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Elephantmen #1

Elephantmen Volume 1: Wounded Animals

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The sold-out first volume of Elephantmen is back in print - and now includes the sold-out ZERO issue with art by Ladron, as well as an all-new sketchbook section, and the English & Media Studies backmatter from the single issues. Collects Elephantmen #0-7.

312 pages, Paperback

First published August 14, 2007

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556 people want to read

About the author

Richard Starkings

597 books29 followers
Richard Starkings is a British comics professional, known for writing the hit sci-fi series ELEPHANTMEN and specializing in lettering, thanks to his award-winning Comicraft lettering studio.

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5 stars
243 (26%)
4 stars
379 (41%)
3 stars
220 (23%)
2 stars
65 (7%)
1 star
17 (1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 94 reviews
Profile Image for Baba.
4,079 reviews1,535 followers
January 19, 2023
An intriguing Image comics series that grabs you from the off. There are a very limited number of 'Elephantmen' in the world, each of them a mix of wild animal and man, and as this volume progresses, bit by bit we get to understand their plights, their roles and their history.

A typically old-skool Image book with adult themes, hardcore violence and the obligatory 'hot' women characters - but despite all that a truly fascinating look into the world of the Elephantmen and how they impacted on this alternate reality Earth. A strong Three Star, 7 out of 12. for me.

2019 read
Profile Image for Chad.
10.4k reviews1,060 followers
September 12, 2017
The art is simple but very good. Moritat's art looks like it belongs in a children's book, even with the adult tone of the book. Set in a world reminiscent of Blade Runner with the Elephantmen, a group of genetic human animal hybrids. The stories are loosely connected, some being much more interesting than others.
Profile Image for Jesse A.
1,672 reviews100 followers
September 8, 2015
Im not 100% sure what to make of this one. The art was fantastic, the story interesting, to say the least. Seemed a bit disjointed but shows significant promise.
Profile Image for Jessica.
738 reviews67 followers
December 1, 2012
Appeal Characteristics: Art, GIANT ELEPHANT NAMED EBONY, world-building, PTS, soldiers

Another great world building comic. I was afraid this comic was going to be "I AM MALE!" Surprisingly, it was all about the characters. The fact that I saw Wreck-it Ralph, and Ebony reminded me of him, and Hannah, was parallel to Ralph's Sugar Rush friend...this story was just warm and endearing. This comic (which the author mentions) is a tribute to the 60/70s media of everything "science-fiction." I really enjoyed it. Anyway, you are in this world where mad scientist have decided to make genetically altered kids...which looks cool and weird at the same time. Anyway, they make them with one purpose in mind: KILLING MACHINES. Anyway, that's a lot of backstory...well a lot of flashbacks in and out...but you follow Ebony as he tries to cope with his past, find a way to deal with his present...and does he have a future? I like the fact that this comic deals with a lot issues of living harmoniously with other species or half-species...when jobs are tight and...it's great to have a tortured hero.

Anyway, even if you aren't interested in the whole volume or want to continue the series, the first story is just incredibly heart-breaking. If the illustrations don't move you, Hannah, the little girl will.
Profile Image for Bryan.
87 reviews1 follower
January 17, 2012
Definitely shows promise. I have the first three TPBs of Elephantmen and while this is definitely good stuff, it's pretty disjointed. From what I understand this collects issues #0 to #7 of a series that didn't start out to be a series, so a bit of wandering is to be expected.

A lot of it is flashbacks and short story style writing, almost like vignettes. It really feels more like the building blocks of a universe, rather than a coherent story at this point.

However, that being said, there are a few main characters that are focussed on and I'm interested to see where this goes. The entire thing, as the comics have no problem telling you fairly often, has a cyberpunk/noir feeling, with a good dose of anthropomorphic animals, of course.

The basic premise of the book concerns human/animal hybrids genetically designed, grown and raised to be super-soldiers. After the war they were bred for is over, the 15,000 or so surviving "Elephantmen", which includes not just elephants but hippos, rhinos, giraffes, camels, zebras and crocodiles so far, are emancipated and slowly integrated into a human society that doesn't really want them or know what to do with them. It's an intriguing premise and there's a lot of interesting quotes on the subjects of genetic engineering and experimentation as well as society, philosophy, sociology and other humanities from both contemporary authors as well as classic writers, that are included at the start of each issue within the book. Despite the far flung sci-fi aspect of the comics they're grounded in current and cutting edge science that is happening right now.

The writing is mostly pretty good, though I did find one section that translated the main character into a storybook tale of pirates told to a child a bit of a chore to read. I didn't like the style it was given and it really didn't do anything for the overall story line. It felt like more of a diversion, an indulgence of the writer rather than something that was integral or important to the comics.

The art is well done, but it looks to me like the artists either use a PC tablet to draw on or his pencils are scanned and then computer coloured and it shows. It's not necessarily a bad thing, but makes for some blurry looking line work at times and there's a real lack of "inks" so it doesn't look much like traditional comic book art. However, it does serve to give the different artists- there are a few consistent artists- styles a feeling of sameness and helps to keep the theme and look of the books coherent. There is also a handful of side plots illustrated by other artists that diverge from the overall look and for the most part they add a nice bit of variety to the books.
Profile Image for Tom Ewing.
710 reviews80 followers
January 20, 2018
Richard Starkings' Elephantmen has been running for a decade-plus and was 40 or so issues old when I started digging into Image Comics five or so years ago. By that point any hype had died down - the comic was and is a steady presence in the schedules, Starkings unrolling his future world with patience and care.

He was known as a letterer and designer before he was a writer, and it shows. Not that his writing is bad - it's very good, tight and clear and action-packed. But the book is, even in digital, truly lavish, fat with bonus artwork, flavour text and a touching tribute to Starkings' UK-comics inspirations at the back. The stories look great too: the subject matter (massive human-animal hybrids) clearly tempting to anyone who likes to draw bulk and muscle and physical action. So Elephantmen brings together a load of the 00s' better cartoonists in the Kirby tradition, Ladronn and Tom Scioli joining regular artist Moritat to deliver 300+ pages of hide, brawn and mad science.

The story, of course, is a lot more reflective than it looks - being essentially a comic not so much about violence as about its effects: what happens to child soldiers once they hit their 30s and 40s, especially when they can never hide their pasts? Elephantmen's broken-down protagonists don't get much of an answer to that in this volume, but its care and pacing suggests Starkings will do right by his weighty themes.
Profile Image for Joshua.
Author 2 books38 followers
April 26, 2020
Elephantmen, at least this first volume, is an assorted collection of ideas and short narratives that slowly begin to weave together into a functional narrative about biology, empathy, morality, and how humanity can be forced onto other organisms and, in many respects, surpassed by their original creators. A story about a Moreauesque scientist who breeds human-animal hybrids, this volume introduces several characters that will be recurring figures in the longer series. Elephantmen is cyber-punk, it is a dystopia, it is fantasy, it is science fiction, it is comedy, it is romance; Elephantmen contains multitudes.

Reading this book I was struck constantly by the artwork which seemed to bleed light and energy and color in a way few comics have the daring to do. And while the visual spectacles of this book are wondrous, the stories in this collection are brimming with character and humanity that are sure to leave the reader, like me, eager and ready to hop into the next volume. Elephantmen is a wonder.
Profile Image for C. Varn.
Author 3 books400 followers
March 9, 2021
This is highly enjoyable although it takes a while to get to going and for the plot development to really take off. Most of the first issues are mostly about setting back story and tone, although the exposition is thankfully done implicitly. The genetic animal hybrids and the futuristic pulp feel of the work are definitely aided by Moritat's art. This sets up a promising series but in and of itself is a slow start.
Profile Image for Daniel León.
Author 13 books6 followers
April 16, 2021
Elephantmen es muchísimo más de lo que esperaba cuando empecé a leerlo. La historia sigue a un hipopótamo gigante que hace de detective noir y trata cada vez temas más adultos, como las relaciones sexuales, la naturaleza de las personas, el trauma, el amor, el racismo, el odio y mucho más. En serio, hay que leerlo.
Profile Image for Alexander Lisovsky.
655 reviews38 followers
September 11, 2022
Бесчеловечная корпорация варварски скрещивает африканских животных с человеком, чтобы вывести суперсолдат для войны с Китаем в 2200-х гг. и... повествование Elephantmen начинается, когда война давно окончена, а гибриды прошли реабилитацию и живут среди людей.

Серия представляет собой оду сай-фай-палпу: экшен, киберпанк и заигрывания с нуаром тут перемежаются выраженной эротической составляющей (в адрес животных гибридов со стороны заворожённых красоток). Некоторые выпуски пародируют что-то ещё (истории про пиратов), некоторые неожиданно драматичны и трогательны, но большей частью тут ни на что не претендующее масс-маркетовский "фан".

Меня лично хватило на 23 выпуска (из 80 + вбоквелы). Интересно, что серия изначально началась как Hip Flask — такой более классический авторский кибер-нуар в формате евроальбомов. Автор выбрал там довольно трудоёмкую реалистичную стилистику и несмотря на то, что сюжет (неплохой, кстати) был расписан на пять глав, за десять лет вышло лишь четыре номера, а
пятый в итоге так и не увидел свет. Но почти сразу же Image запустили "коммерческих" Elephantmen с кучей нанятых художников, и на выходе получилась вот такая интересная ситуация, где основное произведение осталось недописанным, а вспомогательная серия побила все рекорды по продолжительности.

Но всё это сильно на любителя.
Profile Image for Steven Kirk.
84 reviews4 followers
February 16, 2018
This book collects issues 1-7 + zero. It also contains the Captain Stoneheart and the Truth Fairy. The art and color is awesome in this book and Elephantmen is one of my favorite series. To bad it just ended this month with issue 80. I wanted to give this 5 stars but the cheap glue Image utilized in the binding of these paperback books is horrible. The damn cover is about to fall off from a gentle read. I treat all my books like gold but this binding problem needs to be fixed. I have had issues with a few other Image titles as well.
Profile Image for Dr. T Loves Books.
1,518 reviews13 followers
October 28, 2019
What it's about: Ebeneezer, aka Ebony, is an Elephantman, a term that refers to all the half-animal hybrids, but also he is an elephant-man. In the future, an amoral scientist creates half-animal, half-human hybrids and enslaves them as machines of war. When these forces are defeated, they are liberated; but not everyone believes they are reformed. Ebony and his compatriot Hip (a hippo-hybrid) now work for the Information Agency, policing their brethren and dealing with other crimes. But the world is an unstable place, and they will have to tread carefully and fight hard to keep their freedom.

What I thought: This is an interesting idea. I was a bit annoyed at the blatant sexism and misogyny scattered throughout the book - the skimpy outfits and pneumatic women distract from the story, and are not as fully realized as the main characters. But I liked it enough to go back for another volume.

Why I rated it like I did: There was some interesting storytelling going on, but it got a bit bogged down in places. Could have carried on at full speed to explore this strange new world; instead, it had a few detours that took away from the narrative momentum.
Profile Image for Matej.
234 reviews19 followers
July 22, 2014
Elephantmen Vol 1. is an interesting book about the future in which the line between humans and animals is as blurry as it can be.
The story is really interesting, and has a lot of heart even though it starts as one shots that are only connected by the same world they inhabit. By the end the stories start to show how connected they actually are, and leave you wanting more.
The art is really good, and the art of the pirate story alone is great enough to forget a rare panel or two that looks a bit rushed.
All in all, a great read. I am looking forward to the next volume.
Profile Image for Elise.
49 reviews
May 25, 2011
I got into this series because I spotted volume three with a GIANT HIPPO MAN on the cover. Naturally I bought it and had to find volumes 1 & 2. Volume 1, aside from human-animal hybrids, doesn't exactly blaze new turf: all the animal hybrids are big tough breeds like crocs, hippos, elephants, hyenas, etc. and all are male while all the women are big boobed and devoted. I will keep reading (maybe it was a slow start) but I'm mostly in it for the hippos.
Profile Image for Laurel.
497 reviews84 followers
August 13, 2012
I'm forever amazed at how much depth of story a graphic novel can tell, with so few words and only limited imagery. The effect is astounding! I'm going to pick up the next few omnibuses quite soon, as the story is only beginning to unfold, but I'm moved by the animosity both felt by the Elephantmen and the hate some humans focus on them. It has the beginnings of a truly epic story!

To be continued...
Profile Image for Craig.
2,893 reviews30 followers
June 25, 2011
Love the art and the idea behind the series, but I'd like to see a bit more sequential storytelling. This volume is filled with lots of little vignettes that don't really add up to much of a coherent whole. I'll certainly give another volume a try, but hope others are more substantial.
Profile Image for Richard.
1,558 reviews58 followers
July 23, 2015
The art is gorgeous and I like the concept a lot. ...But I've read the seven issues collected here and I only kind of understand what's actually happening plot-wise, and the women are all dressed like strippers for no reason.

I'll give this series a little more of my time, in hopes it improves.
284 reviews2 followers
December 30, 2024
I received a used copy as a present and glad I got a chance to check this out as I probably wouldn’t gave picked this up based on the interior art. It's a confusingly put together collection. There were 3 'Hip Flask' books/issues released before this, which I hadn't read. This trade then collects Elephantmen #1-7 plus #0 (which was published between #4 and #5 and includes pages from the first Hip Flask issue), but none of this is very clear when reading the collection. The first few tales were like short stories involving different characters (who we would have presumably been introduced to earlier) but the vignettes soon start fitting together into a fuller universe.

It's a noir-y sci-fi story with a horrific backstory about animal experimentation - a bit of a cross between Blacksad and We3 with cool character design. A lot of the art in this does not appeal to me though. I think it's the digital colouring and clunky lighting effects. Many of the women are overly sexualised. The final issue contains a story-within-a-story about pirates and the art is murky and the layouts confusing. However, the art jumps up several notches for the Hip Flash reprint story when Ladrönn is the artist.

The end of the book includes a bunch of comic artist profiles that I guess were included in the original issues. That’s cool, if a bit odd, but there's not much need for these to be included here. According to these pages, Dave Gibbons was approached about doing art for the Elephantmen series, and that really would have been something to behold.

I’m intrigued by where the story goes next but not sure I’m willing to suffer through the aspects of this I don’t like, so I might just pick up Ladrönn's earlier Hip Flask issues and stick with those.
Profile Image for Brandon.
3 reviews
April 12, 2020
this is my rating for the overall series. binge read it, so I can't remember the separate anthologies. when the writing was plot-related, it was tremendous. the art was always superb, no matter the artist. though I didn't care for the art or writing in the damaged goods arc. not sure when it started, but the story started getting scattered and incomplete. kept hoping the overall story would be resolved by the end, but realized it wasn't gonna happen. no closure. probably hard to plan the continuity when it was being created with deadlines or other obstacles, idk. but looking back, more time could've been spent on the compelling angles instead of some of the abstract exploration.

didn't really buy the reasons promethean had for their program. but I rushed through it. likely missed lots of details. also didn't totally understand the telepathic connection between Scarlett and Farrell. and similar kinda imprinting between Sahara and the elephantmen. wasn't sure where it was going with Obadiah. so mostly my fault, but I feel a little better seeing others had trouble following along. still enjoyed reading it. the lettering choices were so fitting and idk how he decided where to use em. don't read many comics, but that was a refreshing component
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Seth.
183 reviews22 followers
February 19, 2022

MAPPO, an... organization of... some kind, clearly has deep pockets that it got... somehow, and is headed by Dr. Nikken, a mad genius who apparently cares about nothing but the pursuit of bioengineering and the sound of his own voice, and Nikken has decided that he needs an army of supersoldiers for, uh... anyway, he spends a couple decades engineering human-animal hybrids and forcefully impregnating abducted women and then brainwashing the babies with all the subtlety of a boot to the head, just repeating blatantly self-aggrandizing garbage until it sticks. But that's all in the past - the UN raided MAPPO, captured Nikken, and got the hybrids out, and then... shot some of them? Because that's a thing the UN does now? They're treated poorly, at any rate. The raid's also in the past, though, and at least some of the survivors are now working as agents for, uh... some organization or other, doing... y'know, agenty things?

Look, I can't make this make sense. It's a mess. I'm not a fan of the art, either. Also, it's the 23rd century, but the culture seems firmly stuck in the 20th and everyone's inexplicably a Bible thumper.

Profile Image for Sumit Singla.
466 reviews197 followers
August 24, 2017
The artwork is really good! I could be biased though, because I simply adore elephants. So, give me an elephant on the cover, and I will surely judge the book by its cover.

The story is good, though I had to flip back and forth a bit, because it did seem a wee bit disjointed. The 'Elephantmen' are a series of super-strong animals created by a (seemingly crazy) scientist, before his experiment goes a bit awry.

The only part that led me to give this a low rating is that all women seem to 'dress' like strippers, and be featured in provocative body poses. So far, none of them really has a role that's important to the storyline.
Profile Image for Chris Browning.
1,495 reviews17 followers
September 15, 2023
Very good, and almost excellent (that bloody pirate story goes on a bit mind you - I always dislike these sort of precious stories within stories things you get in things like these), mainly because rather than taking you through a linear journey into this world it just starts dropping little bits of information along a broad bit of world building. This feels like you’re glimpsing a wholly realised universe and makes you far more interested in where it’s going. I have particularly enjoyed the art which feels like a more human version of the stuff Frank Miller makes feel so empty of emotions. Very interested in what comes next
Profile Image for Gary Miller.
413 reviews20 followers
July 1, 2021
I cannot remember the last time I bought a book because of it's cover, it's been decades. Manga, although well respected, is something I seldom fit into my reading. So you can imagine my surprise when I saw this book (cover) in a post on a reading group, found it and ordered it, because of the cover. This book was incredible. Great concepts, well explained and developed by not only the writing but the illustrations as well. I'm glad I had the chance to get my own copy and read it. I highly recommend it.
Profile Image for Sebastian.
95 reviews3 followers
January 9, 2026
I was drawn to this one because I loved the artwork and the vague plotline: scientists playing with genetics, created human/animal hybrids known as the Elephantmen, what could possibly go wrong? Well...let's just say I pushed through this one even though some chapters seemed to end abruptly with no clear connections to the main plot, whatever that may be. I feel bad for anyone that read Elephantmen in single issue format. In the end, and I mean THE last story in this collection I finally thought, "ok, now I'm interested in knowing more!"
Profile Image for Peacegal.
11.7k reviews102 followers
April 29, 2018
3.5 stars -- There were elements I really liked (the artwork, character design, the exploration of animal and human ethics) and parts I didn't care for. (the evil scientist is so over-the-top he is every comic book baddie cliche blended into one). I think I enjoyed the crocodile-man rampaging on set of The Howard Stern Show a little too much.
Profile Image for Tomas.
472 reviews9 followers
April 18, 2018
I would give it 5 stars if it would not be for super boring pirate story and poor art. All Elephantmen are drawn perfectly but women are drawn horribly. I hope the art will pick up but the story and setup is amazing.
Profile Image for Amanda Peterson.
869 reviews3 followers
September 5, 2022
A title from the early days of Image comics, I had been intrigued and decided to read it. I liked the world building aspect of the title as well as character dynamics, issue is it was a little hard to keep track of. An adaptation would solve a lot of these issues I think.
Profile Image for David Mumford.
43 reviews4 followers
May 27, 2020
The bizarreness of the world is the best quality of this comic.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 94 reviews

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