Animal Man No. 3
It's a general rule that comic properties ebb and flow at different times. Some writers leave an influential event in their wakes; others leave the character behind just the way they found it.
Thankfully Animal Man writer Jeff Lemire is taking the prior strategy and not the latter.
Since the reboot, Lemire's work has been one of DC's most gruesome – yet oddly profound – series, taking a property that was about to be put down and put it in the hands of one of comic's most sadistically brilliant writers.
Joining Lemire on the property's migration to the limelight is artist Travel Foreman. Foreman brought to the trench what others couldn't: an art style composed of twisted figures and disturbing visions of Animal Man's ever-present enemy, The Hunters. Bones and organs alike jut out of the creatures in Lemire's realm and no one, not even A-Man's own daughter, is safe from the slaughter.
As the series continues down the path of the weird, wild and morbid, Lemire does well to transport readers down the rabbit hole into a world that's completely and utterly mad. While starting at "Animal Man No. 1" will help bridge the gap for those who've strayed from their bestial literature, for those with tumultuous stomachs and sensitive minds, Animal Man is best left in his natural habitat – the store shelves.
Avengers Academy No. 21
Death, treason, and teenage issues: everything the next generation of Earth's mightiest heroes have to contend with on a daily basis.
After the events that shook the Academy to its core, Hank Pym and his Avenger cohorts have decided to increase enrollment at the school in order to right the wrongs of the past. Now upperclassman, the old Avengers Academy students are going through growing pains and can't quite shake the feeling that they're old news.
Marvellite Christos Gage is tasked to produce a plot that can eloquently intertwine past and present, and for what he set out to accomplish, he does on every front. All the while, Gage writes an issue both unabashedly humorous and still emotionally complex, and leaves the reader both perplexed and pleased.
The only true qualms of the comic come in the form of the lackluster introduction of new AA members and the issue's closing pages. Without spoiling the jaw-dropping conclusion, "Avengers Academy No. 21" ushers in a new era while presenting a future that will surely enflame forums throughout the world.
Gage and his team work wonders on the property and, in its own right, deserves to be owned by any who claim loyalty to the big M. While the issue's initial plot summary may not be enough to hook readers to the adolescents' adventures, its bargain-bin price tag of $2.99 might.
The Strange Talent of Luther Strode No. 1
This week, Image Comics and writer Justin Jordan weave a typical tale of zero to hero. Luther Strode, however, doesn't stop at hero and progresses to an all-out god of war.
Strode, the stereotypical comic-loving teen, has one friend, tons of bullies, few muscles and about zero luck with the ladies. Eager to be of sound mind and body, he enlists the help of a fateful comic entitled "The Hercules Method." Balancing mind and body, Luther becomes an acne'd adolescent turned iron man, bringing brutal justice to the antagonists that have thus far inhabited his rather short life.
Jordan's work is absolutely tremendous. Covering everything in the teen's life from his light-hearted love life to hard-hitting implications that Strode's father was charged for domestic violence. Jordan creates a certain resonance with readers that is nearly impossible to replicate.
Backing Jordan's elegant plot is the heavy-handed artwork of Tradd Moore. Each panel either takes a tone of bloody brutality or jovial adolescence, shading Strode's life in perfect discord. While some panels go too far – Strode kicking an opponent's groin so hard, their lower intestines spew from their mouth was a bit much – the art generally helps illuminate the dualistic tonality of the comic.
As Strode's journey into Herculean adulthood has only just begun, readers can only guess at Jordan's next issue as the author seems to have much planned for his teenage titan.
Email: arts@ubspectrum.com
