despite all the "white god of Kilimanjaro" business (which, to be clear, is very bad!) I actually think the engagement with African settings here winds up by the end of the run being a bit better than what I associate with 90s Vertigo. Bar is not high though

not as good as doom patrol but it features more of the grant tropes i like (e.g. bringing back obscure old characters) and the fourth wall bit is great. there are a few issues that feel a bit forced (like crossover issues) that arent as good, but a fun read ( )

A giant collection of all twenty-six issues of Grant Morrison’s Animal Man run, this book is a testament to a kind of comic that may never again exist. DC Comics was willing to take chances with its established characters and to let upstart writers do what they wished with them. Morrison uses a B-list character to explore animal rights issues and to comment on the medium of comics itself, and it’s limitations in telling serious stories. He did similar metatextual things with his run on Doom Patrol and, later, his own The Invisibles.

The results here are a bit clunky, with even Morrison (he appears as a character in the book) admitting that it got silly at times. The art, mostly by Chaz Truog, is workmanlike, but serves the story well, grounding Morrison’s more heady ideas with a solid, action-adventure style.

Morrison couldn’t accomplish everything he set out to do with this comic, but even the attempt is impressive. ( )

After getting to close to an exploding alien spaceship, Buddy Baker acquires the power to borrow the abilities of any animal and becomes the superhero Animal Man who is a crime fighter, animal rights activist, and suburban husband and dad. I really liked the idea of a superhero who lives a normal life rather than being a lone outcast and I also liked that he fights for animal rights. There are quite a few storylines in this omnibus that I liked, but, unfortunately, the overall impression is not entirely favorable. The animal rights parts get quite heavy-handed from time to time and when Animal Man is part of other comics' storylines, I get completely lost. I assume that they make sense for someone who has a firm grasp on what everyone in the Justice League is up to at all times, but for me it was just a lot of turning pages and not knowing what on earth was going on. I liked the metafiction parts for their discussion (I didn't know the characters, obviously) and that the supercat can use his laser vision to open food cans (the dream skill of any cat, I think). One thing that I realize irked me more than it perhaps should have is that the typewriter monkey is an ape - how does nobody in a book about animals notice that and keep calling it a monkey? I get the whole infinite monkey theorem thing, but why not then just draw a monkey? So, some interesting storylines, some fun ideas, and some things that just irritated me. Won't rush to find another Morrison, but won't avoid either. ( )

This was a phenomenal read. The story goes places I never expected. Morrison was prescient - this story holds up today and telegraphs so much what he does today. Gave it five stars. I almost give no book five stars. I thought it was that good. ( )