Animal Man Vol. 1: The Hunt (The New 52) [Paperback]

Jeff Lemire (Author), Travel Foreman (Illustrator)

Book Description

Release date: May 8, 2012

A #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

“The best thing to come out of the DC relaunch. Absolutely knocked it out of the park….Gold stars for the creative team.” –io9

As a part of the acclaimed DC Comics—The New 52 event of September 2011, Animal Man Buddy Baker, has gone from "super" man to family man–but is he strong enough to hold his family together when Maxine, his young daughter, starts to manifest her own dangerous powers? As these new abilities continue to terrify Buddy and his wife Ellen, things take a turn for the worse as Buddy begins a startling transformation of his own that will lead him on a journey into the heart of The Red. Collected here are the first 6 issues of this dramatic new series from writer Jeff Lemire (Sweet Tooth) and artist Travel Foreman (The Immortal Iron Fist)!

This volume collect issues 1-6 of Animal Man, part of the DC Comics—The New 52 event.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

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Q & A with Jeff Lemire, author of Animal Man Vol. 1: The Hunt

Q: What's it like working on a huge initiative like The New 52?

Jeff Lemire: It was incredibly exciting. I grew up a DC Comics fan, so for me to be a part of such a big moment in the company's history was really quite surreal, but also very rewarding. I was given a lot of creative freedom to really make my books stand out and to really do something unique with them.

Q: How are you balancing making these stories and characters feel fresh and new while still respecting what came before?

JL: Even though I love these characters and the stories that came before, at the end of the day I still have to make them my own. So if I were to just try and replicate the stories I enjoyed, it wouldn't be very much fun for me or the reader. I think the key is to boil each character down to its core concept and build up from there. Make it fresh and put as much of yourself into them as you can.

Q: What stories or creators inspire you most when working on your character?

JL: For Animal Man, I was definitely inspired by the often-overlooked run by writer Jamie Delano and artist Steve Pugh. And now I'm working with Steve on the book! And of course, you can't overlook what Grant Morrision brought to the character in his definitive run.

Q: I think we can all agree that Animal Man was the breakout hit of The New 52. Was it a bit surprising for you to see such a strong response?

JL: Yes, it is. I tried to put as much of myself into the book as I could, and I think when the art started coming in, I had a sense that we were doing something really good, but you never know how the audience will respond. I never expected it to resonate with so many people. I think Animal Man is just a character that so many people can relate to because he is a father and a husband first, and a superhero second. Just like me.

Q: You and Scott Snyder tend to Twitter War each other often. How has this affected you when it comes to writing Animal Man and its relation to Swamp Thing?

JL: Scott and I are the best of friends, so we often give each other a hard time online. Truth is we spend a lot of time talking about our stories and characters together. We feed off of each other. Fans will get to see that first hand when our Animal Man and Swamp Thing story lines intersect later this year. It isn't one of those crossovers that editorial puts together and forces on you, its a story that grew organically out of us sharing ideas and scripts for our two books and realizing that there was a lot of potential in really interweaving our stories into a greater mythology.

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Review

“Travel Foreman's art is innovative and excellently creepy when it needs to be, and will hopefully get a lot of eyes as Lemire's everyman hero makes his mark in the new DC Universe.” – USA Today

“A profound meditation on consumer culture and the economy of disposability.” – PopMatters

“Animal Man has the sensational Jeff Lemire at the helm.” – Entertainment Weekly

“A strange, dark fantasy book with unpredictable plots and fantastic art.” – Complex Magazine

“Haunting…Travel Foreman provides sleek, meticulous art that grounds the book in reality, and he uses inventive page layouts during the scenes in the Baker home to create visual excitement where the situations are less fantastic…Animal Man is just a cool, odd character, grounded in the real world but still very much a superhero.” – The Onion AV Club

“I don’t want to overhype it, but if you don’t love it from the very first page, you’re not human.” – MTV Geek

 “The best thing to come out of the DC relaunch. Absolutely knocked it out of the park…Gold stars for the creative team.” – io9

“Visceral and intriguing.” – SFX

“This book sets the benchmark.” – Comic Book Resources

 “A great introduction to Animal Man for new readers, while also giving long-time fans something fresh to be excited about.” – IGN

“The character Jeff was meant to write. Lemire and Foreman did an amazing job.” – Ain’t It Cool News
“Well-crafted and bold.” – iFanboy, Pick of the Week

“Animal Man is one you can’t pass up.” – Bloody Disgusting, Pick of the Week

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 144 pages
• Publisher: DC Comics (May 8, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1401235077
• ISBN-13: 978-1401235079
• Product Dimensions: 6 x 0.3 x 10 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (55 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #48,949 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Award-winning Canadian cartoonist Jeff Lemire is the creator of the acclaimed monthly comic book series SWEET TOOTH published by DC/Vertigo and the award winning graphic novel ESSEX COUNTY published by Top Shelf. He also writes ANIMAL MAN, FRANKENSTEIN AGENT OF S.H.A.D.E. and SUPERBOY for DC Comics.

In 2008 Jeff won the Schuster Award for Best Canadian Cartoonist, and The Doug Wright Award for Best Emerging Talent. He also won the American Library Association's prestigious Alex Award, recognizing books for adults with specific teen appeal. In 2010 Essex County was named as one of the five Essential Canadian Novels of the Decade!

Recently named one of Wizard magazines 25 "rising stars", Jeff is also hard at work on a new graphic novel for Top Shelf called THE UNDERWATER WELDER, due in 2012. He currently lives and works in Toronto with his wife and son.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars We're all Animals May 11, 2012

By Slim Cat

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

This volume contains issues 1-6 of DC comics, Animal Man, part of the new 52 relaunch that started in September 2011.

Animal Man is Buddy Baker, a man given the power to take on the characteristics of any living animal on our planet. This trait gave him a unique perspective on the creatures of our planet leading him to giving up eating meat and being a vocal animal rights activist. Buddy lives in San Diego with his wife Ellen, and two kids, Cliff and Maxine. Buddy is semi-retired from the superhero business and was never really a big hitter like some of the icons of the DC universe (Superman, Wonder Woman, Batman, Green Lantern, Flash just to name a few) and was a Hollywood stuntman and even started an acting career in independent films.

One night, when Buddy decides to play superhero again, he has a very bizarre reaction. Also, his daughter Maxine starts to show signs that she is her father's daughter with some disturbing powers of her own. This leads the Baker family on a journey into the Red, the source of Buddy and Maxine's powers, as well as the embodiment of the life force for all living animal life on earth. The Red is being threatened by the Rot, the embodiment of un-life, the force that wants to feed on all life.

Jeff Lemire does an amazing job at reintroducing Animal Man that old fans can appreciate and new fans can ease in to. He does take influence from previous writers and their great runs (Grant Morrison, Peter Milligan, Jamie Delano) but this is a fresh start for the Baker family and the Animal Man mythos and terrific one at that. Taking a "has-been" of a superhero and pitting him in a fight against the forces of life and death is monumental but Lemire does a great job of not making this battle too overwhelming and gives a great supporting cast to care, fear, and root for.

Travel Foreman's art is visceral, sometimes overly surreal, and above all fantastic! The content he draws can get pretty unnerving and seem too graphic for some. A lot of "flesh horror" where people's and animal's bodies and organs are twisted and contorted in ways that reminded me of 80's style horror movies. David Cronenberg and Clive Barker come to mind. View at your own discretion. John Paul Leon's art in the final chapter/issue is superb as well as a nice break in the action but reflects a subconscious concern of our protagonist.

This is a great story for superhero and horror fans alike, but with not an overdose of each element. This book is a sign to a DC fan like me that this "relaunch" is a GREAT thing. Bring on Animal Man's sister title Swamp Thing Vol. 1: Raise Them Bones (The New 52) and the next volume of Animal Man!

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Something Totally New September 19, 2011

By Paige Turner

Format:Unknown Binding

Animal Man is one of the best of the DC "New 52." Since most of us don't have the baggage of knowledge of old Animal Stories, the task of re-booting the story is admittedly easier than the challenges facing the Superman re-boot.

LeMire delivers! Animal Man, a former super-hero, is now an animal activist struggling with the challenges of being a family man. It all takes a turn when he has a horrific nightmare...

The artwork for this title is perfect for the subject matter. The detailed nightmare scenes perfectly convey the story. I don't know how they'll be able to keep this book on schedule- this artist must be on some serious stimulants.

Inventive, solid story, fresh art style, atypical hero with character development and story twists.

A must-read of the DC New 52.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars The Beast Unleashed May 21, 2012

By K. Fontenot TOP 1000 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)

DC's New 52 was met with both criticism and joy when it released last year. Many of the titles in the release were disappointing, but "Animal Man," written by Jeff Lemire and illustrated by Travel Foreman, is one of a small handful of titles that actually lived up to expectations. "Animal Man" isn't as widely known as many of DC's other heroes, which might have actually helped this title be such a breath of fresh air when compared to other New 52 titles.

Personally I had never even heard of Animal Man until I was offered this volume of issues #1-#6 of the New 52 era through Amazon Vine. I decided to give it a whirl and have to admit that I am now a fan of Buddy Baker, aka Animal Man. His power allows him to call on the different traits of animals (I'm assuming there's no limit to which animal traits he can call on) and use them to fight for justice. He takes on some of the physical traits of the animals that he calls upon as well.

In this version of his story, Jeff Lemire shows us an Animal Man who is more content with leading protests and heading up animal rights campaigns instead of slugging it out with baddies on the streets of San Diego. His young daughter, on the other hand, wants to be a fighter just like her father used to be. The only scary thing about it all is that Animal Man knows that his daughter's power is even greater than his.

When his daughter starts to flex her animalistic muscle, it attracts the attention of an ancient evil that plans to use her to bring down the entire world. This volume ends with Animal Man and his family fleeing this ancient evil, setting up a showdown in later issues of the comic.

Travel Foreman brings gore to the forefront with his illustrations in this volume. If you're squeamish or can't handle rotting corpses or zombie-like creations, stay away. I had my doubts about this book when I first got it and flipped through the pages, as the artwork leads one to believe that this is nothing more than a blood and guts goofest. However, Lemire makes the story work amidst all of the gore.

Overall, I'm excited to see how this tale ends. The ending left things wide open, and hysteria is chomping at the bit.

Recommended, although only for older audiences, as some of the action might scare youngsters.