Chaz Truog

I was absolutely blown away by this last volume of Animal Man by Grant Morrison. Everything that had been written up until this point, is utilized in such a special way. It's so hard to ignore the absolute talent of Grant Morrison. When his writing makes sense, it can really be of some of the best quality writing period, let alone in graphic novels themselves. This was of graphic novel classic quality, and I see now why so many hold this high on the list of comic classics. The fourth wall show more isn't just broken in this volume, it's completely removed and eventually ends in an issue with Animal Man being lectured by Grant Morrison about the world he lives in. So many other writers could have attempted this, and it wouldn't have read nearly quite as well as it does here. When Buddy Baker first realizes the audience, being the reader, it's an absolute blast to the brain and you wonder, am I really reading someone's life? Morrison is definitely one of the most creative comic writers, and this volume of Animal Man that composes his last few issues in his run, are definite proof of this. show less

After being kinda disappointed with Batman: Gothic, I went through my recent spending frenzy on Comixology and pulled out the first collection of Animal Man, and it didn't disappoint. There's this really weird feeling to 80s and 90s superhero stuff that I can't quite articulate -- like people were butting up against the limitations of "a superhero comic" as it existed and still pushing -- and Animal Man has that in spades. Usually I find it kind of dull, but here it's fascinating. Morrison show more takes what could have been a pretty dull premise and mines it for the really good stuff deep down, which is why I enjoy him. Highly recommended. show less

A giant collection of all twenty-six issues of Grant Morrison’s Animal Man run, this book is a testament to a kind of comic that may never again exist. DC Comics was willing to take chances with its established characters and to let upstart writers do what they wished with them. Morrison uses a B-list character to explore animal rights issues and to comment on the medium of comics itself, and it’s limitations in telling serious stories. He did similar metatextual things with his run on show more Doom Patrol and, later, his own The Invisibles.

The results here are a bit clunky, with even Morrison (he appears as a character in the book) admitting that it got silly at times. The art, mostly by Chaz Truog, is workmanlike, but serves the story well, grounding Morrison’s more heady ideas with a solid, action-adventure style.

Morrison couldn’t accomplish everything he set out to do with this comic, but even the attempt is impressive. show less

This final volume of Morrison's run on the Animal Man title culminates in balls out meta-fiction, which was interesting for all its implied, abstract elements of contemplation but as far as the text itself it worked as a kind of short hand for theoretical work a reader could do, you know, on his own time. Lack of intellectual rigor aside, this is a comic book, meaning it has certain responsibilities to entertainment as well as enlightenment and I thought Morrison balanced both wonderfully.

I show more am so glad I read Crisis On Infinite Earths before this series as much of the last issues in this volume deal directly with that event, even critiquing its foundation (what does it mean when a character is "outdated" and needs to end? What is a character? When does a character live?). Animal Man develops into a sort of comic book superhero version of Sartre's No Exit crossed with Pirandello's Six Characters in Search of an Author. Though the final surprise confrontation comes off a little kitschy (like Julia Roberts playing herself in Ocean's 12), this story was written at a time when postmodernism wasn't as familiar as it may be now.

I definitely recommend this three volume series but I think a reader gains more from reading Crisis On Infinite Earths as prerequisite literature, if only for the final volume. In any case, this certainly has been a great introduction to Grant Morrison's interests and daring as a writer. show less