I haven't given
Animal Man much attention, despite the fact that it was practically a freakin' religious experience in a few spots there.
( Possible spoilers! )Buddy's adventures (most especially during Morrison's run) are both strange, twisted even, but the primal source of his power and his reactions seem more
human and
believable than the bulk of superherodom. I love a good superhero story, and this all takes place in the DCU, but it's a different atmosphere. Like he could live in the real world. Even if aliens were frequently involved.
Morrison's run was undoubtably the best chunk of the series, for so many reasons. Great things happened later but... the
meta!
( Death by erasered! )And, the very fact that the following scene even
takes place makes me twenty kinds of giddy.
( The Stranger's friends... )I have my suspicions about why the Stranger would choose to bring Buddy to a meeting of immortals, of everywhere he
could have; especially because of just how hard it is for him to stay dead.
And, as an example of just how different this became once it got more Vertigo... two times that Buddy went to Washington, DC, the first from #29, the second from #71.
( Just being thorough! ) Besides the great writing and occasionally
inspired artwork,
Animal Man also had Brian Bolland as a cover artist for the bulk of the series. The cover to #5 has got to be one of the best, if not
the best designs for a comic book. It's laden with the knack Bolland has for creating a great image in the spirit of the story, creating an image that's laden with heavy Christian imagery. Buddy's sacrifices for the sake of readers, his existence being created... well, just look at it and you'll see.
Along with a bunch of my other favourite covers of the series. Up until it got all Vertigo, the cover art was almost
always fabulous, but I managed to pick out highlights.
( Animal Man cover art love )I'm almost, but not quite, done fangirling about this series tonight.
See?
