Comics! Animal Man #12

Animal Man #12

Script: Jeff Lemire and Scott Snyder
Art: Steve Pugh

Solicitation

• Prelude to “ROTWORLD”!
• Continued in this month’s SWAMP THING #12.
• BUDDY and ALEC go into the Rot, and events from the last year of both series are recapped for new readers.


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Why I Bought It
Fucking finally! Seriously, it seems like there has been some delayed issues, attempts at stretching stories, and we are finally here. Animal Man and Swamp Thing. Let's get this going!

What I Liked
Animal Man and Swamp Thing finally meet! It seriously feels like it has been forever that these two titles were going to crossover. Following the writers on Twitter, I seem to recall that this was supposed to have happened sooner, like issue 9 or something like that. So I'm excited for the meet up. And thanks be to whoever thought up the idea NOT to have them fight. It is a cliche move to do when two heroes meet up, and that is avoided here.

The art gets a small chance to shine here. While it does a tremendous job all on its own, I still wonder what the artist for issue #1 would have drawn this. I am reminded of some early issues of Hellblazer that look kinda creepy or that try to be, but there is something missing from making the art look spectacular. Still good though.

What I Didn't Like
If you have been following both of these issues since the first one, you will be disappointed by the amount of time things seem to be rehashed and told about what has been going on in the individual titles. I understand that this is a prologue, but come on.

And seriously, if they haven't learned anything from now about how Cliff would be affected by the Rot thing cutting him, what good are any of the characters? And that scratch has been healed, magically. that or it was forgotten by the artist. But he has a cool neck brace. Or its some sort of towel wrapped around his neck. Its not particularly clear, but I would vote for a towel with some weird tape on it.

The thing I dislike the most about this issue is that even combined with Swamp Thing #12, which I did buy and will review, is that we finally get the heroes together after 23 comics telling the tale of the Red, Green, and Rot. And when they finally meet in this issue, there isn't anything really happening, just a bunch of talking back and forth and catching up. Then they jump into a lake. I just think that there should have been more.

Maybe when reading all of this together since the first issue might make it look better, but being there since issue #1 has just dragged me down. Let's get to the meat of the story.

Panel to Remember
It should have been when these two heroes finally meet up. That should have been the crux and explosive panel that would make you drop your jaw in wonder. Instead the most memorable one was when Animal Man was reaching out to find Swamp Thing. There's nothing too fancy about it, just some coloring work that makes it stand out from the other pages.

Quotable
"We've come a long way to find you." -Animal Man to Swamp thing when they first meet. And indeed, we the reader have come a long way.

Grades
Words: 5/10
Pictures: 6/10
Buy Next Issue: I bought Swamp thing #12, and I'll stick around to see how it plays out and if it gets better from here. The fact that next month's #0 issue breaks from the Rotworld story is just another delay to this crossover actually getting to its point.