Animal Man #21

The Team
Writer Jeff Lemire Artist Francis Portela, Steve Pugh

As of late Animal Man has been a bizarre place as a title. After the huge Rot World crossover facing the series, a shift in tone that seemed imminent for the book. However some bold decisions were made that put the book in the same horror tone. This has proved divisive among many readers. Famed Animal Man writer Grant Morrison has openly voiced some opposition towards the new direction. However the former writer took some of the same steps in his run of the character. A vicious circle is drawn here. Animal Man slowly starts to gain some traction in this issue plot wise. The drastic decisions are written off or even toned down slightly to good effect. Even though the title is fixing some of it's huge problems why did it create them in the first place.

As usual writer Jeff Lemire has the voices down perfectly for Buddy Baker and his family. Amidst some of the heavier moments with Animal Man the texting sequences make the title even more dramatic. There is a lot of great tension in these pages here that boil to the central conflict of the book. The return of the Red and the new status quota between the relationships of the characters in the book are enticing. The shift in quality compared to previous issues is quite jarring in this case. Moments with Maxine are written with humor that balance out everything else in this book. Hopefully Lemire is building towards a united Baker family in these twenty pages.

The art of Steve Pugh and Francis Portela complement each other quite well. In most cases a shift in art is even difficult to determine, which in the context of an issue is actually some high praise. The shadows rendered on the face of Buddy are really beautiful, the first splash with the alcohol bottle is a true highlight of the title. Some of the shots are reminiscent of the best Daredevil issues. The Red is drawn fantastically by Portela who embraces all of the different facets of the characters. Humor is hard to depict in a comic book and is effortlessly embraced here. The texting pages here are also carefully designed, so as to not distract readers from the artwork towards the other side of the page. It is a neat trick that is  not overused to enhance the artwork, and the stakes in the story.

At this point who knows where exactly Lemire is taking the story. From a few issues the main character has gone from saint to sinner. This direction is a huge risk for the story to take. The new nemesis proves interesting and Animal Man themed, his introduction was appropriately chilling. Upon further inspection the scene here may not be exactly what it seems here. The only sure bet here is as long as Steve Pugh is drawing the title the art will stay consistently beautiful. Hopefully the foreboding evil animals in this issue can be ignored for the future of this comic book. Mainly because as a fan of the character, I am not sure how much pain the titular hero can take.