn't into this book until it got gross. I've read a lot of super hero books where the hero just doesn't want to do it anymore and ends up having a change of heart. This felt like it's been done to death so why should I care about Animal Man going through it? This book didn't convince me I should.
I think fans of Lemire will enjoy the book. I'm not sure if Animal Man fans will enjoy it though as it seems the hardcore ones had high hopes for the book and I'm not sure this is what they were looking for. For the horror element I will be back for another issue. If you were looking for a super hero drama I think you only got half of it. Proceed with caution on this one.
3 out of 5 Geek Goggles
