2016 Comic Challenge 109 Animal Man #89

TITLE-Animal Man #89
PUBLISHER-Vertigo imprint of DC Comics

After right at 8 years the amazing Animal Man comic comes to an end.While most fans if they have read any of the first volume of Animal Man have read the 26 issues that Grant Morrison wrote. And sure that run is great. The series managed to get even better after Morrison left.This is the final issue of Jerry Prosser's 10 issue run on the title. Fred Harper also ends his 10 issue run as penciler.

All the storylines that hadn't been resolved in the series get resolved with this issue. Buddy,Animal Man,manages to not only save his daughter from some evil entity,but also managed to get back into his human form. And it is in time to see his 3rd child being born.

I can see why the series ended here. Now I enjoyed Mr Prosser's run. But him coming on and replacing Jamie Delano,who is considered the second best writer on Animal Man,had caused  lots of people to drop the title.

Now I have read lots of Vertigo series. From the stuff that became part of the imprint once it started,like Swamp Thing,Sandman and of course Animal Man. To series like Fables,Exterminators and Scalped. But for me so far nothing has topped Animal Man. For 89 issues plus one annual I got a well written series that managed to work out answers to various questions I am sure most long time comic fans have thought about. Like how does a superhero make money? For lots of this series Buddy is trying to figure out a way to earn a living while also keeping up his superhero career.

Animal Man #89 gets a BUY!

2015 Reading Challenge Book 091 Infinite Crisis

TITLE-Infinite Crisis
AUTHOR-Geoff Johns
FORMAT-Trade Paperback
FIRST TIME READING-No
PRICE-10 bucks

In 2005 DC started this series. Which is a sequel to the 80s classic Crisis on Infinite Earths. I would listen to the reviews of each issue on the Comic Geek Speak podcast. Then at a con found the trade for about $5 off cover. Grabbed it. But almost didn't,mostly cause I am not a big fan of Geoff Johns. In lots of ways his writing reminds me of Peter David. And I do not like Peter David's comic work. But since this was a sequel to one of my favorite big comic book events I felt like I needed to read it.

This trade reprints issues 1 thru 7 of the Infinite Crisis mini series. And includes all the alternative covers. Some of which are from Jim Lee. I have always said Lee is a great artist for cover,posters and pinups. But that his storytelling skills are lacking. The cover you see above is from Jim and it looks damn good.

So what is the story? Well cause of a recent reveal ,that the JLA mindwiped some stuff from various villains and Batman's minds,Batman is now refusing to work with any other hero. To save the world Wonder Woman had to kill a man which was broadcast world wide. And something has attacked the JLA HQ and almost killed the Martian Manhunter.

SPOILERS BELOW YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!!!

So what has happened is this. At the end of Crisis on Infinite Earths all the alternate Earths in the DC multiverse got merged into one. And so that meant no more 2 Supermans and various other things. The Superman of Earth 2,which is the one that appeared in Action Comics #1,along with Earth 2's Lois Lane,Alexander Luthor of Earth 3,a world where all the heroes are villains and vice versa,along with the Superboy of Earth Prime all are shuttled off to a pocket universe. Where they are suppose to live in peace for eternity.

What wasn't known was they could see what was happening on this new merged Earth. And after seeing how dark the heroes have gotten Superman and the others come to believe if they can bring their old world back it will correct this.

Now to me this entire series was Geoff Johns kind of crapping on all the bad ripoffs that happened after Frank Miller's Dark Knight Returns and Alan Moore's Watchmen were such huge hits not long after Crisis on Infinite Earths ended.And I kind of agree with Johns on this. I don't mind so called dark or edgy heroes,hell one of my favorite comics of all time is Miracleman,but most of the ripoffs of DKR and Watchmen missed what made those two series so good. It wasn't that they were so dark and gritty. It was how each writer took the common superhero tropes and used them in new ways.

So how is this 7 issues collection? I enjoy it a bunch. I got it back in 2008 and since then usually read it once a year. The writing it pretty good for the most part. There is a few too many storylines that sadly do not get enough room to breathe.And the art is really good on most pages.And as a sequel to Crisis on Infinite Earths it works very well. Even if by the time I read this I knew all the big reveals and surprises.

Infinite Crisis gets a B.

TPB winner 04

Animal Man volume 1

Story by Grant Morrison

Art by Chas Truog and Tom Grummett

This is a trade paperback reprinting the first 9 issues of the best series coming out from DC comics in the late 80's. Before this series Buddy Baker AKA Animal Man was a mostly forgetten hero. He has the power to gain the ability of any near by animal. So he can have the strength of a gorilla, or the abiltity to regrown body parts like a lizard.What I love about Buddy is how he is a blue collar hero, since being a superhero doesn't pay that well He does stuntwork to earn money. The comic focuses on Buddy and his family,his wife Ellen,his son Cliff and his daughter Maxine.The first few issues find Buddy coming outta a semi retirement to help out a lab that does tests with animals. He soon finds out that this lab is doing horrible things to their test animals,and with the help of Bwanna Beast,another long forgotten hero,Buddy does his best to correct this wrong doing.These issues also have a funny scene were Buddy comes down stairs in his hero uniform ,but he has a black jacket on top of it. When asked by Ellen why he is wearing the jacket Buddy replies Well I need a place to keep my keys and money,and I feel kinda silly running around in spandex. This small touch is one of many that makes Buddy and his family seem more like real people and not just some charecters in a comic book. After the first animal testing storyline we get a handfull of done in one storys,but there is a underlying story that runs through these issues and many more to come. We see how since Buddy has a connection with animals he becomes a vegaterian,and how he becomes PETA's number 1 hero. We also get to see how Ellen and the kids deal with being the family of a superhero. Issue 5 is the acclaimed "Coyote Gospel" which is a Christ story with a Wile Coyote stand in. This issue is one that divides many people,some people think of it as the best issue of the series,and others hate it with a passion. I will admit that I like it but find it kinda preachy.The trade wraps up with an issue in which Buddy joins Justice League Europe,and since he is now a member of one of the biggest superhero teams,he gets all the perks. Which include a salary,and various home defense devices installed in his home,incase some supervillain wants to get back at buddy by attacking his family. This issue is full of humor and is a nice way to end this trade. One complaint I have heard about this trade is how you can tell it is part 1 of a longer storyline,which it is. But in my eyes it works good as a standalone. The story by Morrison is IMHO some of his best work. I am of the mind that when Morrison is working on a creator owned,or a b-list hero he is one of the best writers out there. But when you put him on an A-list title,he is pure shit. The artwork by Chas Truog for the first 8 issues is nothing to write home about,but isn't bad. It is just average. Issue 9 has very good artwork by Tom Grummett,and this is major step up from the previous 8 issues. The covers are all by Brian Bolland and each one is amazing. I would love to have a book that is just Bolland's various covers for this series,or end a series of posters of these covers. Animal Man Volume 1 gets an A.

I love me some Secret Origins 01

Animal Man is one of my most loved DC heroes. I first saw him in the Who's Who series in the 80's. I managed to track down some of his appearances. Then the Grant Morrison series started up and it became my favorite DC title for it's entire run. Animal Man is Buddy Baker a man who is exposed to a mysterious ray from a UFO. He acquires the ability to absorb the natural abilities of any animal that is with in his range. What makes me love Buddy so much is he is a working class hero. He has a family,wife and two kids. He works as a stunt man ,since heroes don't get paid. And he questions the whole superhero shtick.Then there is Man-Bat a Batman foe who at one time in the 70's managed to get his own title for a short run. He is a scientist who is experimenting with bats to see if it can repair his damaged hearing. Instead he mutates into a half man half bat. More of a tragic hero than a villain he has fought Batman many times,with most stories ending with him being cured. But the cures always last until he is needed again for a story.The Man-bat origin is written by Jan Strnad aka J.Knight and has art by Kevin Nowlen. Where as the Animal Man origin is written by Grant Morrison with art by Tom Grumett. Both of who were the creative team on the Animal Man series that was running at this time. The Animal Man origin is the better of the two art wise and story wise,but the Man-Bat one is still pretty good.8 outta 10