Review: Animal Man Annual #1

Or, how Jeff Lemire wrote a Before Animal Man that worked quite well.

Jeff Lemire's career is, perhaps, one of the most fascinating developments in the comic book industry over the last half decade. His stories seem to have a different perspective than other Vertigo alums. It may be as simple as a difference in geography—unlike the first wave of big time American and British creators for DC's mature imprint, Lemire is Canadian. While that may be an over simplification, this observation acts well as a metaphor for his output. His rustic and sometimes rough-hewn works like Sweetooth and the Essex County Trilogy can almost be seen as a counterpoint to the sharp urban storytelling of peer Scott Snyder. While Snyder's obsession seems to be the dark history of urban Hollywood vampires and the inner secrets of Gotham City, Lemire has quietly set about bringing his own unique aesthetic to the DC Universe. The two have been working together closely on their respective former Vertigo characters, Animal Man and Swamp Thing, so it is really no surprise that in Animal Man Annual #1 Lemire apes Snyder's obsession with history to tell a story about times past.

Yet, unlike the history that Snyder has been pumping into the Bat-mythos, this journey into the past of the agents of the Green and Red feels fresh and open. Lemire's exploration is one of infinite possibilities while Snyder's is slowly becoming a crushing weight of continuity overgrowth. In a nut shell, the story is about Buddy Baker and Alec Holland's most recent predecessors teaming up to fight the Rot. It's a simple idea executed brilliantly. Despite the fact that they are one-off creations, the characters have real personalities and concerns. Aside from the insanity of superhero comics, the characters could have been plucked from the background of Lemire's Essex County.

Handling the artistic duties for the annual were Timothy Green II and Joseph Silver. I am not familiar with Green's work, but he does a convincing enough imitation of former series artist Travel Foreman that I am kind of surprised he was not chosen as the series' new artist. Anyways, his visual storytelling style is on par or better than several of the New 52 books I have followed, so that's a mark in his favor.

I don't want to read too much into individual comics—after all, Animal Man Annual #1 is good but nothing brilliant—but, it seems to me that the we are witnessing two divergent talents. Lemire's natural ability for storytelling and character crafting are beginning to quietly surpass his Vertigo peer. Animal Man Annual #1 is a reminder of just how much, as he takes the tools being used by Snyder and employs them more effectively.