Animal Man, Volume 5: Evolve or Die!

Animal Man (2011)

by Jeff Lemire (Writer), Travel Foreman (Illustrator), Rafael Albuquerque (Artist)

This is it: The final battle for The Red begins here!
Teen Titans foe Brother Blood has come to claim the mantle of avatar from Animal Man's daughter Maxine, murdering and plundering his way to power. Now faced with his family being even further torn apart, Buddy Baker must defeat this evil ... no matter what the cost.
Critically acclaimed writer Jeff Lemire ends his run on the breakout title of The New 52 with this concluding chapter to his epic Animal Man story. With art from Rafael Albuquerque (American Vampire), Travel Foreman and Lemire himself.

Collecting: Animal Man 24-29

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Dc Comics, Horror, Comic Book, Superheroes, Fiction

135 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 5, 2014

About the author

Librarian note:
There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name

Jeff Lemire is a New York Times bestselling and award winning author, and creator of the acclaimed graphic novels Sweet Tooth, Essex County, The Underwater Welder, Trillium, Plutona, Black Hammer, Descender, Royal City, and Gideon Falls. His upcoming projects include a host of series and original graphic novels, including the fantasy series Ascender with Dustin Nguyen.

Reviews

[Kyle · Rating 4 out of 5]

There was a pretty glaring plot contrivance smack-dab in the middle of this volume, and I kind of hoped that the ending of this series would have concluded with the cathartic bang that it started with (which it didn't), but it was still a good read with some good art closing a good, solid run for Lemire et al. I particularly liked the critical finger that this collection pointed at Hollywood and social media. There are also a couple of touching, sentimental moments thrown in there for big-hearted, comic-reading parents (even me, a cold-hearted, non-parenting entity, felt some warm, gooey emotion-stuff coming from somewhere inside me a few times. Surprising, I know). So this volume covers all of its bases, and if you have followed this title since its New 52 re-inception, you won't be disappointed with how it concludes.

4/5

[Dakota · Rating 4 out of 5]

A satisfying conclusion to the end of this run. Some of the emotional moments fell a little flat for me.

[James DeSantis · Rating 3 out of 5]

After an insainly good last volume this feels a bit of a let down but it still hits some high notes.

This is the final confrontation with the red. Obviously a big bad comes along and ruins everything, killing even some of the most powerful totems of the Red. So now Animal man and Animal girl (His daughter) are the only two who can stop him. But first Animal man gets taken away into space to meet a new god, while his daughter is on the run from the new bad. Will he save her in time? Will she be able to fight back!? See it here folks!

This is pretty enjoyable in the sense of a big showdown. There's some crazy ass fights here, lots of bloody results, and some heartfelt moments that work. The strongest issue is the last as it focuses on the heart and soul of the characters and that's where Lemire shines. The lore and world building feels rushed here and this new "god" seems like a sequel was being made but never happened.

Overall, this is good, but not as good as the last volume sadly. A 3.5 out of 5.

[Brian Garthoff · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hmmmm, a somewhat ambiguous heartfelt ending that leaves room for multiple conclusions….Lemire did his best to put a bow on this last volume of Animal Man albeit a bit abrupt and conflicted. Overall I really liked the series as a whole. It stumbles on occasion and never fully establishes certain Animal Man as something other than in constant conflict. The art was pretty solid throughout, but not as pretty as the swamp thing counterpart. The final story by Maxine with Lemire’s artwork was probably the best send off you could get, and helps bring it close more akin to Lemire’s other work.

[C. Varn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jeff Lemire finds the familial core and tries to bring some pathos with the invaders of the red, but writes himself into a corner. Into that comes a cosmic deus ex machina that serves as plot armor for Buddy Baker. Furthermore, it makes Baker a liar and complicates his character in a way that is primarily unhealthful. The artwork in these volumes becomes inconsistent although all the artists are doing good work; however, Lemire's own capstone artwork at the end is particularly endearing. Despite the plot contrivance in the middle, I also realized that Lemire took elements of Veitsch and Delano plot lines from the second half of the original Animal Man run and tried to use them to weave a more coherent book, yet this ran into many of the same problems: the tensions between a high-concept arc, a realistic family-oriented arc, and a traditional superhero book pull the narrative in different directions. The contrast between cosmic and personal scales work at points, but require massive plot interventions to be maintained over time. Lemire relies on too much on plots and exposition to result in the conflict between the three different focuses and the demands of the new 52. It ends up in a mass like the first Animal Man ended up, but it remains a largely endearing mess.

[Paige · Rating 2 out of 5]

So I have loved this series. I've read the first three books multiple times. This ending was horrible. I put off reading it for so long, because I saw how badly it was rated and I saw what people said about it. THEY WERE RIGHT! THEY WERE ALL RIGHT! There were two things that peeved me off the most: 1. THE BOOK ENDS ON A LIE. He makes two promises that conflict! We're all going along for this ride with Buddy Baker and thinking oh he's Animal Man, he's trying to be a superhero, and be good to his family. He's a good guy, he's doing his best. ENDING THE SERIES ON A LIE erases all the nice feelings about Buddy being a good guy. 2. We're going to escape into the mountain of muscle, but plot twist it's just one big circle. That just irked me, everything could've gone in a new interesting direction in the story, they thought nah let's just go in a circle. I still love you Animal Man, but this was painful and a terrible way to end. Really the only good part was the end when there was the whole story time and it was drawn like Sweet Tooth. So it was a weird happy and grumpy with Jeff Lemire moment. I don't know, I just can't believe it's over. WHAT ABOUT THAT ALIEN LADY?!?! You're just making things awkward Jeff Lemire.

[Des Fox · Rating 3 out of 5]

Animal Man got sloppy there towards the end. The final threat never felt super justified, artists rotated, there was a big ole' weird space story right in the middle of the final act, and the story-telling was all over the place as the book stumbled to its conclusion. Rafael Albuquerque and Cully Hamner delivered some great work, and Travel Foreman even shows up at the end to deliver an endearing final issue with Lemire, but Animal Man rounds out at a much lower place than the big boom with which it began. The dialogue is still that expository Lemire flavor of barely acceptable, and big, bold ideas turns into scatter-brained squabbles, as things shambled to the logical end of things. Some plots are abandoned, while others are introduced last minute without resolution. I get there's a set-up for Justice league United, but it all felt pretty loosey goosey to me, and it's a shame that's the last impression we'll get of Lemire's iconic take on what's become a classic and universally essential DC character.

Still, I've read worse comics, and the ideas are still really enticing, outside the box business. I just wish Animal Man could live up to the high bar set at the start of the New 52.

[Joshua Q. · Rating 3 out of 5]

not sure what happened with this volume. the art for a number of the issues in this collection was super poor, making the book a very inconsistent experience. most notable are the drastic changes back and forth between jeff lemire's excellent (albeit amateurish) pages to the weird uncanny anti-humans presented by whoever did the rest of the art in the final issue. sort of an unfortunate ending to an amazing series but much of the quality one would expect from lemire's animal man (especially in terms of narrative, but less so in terms of dialogue and art) is still present here.

[Matt Trowbridge · Rating 2 out of 5]

One issue of this volume serves solely as a MacGuffin, and a very uninteresting one at that. The conclusion concludes very little outside of the main storyline of this arc and leaves the rest of the story open-ended, especially for this being the final installment in this series. The dialogue was clichéd and bland, and the characters were still more or less unchanged from the first issue of Lemire's run on this title. It was nice to see a little bit of Lemire's art, though.

['kris Pung · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lemire, did a great job with his time on this title with a lot of great horror elements and several times that it just tugged on the old heartstrings.

[Koen · Rating 1 out of 5]

well, no, just no, this wasn't near anything I was expecting/hoping for...

Sad ending.. truly..

[Wing Kee · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good send off.

World: The fact that Rafael Albuquerque did this last arc made me so happy. He's one of my favorites and his art was just pure awesome. That being said, the final issue with Foreman and Lemire was a great way to send this series off. The world building here is fantastic, the logical leap to the space stuff was great and though it was a cheap way to give Buddy what he needed was great in the grander scheme of things in terms of building the Animal Man lore and the Red. Perfect.

Story: The story is great, it's paced well and builds on the Red storyline that has been one of th ebest things for this character since Morrison. The battle was done well the end was heartbreaking and warming at the same time and it was just a good end to the series and it was what it deserved. This is one of the best Animal Man runs in the characters history and it's fantastic. Thank you Lemire and Co.

Characters: There is a bit of a rush in terms of the family getting back together but the rest is great. Buddy is complex so is Maxine and Ellen and the entire crew, they are real characters with flaws and real motivations. This book lived and died by readers connecting with Buddy and his family and I will say I've grown to love this family and that's a testament to the writing.

A great end to a great great series.

Onward to the next book!

[Quentin Wallace · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this was a fitting end to the series. We got to see the big battle and we got some resolution. I'm still curious about the bargain Animal Man made with the Bridgewalker and all that, but it looks like at least for now he got a mostly happy ending. I say mostly because his son died and stayed dead in this series.

As a whole I was very impressed with this series. As I stated in previous reviews, I've never been a big fan of psychedelic, existential type comics with the Red, and the Green and such weirdness. But this series managed to take that scenario and inject some of the most believable characters into it in a way I wouldn't have thought possible. This was probably lightning in a bottle as I doubt this exact formula will come together like this again, but I'm glad I read this series.

If you have any interest I would recommend trying at least a volume or two as it may turn out to be better than you expect.

[Will Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

A climactic final battle between Animal Man and his usurper, Brother Blood. I enjoyed my time with Animal Man in the New52, but it’s hard not to see the flaws.

The book has a huge focus on the Baker family, but one of its key members, Buddy’s wife Ellen, is underwritten. A spouse having problems with their significant other taking a dangerous job has a lot of story potential, but it’s not explored beyond Ellen constantly whining about superheroes and things outside her control. It gets very old VERY quick, so much so I was glad when they separated in the previous volume.

There’s another plot thread introduced about different versions of the Red, Green, and Rot existing on other planets. It’s a great concept that implies Lemire had one or two more stories to tell before wrapping everything up. As is though this is a decent enough conclusion. Decent action, a well paced story, and a sappy sweet ending that will make anyone want to go give their family a hug.

[Lyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I did not love it.

Yes, Jeff Lemire is one of my favorite writers, and yes, Buddy Baker is one of my favorite heroes and the art was really good.

But here’s the thing: Animal Man is by design a B-lister, and this was set up as an epic.

I love that Animal Man is a second-tier hero, that’s what makes him so cool. When he met Superman it was weird because he almost wanted an autograph.

And DC is known for its EPIC! series and storylines.

But!

This just didn’t work well as a big production.

I’ll continue reading and enjoying the character, still love Lemire’s writing, but this one was a miss.

[Raul Reyes · Rating 2 out of 5]

The story did nothing to hook me, so it took me a while to read. You could feel that Lemire had to shorten and combine plans he had for the series since it was ending prematurely. I guess I liked that they didn’t bring Cliff back since it would’ve felt cheap but the actual main story was just not interesting for me. Brother blood was incredibly one-dimensional and shallow, so his plans to invade the red had no stakes. The random side tangent where Buddy was suddenly in an alien world was completely unnecessary, and the final confrontation was incredibly rushed. Overall, the series was a miss from me, which is unfortunate since I like a lot of Lemire’s work.

[Jamie · Rating 4 out of 5]

The final battle to save the Red has begun, and Animal Man must protect life itself, as well as his family. Jeff Lemire sticks the landing for this fantastic comic run and even concludes the final issue by illustrating a heartbreaking story told by Maxine, Buddy's daughter. The losses throughout this series were not wasted, and my only disappointment is that this series was cut short due to Rebirth wiping out every story arc of the New 52. However, the conclusion is satisfying with a melancholic edge.

[Daniel · Rating 3 out of 5]

La serie de Jeff Lemire brilla más cuando su Animal Man piensa como padre y no como un superhéroe. De manera que hay pequeños arcos que son brillantes y otros tantos que se sienten vacíos.

Luego del Mundo de la Pudrición la serie baja el nivel de espectacularidad, pero gana en desarrollo de personajes.

Otro detalle es que el body horror de los primeros 2 tomos no vuelve a aparecer en el arte del resto de la serie, a menos no tan explícitamente.

Disfrutable. Deberían adaptarlo a una serie de TV, creo que funcionaría muy bien con el personaje.

[Brett Plaxton · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a review for all 5 volumes of Jeff Lemire’s Animal Man run. I really enjoyed this story. For somebody who wasn’t familiar with Animal Man, this story does a great job with telling who he is, what his powers are and how his family
Gets involved this time around. This run has some great cameos from characters like Swamp Thing and John Constantine and shows a different side of the DC Universe. What really made me smile was seeing Lemire’s flavour snuck in the pages, along with some of his unique artwork.

[kaitlphere · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed Maxine's story at the end that summerised the whole series with art by Jeff Lamire! I am distressed that we didn't find out what happened regarding the seed planet, which seemed to come out of nowhere. The wipe-out of The Red felt less dire, since that almost happened a few volumes ago. I'm kind of disappointed that Maxine isn't involved with The Red anymore, in theory. I think she was great at it and will be very disappointed.

[Devero · Rating 2 out of 5]

Termina con questo volume il corso di Animal man di Lemire.
Un conclusione che, soddisfacente dal lato della trama e di una possibile evoluzione del personaggio e del suo contorno familiare, lo è molto meno a livello di disegni.
2 stelle.

Due parole finali sul naturale raffronto tra il ciclo di Lemire e quello degli anni '80 di Grant Morrison.
Lemire è bravo, ma Morrison, che io non amo per molti motivi, ha fatto cose migliori sul personaggio.

[Mr Chuck · Rating 3 out of 5]

Still good but just not as good

No spoilers but I'm glad of this ending, not sad but not happy either just a real ending after a truly epic run. 3 stars only because it fails to hit the high marks of the first 2 volumes and left a huge question mark with the seed planet (you'll see)

[Andy Green · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wish Lemire had more time on Animal Man. He had a great handle on the character, and this last volume felt a little rushed. I also wish Lemire could have illustrated everything. Albuquerque, Foreman, and Pugh are all of course great, but I love Lemire's illustration and we were given a small taste here.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

A perfect end to this series. Surreal all the way through, but with family at its center, this final volume gave both the characters and the readers they needed. A bittersweet ending that also left some story opening for the future--when will Animal Man be called away and what will that mean for his family?

[Timothy Pitkin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brother Blood storyline was really good and the fight between him Buddy and Maxine was really good and the twist about who was helping Brother Blood was also great. And while the Bridgewalker was a weird inclusion and really does not add much and really should have been it's own storyline. But still pretty decent end.

[Griffin · Rating 3 out of 5]

6/10

Heartfelt for sure, but I wasn't crazy about a certain massive plot development that doesn't really go anywhere. I really wish they had kept the simplicity of the first couple volumes (plus Volume 4) for the entire run because whenever this tries to go big and epic, I don't think it really worked. Not the worst note this could end on, but far from the best.

[Brandon · Rating 4 out of 5]

7/10

love all the red in this. the totem villain has a sick design. i like the way buddy baker is able to resolve the conflict but kinda disappointed that the ending to this series doesn't show that day of reckoning for him. i just wish the last page was that day arriving. brother blood's a cool villain and a great finale villain to this series.

[Seth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jeff Lemire may have single handedly turned me into an Animal Man fan for life with this series. It was all just brilliantly done in that crazy, bad acid trip sort of way. The Baker family will be sorely missed.

[S.M.M. Lindström · Rating 3 out of 5]

That was a pretty cute, in the end. Just a bit too many "sudden twists" for this to work for me as a read-all-at-once experience. You can really tell these were individual issues that came out separately and then got smushed together.

[Roberto Diaz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not the best sendoff, but not the worst either. Lemire and Co. wrap up this series in a bittersweet note, with a family man doing whatever it takes to keep his loved ones save, even if that means someday leaving them behind.