Why you should check out Animal Man.

The DC relaunch, the new 52, so far...well, I'm in two minds about it. 

On one hand, it's taken characters such as Aquaman and Wonder Woman, who were previously the butt of all Superhero jokes and turned them into something amazing, but on the other hand, it's ruined more iconic characters like Superman, Catwoman and Starfire. I think even DC is confused as to where it wants to take these characters, because that Catwoman/Batman sex scene at the end of Catwoman #1 was a new low for DC. It was just freaking awful. 

But that said, there has been some good from this New 52, a lot of good, actually, in the form of Animal Man and Swamp Thing. And a lot of you morons, who think comics are for kids, or for man-children, or whatever stupid misconception you have, should definitely check them out.  

Animal Man's powers are that he can dig into, well, nature and copy a trait from an animal that is nearby. But the comics aren't really about Animal Man using his powers and foiling bank robberies, it's much more deeper than that. An early arc of Animal Man published in the eighties', written by Grant Morisson was one of the trippiest comics of all time. He depicted Animal Man as a family man, and as an activist whose activities bordered on eco-terrorism. It found the fourth wall, took a sledge hammer, and smashed it to bits and spread the shards all over the world. It was a comic where the character himself interacted with the person writing him. It'll take a long time to explain, and I won't explain it here, so, if you will, you can buy it from Flipkart. 

This new arc, by Jeff Lemire is nearly as trippy as Grant Morisson's arc. Well, I'd say it's on par with it. Jeff Lemire is very much a capable writer, as evidenced by his work on Sweet Tooth (Being published by Vertigo at the moment). And he has that amazing ability to bring an air of unease in every panel. In Sweet Tooth, he creates an atmosphere where you really can't trust anyone. There are no safe places. And he uses that ability of his very well on Animal Man. The current story arc sees Animal Man trying to save his family from the "Rot", the spirit of death and disease that is threatening to destroy all life. He finds out why he is Animal Man, and why his family is so important to the world. There are genuine moments in the comicbook where you will be hard-pressed to utter an "Oh Sh**". This is a thriller that thrills you and shocks you by making characters you actually care for go through a really, really awful time. And that, I think, is it's strongest asset. 

The art by Travel Foreman has been, for most part of the current story arc, brilliant. Some bits of it have been uneven, but for the most part it's been good, and has complemented the story near-perfectly. The inking by Jeff Huet on these books kind of uplifts the pencilling. It makes the original art look better than it should be. The one problem with the art is that it could do with some more black outs. It needs more blacks. That's what makes it uneven. It should have as much black as a piece of Mike Mignola art. And for this minor reason, the coloring somewhat falls short of wowing us. 

But otherwise, it's a brilliant book. People who haven't been following it should buy the collected edition when it comes out in May from here, and it's a bloody good starting point for those who don't read comicbooks at all. 

You can purchase Jeff Lemire's other comicbooks here.