After the, putting it nicely, strongly seminal Flesh and Blood story that completely altered Animal Man and what he should be about, Jamie Delano still had more work to do. Now once again a human being in his own body rather than that of an extinct scaly beast, you would have thought that it would be high time for Buddy Baker to settle down with his family again, and possibly even return home? Maybe? Hah! As if! It’s Jamie Delano and in case you’ve all forgotten, it’s all completely miserable. But, before we continue, remember how Grant Morrison’s excellent run on the title featured memorable side characters? Well, Delano attempts to emulate this from here on out, and there are some classics here. In fact, they’re so good, that I can’t actually remember any of their names. The only one I remember is a drugged-up emo mother who had a child with leukaemia. Very Vertigo. But, before then, we have a story that reminds me how grim the world really is. The “Wild” issues are a four-parter that, if you’ve read my previous story, you’d know that I’d absolutely despise. Without spoiling too much, it’s one of those stories where when everything’s already grim, an angry homeless man comes up to you and kicks you in the gonads before politely urinating in your ear. I think I may have described every Vertigo story ever…
Animal Man (vol 1) 57-63 was published from March to September 1993. The stories were written by Jamie Delano with art by Steve Pugh, Graham Higgins, John Higgins,
Russell Braun, and Tom Sutton. I’ve read the issues in Animal Man Volume Six: Flesh and Blood.
Wild Bunch/Wild Side/Wild Town/Wild Life --- Written by Jamie Delano with art by Steve Pugh, Graham Higgins, John Higgins, Russell Braun, and Tom Sutton
With the family reunited and a form of normality restored, where is Delano going to take us next. If you thought you’d be heading back to the Morrison territory, or even the Veitch territory, then you’d be mistaken. Apart from a relatively interesting plot point that Buddy’s link to the animal world has grown since his death, we return to the usual dreary grimness as Ellen tells her family that she is leaving for the big city for several days to meet friends. While she heads to the city, you actually have a somewhat enjoyable first part in which Buddy, Cliff, and Maxine live out a normal day, getting up to mischief and causing trouble. It’s a bit slapstick at times, but after Flesh and Blood, some comedy and fun is appreciated. For example, a group of exotic animals break free from the Exotic Pet Emporium and in a moment that reminds of Morrison’s run, all sorts of animals are crawling around terrifying the locals. You see, this is more similar to Animal Man and what it should be than anything else so far. But just as you thought things were going well, Ellen arrives in the city. One of my biggest criticisms of Flesh and Blood wasn’t that it was grim and miserable, but that it was unrelentless and constant. When things were already bad, Delano would include a one-offline just to make things worse. For example, when Ellen throws Buddy’s ashes into the river, that’s grim and tolerable. But then, Delano would throw a line in about how she is being sued and all that adds to the story is a sense of complete abject misery. It makes it difficult to read because there’s no sense of fun. This has exactly the same problem. Ellen arrives in the city and is quickly raped by her friend’s boyfriend, Mike Peroni. Welcome to Vertigo. Most of the second part consists of Ellen escaping from Mike, before learning from her friend that she can’t leave him because he’s connected to the mob for his drug-supply. Ellen is forced to leave for her own safety, but outside, things are worse. She can’t find anywhere to sleep in the rain, she’s robbed, and a corrupt police officer comes onto her. Although she attacks the officer for what he did, she is soon arrested for assault and being a prostitute. In prison, Ellen meets a tough criminal named Jack. Emotionally, she reveals what happened to her. Meanwhile Buddy hears the news and decides it’s time to head to the city himself. What is the point of this story? The real meat of the story involving Ellen is, as obviously expected, relentlessly grim. The only positive I can conjure up is that at least it’s an understandable story, which is more than can be said for the next story. Still, what’s there to enjoy here? Is there seriously anybody who actually sits down and really enjoys this kind of stuff. I’d entertain it more if it were grim, but there were funny moments. However, there’s nothing. It’s just a demonic loop of depressing events.
Regardless, the third part continues down this long spiral. Buddy heads to the city and explores, before he too runs into trouble after finding a woman wearing Ellen’s coat. Like a dog, he sniffs the coat before being arrested for attempted assault on an officer. Yawn. While Buddy’s incarcerated in a cell, Ellen is released from prison, and she meets a group of women suggested by Jack. Ellen phones home and learns that Mike has threatened her family. If she doesn’t contact him by eight at night, he will visit her family and do all sorts of things to them. Therefore, Ellen and her new friends hatch a plan. In an incredibly complex scheme to embarrass Mike and ruin his reputation, Ellen and her friends acquire the help of a transgender prostitute. By spiking Mike’s drink and recording he and the prostitute in action, they get their revenge on him and force him to pay Ellen for what he done to her. As they celebrate, Buddy is now the one in danger as he howls in his cell, alone. This is where the Ellen half of the story ends and it’s definitely the grimmest part of the story, in spite of the rather tongue-in-cheek ending which even now I don’t really understand. I guess they effectively use it as blackmail, but it’s an odd way to end the Mike storyline. But we’ve still got one part to go. In an attempt to echo the period when Buddy ignored that his son was with his murder-obsessed uncle, Ellen ignores the fact that her husband has gone to the city and simply waits for him, despite knowing the dangers there. Actually, what city is this meant to be? This is meant to be the 1990s. I know it’s America, but they do have some form of law and order over there. It feels more like the 1930s. Anyway, the police prepare to transport Animal Man to an insane asylum because of his imitation of different animals, but he uses the opportunity to harness the powers of a snake and break free from his straitjacket, before heading home. With everyone at home again, there’s an air of calmness, not worry or anger, which there really should be. Buddy was nearly taken to an insane asylum and Ellen was nearly raped. That’s not exactly a normal day. Even Ellen’s mother isn’t bothered for very long. Everybody’s attention is the directed to her gift for her son-in-law. After Animal Man (vol 1) 50, the hero’s costume was effectively shredded in the collision. But now, as a present, she has made him a new one… and it’s awful! Yeah, it looks the same, but it’s incredibly baggy and amateur. He only wears it once. But with that, the story, thankfully, is over. Like I’ve stressed constantly since I began writing, this is relentlessly grim and miserable. Apart from some moments in the first part, which is admittedly the best part, I really didn’t enjoy this story and quite frankly, I don’t know how anyone could. There’s no sense of fun, excitement, or even drama that makes the story engaging. One grim event after another doesn’t make a good story, especially because the characters have been changed beyond recognition both here and in the previous story. However, the only positive as I’ve said is that, for the most part anyway, I can actually understand what’s going on. It’s not difficult to grasp and therefore, I wasn’t totally confused by it. It obviously doesn’t mean it’s good or anything close, but it does mean that it is mostly coherent and that’s a godsend when you compare this to other Vertigo stories.
Despite five different artists here, I really couldn’t tell a difference between any of them. They all appear to have this grim and somewhat scratchy style of inking, which makes the story appear very grey and unattractive. The storytelling itself isn’t particularly noteworthy either. Sure, Steve Pugh may be the main artist of Delano’s run, but because he doesn’t have a unique style as opposed to other Vertigo artists, it’s difficult to judge his work properly. It just doesn’t register in my head. Still, at least the Brian Bolland covers are still good, for the most part anyway. With each issue, they are becoming more and more Vertigo and fancy.
Story: 2.5/10
Art: 2/10
Tooth and Claw --- Written by Jamie Delano with art by Steve Pugh
Finally, after two droll and miserable stories, the Bakers decide that it’s time for a holiday to the coast. Sure, a fisherman was clawed and eaten to death by an army of crabs, but what else could go wrong? On the way, the usual kind of stuff happens. A group of seagulls attack Cliff, and Buddy becomes animalistic when he finds some holiday makers eating hotdogs. Again, where has this change come from? He wasn’t like this (continued)
before? There’s never any explanation to why his character just radically changes. Regardless, the family arrive at the seaside and meet Annie and her daughter, Lucy, two side characters who feature for the rest of the run and quite possibly until the title’s cancellation in November 1995. As I said earlier, Morrison’s run always had the bonus of great side characters who added something extra to the run. Whether it be the neighbours, or Animal Man’s agent, they each played a part in the run and Morrison created a real world. That is why Animal Man worked. It was a superhero in a normal life. But, here, Annie and Lucy are two very Vertigo character that you’d also expect to find in Silent Hill. Annie is a drugged up mother who talks constantly about how she has made her world terrible for her daughter, while Lucy is brash and wishes that her mother would leave her alone. You see, Lucy has leukaemia and therefore, her mother is constantly worried about her. The problem is that these two characters just aren’t very interesting. If anything, they add to the grimness of the title. Anyway, as the two families meet and enjoy their holiday, Annie finds a tomb of sorts in a beach cave. Meanwhile, Buddy and his family take a boat ride in the sea, only for the dolphins to suddenly grow angry and destroy their boat. There goes any possibility of a nice holiday. The second part begins with Buddy saving Maxine from the cold waters and, for once, Buddy uses his animal powers to do it. Oh my god. I forgot that Animal Man is actually a superhero. Meanwhile, Cliff grows closer to Lucy and just as their awkward teenage romance begins, they are chased by a legion of angry rabbits. Across the country, weird animal behaviour is recorded and, Annie explains that Lucy became ill because her father “must have got contaminated at the plant” he used to work at. Okay, sure. That is where this story stops making much
sense. In the third part, the animals begin to go crazy during a huge storm and Ellen works out that, like Buddy, Annie is liked to the Red and her pain about the planet and Lucy is transferred to the animals across the globe. At least, that’s what I thought happened. To be honest, at this point I stopped caring because the story is awful, and it doesn’t make much sense. Anyway, Animal Man calms down the animals by heading underwater and… doing something. But Maxine too plays her part as she tells her to “wash away all the badness”. Effectively, the story is concluded by an array of metaphors and due to that, when the story ends, I’m completely lost. And then, just to top it all off, Ellen decides that Annie and Lucy should stay with them. Oh god. Now it’s going to get really grim. This story had so much potential. It could have been a break with the two previous stories which had little or no enjoyment value. Instead, this one is the worst so far. It totally lacks much sense, and the nice guest star characters are woefully dull. The problem is that the more people you link to the Red with Animal Man, the less unique character he will become, and the more crap guest stars will take the limelight. Also, the real problem with the Red is its vagueness. Sure, Swamp Thing had the Green which also had the same problem, but it’s far worse with the Red. If the Green is the life of nature, then what is the Red? Meat? Life? It’s never clear and it makes stories all the more confusing. Overall, though, I think I’ve said enough. I can safely say that, so far anyway, this is the worst story of the three.
Now we have Steve Pugh alone and doing the art duties for all three issues, it’s easier to judge: I still don’t like the art. It has exactly the same problems as the previous story had. It’s not imaginative or appealing. I have to add the colouring by Tatjana Wood is far from great (she’s much better on traditional superhero titles over artists like Aparo) as everything has this muted appearance. Also, the art isn’t particularly memorable and therefore, Pugh will just be thrown in with all the other Vertigo artists of the time who lack a unique style, like Steve Dillon and John Ridgway.
Story: 1/10
Art: 2.5/10
VERDICT
Overall, Animal Man: Tooth and Claw features two awful stories that, in many ways, define Delano’s run. The Wild story is totally grim and unenjoyable. Tooth and Claw is exactly the same, except that it doesn’t make any sense. To me, both of these stories sum up the worst of Vertigo. Pretentious, unintelligible, droll, and entirely lacking in any sense of excitement. In my mind, Vertigo will always remain a stain on DC Comics. Animal Man by Delano is just another example of a writer misunderstanding why the works of Moore and Morrison are so great. I’ll focus more on a retrospective when I finish reviewing the run, but so far, it certainly isn’t good…
Stories: 2/10
Art: 2.5/10
Next Week: Batman: Before Robin (Detective Comics 27-37). Written by Bill Finger, and Gardner Fox, with art by Bob Kane, Sheldon Moldoff, and Jerry Robinson.
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