Animal Man 3 (January 2012)

Foreman shows why he belongs on Animal Man this issue. Not because he’s a great artist, but because he can draw disgusting things without making them discomforting.

It’s an all-action issue featuring Animal Man turning into a mutant thing and fighting other disgusting mutant things and… Okay, there’s not much content. However, it’s the first issue where I felt like I should stick with the comic.

Lemire has this one scene–Animal Man’s wife is bitching about the son’s bloody video game, then she herself starts playing it. It’s a tiny little thing, a subtle pin in a haystack of the obvious, but it shows some imagination on Lemire’s part.

Whether Lemire can synthesize subtle character detail and big, gooey action remains to be seen. And he’s a little cheap–the comic’s compelling because a four year old is in danger–but Animal Man is finally rising above mediocrity.

CREDITS

The Hunt, Part Three: Totems; writer, Jeff Lemire; artist, Travel Foreman; colorist, Lovern Kindzierski; letterer, Jared K. Fletcher; editors, Kate Stewart and Joey Cavalieri; publisher, DC Comics.

Animal Man 2 (December 2011)

Lemire’s plot for Animal Man is far from original—I think the idea of a little girl controlling “the Red,” or flesh, is from Mark Millar and Brian K. Vaughan’s Swamp Thing, definitely Vaughan’s. And Lemire’s dialogue is occasionally weak between Buddy and his wife… but the issue’s still compelling.

Foreman is the wrong artist for it, because as Buddy starts getting weird looking, how are we supposed to be able to tell he’s any different from how Foreman usually draws him.

Still, this issue is a lot better than the first one suggests Lemire is capable of doing on the title. It’s mostly a suburban talking heads book and then it becomes a father-daughter story. The uncanny domestic situation takes up about half the issue—animals resurrected, neighbors deformed—and Lemire’s pacing of it is fantastic. It’s panicked and stressful and excellent.

Lemire’s starting to win me over.

CREDITS

The Hunt, Part Two: Maps; writer, Jeff Lemire; artist, Travel Foreman; colorist, Lovern Kindzierski; letterer, Jared K. Fletcher; editors, Kate Stewart and Joey Cavalieri; publisher, DC Comics.

Animal Man 1 (November 2011)

If it weren’t for all the narration, Animal Man would be a lot better. Jeff Lemire’s narration for Buddy isn’t bad, it’s just too omnipresent. After a while, Lemire relies on it for everything.

The opening scene establishes Animal Man as a family drama–with appropriate comedic touches. Once Buddy’s solo though, Lemire goes self-aware, inwardly hip superhero who thinks in lengthy exposition. Maybe it’s because he gets Buddy alone and doesn’t know what to do.

The comic makes a good impression off the family scenes and Lemire’s reasonably solid writing quality. It isn’t sensational, but it’s not bad either. Lemire’s very safe with Animal Man.

He also has a good partner for staying safe in Travel Foreman. Foreman’s style for the book is indie mainstream superhero–he’s sparse in his lines, no shading, but still well-composed action scenes.

Animal Man probably won’t be special, just thoroughly readable.

CREDITS

The Hunt, Part One: Warning from the Red; writer, Jeff Lemire; penciller, Travel Foreman; inkers, Foreman and Dan Green; colorist, Lovern Kindzierski; letterer, Jared K. Fletcher; editors, Kate Stewart and Joey Cavalieri; publisher, DC Comics.