Animal Man

[moonmaster]

Well, they didn't have any copies of We3 at my LCS, but I was still in very Morrison mood so I picked up the first Animal Man trade (I considered Doom Patrol, but wasn't sure which was Morrison's first arc and The Invisibles was just too expensive). I'll probably read it tonight (and post my thoughts tomorrow). Has anyone else read it? How does it match up with Morrison's other stuff?

 

[Bass]

Oh, you're in for a treat.

A weird, twisted treat, but a treat nonetheless.

The Animal Man run is for 26 issues (I forget how many TPBs that is) and it's really simple to begin with and goes completely insane.

The Invisibles is fun, but nothing so amazing to break the bank over. If you get a chance to read it, do so. I'm pretty sure its gonna be in your local library.

At the same time Morrison was doing Animal Man, he was doing Doom Patrol. His Doom Patrol ran from #19 to #61 (maybe 62). It is ****ing brilliant. The first arc is called "Crawling From The Wreckage" and is, in my opinion, the best. The first story "Crawling From The Wreckage" scared the **** out of me. I've never been that scared by a story before. The second story in that same TPB, "The Butterflu Collector" is really good too and also quite... terrifying when the villain explains just who he is. The second TPB is called "The Painting That Ate Paris" and is wonderful too.

Just to give you a super quick synopsis witohut spoilers:
"Crawling From The Wreckage" - The scissormen from Orqwith, who aren't real, invade our reality and try to turn it into Orqwith.
"The Butterfly Collector" - a crazy man calling himself "Red Jack", who lives in a gigantic mansion that exists in the closet of a hospital, steals one of the Doom Patrol's now comatose members to be his bride.
"The Painting That Ate Paris" - The Brotherhood of Da Da led by Mr Nobody use a painting to eat Paris so that they can unleash the fifth horseman of the apocalypse.

And it just gets weirder. Danny, the sentient tranvestite street shows up, as does Flex Mentallo who's trying to turn the pentagon into a circle by flexing his muscles, the decreator of the universe shows up, and then the final arc... well, the final arc is an amazing pay off that, looking back on it, has a lot of parallels to the end of Morrison's New X-Men run (which he even made fun of in an interview).

And I'm not even mentioning how amazingly well-written Robot Man is.

I can't recommend Doom Patrol enough. It's so ****ing crazy. It's got the aesthetic of a nightmare.

Animal Man however, is also very good, and in #26, the Doom Patrol are mentioned (but don't worry, it's not a tie-in at all. Trust me.).

WE3 is good, but it's not, in my opinion, a contender against Animal Man or Doom Patrol. Morrison at his most surreal.

God, I'm off to read 'em again.

 

[ProjectX2]

I was tempted to pick up Doom Patrol/Animal Man and I may do that someday...

 

[Bass]

Really, really do.

 

[moonmaster]

On a slightly related note, here's an interview with Morisson that I read last night:
http://www.popthought.com/display_column.asp?DAID=861
Pretty interesting stuff. I was not at all surprised that one of his stories was written while deliriously ill, and that some of his stories have been inspired by drugs.

 

[Bass]

That is a terrific interview and once more, I wait with baited breath for All-Star Superman. I have a feeling I'm gonna enjoy it much more than The Ultimates...

But, here's a wonderful quote from the interview (which contains New X-Men spoilers):

Every time I re-read New X-Men, I like it better, though, and if I hadn't done it I'd probably have drifted into obscurity doing odd Vertigo books, so the experience was definitely worth it. It's a very tightly-structured and self-referential piece and gave me the idea for Seven Soldiers.

What more can I say? The book was immensely successful for Marvel, and with a much higher frequency of release than most titles, that meant a lot more revenue for the company. After three years and forty issues, my last issue with Marc Silvestri still made number 1 on the sales chart, so I think I did my job and shot a jolt of weird, spastic electricity through the old beast.

Still...I can't believe the hellish gymnastics they went through to 'explain' plotlines which were already explained quite simply by the stories I wrote and wrapped up. Here's how to explain what happened - XORN was NEVER REAL, he was a DISGUISE for MAGNETO who went MAD ON DRUGS and DIED...but we know he always COMES BACK, somehow, so expect a dramatic return sooner or later, True Believers!

There. All neat and tidy, the way I left it.

:lol: Brilliant.

 

[moonmaster]

:lol: Brilliant.

Sure is. The only thing I disagreed with was him saying that comics are a socially excepted art form. Even though Spider-Man's face is on everything nowadays, it still doesn't mean that most people consider comics an artform or believe they're written for adults. But I do agree that it could be a possibility if they were marketed and sold differently.

 

[ourchair]

At the same time Morrison was doing Animal Man, he was doing Doom Patrol. His Doom Patrol ran from #19 to #61 (maybe 62). It is ****ing brilliant. The first arc is called "Crawling From The Wreckage" and is, in my opinion, the best. The first story "Crawling From The Wreckage" scared the **** out of me. I've never been that scared by a story before. The second story in that same TPB, "The Butterflu Collector" is really good too and also quite... terrifying when the villain explains just who he is. The second TPB is called "The Painting That Ate Paris" and is wonderful too.

Just to give you a super quick synopsis witohut spoilers:
"Crawling From The Wreckage" - The scissormen from Orqwith, who aren't real, invade our reality and try to turn it into Orqwith.
"The Butterfly Collector" - a crazy man calling himself "Red Jack", who lives in a gigantic mansion that exists in the closet of a hospital, steals one of the Doom Patrol's now comatose members to be his bride.
"The Painting That Ate Paris" - The Brotherhood of Da Da led by Mr Nobody use a painting to eat Paris so that they can unleash the fifth horseman of the apocalypse.

And it just gets weirder. Danny, the sentient tranvestite street shows up, as does Flex Mentallo who's trying to turn the pentagon into a circle by flexing his muscles, the decreator of the universe shows up, and then the final arc... well, the final arc is an amazing pay off that, looking back on it, has a lot of parallels to the end of Morrison's New X-Men run (which he even made fun of in an interview).

And I'm not even mentioning how amazingly well-written Robot Man is.

I can't recommend Doom Patrol enough. It's so ****ing crazy. It's got the aesthetic of a nightmare.

The Doom Patrol art that Brian Bolland has done haunts me to this day. It gave me nightmares when I was thirteen.

 

[moonmaster]

I read it last night and it was pretty good. "The Coyote Gospel" was definitely the best issue. Very good stuff. Next time I have some extra money to spend I'm either getting the second trad of this or the first Doom Patrol trade.

 

[Friday]

I read it last night and it was pretty good. "The Coyote Gospel" was definitely the best issue. Very good stuff. Next time I have some extra money to spend I'm either getting the second trad of this or the first Doom Patrol trade.

I ordered Animal Man off Grasshoppers this morning, probably should be read with Morrison's newfound role in the new DCU. Hopefuly I'll really dig it.

 

[E]

But, here's a wonderful quote from the interview (which contains New X-Men spoilers):

Awesome.

 

[ProjectX2]

I have read the first four issues of Animal Man. The story was quite good, but the art was bland. The character and idea of Animal Man has a lot of potential, and I hope I see more of it throughout the rest of the series.

B'wana Beast was cool, and I liked Buddy getting mistaken for Aquaman.

 

[moonmaster]

I have read the first four issues of Animal Man. The story was quite good, but the art was bland. The character and idea of Animal Man has a lot of potential, and I hope I see more of it throughout the rest of the series.

B'wana Beast was cool, and I liked Buddy getting mistaken for Aquaman.

See, Morrison was originally asked to write the first arc and then hand it off to anothe writer, but at the last second, they told him that he was going to stay on. Therefore, the first four issues are essentially pointless filler. Issue 5 is when all the subplots and mysteries and metatextual **** kicks in.

 

[ProjectX2]

I'm up to #14, I think. Coyote Gospel was very creepy, as I had read a similar short story the night before.

 

[ProjectX2]

I finished Animal Man today. One of Morrison's best works. The art grew on me over time, and I loved all the little hints and references to Buddy's true self.

Excellent. Well worth checking out.

 

[Bass]

I think it's great. I'm a bit annoyed that it seems to be a part of 52. I dislike the idea that Grant Morrison's Animal Man is also part of Superman's mythology, if you get my meaning.

Spoiler

See - Animal Man in his own series, which seems separate from everyone else really, being aware of his fictional nature? Great. Grant Morrison as a major character in DCU? Superman knowing he's fictional? That kind of road doesn't just strike me as something appropriate for mega-crossovers and was a sore spot for me in Seven Soldiers of Victory. I don't think it works as a bombastic, action-packed thing, but as a much smaller poignant work, which is what Animal Man was. I don't think the idea is rich enough to warrant much more exploration than what there was in Animal Man already.

But Animal Man is great. I love the Doom Patrol reference in the last issue.

 

[moonmaster]

Animal Man has been great in 52. Apparently, Morrison mandated that he would write every single Animal Man scene in the book. So far, he said something to Starfire about looking at the universe from the outside and how it changed his perspective on things.

 

[Bass]

In one of the recent 52 issues

Spoiler

the aliens that 'work' for Grant Morrison showed up.

I don't know if that'll work. It's a lot more shallow than Promethea's breaking of the fourth wall.

 

[Langsta]

Does Animal Man have any super-powered foes? Y'know, besides eco-terrorists and stuff? Who are his notable arch-enemies?

 

[Bass]

*thinks*

I've read Grant Morrison's twenty-six issue run on the title and the only villain he had was Mirror Master and Time Commander.

So... not many. In fact, Morrison makes a point of the fact that Animal Man didn't face any villains in his run in the final issue (which is a corker and not to be spoiled).