The Animal Man Omnibus

As a major metafiction nerd, I love Grant Morrison's writing, and here is where his DC tenure began - and possibly his most audacious work for the company... and this is the man who brought back Batman of Zur-En-Arrh. The issues here are a bit disjointed, but in an incredibly revealing way.The first four issues are a run commissioned by DC to find new talent from indy comics writers in the UK after the success of Watchmen. The result was a well received story that took two forgotten animal based superheroes from the 60s to create a great self contained story that rebuilt Animal Man as crusader for animal rights, who protects those creatures who he draws his powers from. This with a charming domestic angle that continues through out the run, the slow burn reveal of the would-be villain who is no longer the obscure figure he likely was in 1988, and the ending that is straight out of the EC Comics horror tradition... well Morrison is just getting warmed up.The run was a success and it continued with #5 The Coyote Gospel - one of the best single issue of any comic ever. No fooling, this issue is not only a blueprint for the rest of Morrision's Animal Man run, it is basically a microcosm of his voice and style. The gritty and the cartoonish, the narrative and the metanarrative, the old way and the new. Part Duck Amuck, part religious text - all 100% Grant Morrision.At it's center is Crafty - both pitiful and tragic, but beautiful as well. If a Wile E. Coyote come Jesus figure is ever going to make you cry, its going to be with Buddy's heartbreaking few words to the desperate creature at the revelation of his Gospel.If there is ever a religion based on comic books, The Coyote Gospel will surely be in its bible.The next two issues, are... well odd turns but telling of the comics business. They are basically two more self contained stories that barely contain Buddy, hardly intersect with him at all, and don't really belong with the rest of the book. This is summed up by Morrison in the intro pretty well - company wide crossover, waddagonnado? Invasion is one of those DC events on my list to get to, but there are a lot of pages to get through before I get to that. As stand-alone stories they are interesting, but I'm not really too familiar with the Thanagarians, so I think a lot of that issue was lost on me.The remaining issues morph from a crusade for employment, respectability, domestic stability, and animal rights into a deconstruction of narratives, comics, superheros of old and new, continuity, multiverses, and the nature of reality. The remainder of this ride is best discovered in the reading.The book itself is bound well, the colors pop off the white pages, which are strong without being too thick. I had no trouble reading these stories for the first time, and in fact I feel the single volume helped propel the story and themes better than if I had read it broken up in volumes or issues.TL;DR: Put it on your coffee table and gain serious comic book cred. Pick it up and read it to have mind repeatedly blown.

This was FANTASTIC! One of the best Grant Morrison books I've read in a long time. Usually Morrison can get very confusing at times, but this one is written clearly. You can also see all the influences other comic books had after this one was finished, especially with the entire fourth wall concept. I found it funny how the character in the book viewed us as the reader calling us "perverts" sometimes. If you like the fourth wall concept, this one is one of the good ones. Many comics try to attempt it, but it not as well done and kind of just a copy of this book. The only other comic book that came close and succeeded using the fourth wall that I've read before was Alan Moore's book Promethea. That comic made you feel like Promethea actually existed.I first came to admire Animal Man in the series 52 DC comics did a few years back (not to be confused with the New 52's Animal Man which I have yet to read). I always seem to like his character though. I liked the fact he was a family man and just an all-around good person. Most comics in the late 80s and early 90s just get too weird and always seem to have an emo type of character. I was surprised to see Animal Man is a happily married man with two kids and a couple of pets. It even includes some family friends and neighbors. The artwork worked for the everyman type of comic too. It's nothing that special, but it simple and well detailed at times.The one thing that stands out with this comic book among other is there isn't one issue that I didn't like. Many single issues stand out the most like Issues 5, 7, 6, 15, 19, and 26. Those are just fantastic reads and really show the power of Grant Morrison's writing. The entire comic you need to read from start to finish to get the point of it, but as I said before no issue that will leave you disappointed.Whom would I recommend this too? Anyone who read comic books and wants to read a superhero comic that is just pure fun without all the sappy melodrama. The people who might enjoy this the best though are fans of Animal Man (obviously), people who want to read Morrison's first successful comic book, people who like animals, people who like the fourth wall and metafictional books, and mostly (as I said previously) people who just want a fun comic book to read.

I have always been a fan of Morrison ever since I picked up "Joe The Barbarian" two years back. This book contains Animal Man 1-26, and Secret Origins 39. Its roughly the size of Wolverine and the Xmen omnibus, or Tomb Of Dracula Vol 3. The binding is surprising considering DC's general lack of binding knowledge in past years. Its sewn, cover stays open at 3-6 issues in. Art wise, its phenomenal, I ADORE Bollands covers, and the issue to issue art is pretty great for the time as well. Writing is stunning, Morrisons early work is very interesting to see. For me it feels like he is writing himself into the character (Which isn't a bad thing in this case.) It goes over all kinds of moral dilemmas and animal cruelty issues. If you want to get into off kilter characters, good stories, are a vegan, or a decent human being, this book is for you. For around 40$ USD (as of 8/14/15) you literally cannot go wrong.