Animal Man Vol.1: The Hunt (The New 52) Review

Animal Man Vol. 1: The Hunt (The New 52)

I swear, he actually has a shirt.

Writer: Jeff Lemire

Artist: Travel Foreman

Collects: Animal Man #1-6

Background Infromation:

Buddy Barker can take on the powers/abilities of various animals. He does so through the morphogenic field; something he calls "the life web", which connects him to all animal life. Before the New 52, Buddy was under the impression that he got this power from aliens.

If you only know Animal Man from this...

...then you don't know Animal Man.

Review:

Only bad books get cancelled... is one of the least accurate statements I have ever heard. Sure, if a book isn't selling, publishers have the right to cancel, but sometimes that means getting rid of really, really good books in the process, and Animal Man, if The Hunt is anything to go by, is one of those really good books.

See? There's a shirt!

So, wierd things have been happening to Buddy Barker. His eyes are beeding, he has grusome dreams and... let's see... what else is there... oh yeah; his daughter, Maxine, finds herself able to summon the skeletons of dead animals.

See, even though Buddy thinks he got his powers from aliens, he actually got them from a force called The Red, the force connected with animal life who disguised themselves as aliens. Maxine is the Avatar of The Red and Buddy is tasked with protecting her from the forces of The Rot, who emobody death and decay. This evil force have sent three hunters to kill Maxine, though, Buddy has to work fast to keep Maxine safe.

Okay, excluding Justice League Dark, I have a soft spot for DC's horror line. Scott Snyder's Swamp Thing was just brilliant and honestly, so is this. The real hero of the volume is Jeff Lemire's ability to build up tension. We start with a first volume, that, I'll admit, feels pretty dry, but by the end, Lemire has raised the stakes.

And then he brings on the scary; monsters hiding in plain site, dialogue that sends chills down your spine and causes you to jump at the slightest noise. I can't recall the last time I found a comic this terrifying, but this one definitely takes the cake.

Of course, horror doesn't actually work if you don't care about the characters. A monster killing an empty shell, no matter how gory, doesn't terrify you the same way that almost capturing a character you care for does. Lemire's delivered in this area too; giving real life to Buddy's family. That's right New 52 haters; DC actually allowed a character to not only be married, but to have two- yes, two- kids. And what a family it is; each member has their own real voice. They aren't just there to be "the family member". Buddy's wife, Ellen, is a powerful figure in and of herself. Maxine has just the right amount of innocence, and Buddy's son, Cliff, has all of the over-the-top enthusiasm you would expect from a kid whose dad is a superhero. It's a great cast that serves the horror story perfectly.

See? Another shirt! This book has shirts!

The real fine point about this volume, though, is the art. Travel Foreman draws some amazing character designs, cheif among which are The Rot's Hunters. I imagine that under any other artist, these designs would have looked silly. I'm ready to admit that there is a fine line between silly and terrifying, but it's safe to say that Foreman gives us plenty of the latter. All of it's helped with these washed-out colours that more often than not betray the darkness and become blissfully unnerving.

I plain cannot fault The Hunt it gets a perfect five out of five dogs left on the street.

*****

+ Scary as hell (I mean that in the most literal sense).

+ Family dynamics that make us care.

+ Grotesque character designs.

Alternate Option: Swamp Thing: Raise Them Bones

Another brilliant horror title that ties into Animal Man.

Swamp Thing Vol. 3: Rotworld: The Green Kingdom (The New 52) Review

Swamp Thing Vol. 3: Rotworld: The Green Kingdom (The New 52)

"Okay, you go get 'em... you've got a
gun..."

Writers: Scott Snyder and Jeff Lemire

Artist: Yanick Paquette

Collects: Animal Man 12,17 and Swamp Thing12-18

Background Information:

Number Four in  Scott Snyder Week!

Swamp Thing is the avatar of The Green, which give life to all plants. Animal Man is the avatar of The Red, which gives life to all animals. The main villain in Rotworld is Arcane; the avatar of The Rot which is the force behind death and decay.

That’s basically all you need to know for the set up- to this book, but you should also know that this volume contains only half the Rotworld event. The other half is contained in Animal Man Vol. 3: Rotworld: The Red Kingdom. If you’ve just been reading the Swamp Thing stories, though, there isn’t a whole lot you need to know from Animal Man.

Review:

Rotworld marks the end of Scott Snyder’s run on Swamp Thing, and it’s an immensely satisfying end. I’ve rated Snyders work pretty highly in general, but this is a book I would prefer even over Snyder’s Batman. That’s right, DC, I would sooner see more of a creature from the black lagoon than stinkin’ Batman Eternal. In fact, even though this Swampt Thing volume isn’t perfect, it’s damn-near close.



In this volume, Swamp Thing and Animal Man follow Arcane into The Rot and become trapped in it. When they finally emerge, it’s one year later, and the world has gone to hell. I say that almost literally, as now The Rot has all but taken over the earth. It’s infected all humans who have no connection to The Red or The Green, turning them into zombie-like rage creatures. It falls on Swamp Thing and Animal Man to amass armies strong enough to take down Arcane, and stop The Rot’s stranglehold on the world, all the while saving people who are very dear to them.

In Swamp Things case, that person is Abigail Arcane, the girl voted most likely to become zombie queen in high school (okay, there’s some artistic licence there, but she is meant to be the next avatar of The Rot). I won’t go give away the ending, but when Swamp Thing and Animal Man finally meet their loved ones, it’s a crushing blow to both characters. I would argue that the moment probably damages Animal Man more than it does Swamp Thing, but the moment is still fraught with emotion.

If you’re writing for DC and you do a big, alternate-world story, you have to reference some of DCs bigger names, and Lemire and Snyder do a good job of that by presenting us with “rotified” versions of Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman and other more celebrated DC heroes. This isn’t a new idea- Geoff Johns did it a while ago in Blackest Night, but here it makes more sense here. Here, heroes joining The Rot is inevitable, so it’s natural that the Justice League would fall to it. Those characters who don’t join the rot mostly make sense- Poison Ivy is naturally connected to The Green and how could Beast Boy not be connected to The Red (like his new... skin tone[?]... didn’t give it away already)? It’s cool to see these b-list characters save the world.

The art here has been pretty consistent with the previous two volumes. There’s not much difference to notice between the Swamp Thing and Animal Man issues except the page design of Animal Man seems a little too neat in comparison to Swamp Thing. But that’s a small qualm when the art is just so damn enjoyable. The Rot are characteristically disgusting and there are plenty of awesome moments to look at.

Rotworld: The Green Kingdom finishes Snyder’s Swamp Thing run brilliantly. It gets my first perfect score of five out of five most-likely-to-become-zombie awards.

*****

+ Emotive story

+ Good use of A and B list characters

+ Art continues to be gorgeous

Alternate Option: Animal Man: Rotworld: The Red Kingdom

The same story from a different perspective.

Swamp Thing Vol. 2: Family Tree (The New 52) Review

Swamp Thing Vol. 2: Family Tree (The New 52)

Eww... Don't touch them, Swamp Thing!
You have no idea where they've been!

Writer: Scott Snyder

Artists: Yanick Pquette and Marco Rudy

Collects: Swamp Thing #0, 8-11 and Swamp Thing Annual #1

Background Information:

Number three in Scott Snyder Week!

Okay, so if you missed my review of volume 1, Swamp Thing is the avatar and warrior king of the Green. He has control of plant life and is able to make all kinds of things from it. He fights the Rot- a force of death and decay. In essence, you’re looking at a cooler version of Plants Vs. Zombies.

In the last volume, Swamp Thing’s civilian identity, Alec Holland developed a bio-regenative formula which helped plants to grow- that’s a major factor in both this and the next volume of Swamp Thing, so don’t forget it.

Review:

When I read the first volume of Swamp Thing, I was half-expecting an eco-story that was going to point out the dangers of global warming. I was pleasantly surprised when I found a horror story that was going to live longer than whenever we find out the next way that we’re destroying the planet. Instead, Family Tree is part of a three-volume epic that definitely has the potential to outlive present-day concerns, and that’s the mark of a classic.

That said though, Family Tree is still a relatively weak middle for such a strong run. Mostly because the structure of this story is nowhere near as tight. Essentially, you’re reading two stories; the first sees Swamp Thing, having finally made the transformation from Alec Holland, setting out to rescue love interest Abigail Arcane from becoming a servant of The Rot. It features some amazing action sequences that feel brutal and terrifying. Up until now, we haven’t seen the full extent of what Swamp Thing is capable of, and this volume shows that brilliantly.

The second arc, though, is really a collection of flashbacks that connect Swamp Thing to The Rot, and, more particularly its avatar Arcane. There are some interesting origin stories told in these issues, but reading them at this late stage in the story feels like a distraction, and not a fun one. While reading you get the feeling that something much better is happening in the present that Snyders not letting us see. Even the best writers can sometimes write unsatisfying stories, and this is an example of this principle in practice.

What this volume does well, however, is set up the third volume in this series rather well. By the end of Family Tree, we are genuinely scared of Arcane, even though his motives seem to be little more than “because he’s evil”. Things are still looking hopeless for Swamp Thing, and here, it’s a very good thing, since the next volume is an amazing crossover with Animal Man.

The art here is just as good as the previous volume. Thick, ungraceful lines and chaotic panelling work fantastic here. There are some more guttered pages in the collection’s 0 issue, but it’s easily forgivable considering that this issue references an era when Swamp Thing was still Doctor Alec Holland. It’s a stage where his life was calmer, more organised and the page layouts show it well.

In both Family Tree and the last volume, Raise Them Bones, Snyder has treated his artists to some truly spectacular locations to draw- ones to match the bizarre creatures contained in the book. High foreign mountains, hellish pits and wild jungles abound in Swamp Thing, and the team of Paquette and Rudy do an excellent job of making these environments so easy to immerse yourself in.

 Family Tree is an essential read if you are intending on reading anything in the upcoming Rotworld crossover, but it’s hardly the most exciting of the series. It get three and a half out of five Plants vs. Zombies.

*** 1/2

+ Great first half that shows off Swamp Thing’s abilities

+ Amazing location art

- Second half of the book feels like it doesn’t need to be there.

Alternate Option: Animal Man: The Hunt

The Animal Man series directly ties into Swamp Thing, so reading this one is well worth it.

Swamp Thing Vol. 1: Raise Them Bones Review (The New 52) Review

Swamp Thing Vol. 2: Family Tree (The New 52)

Also known as "The Monster at the End
of This Book"

Writer: Scott Snyder

Artists: Yanick Pquette and Marco Rudy

Collects: Swamp Thing #1-7

Background Information:

The second in Scott Snyder week!

I’ll admit, for too long I had dismissed Swamp Thing as a book that was “too weird” for my tastes.  And yeah, it’s pretty weird- Swamp Thing is listed under the “horror” subsection of DC’s New 52, along with Animal Man and Justice League Dark. But don’t dismiss it- Swamp Thing is every bit the superhero that Superman or Batman are.

Alec Holland was a brilliant biochemist until a lab experiment killed him. Post-death, Holland was found by an entity known as the Parliament of Trees and chosen to become the Swamp Thing. Swamp Thing is the avatar of the Green- the life force that controls plants. As such, Swamp Thing can also control all plant life- creating anything out of vines, like his wings, or a large, tough-looking blade.

Review:

If there is a book that makes  a good argument for not having more Batman titles, it’s Swamp Thing. It’s kinda ironic, considering that the series is written by Batman writer Scott Snyder, but it goes to show that a great comic is more about who’s writing it than which character’s name is in the title.

So in this title, Alec Holland has been Swamp Thing before and well and truly believes that he’s finished. Not so, a life-force known as The Rot is resurfacing with a young boy as its avatar. The Rot is the force of death and decay, and it’s starting to build its own kingdom on earth. In response, the Parliament of Trees calls on Swamp Thing to defeat it.

But Alec is done being Swamp Thing. He has too many haunting, disjointed memories of the experience and never wants to take on the mantle again. There’s a great message about personal sacrifice here. We want to sympathise with Alec- being Swamp Thing is a living hell and nobody would actually want to be him. At the same time though, there is a zero per cent chance that the human race will survive if Alec doesn’t take on the Swamp Thing mantle, so we also end up seeing him as somewhat selfish for his reluctance. It makes for a deep, multi-layered character that none of the Justice League has really managed to pull off just yet.

Equally interesting is Alec’s love interest Abigail Arcane, a woman with a deep connection to The Rot. Snyder somehow manages to balance Abigail’s part as both a love interest to be rescued and as a strong female character who is more than capable of handling things herself. It’s fascinating to see this line walked so well and by the end, you are cheering for both Abigail and Swamp Thing equally.

There’s some brilliantly dark dialogue in Raise Them Bones. Snyder gets the horror comic genre perfectly, allowing the dialogue to be highly entertaining without it being funny in the least. There’s a weird belief around comics at the moment that in order to be entertaining, a book has to have humour. DC’s been regularly attacked for not having enough humour in their books. While there are some titles about which I could say that’s a fair comment; Swamp Thing isn’t one of them. It’s appeal comes from visiting that dark side and being completely removed from your comfort zone while going somewhere rather disturbing.

And at the end of the day, it’s the art that really drives that disturbance home. Undead humans with twisted necks, zombie pigs with soulless eyes and other twisted creatures made of rotting flesh abound in this collection and they look as unnerving as they sound- possibly more. Okay, sure, some of the creatures of both The Green and The Rot look like rejected pokemon, but  they’re scary rejected pokemon. The book also benefits from the total lack of gutters in the page design. Panels are separated at odd angles with blood-splatter and vine shapes and give the book a chaotic feel that suits a horror story like little else can.

My one gripe with Raise Them Bones is that for a book in a series entitled Swamp Thing, you see a lot more of Alec Holland. Swamp thing only appears at the end of the book which is a problem when that’s the title of the book. If the book was called Scary Rejected Pokemon, I’d probably be okay with it, but I imagine you buy a comic called Swamp Thing, you want to see Swamp Thing.

But all the same, Raise Them Bones is an excellent look at the horror genre and it gets a four out of five scary rejected pokemon.

****

+ Well-developed characters

+ Dialogue that is great despite a lack of humour

+ Art is gorgeously creepy

- Swamp Thing doesn’t actually show up that much

Alternate Option: Batman: The Court of Owls

Another great one by Snyder, and if you’re worried about a book about a swamp monster being good, you can at least check out Snyder’s talent here.

X-Men: The Curse is Broken

X-Men: The Curse is Broken

"If you say that Edward is dreamy
one...more... time..."

Writer: Victor Gischler

Artists: Al Barrionuevo, Jorge Molina and Will Conrad

Collecting: X-Men #24-29

Read as Trade Paperback

Background Info:

Two things are important to understanding this collection;

Firstly, Marvel has a thing for mixing their characters with horror clichés. Marvel Zombies was a popular take on classic Marvel characters, and werewolves have appeared in a couple of different Marvel stories. In 2011, Marvel put the X-men up against Dracula and a legion of Vampires. During the battle, Jubilee (you may remember her from the cartoons; the girl in the yellow jacket who could shoot fireworks from her hands) gets bitten and, as per cliché, becomes a vampire as well.

Secondly, this is not the X-Men roster that you’re used to. From the movies and cartoons, you’re likely only to recognise Storm, Jubilee and maybe Colossus. A “good-enough” rundown of the characters names and powers are provided in the book’s first pages, but be aware that you may not be dealing with “your” X-Men here.

Review:

To be honest, I’m a little sick of vampires. Twilight, True Blood, The Vampire Diaries, they’re all the same to me. So it shouldn’t be surprising that when I read the synopsis for The Curse is Broken I was a little cynical. More vampires?! Surely, we’ve had enough of stories about vampires being on the side of the angels. I made the early decision that if Jubilee was going to get romantic with any vampires, I was putting the book down.

Thankfully, that never happened. The story actually focuses on Jubilee, who has run away from the X-Men in order to be taught how to control her vampiress tendencies. That in itself sounds like a cliché, but she’s doing it with the help of vampire reformer Raizo, who is intent on teaching vampires how to survive without being predators. That in itself isn’t a new idea; current vampire stories are full of vampires who refuse to be monsters, but what makes this fun is the fact that Razio in this universe makes sense. We have, after all, a man intent on helping mutants to not turn into supervillains, so why not a vampire who teaches vampires to retain their humanity.

In the meantime, Storm and a group of X-men are cutting their way through various vampire hideouts to try to find Jubilee. They have no idea what she is doing, but suspect the worst. It’s nice to see a X-Men team that isn’t made up of entirely “iconic” members. No Wolverine, no Cyclops, no Jean Grey, Beast, Nightcrawler and Angel. It’s nice to see other characters take the spotlight in an industry that seems obsessed with flaunting its “powerhouse” characters.

The vampire story only covers half, or maybe two-thirds of the book. The rest is taken up by a story featuring the shape-shifting aliens known as the Skrull. It’s only purpose is basically to be funny, but it does a great job at that. It’s the kind of story that sees everyone feeling a little gullible, and that’s great.

The art here is consistent. It’s nothing particularly amazing, but it functions well. The trio of artists that work on this book give us art that is dark when it needs to be, and light-hearted when it doesn’t. Somehow, the art doesn’t cease to match up despite the change of storytelling styles. My only issue with the art is the way that… someone draws Spiderman (oh yeah, Spiderman appears in this one). He looks a little too muscular for a guy who in reality is little more than a science geek.

The Curse is Broken has a decent story to tell with art that works well. It gets four and a half out of five sparkly monsters.

**** ½

+ Not Twilight.

+ Other X-People get a chance to shine

- Spiderman looks a little too muscular.

Alternate Option: X-Men: Second Coming

An awesome X-Men event that sees a huge host of X-folk take the stage.