Comments on: Comics You Should Own flashback - Animal Man #1-32

By: Comics Should Be Good! @ Comic Book Resources » Comics You Should Own Archive

Sat, 09 May 2009 17:46:19 +0000

[...] Animal Man #1-32 by Grant Morrison and (mostly) Chas Truog, with Peter Milligan’s weird six-issue story added on, because it’s cool. [...]

By: Ta

Ta — Tue, 05 May 2009 01:26:09 +0000

How do you read the whole darn comic i am looking every where on google for animal man comics it keeps showing me about animals not a guy with Animal powers.

By: Tuomas

Tuomas — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 09:34:49 +0000

It's worth mentioning that the "Hell" where Crazy Jane ends up in the final issue of Morrison's Doom Patrol has the same sepia colour scheme as the "real world" where Buddy meets Morrison in the final issue of his Animal Man, so Morrison seems to imply they're the same place. (If Crazy Jane's "Hell" is the "real world", that would also explain why supeheroes don't exist there.) Now, does this mean Morrison thinks real world is Hell? I think what he's trying to say is that a world without imagination would be colourless (hence the lack of primary colours in the art) and awful, a true Hell indeed. But when Crazy Jane gives the mystery coin to the psychiatrist who was treating her, I think that's Morrison saying that imagination is not totally lost and there's hope for this world too. This idea, that imagination is our salvation, is really what ties all of Morrison's major works together. You're right that loss is an important theme in Animal Man, but I'd say imagination and what it means to us is the second major theme in this series.

By: DanCJ

DanCJ — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 12:24:21 +0000

Ah - I'd forgotten that bit

By: Greg Burgas

Greg Burgas — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 16:35:05 +0000

Dan: Foxy is the fox that Morrison signals with his flashlight ("torch"). He's the imaginary creature that Morrison, when he was younger, believed could see the light from his flashlight. That last panel above shows this.

By: DanCJ

DanCJ — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 15:40:00 +0000

The “I can see you!” splash page is really something and the ending is just beautiful. It’s a Deus Ex Machina,true, but seeing Buddy’s family safe and sound really touched my hearstrings, in a totally manly way of course!

It's not a Deus Ex Machina ending. It's a perfectly logical progression from the story - and it brings a tear to my eye every time!

When people mention Foxy are they talking about Crafty the coyote?

By: The Cosh

The Cosh — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 22:33:35 +0000

I finally got round to reading all of Animal Man last year and I found the metafictional ending pretty dull. Maybe it's because I already knew what was coming and it would've had a bigger impact if I was reading it month to month, maybe not. I also agree with Grant's view about the comic beoming too "preachy", although a more apposite picture might have been the panel about not being able to end things well. Interesting question about the cat. I'd say that whether it's name was Jarmara or not, I believe he's referring to something real (and simultaneously balancing that pathos with the ridiculous comparison of his cat dying to Buddy's family being murdered although, thinking about it, this comparison maybe wouldn't be so ridiculous to Buddy. Hmm. Clever) as it's something which recurs in his work. King Mob compares his cats dying to his lover leaving him and I'm sure other characters have said similar things, while Grant's definitely mentioned it in letter columns. Their affinity with cats is generally a way to tell whose a good guy in Morrison's work, which is another reason The Filth confuses as Greg Feely's always nice to his cat. On the other hand, omni-dimensional monsters from beyond time are a recurring theme in his writing, so maybe that's not such a guarantee of authenticity as I'd thought. Not that I didn't like a lot of it. The Foxy bit was particularly good and another vote for the Glaswegian bits he often slips in.

By: danjack

danjack — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 19:15:51 +0000

the panel of Buddy in iss #19 IS the single most disturbing panel in comis history! The build-up to it is so well done that it hits with such force. The first time i read it, i didn't grasp it for a couple of seconds. When it hit me, i was so taken aback that i had to re-read the lead up to it.
Absolutely brilliant stuff!

By: BDaly

BDaly — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 16:19:53 +0000

I finally read Morrison's Animal Man last year, and I think it may very well be my favourite run. That's partly because Morrison addresses animal rights without beating around the bush, and I think he avoids being preachy too.

If only more people listened.

By: The Dude

The Dude — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 14:59:11 +0000

I know you don't agree Greg, but I might like this run even more than Morrison's Doom Patrol, simply because he makes Buddy such a likable character. The "I can see you!" splash page is really something and the ending is just beautiful. It's a Deus Ex Machina,true, but seeing Buddy's family safe and sound really touched my hearstrings, in a totally manly way of course! Although that also happened to me in the end of Doom Patrol with the "Jane, come out of the rain" line. I guess I'm just a wimp

By: bloomberg

bloomberg — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 11:24:46 +0000

Thanks Mr. Burgas, a really great article. Morrison's Animal Man is why i still read comics today. It's one of my all time favourite runs and i re-read it just about every year. I'd almost forgotten about Milligan's 6-issue run, though. I do remember it being equally brilliant and mind blowing. Guess i'll have to go dig out the longboxes.

By: Dunc

Dunc — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 09:04:00 +0000

I agree on the cartoony art really fitting the style of the book.
THIS is the Morrison I love.

There are two strands of experimental storytelling as I see it:
Telling an experimental story in a traditional way and telling a traditional story in an experimental way.

The Animal Man run to me feels like the former, and it works primarily because he's a really good writer.
The latter stuff (FC for example) generally leaves me a lot colder.

By: rwe1138

rwe1138 — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 00:35:45 +0000

DC really needs to reprint the Morrison trades and finally collect Milligan's run. Both are fantastic.

By: Scavenger

Scavenger — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 23:08:57 +0000

Hmm..Wheras my only problem with Truog's art is that it wasn't Bolland. You need true comic art to tell the story. going with what would become Vertigo house style, would take away from what is ultimately a celebration of super hero comics, in my belief.

The final Morrison panel which is 2 or so after the one you end the article tells the story. In it, Foxy shines back. In the real world...who knows. Morrison wrote an ending that while contrived, is one of hope and wish fulfillment.

By: Graeme Pollock

Graeme Pollock — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 23:06:23 +0000

First TPB I ever read. Nearly broke me, mentally. I had no idea what was going on.
The Coyote Gospel hooked me and I still hand it to people to read, urging them to read it.
As a Scot, reading Morrison's dialogue for Mirror Master, and the scenes in the Necropolis (a big glasgow graveyard) were absolutely mind blowing.
He's not everyones cup of tea, I grant you. But there are little jokes and digs in all his work that are just for those living in the Central Belt of Scotland, and that has me hooked on everything he write.

For everyone else, there's the comic lore.

"One and Two and Ess and Ecks" - heh heh, cool.

By: jazzbo

jazzbo — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 22:12:36 +0000

I'm usually not a big fan of Morrison. I don't hate his stuff, just not crazy about it. But Animal Man was fantastic. I think this ended up as #11 when I made my Top Ten Runs list. Great comics.

By: Randy

Randy — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 21:33:27 +0000

@ mutt

They were off panel.

By: James Moar

James Moar — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 21:04:00 +0000

"I don’t like the shadowy government body, since it’s too clichéd" Mirror Master's "See me? Full of tricks" speech does add a nice touch of parody to it.

By: The Mutt

The Mutt — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 21:01:18 +0000

Hmmm... Did Ambush Bug meet his creators? I know he met Julie Schwartz and got a call from Al, but I don't recall him meeting Giffin or Fleming. I think he used to yell at them, though.