Man was this hard to get through. I don't know how I could be so enthral led by the last book, and so squirmy while reading this one. Reading this made me feel awkward so often, I thought I was back at a high school dance.Some of it is the dialogue, and while my complaints about bad dialogue are well-documented, I can't quite articulate what's wrong here for me. It just feels stiff and staged, like a small-town play can feel when the local pharmacist is going though the motions self-consciously....

The artwork stayed pretty consistent with the artwork of the first volume and the characterization and tone remained consistent as well. Where this volume lapses in comparison to the first is in concept.Lemire tries very hard to explain away all of the questionable aspects of the whole red/green/rot balance-of-nature scenario, and it kinda falls apart on him. There seems to be some grasping at straws going on. He tries to tie-in other characters from other titles, namely JLD, and you can see tha...

Good gravy. This is amazing. They even managed to reference Grant Morrison's run on the 1980s "Animal Man" title, and incorporate the aliens who gave Buddy his powers into their new mythology.The only complaints I have are the new version of Zatanna and Buddy's increasingly shrill and unreasonable wife -- dagnabbit, can't we have ONE story about a family impacted by the supernatural in which one of the parents doesn't wind up becoming intransigent and illogical?Otherwise, this volume was worth e...

3.5 StarsI am normally not a fan of surreal comics, which is one reason I couldn't get into a lot of Vertigo comics, but this series is holding my attention. I think it's because it stays rooted in the "real world" and never quite loses me like some stories of this type do.So "the rot" is still attempting to destroy the red and the green, which would mean the end of all life. We finally find out who the big villain really is this volume, and it won't be a surprise to long term Swamp Thing fans.T...

Ultimately, this volume feels like a bit of a non-event. In practical terms regarding the plot and building threat, essentially nothing of importance happens in this book. It's all just more and more exposition about what The Red is and how Animal Man and his daughter are connected to it, and, frankly, I get the point. I want this to move forward.The only real "plot" of this book involves Animal Man being transported yet again to The Red while his physical body is taken over by one of the evil a...

Jeff Lemire’s DC New 52! Animal Man is a bonus, did not expect it to be this good; he’s taken off from where Grant Morrison left the title with a fresh insight, some wicked crossover fun with the New 52! Swamp Thing series and includes some Justice League Dark characters.One of the great things about writing for DC is the wealth of backstory – 80 years of characters and stories and world building to choose from. Grant Morrison and now Lemire scored some level up points by reaching down into the

2.5 starsAnimal Man just isn't my thing I guess.I'm not a fan of the art, the current storyline, or Buddy Baker. There's a big crossover coming up with Swamp Thing in the next volume (and I already have volume 3), so I'm going to finish it out. And who knows? I may really like it.So Buddy and his family have hit the road in an RV, in an attempt to outrun the Rot. Not working out very well for them...I got a little tired of his mother-in-law continually harping on him. But I really tired of his w...

Grant Morrison is possibly the most inconsistent writer around, but he hit some serious home runs in his time. By far, Animal Man was the leader. I hated not seeing Buddy Baker used in regular continuity for so many years, though. Like Resurrection Man, I always felt like he was a seriously under-utilized character in the DCU. Jeff Lemire brought him back and removed the humor, the surrealism and the absurdist nature of the original series and injected it with the maximum amount of seriousness h...

In doing some catchup on DC Comics events (somehow they seem less mundane than Marvel's) I find myself enjoying a D list character such as Animal Man for the first time since Grant Morrison's arguably classic run. Wile not as meta fiction as Morrison's Lemire honors much of the work done by those who came before wile crafting his original take on Animal Man. I mean lets face it. Buddy Baker is a character that only could have been created during one of two time periods in American comics. Either...

I thought that the first volume of Lemire's Animal man was well-written, but nothing I could connect with. I'm still not sure what, exactly, was holding me back, but whatever it was has been fixed for the second volume. It wasn't the art, which was essentially the same, and which I still don't care for. There just seemed to be more human depth to the storytelling here. Because some people will feel cheated, it's important to note that the Alec Holland Swamp Thing doesn't show up at any point in

While not a lot happens in the main story other than Buddy goes through a transformation to help fight the Rot, there is a tweaking of his origin, particularly just who gave him his powers and why. It partially works, making sense, but at the same time it feels very convenient to fit into the current narrative. There's also a reference to Morrison's run!The art is much better this time. Steve Pugh draws a nice balance between the everyday human stuff and the creatures.While I still say this isn'...

Reprints Animal Man (2) #0, 7-12, and Animal Man (2) Annual #1 (May 2012-November 2012). Buddy Baker has learned that he isn’t the avatar of the Red and that he was only “created” as a means to protect the real avatar…his four-year-old daughter Maxine. The Rot has seized the opportunity to extinguish the new avatar while she is still young and only Animal Man stands in their way. When Animal Man is possessed by the Rot, Buddy much find a way to reclaim his body and protect his family. Plus, Maxi...

The new reboot of ANIMAL MAN is back with another installment of bizarre adventure and frightful, incredibly detailed imagery. As with the first volume, Lemire plunges the characters into malarial fever dreams of the warring underworlds battling to rule Earth. The first half of the book has Animal Man mostly fighting animals who have been zombified by "The Rot" and are going on a rampage. The original series by Grant Morrison was quite unique in that it had Animal Man battling people who exploit...

Vol 2 from the New 52 Animal Man series. I really enjoyed the first volume, so was also glad to see this made it to a Vol. 2. I like the periphery characters that are showing up, like John Constantine, Zatanna, and Xanadu. I also eagerly await the actual Animal Man/Swamp Thing team up. Especially if Scott Snyder is involved.Definitely one of the New 52 titles that has the best chance to establish itself as winner in the secondary/tertiary characters of the DC World.

Great story - I've always liked the concept of Animal Man and Swamp Thing (and Firestorm) being avatars. My only complaint is with some of the artwork (mainly in the first chapter). So really, a 4.5 out of 5.

The pace of the narrative slows a bit (maybe more than necessary) in this volume, as the mythology of The Red within this new continuity is fleshed out further. More characters from DC's magical universe make cameos. The art makes excellent use of the medium, employing phantasmagorical visuals in rapid succession that would be difficult to convey in audio format and prohibitively expensive to portray with special effects. Looking forward to Vol. 3.

I worry about this title and Swamp Thing. I really like the mythos they are setting up with The Red/Green/Rot, but inconsistent plots and subpar (but at times really cool) illustrations make me think that the duo won't have longevity. Still, I like them enough to look forward to the next issue of both.

Well well well, this is turning into quite the story :)The characters are certainly getting more depth, Buddy learning more about himself and his daughter.. and the family bonds are put to the test.. Oh, and of course, always nice to see Constantine and Z popping up ! ;)Ok, so conclusion: more depth, more action,.. more fun! Jumping into Swamp thing now and then we're getting closer to RotWorld.. Woohoo ;)

Another weird comic. I just find Animal Man to be very weird. The Rot was very disgusting. All of those poor animals and people. I hope they will be able to stop the Rot. I liked the cat avatar, Socks, though.

Jeff Lemire writes families extremely well for a comic author, and this really adds strength to this New 52 vision of Animal Man. Lemire moves Animal Man more into the realm of Alan Moore's Swamp Thing, and uses a mythology from Swamp Thing with the Red, the Green, and the Rot. Meta-commentary elements are present though although moved into the this current mythology, so hints to the Grant Morrison style of animal man remain. Still the family dynamic is great, but Buddy Baker's character is not