While my initial (and by initial I mean I wrote it out entirely and then scrapped it) recommendation for this Friday was a comic that was a little more candid and closer to home, I’m frankly surprised that the run I eventually settled on hasn’t made it to the hallowed Friday Rec halls up until now, given how bloody amazing it is.
Published waayyyy back in 1988, Animal Man marked one of the first contributions of the oft-praised (certainly on this site) Grant Morrison to the DC Universe proper before being grandfathered into the Vertigo line mid-way through (much like Morrison’s OTHER seminal DC run on Doom Patrol) and the three trades it has since been reprinted in are an absolutely essential addition to any Grant Morrison fan’s collection. Featuring the pencils of a slew of great artists (among them Chas Truog, Doug Hazelwood and some fantastic early work from Tom Grummet), this run brilliantly balanced down home super heroics with intriguing, existential deconstruction of the comic book medium itself. On top of that, it managed to throw in a more than appropriate dose of, as Morrison himself describes it in the forward to Volume 1, “cranky and increasingly misanthropic views on the animal rights issue” that I am unafraid to admit were an influence on my becoming a vegetarian myself. (If THAT isn’t a glowing recommendation I don’t know what is…when was the last time a comic helped YOU make a significant life change?)
The story opens with that aforementioned super heroic slant. Volume 1 splits its time between showcasing the dual life of Buddy Baker…both his exploits as Animal Man within the super heroic context of the rest of the DC Universe as well as the origin of his powers in addition to shining a light on his time as a loving father and husband. Featuring such traditional story beats as malfunctioning powers and alien invasions, Volume 1 also brings in a lot of the elements of the aforementioned animal rights wankery as Buddy also manages to take out a few poachers along the way. This volume also plants the seeds for the path this run will eventually take with the fantastic one shot story “The Coyote Gospel.” Also worthy to note, this volume also contains the debut of the current Mirror Master, Evan McCulloch.
Volume 2 is where things, for lack of a better term, start to get weird…and by weird, I mean Buddy is literally atomized and rebuilt by the alien race that granted him his powers. More super heroism ensues as Buddy teams up with the similarly powered Vixen as the connection between the two characters becomes more explicitly defined. In addition, representatives from the much beloved Justice League International make an appearance to assist Buddy in his ongoing shenanigans.
However, of the three volumes the run has been divided into, it is unquestionably Volume 3 that is not only the best known, not only the most significant in terms of the leaps and bounds it moves the entire genre forward with, but also due to the unprecedented weirdness contained therein. I would be an absolutely horrible person if I ruined the places this story goes, but I will say that it achieves a convention not seen in comics beforehand and that has never been seen again to my knowledge. The effect said convention has on the places the story proceeds to go is nothing short of spectacular and speaks volumes about the comic book medium on the whole and the relationship between the creators that writer them and the characters they manipulate.
That’s that. Go buy it.
Joshua Mocle is starting to remember what he likes about comics journalism…this probably won’t last. To peruse his rants that don’t explicitly deal with comic books (as they deal primarily with punk rock, burritos and baseball), check out thoughtgrenade.
