Issue Description

In the local park, Anima comes across a young Asian pick-pocket called “Pockets.” She brings Pockets back to the rest of her new friends Liv, Alison, and Judy. Meanwhile, Slam Shiner signs up for some dream research at the New Dawn Institute, run in part by Dr. Maxilla Yale, who is also Anima’s mother’s boss at the Tellus Institute. Unfortunately, another person interested in this dream research is Dr. Jonathan Crane, aka the Scarecrow. The Scarecrow believes that Yale has tapped into pure fear through the nightmare realm. The Scarecrow has recently become the head of the New Dawn Institute, and he is using the patients as guinea pigs. Anima and her gang try to free Slam Shiner, and Anima ends up captured by the Scarecrow. 

Anima (1994)

Publisher

DC Comics

Volume Description

Anima was a 16 issue series produced by DC Comics that ran from 1994 to 1995. The series followed its titular protagonist, Anima, and her alter-ego Animus. Anima, one of the new heroes created during the 1993 Bloodlines annual crossover event, was one of the few heroes that managed to spin off into its own series. Anima first appeared in the New Titans crossover annual of that event.
 
Writing duties for the Anima series were given to science fiction and fantasy writers Elizabeth Hand and Paul Witcover. While Hand and Witcover had collaborated in the past on stories and blogs, this was the first time for both of them writing in the world of comics. According to Witcover, he and Hand had wanted to build a world that “ripped off everyone from Carl Jung to Kurt Cobain in the process.” Witcover called Anima a “gonzo-feminist comic,” visiting a lot of the common feminist themes both he and Hand would explore in their science fiction stories.
 
Hand and Witcover gave Anima a rich supporting cast, including the band Boojum ( Liv, Alison, Judy, Slam, and Dred), Alison’s family, and O.D.D. Agent Woodleaf. The writers also delved into topics such as lesbianism and featured an H.I.V. positive supporting character. In addition, Hand and Witcover created the world of Arkana, filling it with concepts similar to Neil Gaiman’s Dreaming (Hand and Gaiman had been old friends). Hand and Witcover slightly retconned Anima’s origin from New Titans Annual #9, in order to better fit in with their ideas around Arkana. This retcon was explained away as part of the Zero Hour event.
 
Artwork for the majority of the series was handled by Steve Crespo, who up until then had done some one-shot work for DC. Inking duties would rotate through the series, with a lot of DC regulars and up-and-comers providing inking.
 
Anima was cancelled after 16 issues. After the cancellation of her series, Anima would bounce around the DC universe, and eventually wind up as a member of numerous teenage teams, including Young Justice, the Teen Titans, and the Blood Pack.

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