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Reviews
Animal Man, Volume 2: Animal vs. Man by Timothy Green II, Travel Foreman, Jeff Lemire, Steve Pugh
howardtaftmd's review
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
psantic's review
adventurous
dark
hopeful
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
jakekilroy's review
4.0
This outing was less unsettling and gross, but still pretty visually disorienting at times. I love the balanced trifecta of The Red (animal life), The Green (plant life), and The Rot (death), but some of them homeworlds are just bonkers weird to behold and explore. It's just insane that a family is trying to deal with this from so many angles. My family tried to team up for an escape room once and it nearly severed us. This family is going through it, damn.
joelipsett's review
2.0
Unfortunately what was novel and fresh in the first volume has become mildly redundant and repetitive in the second. Ellen and her mom are maddening in their refusal to acknowledge that anything is happening, and everyone keeps having the same conversation over and over again. More problematically the conflict in each issue seems to be that the Rot finds them, they attempt to fight, bail and run with a few casualties. Rinse, lather, repeat. The nature of the villain is such that it simply co-opts everything, which doesn't allow for a great deal of variation in the fights.
The imagery is still striking and I'm intrigued by the potential team up with Swamp Man (something I thought would happen this issue), but this volume is frustrating.
The imagery is still striking and I'm intrigued by the potential team up with Swamp Man (something I thought would happen this issue), but this volume is frustrating.
theartolater's review
5.0
Jeff Lemire is a genius.
The newish incarnation of Animal Man continues with the battle between the red and the green escalating significantly, with the life of a little girl in play, and with an appearance by Swamp Thing. The artwork is spectacular, the writing a perfect balance between weird and scary and interesting, and nothing really comes out as predictable. It's near perfect, and Animal Man has effectively locked itself in as my favorite of the current New 52 arcs.
An extra bonus was the Buddy Baker "origin story" toward the end which was a pleasant surprise to go along with it.
The next trade can't come out soon enough.
The newish incarnation of Animal Man continues with the battle between the red and the green escalating significantly, with the life of a little girl in play, and with an appearance by Swamp Thing. The artwork is spectacular, the writing a perfect balance between weird and scary and interesting, and nothing really comes out as predictable. It's near perfect, and Animal Man has effectively locked itself in as my favorite of the current New 52 arcs.
An extra bonus was the Buddy Baker "origin story" toward the end which was a pleasant surprise to go along with it.
The next trade can't come out soon enough.
pdz's review
4.0
Grant Morrison made me a big fan of Animal Man. Jeff Lemire is continuing on where Morrison started, making Animal Man a weird / horror / violent / mystical comic book experience.
It's been a while since I read the first volume, but I remember liking it a little bit better than this one. Lemire does a great job with moving Buddy and his family through this nightmare of rot, and the art goes well with the story. I found some pages to be a little wordy, but I guess that's somewhat necessary given the abstract nature of Animal Man and his powers. It definitely has a Sandman vibe to it.
What I love about Animal Man and Swamp Thing is that they're not afraid to make their heroes... well... pretty damn disgusting. I think there's an element of that that would be present if we were to actually have these heroes tapping into otherworldly energies. Animal Man gets himself twisted in various ways, and his daughter gets the gross treatment also.
In a way, this is a reversal of typical comic book heroes. Spiderman, for example, goes from being nerdy high school geek (a type meant to be something on the outskirts or "grotesque" in terms of the society around him) to being a superhero with perfect muscles and something that's viewed as valuable to the society around him, as opposed to repulsive.
Animal Man does the opposite. Buddy is kind of a dope, and he's already got a cool job - stunt man. He goes from being this good looking dope to being able to tap into this terrifying force that often forces him to become something repulsive.
Read this book. I wish I could've read Swamp Thing vol. 2 at the same time. I think it's next up in my library queue.
It's been a while since I read the first volume, but I remember liking it a little bit better than this one. Lemire does a great job with moving Buddy and his family through this nightmare of rot, and the art goes well with the story. I found some pages to be a little wordy, but I guess that's somewhat necessary given the abstract nature of Animal Man and his powers. It definitely has a Sandman vibe to it.
What I love about Animal Man and Swamp Thing is that they're not afraid to make their heroes... well... pretty damn disgusting. I think there's an element of that that would be present if we were to actually have these heroes tapping into otherworldly energies. Animal Man gets himself twisted in various ways, and his daughter gets the gross treatment also.
In a way, this is a reversal of typical comic book heroes. Spiderman, for example, goes from being nerdy high school geek (a type meant to be something on the outskirts or "grotesque" in terms of the society around him) to being a superhero with perfect muscles and something that's viewed as valuable to the society around him, as opposed to repulsive.
Animal Man does the opposite. Buddy is kind of a dope, and he's already got a cool job - stunt man. He goes from being this good looking dope to being able to tap into this terrifying force that often forces him to become something repulsive.
Read this book. I wish I could've read Swamp Thing vol. 2 at the same time. I think it's next up in my library queue.
storywrite's review
3.0
3.5
This is turning out to be a really good series; however, it didn't feel like a lot happened in this volume.
This is turning out to be a really good series; however, it didn't feel like a lot happened in this volume.
nonesensed's review
4.0
Not going to summarize the plot this time around, seeing as that would be spoilers alone. Still a lot of gore, still enjoying where the story is going, will continue reading.