Animal Man, Vol. 7: Red Plague

Animal Man (1988-1995)

by Jamie Delano, Steve Pugh (Illustrations), William Simpson (Illustrations)

More stories of Animal Man following Grant Morrison's genre-defining run on the series, this volume features stories never before reprinted from writer Jamie Delano, best known for his run on HELLBLAZER.

After tragedy strikes Animal Man's young daughter Maxine—but is it the result of a government conspiracy? Animal Man attacks Washington D.C. with an army of rats and birds, only to learn that his daughter has recovered. This leads to Animal Man forming a new religion and leading a group of zealous followers intent on securing humanity's place in the mystic realm known as the Red.

Collects ANIMAL MAN #64-79.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Superheroes, Fiction, Graphic Novels Comics, Fantasy, Dc Comics

464 pages, Paperback

First published January 20, 2015

About the author

Jamie Delano aka A. William James began writing comics professionally in the early 1980s. Latterly he has been writing prose fiction with "BOOK THIRTEEN" published by his own LEPUS BOOKS imprint (http://www.lepusbooks.co.uk) in 2012, "Leepus | DIZZY" in April 2014, and "Leepus | THE RIVER" in 2017.

Jamie lives in semi-rural Northamptonshire with his partner, Sue. They have three adult children and a considerable distraction of grandchildren.

Reviews

[Baba · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read Jamie Delano's run on this book, by reading comic books Animal Man #51-67 and Animal Man Annual #1, covering Animal Man, Vol. 6: Flesh and Blood and 7. Jamie Delano's weaves a wonderful and engrossing tale which help merit the value of switching the comic book to the Vertigo brand. 7 out of 12

[Chad · Rating 3 out of 5]

The series really goes off its rails in this volume. Buddy meets these sasquatch type creatures and gains the ability to physically morph into the animal he's channeling. Eventually he permanently morphs into this bird creature and decides to start a religion. At this point the series really devolves into nonsense. His cult migrates across country to the "promised land" where the series ends. By this point his family has fallen apart and no one seems to care. His family structure was the glue that held the series together. Once Delano moves away from this, the series no longer interested me. What made Buddy great was that he was a family man struggling to be both a super hero and raise a family. A poor ending to an enthralling series.

[Frédéric · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have to admit I was less taken by this conclusion to Delano's run; the mystico-religious trip is fundamentally not mine.
But to the devil his due: it's very well constructed - with a coherent ending in spite of everything -, well written and well drawn. A little too long in one or two issues perhaps, but apart from that there's the mastery of a very good author who knows where he's going and how he's going to get there.
So, even if I'd like to limit myself to 3*, personally, I'll give it 4. The talent and verve of this run elevates it above my personal feelings.

[C. Varn · Rating 3 out of 5]

This last run is an extended arc, and one where all the characters really shine, and yet Delano's Vertigo run remains one of the most frustrating arcs for Animal Man. Re-reading all of Animal Man, including Lemire's 52 runs, I struck by how colossally uneven the entire series is despite its ambitions. Delano's morality in environmentalism and the animal world is far, far more nuanced than Morrisons. Delano points out--in both comic and serious ways--that the animal world is much more bloody itself and while environmentalism and Gaia are important, the Red is almost a parody of this at points. While I am not certain of this, Morrison seems to have been a fairly optimistic and in grounds with progressive politics portion of Generation X, and while Delano may not have been a political conservative or reactionary at the time, Delano has a deeper cynicism about these conceptions. Furthermore, the meta-fictive elements of Morrison and Mulligan are abandoned for cosmic satire and reflections on complicatedness of family life, particularly when the human elements of the family are given to more direct and literally bestial sexuality of the animal world.

Delano's explorations of Eileen and Buddy's dealing with Maxine's death (a theme Lemire would rehash more successfully in the new 52), Delano also introduces Annie's connection to life-web and her animalistic relationship with Buddy, Eileen's diligence into radical separatist lesbianism as Buddy leaves her and his human form to lead a church, and the satire of Cliff's band and definitely damaged Maxine's speaking for the more humane end of Buddy's new religion.

The soap opera is paired with the utter madness of the new religion--again, a theme used to quite a different effect by Jeff Lemire in the new 52 reboot--is interesting, but it meanders and then abruptly ends. While the comic still had another year in Vertigo run apparently, Annie's relationship with Eileen in light of the ultimate fate of Buddy at the ends of a government-planted female Judas seems to end the plot outright.

Delano's strengths and weaknesses really show up here: Delano fleshed out the family and a cast of supporting characters in ways that no one else, including Morrison, really did until the first two volumes of Jeff Lemire's reboot. Yet Delano dissolves those dynamics carelessly and Buddy Baker is so inhuman by the time he does it that only Eileen feels any weight to the situation. Neither Maxine or Baker are human, Annie is primal and had relationships with Buddy and Eileen almost instantly forgives her in a hot tub bath. Cliff's post-traumatic stress and obsession with the death moves from having serious thematic and characterization weight to being a grimdark punchline. His relationship with Annie's daughter seems like a side-note. Delano did more to build up a convincing family dynamic in the characters and proceeds to just ignore it.

While Animal Man has always been warped--Delano makes it a completely different book, one almost directly opposed to the dynamics set up by Morrison in the early run. Only in the early issues of the new 52 would someone try to reconcile all these threads into some kind of convincing whole again. The madness of his finale ending moves this far beyond a conventional superhero book, but also thematically it is unclear if Delano is commenting on environmentalism approvingly or mocking or both. The government conspiracies are completely under-developed, and yet despite these huge problems, the book is actually mesmerizing.

Steve Pugh's art is more consistent here--his characters have more consistent face-work, and his figure work has a variety of human body types. However, occasionally filler work by Simpson, Braun and Snejbjerg are sometimes quite distracting. The colors are top-notch as they were for the entire Delano/Pugh run. Thank Tatjana Woods for that excellent work.

In the end, I like Morrison's run better although it did establish a lot of Morrison now well-overused tropes. Furthermore, I disagree with many who say that Delano fleshed out Baker's character. Indeed, Buddy Baker is handled with more personal depth by most of the other authors in the all his runs, but what Delano does do masterfully was get Animal Man's family and supporting cast down consistently. Eileen is not just a foil for Buddy's desires, Maxine and Cliff have definitive personalities, the metaphysis introduced by Veitsch are fleshed out and given real weight, and Annie and her daughter, as well as Eileen's mother and the characters of the Vermont town, are more than props. In truth, Morrison never really did this as his obsessions with dynamics of the different kinds of superhero stories and his love of metafiction ruled that out. Delano's characterizations of everyone around Baker hold, and it feels like a world that has gone mad. Yet Delano ultimately can't seem to make it all cohere and what he is actually saying about the nature of Animal Man seems still pretty muddled by the end. Highest of highest but some of the most confusing of the lows.

[John Roberson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Grant Morrison's ANIMAL MAN is formally ambitious and groundbreaking for that. But what's important, remembered, and unique about it is its DC postmodernism and 4th-wall nuking, which pretty much negates all the animal-rights stuff of most of the previous issues; with tweaking you could have used any character in the DCU the same way. That's not to KNOCK it, merely to measure it properly. And I also have to admit, I have never, ever warmed to Chas Truog's art. It really needed someone else. His run is important but more in the history of his tinkering with the fabric of the DCU than anything else. It's important for DC.
While reading Jamie Delano & Steve Pugh's RED PLAGUE (which I've read before) I find myself thinking: certainly this is the better of the two runs visually, no question. But in story as well, this is the best that's ever been done with Buddy as what he's supposed to be at his core, besides a "Generic Blonde Superhero With Good Teeth," as Morrison had told him he was--a statement I think goes to my idea that his Buddy could've been any number of other DC characters. Delano's isn't really interested in any of the DCU or Silver Age nostalgia/reworking crap--a by-product of the walling off of Vertigo and DC, which was never the case with Morrison(all his issues of AM and DOOM PATROL, people forget, were all DCU books, never on the Vertigo imprint)--and instead fleshes out (you'll excuse the unintended pun) Buddy as a person, as well as his family; indeed, all the other characters besides Buddy get fully built--you even know what incidental characters are thinking, often their histories.
And with the introduction of the Red the "animal" aspect gets a full treatment, and more complex than Morrison's Poor Animals We Must Pity and Protect Them take. Delano recognizes that animals must be respected and protected, but also that they be understood on their own terms, which include that some of them eat each other. This becomes an issue, for example, when Maxine calls a bunch of animals to her to all live together in peace, and then she gets angry when she finds that some of them, when they get hungry, start hunting the others. She thought the lions could perhaps eat vegetables and not zebras. Delano points out that our human ideas of morality--even benevolent--are fairly alien to the animal world, and worthy of respect because it is bigger than us--and also something we're part of.
This run is the better one and the definitive one.

[Shannon Appelcline · Rating 4 out of 5]

In its last year, Delano's Animal Man becomes very much a soap opera. There are no longer clean beginnings and ends, but instead a long sequence of middle. To a certain extent, the comic isn't as good as it was in his first year, when Delano focused more on the stories he was telling. On the other hand, he gets to delve deeply into an ever-growing cast of characters, who are ultimately what make this volume memorable (well, that and Buddy's religious craziness, whose climax in the last couple of issues makes this whole volume worthwhile.)

Breath of God (64-66). These shorts that start off the new volume are mostly slice-of-life, and they're interesting enough in that regard, but it feels like there's not much bigger picture, except perhaps in Maxine's evolution. The funny thing about this is that the Silent Walkers of the later issues should be a big deal. After all, they're what put Buddy on the path to the last year or so of the comic. But they're just a plot device here, quickly glossed over (though constantly referred to afterward). This was the weak lull before Delano's final storm. [6/10].

Annual. Almost everything in this Annual seems to come out of nowhere ... or at least to arrive with too much speed. Government agents hunting Buddy! Maxine summoning African animals! Jack Rabbit appearing to spirit Maxine away! Still, there's great material in here about the true nature of the Red, and a great setup for Maxine in the next four issues [7/10].

Mysterious Ways (67-70). Though the Children's Crusade annual came out of nowhere, Animal Man was the Vertigo book that made the best use of it. Here we get four issues about death and loss and they're quite well done. And, this is the other shoe that drops to put Buddy on his final path [7+/10].

Red Plague (71-79). Delano really takes the training wheels off in his last three trimesters, as Buddy suddenly gives birth to a religion. From his sermon on the monument onward, this comic is quickly leaving superhero tropes behind to become something else — a comic about rebellion and rebirth alike. It really gains momentum when the crew takes the revolution on the road, leading to an ever-frenzied battle with authorities while in search of the promised land. The ending is so original and mesmerizing, and the cast grown so interesting, that you can forgive Delano for warping Animal Man almost beyond recognition. [7+/10]

Here's hoping that the less-loved final year of the original Animal Man also gets a collection, to bring this story to a close (though this is a fine enough finale too.)

[Will Cooper · Rating 3 out of 5]

Animal Man decides to become a god. It's ok.

[Neil Carey · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very amusing, if flawed and/or bumpy, example of a mainstream comic opting to fly without a script.

[Dan · Rating 3 out of 5]

At this stage of his career, Delano doesn’t seem to fully inhabit his own voice. He Deploys Metaphors as if he’s decided they’re his only chance of staying in the same game as Alan Moore. To be fair, it’s an elevated game for a comic book writer and most were far less ambitious. Delano creates complex, sophisticated character development and attempts a pretty interesting examination of a whole bunch of weighty issues through the Life Power Church plot. In the end, though, he makes his characters’ internal lives too explicit through his purple prose, explains too much instead of relying on his strong characterization and excellent story and leaving some ambiguity for his readers to work through.

I am a terrible visual artist. In middle school I once attempted to draw a photorealistic picture of my sneaker in art class. It wound up being displayed in a school art gallery because my teacher thought it came out as a pretty good cartoon shoe (he realized that was dumb luck, but...). That’s how I feel about Delano’s characters in this book, after they’ve been given his weighty, over-written dialogue to speak. A pretty good job of creating surrealistic arche-characters that feels like an accident born of trying too hard to make them super realistic.

[Priscilla · Rating 3 out of 5]

O último volume, que seria a apoteose do martírio do Homem Animal, não consegue retomar o fôlego. A marcha de Buddy e seus seguidores até o estado do Kansas, uma óbvia referência ao caminho de Cristo até o Gólgota e a crucificação, não conseguem emocionar.

A saga fecha então de uma forma triste e não consegue passar de forma eficiente sua moral: estamos todos condenados e somente o sacrifício de um herói poderia nos salvar.

A arte de Pugh foi especialmente escolhida para os quadrinhos de terror e consegue manter o mesmo estilo dos artistas prévios. Em alguns momentos, podem-se notar pequenos deslizes da arte final, mas não é nada que vá atrapalhar seriamente a leitura.

O que faltou, realmente, foi um trabalho melhor com cores e sombras pois mesmo as capas – normalmente mais atraentes – deixaram a desejar.

O resultado da saga de Delano é mediano. A qualidade dos dois primeiros volumes se desfaz em cacos nos dois últimos volumes e que frustram o leitor ao antever algo potencialmente fabuloso... que não se concretizou.

[roberto ortiz · Rating 2 out of 5]

Un final de la etapa de Jamie Delano en donde el protagonista se transforma en un ser con alas mitad animal mitad humanoide, que adjudicándole a su vínculo al rojo crea una religión en donde la gente y los animales deben aspirar a coexistir. Entiendo lo que se quiere hacer con un Steve Pugh que plasma de manera acorde los delirios sin rumbo de Delano, daba la impresión que no sabia como terminar esto. No es mi arco favorito.

[Daniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

A strong end to a good run of Animal Man, not my favourite but there are many parts and ideas of this run that I adore. A lot of elements I would come to love in Jeff Lemires run are present here and it's interesting to see where they originated.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

Honestly I was not a fan of the Red Plague story. Love Buddy and Ellen. When this tore asunder. It seemed like the show was ending and it was kicking and screaming out the door.

[Joel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Meanders and meanders. Like so many monthly series from before the days when pretty much everything ended up collected into trade paperbacks (and was written from the beginning with that in mind), this seventeen-issue stretch of Animal Man just oozes from one story line into the next. There's some interesting stuff in here, but it takes a long time to get to it.

Also, this volume includes a segment of the Vertigo crossover Children's Crusade (which is only this fall receiving its first collected edition) that has significant effects on the main title's story line but isn't really entirely explained.

[Sam Poole · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well. Okay. So this was okay- very good art, amazing Tatjana Wood colors and excellent covers. Still- SO GRITTY TO THE POINT OF EXCESS. I don't understand what the thesis of the whole life power church issues is and that's a huge chunk of all of this. Idk it's clearly inventive kind of but is mostly just grim dark storytelling that does very little to advance its characters. I miss the early animal man of self referential bizarre fourth wall breaking stories. This could be any "mature" character. Oh well! I'll still read em all

[Aidan]

Stretched a little long for me in the middle, but it continued to impressively spin this run into surprising new directions that still felt character motivated and natural. Delano’s on a mission here, touching on similar countercultural themes as he did in Hellblazer, and even if he doesn’t reach those same horrifying thrills it was plenty cool to check out.