Animal Man: Difference between revisions

{{quote|''"When I was young...when I was young I had an imaginary friend called Foxy. He lived in a vast underground kingdom. A utopia ruled over by peaceful and intelligent foxes. I used to signal him. My parents bought me a torch so I could signal him. [[Separated Byby a Common Language|Not a flashlight. We call them torches over here.]] I used to stand at the top of Angus Oval and shine my torch out towards the hills. Foxy always signaled back. That was more than twenty years ago. I've come to send a signal out into the dark. It seemed like the only thing worth doing. Are you there? Can you see me? Foxy, I came back. I didn't forget. I came back. ... The line of the hills stays dark."''|[[Grant Morrison (Creator)|Grant Morrison]]}}

[[Alliterative Name|Buddy Baker]], also known as Animal Man, was one of many [[Superhero|Super Heroes]] created during [[Silver Age|the 1960s]]. He first appeared in ''"Strange Adventures''" #180 (September, 1965). Created by writers France Herron and Dave Wood, and artist Carmine Infantino. The new character was about as fun and exciting as wet cardboard. He could take the abilities of any animal who was nearby and was granted this power by yellow aliens. He mainly used it to be a [[Flying Brick]], though.

Until 1988, when [[Grant Morrison (Creator)|Grant Morrison]] was given the chance to write Buddy's new series. Then, Buddy became more than just your generic superhero: he started caring about animals, fighting for animal rights. There was also the drama of his family, who fully knew he was a superhero and tried to support it. And ''then'' things took a turn for the weird...

Morrison left after issue #26, and the series continued for another sixty-odd issues, eventually coming under the [[Vertigo Comics|Vertigo]] imprint - but Morrison remains the defining run on the title. Animal Man continues to make appearances across [[The DC Universe]], including a starring role in ''[[Fifty Two|52]]'' (co-written by Morrison).

** Of course, this, like many other events in the comic, is meant as a meta-commentary on the [[Dark Age]] of comics that had started a year or so after [[Crisis Onon Infinite Earths]].

*** Amusingly, this may fall under [[Science Marches On]] / [[You Fail Biology Forever]] - [https://web.archive.org/web/20131214131113/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/earthnews/3323070/Killer-dolphins-baffle-marine-experts.html their way isn't that different.]

* [[Cosmic Plaything]]: Buddy again; at one point, during ''[[Fifty Two|52]]'' (where his scenes were also written by Grant Morrison), he's {{spoiler|poisoned, killed, and brought back to life ''again'', breaking the fourth wall yet again}}.

* [[Depending Onon the Writer]]: Morrison's last issue is kind of the metaMETAexemplary example of this, as {{spoiler|Grant Morrison '''tells''' Buddy straightup about the 2D nature of his universe, and demonstrates how Buddy only does whatever he does because Grant writes him that way. And he SAYS that "maybe some new writer will make you do something completely different."}}

* [[The End - Oror Is It?]]: After Buddy helps {{spoiler|superheroes from various other Earths to disappear, there's still a butterfly that the [[Mysterious Watcher]] claims is from another Earth}}.

* [[Foreshadowing]]: During his peyote trip, Buddy sees an image from the [[Crisis Onon Infinite Earths|Crisis]], then another one that tells of a second Crisis. Whether it is foreshadowing the events in the comic (with the Psycho Pirate), [[Zero Hour]], ''or'' [[Infinite Crisis]] is your own guess.

{{quote| ''"Oh God... I'm important to the plot..."''}}

* [[Funetik Aksent]]: The (2nd) Mirror Master has always had a Scottish Brogue, with its severity [[Depending Onon the Writer]]. When written by Morrison he becomes downright unintelligible at times. Arguably a bit of [[Self-Deprecation]], as Morrison is originally from Scotland.

* [[The Multiverse]]: Morrison's series takes place shortly after ''[[Crisis Onon Infinite Earths]]'', and plays with the then-departed DC Multiverse.

** Buddy's role with the other "Space Heroes" in ''[[Fifty Two|52]]'' is that a monster believes Buddy saw {{spoiler|the rebirth of [[The Multiverse]] following [[Infinite Crisis]]}} and wants to silence them.

* [[Space Whale]]: Earth's [[Green Lantern (Comic Book)|Green Lantern]] in the timeline of ''The Last Days of Animal Man'' is a very literal one.

* [[Touched Byby Vorlons]]: The origin of Buddy's superpowers. Long story short: Buddy finds a spaceship, ship blows up and incinerates Buddy, yellow aliens rebuild him and give him animal powers. (Note that in the recent Justice League, Buddy is stated to have gotten his powers by Anansi similar to Vixen. ''But'' Anansi pretty much outright states he is a liar and is only there for Vixen).

* [[What Do You Mean It Wasn't Made Onon Drugs?]]: Some of the things Morrison writes, you'll swear ''he'' was on peyote. Ironically, he was allegedly straight-edge at the time, and only started taking the "mind-expanding" crap later.

* [[Writer Onon Board]]: Morrison admits {{spoiler|during his cameo in the comic}} that he's been using Buddy as a mouthpiece.

[[Category:Comic BookCharacter]]]