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Animal Man (Buddy Baker) is a DC Comics superhero. Created by writer Dave Wood and artist Carmine Infantino, he first appeared in Strange Adventures #180 (September 1965).
As a result of being in proximity to an exploding extraterrestrial spaceship, Animal Man can “borrow” the abilities of animals, such as a bird's flight, or a dolphin's echolocation.
Animal Man was a minor character for his first twenty years. However, he was one of several DC properties—including Shade, the Changing Man and Sandman—revived by edgy, UK writers in the late 1980s. Grant Morrison’s Animal Man was innovative in its advocacy for animal rights, willingness to break the fourth wall and portrayal of Animal Man as an everyman hero with a wife and children. After that series ended in 1995, the character has made brief appearances in DC crossover events.
Fictional character biography
Beginnings
Animal Man debuted in Strange Adventures #180 in 1965, in a story written by Dave Wood and drawn by Carmine Infantino and George Roussos. Animal Man was given his costume and name in Strange Adventures #190. He continued as a semi-regular feature in the book, making occasional cover appearances, until the introduction of the popular hero Deadman, who became the main feature with issue #205.His subsequent appearances were sporadic and sparse. In 1980, Animal Man made a notable guest appearance in Wonder Woman #267-268.
His main appearances in the 1980s were as a member of the "Forgotten Heroes", a team of minor DC heroes. It was in that capacity that he appeared in the company-wide crossover event Crisis on Infinite Earths.
Revival
In the late 1980s, following the slate-cleaning Crisis on Infinite Earths event, DC began employing innovative writers - mostly young and mostly British - to reintroduce and/or revamp some of their old characters. In the period that saw Alan Moore reinventing Swamp Thing, and Neil Gaiman completely recreating The Sandman, Animal Man was re-imagined by Scottish writer Grant Morrison. With artists Chas Truog and Doug Hazlewood, and cover artist Brian Bolland, Morrison wrote the first 26 issues of the Animal Man comic book, published between 1988 and 1990.The series was initially conceived as a four issue mini-series, but after strong sales was quickly upgraded into an on-going series. This prompted Morrison to begin laying the groundwork for some long-running plots. He introduced mysteries in the early issues, some of which were not explained until a year or two later, a relatively unusual tactic especially at the time. It featured the protagonist both in and - increasingly - out of costume. Morrison humanized the character, making him an "everyman" figure in a universe populated with superheroes, aliens, and fantastic technology. Buddy's wife Ellen, his son Cliff (10 years old at the beginning of the series), and his daughter Maxine (6 years old) featured prominently in most storylines, and his relationship with them - as husband, father, and provider - was an ongoing theme in the series. Morrison also revamped Animal Man's costume, adding a jacket so he could have pockets and a place to put his keys. This look was to become a fashion trend among other comic book characters.
An early aspect of the character was his desire for fame, as manifest by his wish to be in the Justice League. In a move driven by his high sales (and yet curiously defeating the point of this everyman character), he was made to join the newly-formed Justice League Europe less than a year later.
A recurring theme of Morrison's run was the manipulation and occasional deconstruction of the "fourth wall" - the imaginary barrier that separates the reader from the setting of the story - and the relationship between characters and their creators. One visual expression of this theme was of characters in a state of partial erasure - often juxtaposing the artist's pencil drafts with the finished inked and colored art. The series was famous for containing the only overt references to the various Earths of the pre-Crisis DC Multiverse during a time in which DC editorial policy stipulated that they didn't exist. The culmination of this storyline is Animal Man's discovery that they are all fictional characters, and he even meets Grant Morrison, the callous "god" who controls his life.
One of the most acclaimed issues of this run was issue #5: "The Coyote Gospel". This story featured "Crafty", a thinly-disguised Wile E. Coyote (of the Road Runner cartoons). Weary of the endless cycle of violence which he and his cartoon compatriots were subject to, Crafty appeals to his cartoonist creator. A bargain is struck, whereby he can end the violence only by willingly being condemned to leave his cartoon world, entering instead Animal Man's "comic" world. The issue concludes with a cinematic series of "pull-back" shots moving from a close-up of Crafty's bleeding body (and curiously-white blood), to the immense cartoonist's hand, filling in Crafty's blood with red paint.
The series was also notable for championing vegetarianism and animal rights, causes Morrison himself supported. In one memorable issue, Buddy helps a band of self-confessed ecoterrorists save a pod of dolphins. Enraged at one fisherman's brutality, Buddy drops him into the ocean, intending for him to drown. The man is later saved by a dolphin, a nod to Morrison's view of humanity's place in the grander scheme of things, and the wider status quo.
Morrison's run on the series is collected into three paperback editions, entitled: Animal Man, Animal Man: Origin of the Species (which includes the Secret Origins #39 story), and Animal Man: Deus Ex Machina.
Following Morrison, Peter Milligan wrote a 6-issue run featuring several surreal villains and heroes, exploring questions about identity and quantum physics. Tom Veitch and Steve Dillon then took over for 18 issues in which Buddy goes to work as a movie stuntman and explores mystical totemic aspects of his powers. Jamie Delano wrote 29 issues with Steve Pugh as artist, giving the series a more horror-influenced feel with a "suggested for mature readers" label on the cover.
Vertigo
Starting with issue #57, the series became one of the charter titles of DC's new Vertigo imprint, and its ties to the DC Universe became more tenuous. Vertigo was establishing itself as a distinct "mini-universe" with its own continuity, only occasionally touching the continuity of the regular DC Universe. The super-hero elements of the book were removed - Buddy discarded his costume, stopped associating with other heroes, and generally abandoned his crime-fighting role.The title evolved into a more horror-themed book, with Buddy eventually becoming a non-human animal god. A brief run by Jerry Prosser and Fred Harper featured Buddy as a white-haired shamanistic figure before the series was cancelled due to declining sales.
After cancellation - back in the DCU
Animal Man returned to being a third string character after the cancellation of his titular book, but he has not disappeared. On the Vertigo side, he was one of the lead characters in Tom Peyer's one-shot Totems. This marked the first appearance of Buddy in costume, and heralded his return to the superhero genre.In the DC Universe, he has appeared alongside Aquaman, Hawkman and Resurrection Man. During a JLA annual crossover event, the Martian Manhunter sought out Animal Man's expertise in the morphogenetic field to assist the League. During this encounter, Martian Manhunter was disturbed when he accidentally glimpsed Buddy's understanding of the true nature of the DC Universe.
Animal Man also made an appearance in the Identity Crisis limited series, helping to search for the murderer of Sue Dibny.
Animal Man was recruited by Donna Troy as part of a team journeying to New Cronos to try and help stop the Infinite Crisis, mirroring his role in Crisis on Infinite Earths, in which he went into space with the Forgotten Heroes on Brainiac's ship. During this adventure, he formed a mentoring friendship with the new Firestorm, Jason Rusch. During this appearance, he has mentioned the "weirdness" of his life, acknowledging his own series (and its oddness). He, along with most of the heroes in space, went missing.
Buddy's appearance in Infinite Crisis once again establishes Buddy's life as characterized in Morrison's run - family man and somewhat awkward second-tier hero. This is the enduring and most popular version of the character.
52
In the pages of 52, Animal Man, Starfire, and Adam Strange are stranded on an alien planet and captured by Devilance the Pursuer. The trio escape and take Devilance's lance for use as a power source for their spaceship.
Powers and abilities
Buddy can mimic any abilities of any animal, either by focusing on a specific animal near him, or, as he learned later, by drawing power from the animal kingdom in general, including those that are extinct. The nature of these powers has been described in various ways, including the superficial "alien radiation" explanation of his early appearances, the reconstruction of his body by aliens with "morphogenetic grafts" at the cellular level, and currently, mystical access to the "morphogenetic field" or "the Red". He does not have to use wings to fly as a bird, or gills to breathe as a fish does underwater, but occasionally he has been known to mimic the actual appearances of animals, such as adopting the claws of a wolverine temporarily, or his metamorphosis toward the end of Delano's run on his series.
Among the "animal powers" Buddy has been known to use the strength of a Tyrannosaurus rex, the flight of any bird, the swimming ability of any fish, the speed of an ant, the wall-crawling of a spider, the jumps of a flea, the sonic blast of a pistol shrimp, the sense of smell of a moth, the stench of a skunk, the color changing of a chameleon, the agility of a snake, the electricity of an electric eel, a worm's ability to re-grow lost body parts, and the reproduction abilities of bacteria. In some appearances, he can also talk to animals and enter their minds.
Tapping into the Red, Animal Man also fire blasts of force or unidentified energy. He can even use the primordial energies to start a new universe.
Awards
The series bearing the name won the Squiddy Award for Most Improved Series in 1992. In addition, issues #5 and #19 tied with eleven other comics for the Squiddy Award for Favorite Single Issue of Any Series in 1989. *
Bibliography
- Animal Man #1-89 (September 1988 - November 1995)
This series has been collected in the following graphic novels:
| Volume | Title | Material collected |
|---|---|---|
| Vol. #1 | Animal Man | Animal Man #1-9 |
| Vol. #2 | Origin Of The Species | Animal Man #10-17 plus the 19-page story from SECRET ORIGINS #39 |
| Vol. #3 | Deus Ex Machina | Animal Man #18-26 |
External links
- The Continuity Pages: Animal Man
- Animal Man @ GrantMorrison.com
- Animal Man profile page
- Animal Man at Sequential Art broken down into eras with all he covers and issue information.
- Movie Poop Shoot's look at Animal Man
- Comic Book Awards Almanac
- A Comic Book Fan Becomes a Vegetarian Because of the Comic
Justice League members | DC Comics titles | Vertigo titles | Fictional Americans in DC Comics | Fictional vegetarians
"Animal Man"