I just love Animal Man. I don't really know what it is about him. And I've thought about it. I think what it is is that when I started buying his eponymous title, I'd already read his first adventure in an old Blue Ribbon digest of secret origins that I had. I've since lost that comic, but I remember reading, over and over, "The Man with Animal Powers," amongst others (Hal Jordan was one, I think). He was also the first "mature" title that I ever bought - being a very mature 13 year old when the series came out - but that also meant it was one of the first really thoughtful comics I read.
Of course, there is the fact that Grant Morrison's writing is magic.
But these old Animal Man, even pre-Animal Man adventures, they're so strange. And not just because of the comic they inhabit. I can see Buddy and Ellen and Roger in these characters, but it's like they're caricatures of themselves. I'm reading this comic through the lens of the future.
Actually, let me adjust that. I can't see Ellen in the caricature in this story. She's literally there as a prop for Buddy.
Gil Kane's art is really great, unsurprisingly. His enlarged tiger/cat creature is quite uncanny, and the giant pink alien looks as natural as such a beast can. You can see why Gil Kane is revered, even in silly little stories like this one. The shots of Buddy flying are fantastic, and the tumble of his body when he's levitated with an entire lake is entirely believable. I don't have a lot of really nice examples of classic DC art, but I think this one definitely counts.
Speaking of, I actually only bought this comic today. I'd decided a little while back that I was going to start trying to get some more of the key issues I'm interested in, and I happened upon this one for a mere $38 today. And it's in lovely condition.
More to come...
(Oh, and the back-up was about a guy who flies into hurricanes for the weather service running afoul of modern-day sky pirates in a cloud-swathed dirigible - and he has some really real moments flashing back to flying in the Korean War. Weird, well, Strange, I suppose, story.)
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