With Grant Morrison’s stint on the title reaching its conclusion, Animal Man (vol 1) had become a critically acclaimed title, with its memorable characters and unique plots. As Morrison was leaving after issue 26, DC were keen to continue the title’s popularity, meaning they searched for another British writer to write the title. Peter Milligan was to write for the title, but for only six issues, resulting in one confusing plot that made you wish Morrison had stayed (read my review of it here). With Milligan gone along with regular artists Chas Truog and Mark Farmer, the title needed new life. It came in the form of rather obscure writer Tom Veitch and young British artist Steve Dillon. Ahead of them was the daunting task of revitalising the title and ultimately, beginning the change that Animal Man went through during the 1990s…
In the first of two reviews covering Tom Veitch’s stint on Animal Man (vol 1), I will be reviewing:
I am the Man of Deep Ungodly Powers/Requiem for a Bird of Prey/Dead Dogs on Ice!/ The Call of the Wild --- Animal Man (vol 1) 33-36
The Zoo at World’s End/You’re an Animal, Man --- Animal Man (vol 1) 37-38
Master of Wolves/Bear Claw Soup --- Animal Man (Vol 1) 39-40
The Stone That Cracked Open the Earth Like an Egg --- Animal Man (vol 1) 41
Animal Man (vol 1) 33-41 were published monthly from March to November 1991. All stories were written by Tom Veitch, with art usually by Steve Dillon. Again, all the covers are drawn excellently by Brian Bolland. This is also the last run of the title where it is still published under DC’s regular imprint, before it changed to Vertigo with issue 51. Lastly, I have read issues 33-37 in the Animal Man: Born to Be Wild
paperback and issues 38 to 41 in the Animal Man: The Meaning of Flesh paperback.
I am the Man of Deep Ungodly Powers/Requiem for a Bird of Prey/Dead Dogs on Ice!/ The Call of the Wild --- Written by Tom Veitch with art by Steve Dillon
THE STORY
Somewhere, a man destroys the models of a yellow alien and Grant Morrison, before pledging to an Animal Man one that he will teach him the secrets of animals and men. Meanwhile, Animal Man drives a car off a cliff and into an aeroplane in a stunt for a movie. Animal Man escapes from the explosion and is praised by Cliff and the director. However, Animal Man finds an eagle nearby, worrying him. Later, while flying home with Cliff on his back, Animal Man is shocked when his son is shot with an arrow by a mysterious man. With Ellen and Maxine, Buddy and Cliff go to the hospital, where the doctor bandages Cliff’s wound and states he will recover. On the way home, Ellen and Buddy argue about what happened to Cliff, before Buddy notices the man who shot his son, an old hippie named Travis Cody. Buddy leaps towards Travis, who panics and claims he didn’t shoot Cliff. However, Buddy then notices dead birds on the ground, while Travis claims he is an agent of higher powers and that Buddy’s time is up. Buddy then tells Travis they are going to the police. The next morning, Buddy tells Ellen that the police found weird inventions in Travis’s ramshackle house, but no bows or arrows. However, Buddy insists Travis shot his son. Ellen then tells Buddy that STAR Labs called again, asking for Buddy to become their environmental spokesman. However, he isn’t interested. Then, Buddy experiences a strange flashback, causing him to become angry. Later, Buddy investigates one of the dead birds, finding its liver has somehow been cooked. After believing it has something to do with Travis, Buddy receives a call from a Dwayne Brown, who informs him of more mysterious animal deaths. Later, Animal Man meets Dwayne, who tells him that numerous dead birds have been found. Suddenly, Animal Man is attacked by a wolverine. In self-defence, Animal Man kills the creature, but finds his hand has grown sharp claws…
While Ellen discovers Maxine eating her teddy bears and toys, Dwayne drives Animal Man home, who is still worried about his temporary new hand. Arriving home, Ellen is somewhat terrified by Buddy’s hand, but tells him that Maxine is becoming an animal. Later, Buddy discovers that Maxine may have powers like him when she grows up, to the disappointment of Ellen, Then, Cliff finds a dead owl attached to their door, before Buddy becomes angry again and Maxine makes strange animal noises. Later, Buddy is phoned by Captain Atom, who asks for his help in a campaign to help earthquake victims. However, Buddy declines as he needs to work and get money. Cliff tells Buddy that he found 37 dead birds in the last week and that Travis has been carrying them in plastic bags. Annoyed, Buddy leaves and visits Travis’s house, where he finds more dead birds. Buddy then breaks into Travis’s house, finding him conducting an experiment on the dead birds. Travis attacks Buddy with a monkey wrench and knocks him out, leaving him outside. However, he awakens when a strange transparent entity touches him, which also turns his hand back to normal. Arriving home, Ellen tells Buddy that something is wrong upstairs. Buddy is shocked when he finds Maxine with lots of friendly rats. After Buddy seems to experience a flashback, Buddy rescues Maxine from the rats and Ellen thinks they should move to her mother’s house in Vermont. Sometime later, the police arrest Travis, who claims that Animal Man is killing the birds. Then, Animal Man flies in the sky with the birds, before he is attacked by an eagle. He then chases the bird to its nest, where his powers
activate, killing the eagle and its babies, making Animal Man realise that every time he flies, birds will die…
In STAR Labs, a man named Buck Sampson decides to dump radioactive waste on Native American territory, after ten years of attempting to create a mutant. Meanwhile, Animal Man walks home feeling down, while being followed by some dogs. He then attempts to fly again using a dragonfly, but it fails. Animal Man then says goodbye to the dogs and visits Travis, apologising to him. Travis accepts as he was released from prison after Animal Man told the police that he was the one killing the birds. Travis explains he is measuring his powers using an M-Field Meter., which tells if Animal Man’s power is positive or negative. Travis also explains that he has superpowers as well, but he doesn’t elaborate. Instead, he tells Animal Man that his link to the M-Field is broken, causing the deaths of birds and other animals. Travis wants to conduct experiments on Animal Man, which he refuses to be a part of. However, once Travis explains that Animal Man uses his bird powers, meaning he doesn’t have to use wings, he accepts and decides to work with him. Later, Animal Man heads home with Travis. Although sceptical of Travis, Ellen accepts his presence and Buddy gives Maxine one of the dogs that he was being followed by (despite it may have belonged to somebody else). She then says she will show her new dog to Mr Rainbow, before running off. Behind the house, Maxine shows the strange transparent entity the puppy while giving it a cookie. Meanwhile, Buddy and Travis conduct an experiment involving an electric eel and light bulbs. The experiment succeeds as Buddy connects with the M-Field, keeping the eel alive. This gives Buddy the idea of going to Mexico for a movie stunt. Days later, Buddy and Travis arrive on the set of Day of Dread 2, a cheap sci-fi/horror film. On set, Buddy notices the dogs aren’t being fed, causing the director, Raney, to become annoyed that Buddy would think he mistreats animals. Then, Buddy is placed in a rubber monster suit and by using the eel’s electric powers, he creates a storm. Suddenly, Raney releases the dogs, who attack the other stunt men, causing Animal Man to lose his connection with the eel. Raney becomes annoyed and throws Animal Man off his set. Then, Animal Man is approached by Buck Sampson, who offers him a job of saving the lives of animals. Buddy becomes interested…
While Maxine plays with her puppy, she is visited by Mr Rainbow, who changes the world around her into a colourful one. A strange old Native American man then appears, who Maxine named All the Animals, before he tells her something for her father. Meanwhile, at the STAR Labs Mexican Resort, Buddy and Travis are enjoying themselves when Sampson claims that the company is at the forefront of the environmental protection movement. However, Buddy is unsure after his last encounter with STAR Labs (Animal Man (vol 1) 1-4). Buddy and Travis leave, with Sampson telling Buddy to think his offer over. On the way home, Buddy and Travis discuss Sampson’s offer of working with Native Americans to monitor endangered species. Buddy believes it is a con, but he is still more concerned with his own powers. When they arrive home, Buddy finds Maxine sitting still without saying anything, causing Ellen and Cliff to panic. However, when Ellen blames Buddy for Maxine’s state, she surprises them all by jumping up and saying that she was playing a trick on them. Later, Maxine tells everyone about her new friend, Mr Rainbow. But Cliff doesn’t believe her. He then tells Buddy that he doesn’t ever want to be like him, before he runs upstairs. Maxine then tells Buddy about the old man who spoke to her, asking Buddy if he is going to go away with the animals. This scares Buddy, but he reassures her he will stay with her. Later, Buddy surprisingly receives a cheque for working on the movie and he and Travis begin testing again using a falcon, which Buddy ties to a rope around his arm, causing him to fly. Sometime later, Buddy buys a van for the animals he will be using, but Ellen orders him not to spend any more money. Elsewhere, the Native American man uses Mr Rainbow, his Messenger, to visit Travis, causing him to experience a seizure, in which he claims he can see God.
MY THOUGHTS
Already from the start, some alterations are being made to Animal Man and this ‘four-part story’ basically introduces us to the very basics of what Veitch wants to achieve. Also, I put air quotes around ‘four-part story’ as it isn’t really clear if a story is multi-parter or not. Every feel like one long story and because I’m reviewing it, I have had to separate the stories mainly due to convenience reasons. Anyway, I think the story starts well enough and for now at least, the main characters are just as memorable and well-constructed as they were in Morrison’s run. Buddy is a stunt man, which had been introduced earlier in the title and as Animal Man, he does what he does best, fight for animals. One the aspects of this story is that for the most part, Buddy is still sticking to his beliefs by fighting for animals and using their powers to help him. When this goes wrong, we are introduced to Travis, a confusing hippie who I’m sort of split down the middle on. I certainly think his presence is a breath of fresh air, as just using the same-old characters will eventually become stale, even if they are well written. However, Travis adds a new perspective to the story and while it may be a confusing one, it is welcomed. An aspect of this story that I really like is the changes in Animal Man as they are subtly done and not in a Jamie Delano extreme way. For example, the random claw he grows at the end issue 33 is a surprise, but it is only temporary. In Delano’s run (Animal Man (vol 1) 51-79), Animal Man becomes a giant f*cking demon bird thing and yeah, it’s different, but in a really bad way that pretty much ruined what was great about the character. Here, while changes are occurring, Buddy Baker and his family are still more-or-less the same characters. That being said, I do have loads of problems with the way Buddy acts in this story, but more on that later. In terms of the other good aspects here, I do like the return of STAR Labs, mainly because after the last time they fought the hero, you would have thought they would have returned earlier. While we don’t learn what their real plans are here, with Buck Sampson trying to hire Animal Man to do some work with the Native Americans, it is an intriguing plot point that certainly develops in future issues. Another aspect I like links back to Buddy’s family and how they are still given their own characters, Maxine in particular. I may not be a huge enthusiast of the changes in her, such as her eating stuffed toys, but she is still given the character of a regular child, meaning she has imaginary friends, like Mr Rainbow. This works as well as it shows that Veitch is simply building on Morrison’s depiction of Maxine and I think it works well. Apart from that, the story manages to stay faithful to its original animal rights roots, while also adding a fairly interesting plot, with characters like Stone and Mr Rainbow certainly coming across as mysterious.
This is quite difficult to write. In most of my other reviews, I’m usually quite enthusiastic about a story or art, whether it be great, good, bad or awful. However, this story falls right slap bang in the middle, making it an average read. This does mean that reviewing the good and bad can be difficult, but in this story, by far the biggest problem is Travis. Earlier, I said that I welcomed him as a character and while I wasn’t a huge fan, he was something different. But, to me, his introduction in the first issue should instantly make him hated by Animal Man and his family. For a reason unexplained, Travis decides to shoot Cliff. I mean, this is a big deal, particularly that it is a child. That same issue and the one that follows shows Animal Man hating Travis, calling him crazy and a criminal. Yeah, this is realistic. But afterwards, when Animal Man realises that he is killing the birds, he goes to Travis like he’s some old long-lost friend. This is just non-sensical. Buddy is visiting and befriending the man who shot his son. Am I the only one who doesn’t understand that, as realistically Buddy shouldn’t even talk to him, let alone work with him? Cliff may be an utter a*sehole in this run, but I’m totally behind his anger at Travis. Not only that, but Buddy basically tells Cliff to ignore what happened. Ignore it? How the f*ck can you? This is just bad writing and realistically, the police would ensure that Travis never goes near the Baker family again. That’s the biggest problem here and it is so glaring and obvious that I’m surprised the editors didn’t point it out. Other than that, I think the whole M-Field stuff is a load of crap. I get that Animal Man has to link with the animals somehow, but we really don’t need to know every single detail about it. Besides, this gets ignored when Delano takes over, effectively replacing the M-Field with the Red, another concept I dislike. To me, Buddy connects to animals just because of his powers, not some mental plane or field. Apart from that, I really don’t like the changes in the main characters. While you can still tell they are the same characters from Morrison’s run, things are different. Buddy seems to just constantly spend money, ignoring what Ellen says about it. Her character has pretty much disappeared since the run started. Maxine is a bit crazier, but that’s not a huge problem. Lastly, Cliff. Remember the lovable, yet irritating child that loved his parents? Well, he’s gone too, replaced by a complete prick who bullies everyone would most probably grow up to become a crack addict. To me, this is the beginning of the end of Animal Man. Yeah, these characters are still recognisable, but the changes in them are pretty bad and they only get worse.
This is Steve Dillon’s first Animal Man story and thankfully (unlike Chas Truog and Richard Case), I can actually give an opinion on it. Yeah, I’m not a huge fan of it, it’s a bit too crusty for my liking and it doesn’t really fit the mood of the work. Also, I have noticed that he isn’t fan of drawing eyes, with some characters, just having pretty blank looking eyes, particularly from the side. Also, is it just me or does every (continued)
character he draws look like they need a good night’s sleep? I know I do after reviewing this. Overall, it’s not terrible, but it’s pretty bad and doesn’t fit the book at all.
Story: 5/10
Art: 4/10
The Zoo at World’s End/You’re an Animal, Man --- Written by Tom Veitch with art by Steve Dillon
THE STORY
In San Diego, Animal Man climbs a tall building with a spider attached to him on a rope. Reaching the top, Animal Man finds a fly and eats it. Going through the building, Animal Man’s spider escapes from the rope and he chases it. A woman then appears wearing a fur coat and Animal Man informs her of the animals that died that make it. Then, the spider jumps on her face, frightening her. Animal Man then picks up the spider, with the woman falling unconscious. Later, while Travis uncontrollably talks about his experience with God, he is ignored by everyone as Buddy returns home. However, when leaving, Ellen forgets to tell him her plans to leave for the summer. Later, while doing some experiments, Buddy tells Travis that San Diego Zoo want Animal Man to do a benefit for school children. Travis agrees to help, while they experiment on a snake, causing Buddy’s tongue to become one like a snake. After Travis leaves, Ellen prepares to tell Buddy about her plan to move with Maxine to her mother’s for the summer, but she is shocked when she notices Animal Man’s tongue. Later, Buddy and Ellen watch the news and discover that the woman Buddy scared was actually a news reporter, who tells her story about Animal Man on Live TV. The next day, Animal Man presents different animals and his powers to school children at the zoo. Elsewhere, the old Native American decides Buddy has had his chance and that he needs him now. Suddenly, Animal Man freaks out and becomes afraid of the animals. He then orders the old man in his head to leave. Then, Travis tells Animal Man that his powers are going negative, causing a huge reaction within him, killing every animal in the zoo…
In a comic book, a Vietnam veteran calls himself the Penalizer and goes on a rampage killing people and destroying buildings. Cliff reads the comic with a friend, thinking Animal Man is a wimp compared to the Penalizer. Meanwhile, Buddy refuses to leave his bed after the zoo incident, despite journalists and reporters outside waiting for him. Ellen screams out the window, telling them to leave, but they continue throwing questions at her about her husband’s mental health. Then, Ellen tells Buddy that she and Maxine are going away for the summer to her mother’s home, making Buddy feel even more sad. Once the reporters leave, Buddy says goodbye to Ellen and Maxine, who tells him that Mr Rainbow will be staying to take care of him. With them gone, Buddy tells Cliff to look after himself for a few days, giving him money to do so. Travis then arrives and tells Buddy he is also leaving for the East Coast to find the angels. Travis then claims that he created President Gorbachev of Russia and that he guides him through dreams. Annoyed with his nonsense, Animal Man shouts at him, telling him to get out of his life. Days later, Cliff and his friend visit Travis’s abandoned house and after breaking in, they destroy everything inside. Meanwhile, Buddy feeds all his animals when he becomes angry at himself and screams. Then, the phone rings and it is his friend Dave, who he asks to come over for support. Suddenly, Buddy notices Mr Rainbow. Elsewhere, Cliff and his friend have set fire to Travis’s home. At the same time, Buddy finds Mr Rainbow and attacks him using the M-Field, killing him.
MY THOUGHTS
Here, we see some advancement in the plot and it really boosts the drama of the over-arching story. The main thing I really like about this story is the ending to the first part, in which Animal Man accidentally kills every animal in the zoo. This is a real hard-hitting end with tons of potential, especially as Buddy aims to be the protector of
animals. I also really like how Animal Man is being invited to do events for schoolchildren involving animals. To me, this is what Buddy should do, while also fighting the odd supervillain. Aspects like this remind us that Buddy is still a superhero and that it should always be that way. Apart from that, I really do like the scene involving the spider as it’s just very funny, especially when you look at the cover by Brian Bolland. I also quite like the Penalizer comic, which, like the Doom Force Special, really takes the p*ss out the Rob Liefeld side of comics, especially with it’s over the top art and grim dialogue.
Strangely, I really like the first part of the story, mainly because of its humour and great scenes. However, the second part is the complete opposite and it once again highlights the problems of the run. For starters, Buddy has basically gone through this horrible event and what do his family do? Say bye-bye! Seriously, Ellen and Maxine decide to leave Buddy on his own with Cliff, a loose cannon and they basically don’t try to cheer him up. This is meant to be a happy family. This really doesn’t give me the impression that these characters care for one-another, which really frustrates me as we have seen them happy before. Again, this is just bad writing and it takes a worse turn when Travis decides he is going to leave as well. Why? I mean, just why? I know he has some weird dreams because of Mr Rainbow (which just come across as a load of crap), but that just isn’t an excuse. However, I do like how Buddy effectively tells him to f*ck off, which is totally right after what Travis did. Apart from that, Cliff is an utter d*ck, replacing any charm he once had with just a*sehole-ness. Like how the story starts and while the darker turn in the middle makes sense, it has so many flaws due to the unnatural character writing.
Once again, Dillon doesn’t exactly impress me. That being said, his somewhat messier style is starting to reflect the title’s mood, but that is far from a good thing, since the title is leaning further and further away from Animal Man. However, I do like some of Dillon’s page layouts, particularly the end of part one, which very intense and works well.
Story: 6/10
Art: 4.5/10
Master of Wolves/Bear Claw Soup --- Written by Tom Veitch with art by Tom Mandrake, Dick Giordano and Steve Dillon
THE STORY
Somewhere, the old Native American speaks with Travis, who is on his quest for a spaceship. However, the old man, named Stone, doesn’t understand what Travis is talking about, but he does understand that his messenger, Mr Rainbow, showed him the end of the world. Stone then turns the TV on, and the news displays numerous events involving animals becoming violent and attacking people. Meanwhile, Dwayne visits Buddy, who has become incredibly unhygienic and broken. He asks for the hero’s help in capturing three large packs of timber wolves, but Buddy ignores his plea, just speaking about how Ellen and Maxine have gone to Vermont. Meanwhile, Cliff and his friend investigate the ruins of Travis’s house, finding some strange machines. At the same time, Dwayne leaves Buddy alone, believing that he is losing his mind. On the way out, Dwayne notices two wolves, causing him to run to his car and escape. Cliff and his friend notice this and head inside, where Buddy notices that they have stolen Travis’s M-Field. In anger, Buddy hits Cliff, who then tells Buddy that he hates him, before running out with his friend. Later, Buddy releases all his animal pets back into the wild, before sitting on the grass alone. When night falls, the wolves appear again and Buddy links to them through the M-Field, causing him to become like them. He runs in the night with the wolves when he is shot by a passer-by. A day later, after Cliff decides to steal his money, Buddy is visited by Dave, who notices he is covered in blood from a bullet wound. However, Dave quickly decides that Buddy should be fine. He also tells Buddy that he has found another film for him to work on, but Buddy doesn’t care, as he is still worried about Ellen. He then phones Ellen and tells her that Cliff is on his way to her after he found a note from him telling him that. After hanging up the phone, Buddy asks Dave for money as he is taking a long trip. Later, Buddy gets in his van and begins the long drive to Vermont…
Continuing his journey, Buddy stops off at a petrol station, where he is met by the Phantom Stranger and Doctor Fate. They inform him that a sorceress named Circe has unleashed an unholy war with ancient gods fighting one another and they need Animal Man’s help. However, (like the rest of us), Buddy doesn’t care and in anger, leaves the station without paying. Later, with night falling, Buddy stops at a motel, where the owner tells him of the Bear King Ranch nearby, the only black bear farm in the country. Not taking it in properly, Buddy heads to his room and phones Ellen, telling her he will be with her tomorrow. Buddy then goes to sleep, and, in his dream, he meets Stone, who tells him that his enemy is watching him. He begs for Buddy’s help, telling him that if he does, he will show him a fragment of what being Animal Man really is. The next morning, Buddy visits the nearby lake, where the water is lowering, and the old village is revealing itself. However, after walking on water using the power of a water skimmer, he falls into the river before making it out, just to be captured by two hairy people with guns. They take him to the leader of Bear King Ranch, wittily called Bear King, who shows him the bears being butchered and what they do to them. He then takes Animal Man bear-hunting, where Animal Man is forced to watch a bear being killed with a dart. Bear King then takes Animal Man to the village, where he is tied to a car with dead bears. He also notices that Bear King and everyone else has transformed into strange animals. Animal Man manages to escape from Bear King and finds a group of bears, who he uses the M-Field to tame and trust. He then uses the bears to kill and butcher everyone in the village, including Bear King. This somehow causes the drowned city to lose all its water, returning it to its original residents, while Animal Man watches the bears head back into the wild.
MY THOUGHTS
The only good thing I can really say about this story is that the plot idea for the wolves attacking the neighbourhood is a traditional Animal Man story. I mean, you could
imagine it working in the original 1960s era as it would work, but if that’s the best thing I can think of then the story’s just going to be crap.
It doesn’t take long for this run to scrape the bottom of the barrel, which is a huge shame due to the potential of Animal Man. The first part of this story is re-treading old plot points. Buddy still feels miserable about what he did at the zoo, expect now he is a bit more extreme. He basically looks like a homeless man, which I suppose was going to happen due to the bad character writing. The first part is simply a repeat of the previous issue. Buddy feels bad, talks a load of sh*t and cries. That being said, he does hit Cliff at one point, which is completely out of characters and then he runs with some wolves. I mean, what? Yeah, I guess that involves the M-Field as well, but I just don’t get it. It’s just trying too hard to be cryptic and the works of Alan Moore and Grant Morrison that it just becomes meaningless. We also see some of Animal Man’s ‘friends’, both of whom are pretty useless and aren’t exactly caring. However, this is just the start, as the second story is another can of worms. First of all, I should have mentioned this earlier, but the second part of this story is a crossover to War of the Gods, a Wonder Woman storyline written by George Perez. This explains the appearance of the Phantom Stranger and Doctor Fate, but this is far from a crossover. DC actually had the balls to put Chapter 17 of War of the Gods on the cover, despite it only being relevant for 2 pages, which I think is disgusting. Anyway, that doesn’t really go anywhere and instead, we get a woeful story about a load of bear people involving a flooded village and a butcher house. Do I need to say more? Sure, the ending involving the bears helping Animal Man is nice as it reflects his character, but everything else is so jumbled or confusing that reading that last issue makes you want to put the book down.
Instead of Dillon, the first part is drawn by Tom Mandrake with inks by the great Dick Giordano. This fill-in was welcomed and although Mandrake’s style isn’t suited to the title, it does work in the visually darker scenes involving the wolves, which look great. Giordano may be past his prime here, but his inks still work well and add detail to the panels. Dillon returns for the second part, bringing us back to the grim reality of where Animal Man and the title are heading.
Story: 1.5/10
Art: 6.5/10
The Stone That Cracked Open the Earth Like an Egg --- Written by Tom Veitch with art by Steve Dillon
THE STORY
Sometime later, Buddy and Ellen are in bed when the sunrises and they hear a scream from Ellen’s mother’s farm. Outside, all the cows are floating in the air, causing Mary Frazier, Ellen’s mother, to become angry at Buddy, ordering him to put the cows back on the ground. Meanwhile, Travis is in a restaurant talking to another Native American about Stone and how he is after Animal Man. When the old man tells Travis, that Stone shouldn’t be trusted as he has killed a cop, Buck Sampson appears along with his assistant, Kami. Sampson decides to hire Travis as an engineer, as he is aware of his engineering background. Meanwhile, Buddy lands the cows back down and Mary tells him not to use his powers again on her animals. Then, Buddy and Ellen walk in the nearby woods. Elsewhere, on the way to his new job, Sampson informs Travis about his house being burnt down, surprising him. Sampson also needs to locate Animal Man, as he is Travis’s probation officer. Meanwhile, Maxine shows her grandmother a blue egg, which then hatches a baby triceratops. At the same time, Travis arrives at Star Labs, where he recognises what Sampson is doing as DNA mapping, meaning (continued)
they are cataloguing the entire human genetic code. He then explains that Travis is required as he has the knowledge to create new test equipment. After accepting his tole, Travis enters a forbidden room in the facility, finding human-shaped androids inside. Later, Maxine is playing with her new pet dinosaur when the phone rings. Mary answers it and finds that its Cliff, who says he has gotten into big trouble, before hanging up. Elsewhere, Buddy and Ellen are relaxing when one of Buddy’s former flying pets appear, telling him to follow her. Buddy does so, leaving Ellen behind. Following the bird, Buddy notices strange rainbow patterns in the sky, before he lands and finds Stone, who thanks Buddy for coming. Then, Stone punches Buddy in the face for killing Mr Rainbow, before preparing him for his future tasks.
MY THOUGHTS
This is another story where the plot actually evolves a bit, thankfully as the last few issues have felt very standard. Firstly, it’s good to see Buddy reunite with his family as it was becoming incredibly grim with just him constantly talking about how sh*tty he feels. That being said, there is obviously a new character, that being Mary Frazier, Ellen’s mother, but more on her later. Most of the scenes involving the Baker family don’t evolve the plot much, they mostly work well, and they can be funny. For instance, Maxine finds an egg which hatches, and a dinosaur is inside. It is certainly weird and nonsensical, yet I kind of like it for an unexplained reason. The plot really develops with Travis and Sampson, continuing the mysterious plot involving STAR Labs. This inclusion works well also and while I do find it strange that a secretive facility like STAT Labs would ever hire Travis, there clearly is something going on, especially when Travis looks inside a forbidden entry room, building up suspense in the next few stories. Apart from that, we finally see Buddy meet Stone, which took a hell of a long time, but let’s just hope it’s worth it.
The new addition of Mary to the title should have worked in theory, as it would have given Buddy another shoulder to lean on. However, that just isn’t the case and she is just a distasteful old bag. I guess I’m less opposed to this than I am characters like Cliff, as Mary is an original character created by Veitch. I find it a great shame that they have moved to her house, mainly because there was so much charm about where they lived before. Aspects such as the neighbours really gave the title a three-dimensional feel and now that’s changed, it doesn’t feel right. To me, this is another milestone in the beginning of the end of Animal Man, as the setting changes, the characters change and everything morphs into something which isn’t what Animal Man isn’t or shouldn’t be, but I’ll stop my rant now. Apart from that, the situation with Cliff has gotten worse and it sort of annoys me that his character has changed so badly. Every character has changed and quite honestly, the title is beginning to lose what I once loved about it.
Dillon once again doesn’t do it for me. As he is both penciller and inker, the finishes often look messy and I really think he could have benefited from an inker like Dick Giordano. However, that has never been Dillon’s style, as he usually inks his own work. Still, it certainly would have made it better.
Story: 7/10
Art: 4/10
VERDICT
Overall, the first half of Tom Veitch’s run, or Animal Man: The Call of the Wild as I have called it just for convenience, is pretty mixed. The first four-parter is pretty average and the stories that follow can range from just about above average to woefully awful. The title is beginning to lose its charm. Its once memorable characters are becoming butchered, replacing their personalities with those out of a dystopian novel. Steve Dillon’s art rather adds to this bleak feel, turning the title into something it shouldn’t be. I often like to review stories which are very good and those which are very bad. I can’t stand blandness and average stories and overall, I so far find Veitch’s run to be average, while slowly transforming the characters into the opposite of what they should be…
Stories: 4.5/10
Art: 5.5/10
Next Week: Animal Man: The Meaning of Flesh (Animal Man (vol 1) 42-50). Written by Tom Veitch with art by David Klein, Mark Badger, Steve Dillon, Brett Ewins, Jim McCarthy and Steve Pugh. Expected to be published by 12/04/2020.
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