Grant Morrison’s second Animal Man book doesn’t improve on the lacklustre first volume being equally dull. There’s no overarching storyline to this series, it’s just a collection of random, uninteresting adventures Buddy Baker goes on.
Besides continuing to explore his powers and pursuing his animal rights activism, some aliens are watching him for reasons, he has team-ups with obscure heroines Vixen and Dolphin, there’s a new B’Wana Beast, and he fights some villainous cheeseball called Time Commander. Bo-ring!
There’s some imaginative uses of his powers with Buddy adopting the ability to multiply from bacteria within someone’s body as well as utilising sonic blasts from pistol shrimps. And you can see the meta-angle Morrison is working with the aliens and their manipulation of Animal Man’s origin that he would perfect in other books later in his career.
But the stories themselves aren’t at all compelling and the commentary on animal rights and South African politics is simplistic. The art is dated and unremarkable and - this isn’t a criticism of artist Chas Truog - Animal Man’s costume only reminded me how unoriginal Dan Jurgens’ creation, Booster Gold, is given how similar they look.
I was hoping this title would’ve found its feet in the second book but Animal Man, Volume 2: Origin of the Species was just as directionless and unengaging as the first. Grant Morrison is one of my favourite comics writers but I’m finding his Animal Man run to be disappointingly overrated.
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