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Animal Man is a character I was never familiar with and never planned on caring about. I was too young for the Grant Morrison era of the character and apparently too stupid to read titles published by Vertigo. So when I saw that Animal Man had his own title in a rebooted DC Universe, I figured it would hardly be worth my time. In fact, it took me quite some time to even open it.

The first page of the comic is an interview column from a magazine called The Believer. Here we learn that Buddy Baker (AKA Animal Man) is not only a superhero, but also an actor and activist; a favorite among hipsters, so claims the interviewer.

The following pages depict Buddy Baker’s home life and interaction with his family, which in some ways is reminiscent of Robert Kirkman’s Invincible. Here, more emphasis is placed on Buddy Baker the husband and father than his crime-fighting alter ego.

Animal Man takes a twist pretty quickly from being a lighthearted story about a regular guy struggling to balance home life, fame and crime fighting, to that of a dark, disturbing mystery.

It also became one of my favorite comics of all time.

Animal Man issues 2 and 3 have since been released and have remained engaging. There is a certain menacing feeling that permeates the story, and it seems that there will be some tie-ins with Swamp Thing.

I regret having missed out on the Grant Morrison run and perhaps I will catch up on that series sometime. But for now I could not be happier with the treatment writer Jeff Lemire is giving this revived title.

Animal Man #1 ”The Hunt Part 1: Warning from the Red”  was written by Jeff Lemire, illustrated by Travel foreman and inked by Dan Green and Travel Foreman.

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