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A review by alex_kies
Animal Man, Volume 4: Splinter Species by Travel Foreman, Jeff Lemire, Steve Pugh
3.0
The first part of this arc is pretty good, with Lemire returning to what worked so well in the beginning of the series, i.e. the intersection of celebrity and superheroism, this time with a lot more pathos layered on top. The Anansa story is prime Animal Man, he has the ability to diffuse conflict instead of winning a conflict.
However, that story is shanghaied in the name of another "Epic Save the Whole World and Several Dimensions" storyline set in the Red. I guess that's my complaint with superhero stories at large right now, that not everything has to be a huge epic narrative. Animal Man has, in all its iterations, transcended the form by allowing Buddy to be an explorer and diplomat, instead of a capital H hero. It just seems like these mandates come down from DC, and Marvel is guilty of the same thing. I wish the suits would just let Lemire make a weird horror/superhero comic.
However, that story is shanghaied in the name of another "Epic Save the Whole World and Several Dimensions" storyline set in the Red. I guess that's my complaint with superhero stories at large right now, that not everything has to be a huge epic narrative. Animal Man has, in all its iterations, transcended the form by allowing Buddy to be an explorer and diplomat, instead of a capital H hero. It just seems like these mandates come down from DC, and Marvel is guilty of the same thing. I wish the suits would just let Lemire make a weird horror/superhero comic.