Issue Description

Buddy decides to avenge his murdered wife and children by going after those who ordered the hit. Will the death of those responsible be enough for Buddy?

Buddy is in the upstairs bathroom, cutting his hair and putting on a black leather version of his Animal Man costume. He goes downstairs where Mirror Master is drinking a beer and tells him that he's ready. Mirror Master reiterates that these three corporate bigshots tried to hire him to kill Buddy's family. When McCulloch told them that he wasn't going to kill a woman and her kids they got someone else. Somebody named Lennox. Animal Man interrupts him and starts using his animal powers to get a bearing on what happened they day his family was murdered. He can still smell Lennox's aftershave. Buddy calmly tells Mirror Master that he's going to kill Lennox and the three men who hired him. McCulloch says that's fine as long as he gets the money that they owe him, and they leave through a mirror in the living room.

An older man is fishing aboard a yacht called the "Charybdis II". He catches what he thinks is a gigantic fish, but is pulled overboard. The "fish" turns out to be Animal Man and he holds the man underwater until he stops breathing. One man down.

Meanwhile, Lennox is in a hotel room talking to someone on the phone. "Thirtysomething" is on the TV. Lennox becomes agitated and tells the person on the phone that he needs his money. He's worried about the Justice League coming after him. Lennox and the gentleman make plans to meet the next night. Later, Lennox prepares his insulin shot.

A mustachioed man is on the golf course. He becomes overjoyed when he hits his first hole-in-one ever. The man goes to the hole to retrieve his ball, but a white gloved hand reaches up and drags him underground. Mr. Shaver begins to panic and asks what's going on. A voice tells him that he's in the dirt among the dead men. "Where you put my family." The voice seals up the tunnel. Two men down.

The next night, Mirror Master and Animal Man are standing outside a skyscraper where Mirror Master says that he put one of his special mirrors in the executive washroom. Buddy sends some money to Greenpeace, and with a small degree of satisfaction, McCulloch tells him that it's getting harder to tell the difference between the heroes and villains. Buddy bitterly tells him that nothing he does matters because they'e all just characters in story. They enter the building through the reflective surface of it's windows.

Mr. Brumley(the man Lennox had been talking to) is washing his hands in the men's room, when Animal Man and Mirror Master surprise him by coming though the mirror. Brumley tries to escape, but doesn't get far. Mirror Master grabs Brumley's jacket and hands him his checkbook. He demands that Brumley write him a check, and in a fit of pique also makes him donate a million to Greenpeace. Things become hectic when Lennox enters, wearing the Bug-Man armor. Lennox distracts the two intruders, while Brumley enters the elevator. Mirror Master zaps the Bug-Man armor with a mirror-gun and leaves to find things to steal. Animal Man catches Brumley before he can get downstairs and punches the whole elevator out of the building. Three men down.

Coming back for Lennox, Animal Man tells him that he shouldn't have worn that aftershave. They battle, but Animal Man manages to get the upper hand by using his animal powers. Lennox, bloodied and defeated, calls him a cheater. Buddy pulls out a glove laced with razor-sharp talons and tells Lennox that he'll never understand what he's done. To himself, Buddy tells himself that he must stop thinking and become an animal. The last man falls.

Later, Mirror Master returns to the room to find Lennox's dismembered body and Animal Man huddled in the corner. McCulloch tells him that he's leaving, but at first Buddy doesn't answer. Finally, he says that he feels nothing. Buddy quietly remarks that he's done terrible things and his family is still dead. But he has an idea... all he needs is a time machine.

Animal Man

Publisher

Vertigo

Volume Description

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Writer Grant Morrison was one of the" British Invasion" creators from the UK who were brought in to DC to revamp older and obscure properties after the success of Alan Moore 's Swamp Thing . Thus Morrison pitched the idea of Animal Man, originally as a four issue mini-series. Strong sales however, meant DC asked Morrison to continue his series an ongoing, which he did for 26 issues. During his run, Morison incorporated themes such as animal rights and vegetarianism as well as fourth-wall breaking story lines which ended in Morrison inserting himself into the comic and directly speaking to Animal Man and revealing his status as a fictional character. Morrison's series re-invented Buddy Baker as a suburban family man and "average Joe" character, he also introduced a new Mirror Master (McCulloch).

After Morrison's run ended, Peter Milligan took over briefly and then Tom Veitch, who focused on Baker's stuntman career. Writer Jamie Delano then came on board as writer, transforming the title into a horror book and lining Animal Man much closer to the Swamp Thing style character, by re-inventing him again as an avatar of "The red" a force of animal life similar to Moore's "The Green" in his Swamp Thing stories, something which Morrison was opposed to but became part of Baker's status quo, especially in Jeff Lemire's New 52 Animal Man series. it was during this time (issue #57) the book was placed under DC's new Vertigo imprint along side other mature readers titles at DC where it remained for the rest of its run. Between issues #66 and #67, Delano also wrote the Animal Man Annual #1, focusing on Buddy's daughter Maxine, the annual was the third part of Vertigo's crossover The Children's Crusade.

The series had never been fully collected though #1-26 (Morrison's run) have been collected in three trades so far, the first nine issues were collected soon after they had been printed back before Vertigo came around in Animal Man- through the art of reprinting the volume has been updated to Vertigo. Over a decade later, a second volume was released, Animal Man: Origin of the Species which collected the next eight issues as well as Animal Man's origin issue from the Secret Origins series. And finally, a year later the third volume was released, Animal Man: Deus Ex Machina which collected nine more issues though left the majority of the series (including all the issues that were printed after the Vertigo imprint got stamped onto the series) uncollected.

Peter Milligan's run on the book would eventually fill a fourth trade in 2013, possibly due to the revived interest in Animal Man after the New 52.

The Shifting Cast of Writers on the Title

Grant Morrison: # 1- 26Peter Milligan: # 27- 32Tom Veitch: # 33- 50Jamie Delano: # 51- 79Jerry Prosser: # 80- 89AnnualAnimal Man Annual #1 - MisfitCollected TradesVol. 1: Animal Man (#1-9)Vol. 2: Origin of the Species (#10-17)Vol. 3: Deus Ex Machina (#18-26)Vol. 4: Born to Be Wild (#27-37)Vol. 5: The Meaning of Flesh (#38-50)Vol. 6: Flesh and Blood (#51-63)Vol. 7: Red Plague (#64-79)OmnibusesAnimal Man Omnibus (#1-26 and Secret Origins #39)

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Status: Not in Collection