After numerous tales about what our favourite hero gets up to, both in his life as a superhero and as a family man, we begin to learn something new about Animal Man. I’m sure we all know the standard origin of Animal Man. As Buddy Baker, he finds a spaceship in the woods, walks towards it and it explodes in his face. Due to this, he know has animal powers, meaning that he can use the abblities of animals around him, causing him to begin his fight against crime. However, that it’s the full story as there is one factor missing from that… aliens! Not only do we learn more about our hero, but we also see appearances from Mirror Master, Vixen, Justice League Europe and also, a strange mysterious shadowed man appearing to Buddy and his family… thanks to the bat sh*t insane mind of Grant Morrison.
In this review, I will be covering:
The Myth of Creation/Fox on the Run/Out of Africa/Secret Origins --- Secret Origins (vol 2) 39, Animal Man (vol 1) 10-12
Hour of the Beast --- Animal Man (vol 1) 13
Spooks --- Animal Man (vol 1) 14
The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea --- Animal Man (vol 1) 15
The Clockwork Crimes of the Time Commander --- Animal Man (vol 1) 16
Consequences --- Animal Man (vol 1) 17
While The Myth of Creation story from Secret Origins (vol 2) 39 only covers half of the issue (the other half being a Man-Bat story), it is a main and integral part of Morrison’s Animal Man run and it was released in April 1989, the same time as the rest of the run. Animal Man (vol 1) issues 10-17 were published from April to November 1989, on a monthly basis. As usual all stories are written by Grant Morrison with art usually by Chas Truog and Doug Hazlewood, along with other artists. Lastly, I have read these stories in the Animal Man: Origin of the Species trade
paperback.
The Myth of Creation/Fox on the Run/Out of Africa/Secret Origins --- Written by Grant Morrison with art by Tom Grummett, Doug Hazlewood, Chas Truog and Mark McKenna
THE PLOT
Away from home, Animal Man tests out his powers, which have been somewhat altered since the Invasion due to the Gene Bomb. After training, he tells Ellen and the kids that he cannot connect with the animals anymore. Although he tries to borrow abilities from their dog, Skipper, Animal Man gets fleas instead and afterwards, the whole family leaves the scene. However, watching him from the sky are a group of strange yellow aliens, who in fact caused Buddy Baker to become Animal Man. Not only do the aliens notice that Animal Man’s powers aren’t working, they also notice that Buddy Baker is very different to how he once was, which was caused by the Crisis (on Infinite Earths). It was ten years ago that Buddy Baker got his powers and became known as the man with animal powers. After Buddy had failed to propose to his girlfriend, Ellen, he went hunting with his friend Roger. However, during the hunt, Buddy is hit with bright radiation, causing him to go unconscious. He then later woke up to numerous animals trying to attack him. Instead of dying, Buddy managed to beat the animals using his new animal powers which he absorbed from the radiation. Once Buddy captures all of the defeated animals, all of whom escaped from a nearby train, he and Roger find the cause of the bright radiation, which was a crashed spaceship. Watching this, the aliens notice the change in the hero’s origin and they wonder why this has happened. The aliens then witness Buddy proposing to Ellen along with some of his first adventures as Animal Man, before coming to the conclusion that they need to get Animal Man back for surgery to alter him further.
In the past, after Buddy defeats some strange creatures, Roger tells him that he found another spaceship in the forest. In the present, hero Vixen attempts to chase after a plane in the rain, which she succeeds in by clinging onto the plane’s wheel, not before somebody who tries to stop her gets killed by a phantom of sorts. Meanwhile in England, specifically Hertfordshire, Animal Man rescues a fox from some hunters and is thanked by a group of activists. Later on, back in America, Ellen is shocked when Vixen arrives at their home. Meanwhile, a man named James Highwater visits Arkham Asylum, looking for the Psycho Pirate (due to the note left for Highwater in issue 9). After being a bit frightened by a loose Mad Hatter, Highwater meets the Psycho Pirate in his padded cell, where the insane villain talks about being erased from the continuity and the Wolfman (a clever reference to Marv Wolfman, writer of Crisis on Infinite Earths). However, Psycho Pirate shows a message for Highwater, which is actually a page from an Animal Man comic book. Meanwhile, Animal Man heads home, where he meets Vixen. Once the two discuss the effects of the Gene Bomb along with the Tantu Totem, which gives Vixen her powers, she explains that she is being hunted by some phantom-like mysterious creatures. But, midway through their conversation, the invisible creatures arrive, causing Vixen to drop a smoke bomb, resulting in the invisible creatures becoming, well, visible. In all of the smoke, Buddy is unravelled apart and completely vanishes, but once the smoke vanishes, two of the yellow aliens appear and tell everyone that they are now in charge.
In some strange place, the yellow aliens quickly and easily reconstruct Animal Man, meaning that the situation is under control. In the past, after Buddy defeats some strange creatures, Roger tells Buddy something, but it comes out in random strange words. After the aliens reconstruct Animal Man, he appears in Africa with Vixen. Near them, at an excavation site, a shaman warns of death and destruction as the digging team, organised by a man named Hamed Ali, is planning to use a giant laser to quarry with. Later at night, Animal Man and Vixen eat at a camp fire together, where Animal Man becomes attracted to Vixen due to the alterations made to him by the aliens. However, before anything can happen, Animal Man and Vixen are attacked by Tabu, a trained warrior, working with Ali. Although Animal Man tries to summon some elephants to help him, he and Vixen are defeated by drugged darts and then taken away. Meanwhile at home, Ellen forgets that she has children and then vanishes into nothingness. Later on, Animal Man and Vixen wake up in a prison, where they are met with Ali. He explains to the heroes that he has taken away the sources of their powers and that they will be killed in the morning by Tabu. While this is going on, the yellow aliens struggle with Ali’s laser and they lose control of their powers, resulting in the whole universe being doomed. Then, at the same time, although Animal Man tries to think of a way to get out of prison, it is too late as Ali and Tabu enter the prison, telling the heroes that their time is up.
Using the bacteria in the area, Animal Man duplicates himself multiple times to trap Ali and Tabu, before escaping from the prison. Once Vixen retrieves her powerful Totem, the heroes escape from Ali’s lair, avoiding all of the guards outside. However, the heroes notice something strange in the sky and find that it is being caused by some strange creature in Ali’s excavation pit. Meanwhile, Ali notices this, but doesn’t care as he is angry at Animal Man for mocking him earlier. Against Vixen’s advice, Animal Man heads down into the pit, where he walks through the events and possible realities of his life. After some time, he meets one of the yellow aliens. At the same time, Ali arrives at the excavation pit and murders the shaman warning of destruction, causing Vixen to follow Animal Man into the pit. Not long after entering the pit, Vixen finds Animal Man and the yellow alien, who is promised his safety by Animal Man. But, before the group can talk, Ali and Tabu arrive. Vixen pledges to hold them back from Animal Man and the alien, making Animal Man worried. Vixen then fights Tabu and she is brutally killed by her, but as this isn’t reality, her wounds are instantly healed, meaning that the fight will go on forever. In the meantime, Animal Man speaks to the yellow alien, who explains that he and numerous other aliens travel around in a ship known as the Traveller, with the aim of giving animal powers to certain humans. The alien then explains that Buddy Baker actually died in that spaceship explosion all of those years ago, but the aliens rebuilt him as Animal Man. Even though Animal Man doesn’t really understand what the alien is talking about, the alien then explains that Animal Man is different due to the Crisis, but by using Buddy’s memories, this can all be fixed. Meanwhile, after a long time of fighting, Vixen and Tabu come to a truce. In the past, after Buddy defeats some strange creatures, he is informed of another crashed spaceship in the forest. This means that Animal Man has succeeded in the alien’s plan and they tell them that the whole event is over. However, Ali then arrives and shoots one of the aliens, but it doesn’t do any damage to him. As revenge, the alien then erases Ali from existence. Then, the aliens
say goodbye to Animal Man and he and Vixen appear back in the real world.
MY THOUGHTS
While the first story of the whole run (Animal Man (vol 1) 1-4) introduced us to the basics of Animal Man, such as who he is and what he does, this story goes into the detailed background of Animal Man, which now involves aliens. This particular change here doesn’t come across as bad. In fact, I think it fits perfectly as Animal Man is a silver age superhero and due to that, the inclusion of aliens doesn’t feel out of place. The story begins with a retelling of Animal Man’s origin is pretty much a retelling of events from Strange Adventures 180. While it is certainly worth reading that original story if you can (thanks to the DC Universe: Secret Origins collected edition), the Secret Origins issue tells it perfectly and updates it slightly, meaning that character is added to the people in the story, something that nearly all silver age DC Comics lacked. Not only do we get the flashbacks to the past, but we also get some great moments in that prelude, such as Animal Man testing out his powers after the Gene Bomb and the scenes featuring the aliens, all of which are mysterious, but are a joy to read. Moving to the main story, it works well and displays so much in just a few issues. The beginning of the story is built up perfectly, with Vixen and Animal Man featuring just at the very start of the story. This puts you right into the action and when you see Vixen dealing with a ghost that kills a man outright, you know that this story is going to be different from all of the previous ones. Around this time, we get some other great character moments featuring Animal Man in England helping out some activists, which adds more depth to the story and character of Animal Man, along with setting up future events and stories that will occur later in the run. Also around this time, we get a brief appearance of James Highwater and Psycho Pirate, which (like the activists) sets up future stories superbly and Morrison tells it in such a memorable way, for instance, with Highwater finding an Animal Man comic page, which is just a great what the actual f*ck moment. However, the story really gets going near the end of issue 11, where the invisible enemies appear and Animal Man is basically ripped apart. This cliff-hanger ending is excellent as it feels so different to other cliff-hangers in other stories when a hero is seemingly killed. What I mean by that is that in some other comics, the hero might be knocked out or even shot and that would end a part of a story, which does work well, but Morrison’s version shown in Animal Man is even more twisted and imaginative than expected, making the ending to issue 11 perfect. In issue 12, we begin to see the main plot of the story form more, with Ali appearing, a villain who is only great due to his scary-ar*e appearance and great dialogue. In this part, we also get some great scenes with Animal Man and Vixen, which adds some needed character moments in the story. This is because in the second part, not much really happens in terms of plot, meaning that the whole issue was the perfect opportunity for character engagement and interaction. Morrison plays his cards right here and we do get some fantastic character moments, which adds so much more to the story. While the ending of issue 12 isn’t a huge shock or surprise, the resolution is and I love it. Cleverly, yet weirdly, Animal Man manages to duplicate himself one hundred times over, by using bacteria (is that even possible due to Animal Man’s size?). Like the ending of issue 11, this comes across as so imaginative and creative that you have just got to love it. This feels so unique and out of the ordinary that it makes you appreciate the silliness, but genius of comic books. Sometimes, the best thing about comics is that they are comics, meaning that they aren’t designed to be realistic and you can tell that Morrison loves that about them. I’m all for darker and gritty stories that can be entertaining to read, but sometimes, you have to realise that the story focuses on characters wearing bright costumes that fight other people wearing bright costumes. Anyway, there are loads of other strange moments through the last part of the story, most notably every scene featuring the aliens in their strange realm, which clearly isn’t reality. One of the best examples of that is Vixen fighting Tabu, who becomes a lot more interesting when the two can just kill each other over and over again and never die. Again, this shows the creativeness in this story and it works incredibly well. Despite the convoluted aspects of the latter portion of the story, it still works well and serves brilliantly as an ending and conclusion for Animal Man’s post crisis origin. One of the highlights of the last issue is certainly the death of Ali, which is displayed and shown so uniquely and interesting. Plus, this really makes the yellow aliens imposing and it makes you aware of how dangerous they can be. The greatest thing about this story is the sense of creativeness that is featured throughout. This makes the tale so interesting and it is definitely helped by the fantastically portrayed characters.
One of my criticisms of this story has to be the villain, Ali. Although he certainly looks the part of a villain and he looks like somebody that you don’t want to mess with, he just hasn’t got much of a character and we are never really sure about what he wants to do as a villain. While he had his goons and people such as Tabu to act on his behalf, Ali just did nothing apart from look imposing. Also, I found this story quite convoluted and confusing, particularly the latter half of the story. I think the possibility of the universe being destroyed if Animal Man doesn’t save himself is a bit of a stretch and it complicates things way too much. We aren’t really ever told why Animal Man is so important to the universe, but we just sort of have to accept it. Apart from that, there isn’t much else to say in terms of the negatives, apart from the fact that I think Animal Man should have shown a bit more character later on in the story, you know, when the aliens tell him that he actually did die in that explosion that gave him his powers.
Starting with the art by Grummett and Hazlewood, I think it looks very good and works well in terms of an Animal Man story. Okay, it might lack style in some areas
and it may look dull at times, but I feel like it tells the story interestingly and at a good standard. Plus, Grummett can actually draw animals so yay! Truog’s art is of a lesser quality I’ll admit, but like I said before, it tells the story well and over time, his art does get better and here, it isn’t perfect, but it can be good. Honestly, I find it hard to tell the difference from the inks by Hazlewood and McKenna, but I think that they both work well on the pencils given to them, particularly Hazlewood, who gives a nice inked smooth finish on Truog’s art.
Story: 8.5/10
Art: 8/10
Hour of the Beast --- Written by Grant Morrison with art by Chas Truog and Doug Hazlewood
THE PLOT
While outbreaks of violence occur in South Africa, Buddy Baker meets Mike Maxwell there, who is B’wana Beast. The two catch up after their previous meeting (Animal Man (vol 1) 1-4) and Mike explains that he is on the hunt for a new B’wana Beast as it has become impossible for him to remain as the hero. Mike then explains that a ritual
is involved for the next B’wana Beast and that the replacement will be chosen soon. Together, Buddy and Mike head to Mount Kilimanjaro, where B’wana Beast’s temple is and when they arrive, Mike drinks from a potion which helps to find the next B’wana Beast. Meanwhile, a photographer named Dominic Mndawe is attacked on the street by white police officers and imprisoned for trying to send pictures of racism out to the American press. In prison, Dominic is beaten again by a white man and nearly forced to hang himself, but before he can do so, B’wana Beast and Animal Man arrive. They both take out the racist man and rescue Dominic. Later on, Dominic questions why he has been chosen as the next B’wana Beast (a name which he disapproves of) and although Mike explains to him that B’wana Beast is about more than politics, Dominic shares a story about how he survived a furious attack on students just because they refused to speak Afrikaan in school. Meanwhile, the officer who beat Dominic attempts to carry out his plan of killing an arch-bishop who is fighting for the rights of black people, but he is confronted by a large group of people, While the officer threatens to kill the black people in his way, Mike Maxwell appears and defends the black people, but is shot by the officer anyway. Then, Animal Man causes an earthquake underground to break up the violence, but the officer manages to locate the archbishop, but just as he is about to shoot him, the officer notices a unicorn appear, which was created by Dominic, the new B’wana Beast. The unicorn then charges towards the officer and violently kills him. In the end, a recovering Mike Maxwell decides to stay in Africa to help train Dominic, leaving Animal Man to return home, but first, he heads to the Daily Planet and gives them the photographs taken by Dominic displaying racism.
MY THOUGHTS
As a follow up to the first story of the run featuring B’wana Beast, this story is pretty decent. The best thing about the story is the character of Dominic, who not only has a tragic background, but we also get a great and meaningful opinion of what B’wana Beast really means and does. Like in previous issues, Morrison highlights how inhumane people can be and the violence in South Africa reflects that. Scenes such as Dominic being beaten up or the black protest towards the end of the story really come across as hard hitting, which gives you a distaste for the white racist soldiers in the story, one of whom gets a great, but not very understandable death involving a unicorn. Apart from that, it is good to see that Morrison hasn’t forgotten about characters such as B’wana Beast and the story features some great scenes between Buddy and Mike.
Although I enjoy the idea of the story and numerous aspects within it, I have multiple problems with it, one of them being that I don’t find this story enjoyable to read. The plot itself isn’t very exciting and there really isn’t much in it to keep you hooked. I think that there were loads of different plots that could have been devised for this story that could have been more interesting and enjoyable while displaying the cruelty of humans, but the overall story just feels bland. Also, the tale itself doesn’t really come across as what I would envision as an Animal Man story and his presence in the story doesn’t feel needed, especially in the latter half. The story does display a great message about kindness and respect, but it doesn’t feel as exciting as other comic stories which raise awareness on topics, such as Snowbirds Don’t Fly (from Green Lantern/Green Arrow 85-86).
Like before, the art in the story isn’t perfect, but it works well and tells the story well. Plus, there are some great uses of lighting, particularly in the prison scenes and the more brutal scenes in the story, which come across as chilling, setting a mood for the story.
Story: 5.5/10
Art: 7.5/10
Spooks --- Written by Grant Morrison with art by Tom Grummett and Steve Montano
THE PLOT
One day, Maxine is playing in the garden with T.C, the cat, when suddenly, she is spoken to by a mysterious darkened figure, who tells Maxine that he misses her. Ellen notices this and heads out into the garden, where Maxine tells her that that was Animal Man she was speaking to, but she wonders why he was crying. Later on, Ellen gets a phone call from Buddy, who tells her that he is at an airport. Elsewhere, in a rainy and depressing Scotland, a pale man walks around and meets a sleeping James Highwater, who he wakes up. Highwater then wakes up in a motel room. Meanwhile, a man named Lennox knocks on the door of a woman named Mrs Linfield, pretending to be part of a religious group. However, when Mrs Linfield’s daughter arrives at the door, Lennox shoots her along with her mother before leaving them both dead. At the same time, Cliff and some friends play with a Ouija board, which spells out Cliff’s name along with the numbers 9 and 27, before a glass in the room shatters. Meanwhile, Ellen is frightened when the phone rings and after the call, she believes that somebody is in the house that shouldn’t be, but all she finds is Maxine drawing pictures. Buddy then arrives home, frightening Ellen again. Meanwhile, James Highwater leaves his motel room. Later at night, Ellen and Buddy speak about the strange man appearing to Maxine and shockingly, the figure of the man appears in the window to Ellen and Buddy, who runs out of the house to look for the person. After looking for him in a field in the rain, Buddy finds the shadowy person, who he recognises as someone he once saw as a child. The shadowy figure then vanishes and Buddy tells his wife that nothing was out there, but once the door to the house shuts, the rain leaves the numbers 9 and 27 on the door.
MY THOUGHTS
Downright, this is one of the best issues of the whole run for thousands of reasons. Starting with the best reason: mystery. This story is full of mysterious events and occurrences, all of which come across as chilling, curious or strange. When Maxine speaks with a man who she believes is her crying father, it comes across as a shock and for the rest of the story, no, the rest of the run, you constantly think about that and you wonder what it all really means. We then get other events taking place in the story that are so memorable, such as Cliff and his friends playing with the Ouija board and Ellen being frightened seemingly by a ghost around the house. All of these events are spooky and great, but they don’t come as close to being as alarming as when Ellen and Buddy see the mysterious person that Maxine was talking to at the window. This whole scene puts you even further on edge and when Buddy chases the man, we discover that he recognises him. This adds so many more questions and the great thing about it is that every single scene in the comic is memorable, meaning that when you eventually discover the solution to the story, it feels satisfying. Apart from that, there are loads of other great scenes, such as James Highwater being woken up by a strange pale man in Scotland (a lot more on that next review) and Lennox brutally murdering a family. Like I said before, these scenes are so memorable and unforgetful that they stick with you and you look forward to how all of these things will develop. So yeah, this one of the best Animal Man stories of the run, no complaints from me.
The fill-in art by Grummett and Montano works very well here and just like the story, it is packed full of mystery. Scenes such as the mysterious man at the window are drawn perfectly and it really makes you feel on edge while sending chills down your spine. Like i said before, it can be a bit boring at some points, but i believe that (continues after image)
Grummett would have made an excellent regular artist on Animal Man, but it wasn't to be...
Story: 10/10
Art: 9/10
The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea --- Written by Grant Morrison with art by Chas Truog and Doug Hazlewood
THE PLOT
On an island surrounded by dolphins, two men named Dane and Joannes meet up to speak about how their allies Dolphin and Buddy Baker are arriving to help them out. However, some locals recognise Joannes as an American environmentalist and they try and attack him, but they are luckily stopped by Animal Man, who has just arrived. Some time later, on a boat, Dane explains to Animal Man that they are out to try and prevent an annual competition in which numerous locals from the island head out and kill as many dolphins as possible, but just for fun and not for food. Dane also explains that the hunting has become incredibly violent and dangerous, explaining why he wants to be involved in stopping it. Afterwards, Animal Man heads underwater with Joannes and Dane, where they meet Dolphin, a hero who acts as a guardian for dolphins. The next morning, the hunting begins and together Animal Man and Dolphin use their powers move the dolphins off of their usual route near land, meaning that they should be safe from hunters. However, hunters manage to kill some dolphins, angering Animal Man. The hero then attacks one of the ships belonging to the hunters, before picking up the man in charge of the hunting and holding him incredibly high above water. To the hunter’ shock, Animal Man drops him into the ocean. In the end, Animal Man, Dolphin, Dane and Joannes stop the rest of the hunters and underwater, the chief hunter is saved by a dolphin, who saves him because killing isn’t the way of a dolphin.
MY THOUGHTS
Like the Invasion story featuring the Thangarians, this is probably one of the weakest stories of the run, but starting with the positives, the story features a very good message that fits Animal Man perfectly. This is a hero that stands up for animal rights and is committed to preventing their deaths and due to that, the main aim of the story works fittingly. Apart from that, there are some great moments, such as an instance of Animal Man’s rage against the hunters, again, respective of his character and also, Animal Man’s decision to just drop one of the hunters into the sea is a fantastic piece (continues after image)
of character writing and it’s the first real time that we see Animal Man get angry.
However, aside from all of that, this story just isn’t very fun and it is a dull read. For starters, Morrison brings back Dolphin, an old forgotten character from DC’s Showcase (vol 1) title and to me, there is a reason that she was forgotten… and that is because she is sh*t. Seriously, she doesn’t have a character, she doesn’t do anything in the story and to be honest, her whole presence here just feels wasted. Additionally, the hunters themselves feel incredibly dull and although they do kill numerous dolphins very viciously, I feel like more could have been done with their characters. In my opinion, this story feels like a fill in story and is really only designed to be about ten pages long. The tale cannot sustain itself for very long and while the message of the story is respectable, it doesn’t do much for me.
Due to the lacklustre story, the art isn’t so great either. I guess its good if you like the ocean though…
Story: 5.5/10
Art: 7/10
The Clockwork Crimes of the Time Commander --- Written by Grant Morrison with art by Chas Truog and Doug Hazlewood
THE PLOT
In Paris, France, an insane man asks a French man what the time is, but his watch has stopped, causing the insane man to run off laughing. Meanwhile at the Baker home, Ellen tells Buddy that a publishing company want to publish her book. As a celebration, Buddy tells Ellen that he is taking just the two of them to Paris (leaving Ellen and Maxine with their friend Tricia. In just five minutes, Buddy and Ellen teleport to the Justice League Europe base in Paris, where they meet Metamorpho, Elongated Man and his wife, Sue. However, at the same time, the insane man from earlier continues with his obsession of time and dresses in his supervillain costume. He is the obscure villain known as the Time Commander. Meanwhile, Buddy and Ellen are enjoying their time in Paris, but suddenly, they hear screams and notice a giant dinosaur in the streets. Using his powers, Buddy just about manages to defeat the dinosaur. Luckily, Elongated Man, Metamorpho and Russian hero Rocket Red arrive at the scene. Once, Rocket Red introduces himself to Ellen in a rather strange way, Elongated Man theorises that Time Comannder could be the cause behind things from the past returning, such as the giant dinosaur, buildings, lampposts and numerous other things. Meanwhile at a graveyard, an old widow goes to place flowers down for her husband, but she finds Time Commander there, who has noticed himself on the ground with a broken nose. However, he works out that this image is from the future, exactly ten minutes in the future. Time Commander then explains to the widow that there is no death and he makes the widow young again while also bringing her husband back to live. Time Commander does this to other people wanting their dead relatives back, but while he is talking about the happiness for what he is doing for everyone, Animal Man and the JLE heroes arrive. The heroes begin to fight the villain, but they are all defeated, apart from Animal Man, who tries to convince Time Commander to give up peacefully, which he begins to think about. However, Metamorpho then gets out of his prison he was put in by Time Commander and he knocks the villain unconscious, resulting in everything that Time Commander did to be undone. This leaves Metamorpho confused as to why nobody is happy that the Time Commander has been defeated. Later that night, Buddy and Ellen go out for dinner, but unknown to them, Lennox watches them through the window and studies them.
MY THOUGHTS
Unlike the previous story, I think this is a flawless story and it is another favourite from the run. The best thing about the story has to be Time Commander (who first appeared in The Brave and the Bold 59, featuring Batman and Green Lantern). As opposed to other time travelling crooks such as Chronos, Time Commander is very
different and here, he isn’t displayed as a villain, but as something much more. Despite the clear fact that he is insane, he doesn’t actually really hurt anybody and he helps numerous people such as a widow and a son who wants his father back. These are all very kind things and it makes you really like Time Commander’s character. However, we all know that being in control of time is dangerous and morally, bringing the dead back isn’t such a good thing. Animal Man speaks to Time Commander perfectly about what he has done and it is a great, but when Metamorpho takes out the villain violently, making everyone at the scene sad, it feels like such a fantastic end and it does make you feel sad for everybody who has had their loved ones return. Apart from that, the story works brilliantly on a character basis as we get to see Buddy and Ellen enjoying themselves for once. Plus, we get some great appearances from numerous Justice League Europe members along with a perfect ending, where we see Lennox watching Buddy and his wife, telling us that something is going to happen soon… and it isn’t going to be good…
Unlike other great stories, I don’t find the art here to be brilliant. Most of the time it looks good, but there are so many panels in this issue which contain over the top faces, making the art look a little bit too cartoonish for my liking.
Story: 10/10
Art: 7.5/10
Consequences --- Written by Grant Morrison with art by Chas Truog and Doug Hazlewood
THE PLOT
In Glasgow, Lennox meets with Mirror Master to in order obtain the layout of Animal Man’s home from him, but at first, Mirror Master plays some tricks with him, just to annoy him. Meanwhile, Buddy Baker and a group of activists break into a university campus lab, where they find a number of monkeys with their eyes sewn shut as part of a sight deprivation experiment. While Buddy and the activists leave the room, one stays behind to set fire to it before leaving. Meanwhile, James Highwater drives his car on a motorway when suddenly, his arms vanish out of existence. However, they appear back about a second later. Later on, Animal Man arrives home to find Cliff eating a burger. Although Cliff says that he doesn’t want to be a vegetarian, Buddy doesn’t force him, but does explain that eating meat is bad for the planet. Buddy then leaves Cliff to think about things. Back to Lennox, Mirror Master declines giving an answer to his question about the layout of Animal Man’s home, causing Lennox to shoot the villain. However, this backfires as the area where Lennox and Mirror Master were talking in was actually a mirror dimension, meaning that Lennox is now trapped in blackness. Meanwhile with Animal Man, to his curiousness, Ellen hangs out a black and blue Animal Man costume out for the wash, but instead of getting answer from his wife about the costume, Ellen tells Buddy that some firemen were hurt at the university lab fire which Buddy was a part of. Ellen tells Buddy that he has crossed the line with this one and that Roger also wants to speak to him. Later, Buddy speaks with Roger, who not only reminds Buddy about a television debate that he has to take part in, but also reminds him about his early days of Animal Man and how it was meant for fun, but now Buddy is getting people hurt due to his activism. This causes Buddy to rant about the poachers in the world and the cruel businessmen, but Roger leaves his friend, telling him that this time, he did the wrong thing. Later at night on the TV debate, Animal Man is put up against somebody who questions the legality of his superhero activities and if he has ever done anything illegal as a hero. This causes Animal Man to lose his temper on air and make himself look like a bit of a fool. Meanwhile, Lennox is let out of the mirror dimension by Mirror Master. In the end, Buddy breaks ties with the activist group and considers resigning from Justice League Europe. However, when Buddy gets home, Ellen tells him that somebody is in the house and when Buddy enters the house, he finds James Highwater crawling on the ground asking for help as his legs are disappearing.
MY THOUGHTS
Although this aspect of the character has been explored previously, this issue perfectly displays and speculates the legality of Animal Man and what he stands for. At the start of the story, we see Animal Man rescuing some monkeys with a group of rather extreme activists, but by the end, we see Animal Man cutting ties with the activists and even considering leaving the JLE. This shows the sudden change in just this issue, only because Animal Man went too far just once, but once is more than enough. Morrison displays brilliantly not just how dangerous being a superhero is, but it shows that everybody questions heroes and what they really stand for. But as Animal Man has done wrong, he is forced to answer questions on live tv, which results in his heroic character being destroyed, ultimately by himself (poetic, I think). Not only that, but we get a great scene between Buddy and Roger, which really reminds Buddy that he became a hero for fun and to help people, but he seems to have (continues after image)
forgotten that. Apart from that, we get some fantastic scenes featuring Lennox and Mirror Master, which are progressive to the story and it makes you further question what is really going on. Furthermore, we notice a newer black Animal Man costume appear and the first meeting between Buddy and James Highwater, again, bringing up more questions, all of which will be answered soon…
My only problem with this story is the fact that Animal Man is part of the Justice League Europe, meaning that his heroic actions should really be justified by that. I understand that writers tend to want their heroes to be a bit separate from other titles (just like Mike Grell wanted with Green Arrow), I think that stuff like this should be taken into account.
Although the art is standard (as always), I think the flashback scenes look incredibly faithful to the original silver age comics and they do look really good. The same goes with the previous issues that did as well as in terms of that, they do tend to be the best looking bit of the stories.
Story: 9.5/10
Art: 8/10
VERDICT
Overall, Animal Man: Origin of the Species may not be as good as the first set of stories, but it is still very good and enjoyable. Sure, you can get weak stories such as the one with Dolphin, but there are some giants here in the run, such as the story featuring Time Commander and not to mention Spooks, arguably the best and most important story of the series to me. Like I stated, the art may not be perfect, but it can look very good in some areas, particularly when Tom Grummett delivers the pencils. But most importantly, these stories show how perfectly Morrison can create a world for the characters and it is a bit of a shame that the run is near its end, but just you wait until the conclusion…
Stories: 8.5/10
Art: 8/10
Highlighted Character: Time Commander (just because he is such a unique and perfect villain or even a hero to some)
Next Review: Animal Man: Deus Ex Machina (Animal Man (vol 1) 18-26). Written by Grant Morrison with art by Chas Truog, Doug Hazlewood, Paris Cullins, Steve Montano and Mark Farmer. Expected to be published by 22/09/2019.
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