Out of all of the relaunched DC titles the two I was probably looking forward to most were Swamp Thing and Animal Man. I was a huge fan of both characters back in the "Suggested For Mature Readers" DC days and then leading into the Vertigo imprint. Animal Man had long since rejoined the super heroes of the main DCU but this first issue of Swamp Thing marks the Earth Elemental's return also.
Anyway first up is Animal Man. Jeff Lemire begins this first story arc with Buddy Baker semi retired as a costumed superhero, having also branched out into acting and focusing on his role as an animal rights activist and spokesperson. But a hostage situation at a local hospital prompts Baker to suit up again and save the day. Unfortunately using his powers to take on several animal attributes at once for the first time in a long time leads to some unforeseen and disturbing side effects. Then when Baker returns home something very strange is going on with his young daughter Maxine who is VERY insistent on her Daddy getting her a pet dog.
Lemire does a great job right from the outset in establishing Baker as a family man first and foremost. One of the things I always liked most about the character was that he was grounded in a fairly normal existence despite his amazing powers. He is a loyal, loving husband and farther as well as quite a peaceful, good natured person. But he has always been capable of some pretty dark things if his family were under threat and this seems to be the road Lemire is taking us down. The final pages teasing some very gruesome and twisted goings on indeed. This particular issue isn't too graphic as a whole but Lemire has said that he is surprised at how far DC allowed him to go with Animal Man so expect things to get much darker. Lemire's writing is solid, if not anything special. The dialog between Baker and his wife and kids is very naturalistic but outside of that it can be a little bit bland. In fairness he is hindered by the need to make this not only the first Animal Man story for the brand new DCnU but also an introduction for those that might not have been too familiar with the character before. And in that respect I think he does a great job. There might be a little confusion for newbies as to the exact nature of Baker's animal powers but I'm sure most will pick it up, if not in this issue then the next. Travel Foreman's art won't be to everyone's tastes but I love it. His work is certainly different, but very effective and sometimes quite creepy. Perfect for this character. The only real problem I have with the whole thing is Animal Man's new costume. I was a fan of his old, slightly goofy looking goggles look!
All in all a great restart for this character and I highly recommend you check it out even of you have never read an Animal Man comic before. Anyone looking for something a little different should really enjoy it. I haven't read all of the comics released so far from the DCnU but of those that I have I have been very impressed. If this quality continues the naysayers will be forced to admit that this whole reboot idea might not have been such a bad move after all.
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