The Strange Adventures of Animal Man!

[SW3D]

It finally arrived! A key that has been on my "must have" wish list for a couple of years now: Strange Adventures 190: the third appearance of Buddy Baker, but more significantly... the 1st Appearance of Baker as Animal Man in Costume... thus officially a Superhero!

 

I grew up buying comics in the late Bronze Age into the Copper Age: from 1979 - 1987. The very first time I came to know of Buddy Baker aka Animal Man, was in Action Comics 552 and 553 (February and March 1985 respectively). He, along with a ragtag group of DC's Golden Age and Silver Age adventure heroes (including the likes of the Immortal Man), collectively came to be known as "The Forgotten Heroes". In said Action Comics' guest appearances, the Forgotten Heroes played a supporting role to Superman and his fight against immortal villain Vandal Savage. Flash forward a couple of years, sometime between graduating high school and on or about my first semester in college, and my comic book collecting obsessions took a sharp nose dive. There were many factors involved in my temporary abandonment of the hobby I so dearly loved (some of which I mentioned in past journals or feedbacks), and this long hiatus took place a year or so before Scottish author Grant Morrison's critically lauded re-invention of Animal Man: a 26 issues run beginning with the first issue, September 1988; a run which has since become publishing legend. However, once Morrison bowed out to pursue other projects, several writers assumed the plotting and storytelling reins doing their best to keep Animal Man's mythology significant until its final issue, #89 (November 1995); cancelled due to poor sales.

 

Jump ahead 14 years or so, sometime in late 2011, DC re-launched all their hallmark characters and some B-Liters, redefining their universe... perhaps making it more contemporarily relevant and appropriate for a new generation of fans, yet familiar enough not to alienate the legion of readers that have stuck around for decades. And, thankfully, they brought back Animal Man for the ride. This is where I finally get the bug to read the solo exploits and strange adventures of one of comicdom's truly bizarre and quirky characters.

 

So before I jumped into the modern day exploits of A-Man, I decided to acquaint myself with the character's rich back history, and what better way to do this than by purchasing and reading the TBP's of the fabled Morrison run... technically Animal Man's first volume. And wow... did it live up to its reputation! I hate to be a spoiler for anyone who hasn't read them but I have to enthusiastically and vehemently say, "If you haven't read them, you are missing out on one of the most entertaining, thought-provoking, philosophical, existential, and socially relevant comic books ever written. And having never read any of Grant Morrison's work before, I can honestly say he's a creative genius! Here's why: Buddy Baker is a 30 something Part-Time Superhero and Full-Time Family man living a quiet life in the suburbs of San Diego. He's husband to Ellen and father to pre-teen son Cliff and 5 years old daughter Maxie. The main breadwinner in the family is Ellen, a sexy red-head and strong independent female who is a stay-home mom illustrating storyboards, but is also a budding children's book author. Buddy gets the itch to become a full-time superhero when the Justice League International is featured on the front cover of Rolling Stone magazine. Suddenly fame and fortune are cha-chinging his immature and clouded mind. Buddy is, for all intent and purposes, best expressed by this cliché: "way in over his head". But this is just the set-up as Morrison lays the necessary foundation to ground the reader and prepare them for the strange and quirky odyssey of self-discovery that is to be the legacy of everyman Buddy Baker. The ride is profoundly emotional and sentimental, philosophical, and socially relevant where Morrison tackles issues of Animal Cruelty/Testing, Eco-Terrorism, Apartheid, Aging, and Death. But Morrison also raises questions about Identity, the Self, our Mental Health and Psychic Health, and our existence, relationship and awareness of the world... or shall I say the multi-faceted dimension we live in. And Morrison sprinkles many sub-plots and shadowy elements that touch upon a multitude of conspiracy of sorts involving the government, corporations, aliens, and even the universe and creation itself. It is one big and dynamite f*cking head-trip!!! I really want to be specific and give you plot details for those who are not familiar with it but that would spoil things... just trust me and pick up a TPB copy or download it digitally (I eventually did for Animal Man Volume 1, Books 3 and 4).

 

And after reading Morrison, I downloaded the first two books of Animal Man Volume 2: the re-launched exploits of Buddy Baker as written by Canadian scribe Jeff Lemire. Wow! This is another watershed moment! Not as good as Morrison... but still damn good! Touching upon and expanding on ideas first explored and instituted by British writer Jamie Delano (Volume 1, issues 51 - 79), Buddy Baker discovers that his daughter, Maxine, is the chosen Avatar for the Red (the spiritual life force of all animal life). He also quickly learns his mission is to protect Maxine from the forces of the Rot (the elemental forces of Death and Decay), who have been sent their Avatar: Anton Arcane. With his family on the run, Buddy seeks out the one being that could turn the tide on the Great Elemental War which threatens to wipe out humanity: Alec Holland... the Swamp Thing... the Avatar of the Green.

 

So after reading Morrison and Lemire's wonderful interpretation of the "Life and Times of Buddy Baker", I got the insatiable collecting urge to seek out and buy his original five Silver Age appearances from Strange Adventures: 180, 184, 190, 195, and 201. Now, much like Jack Kirby's Demon #1, these are a challenge to find in high grade and the CGC census population numbers prove it. But luckily I got a message from auction house Comiclink that a copy of Strange Adventures 190 had become available... and like a Superhero, I went into action. It goes without saying, but I paid FMV... but it was worth it.

 

So this 46 year old beauty arrives on my doorstep yesterday afternoon, and I felt compelled to share it with my Collectors Society Brothers and Sisters.

 

Created by writer David Wood and artist Carmine Infantino, Buddy Baker first appeared in Strange Adventures 180. On the cover, Buddy Baker thus declared "I was the Man with Animal Powers!" In his third appearance in Strange Adventures 190, Buddy Baker dons an orange and black costume with a sky-blue "A" splashed on his torso and stomach, and officially becomes A-Man, superhero. Coincidentally, the Immortal Man (you remember him from the Forgotten Heroes team) shares equal bill on this issue.

In a nutshell, Buddy Baker responds to a theft at an electronics firm and uses his powers to track the thieves to a secret location on an island. It is actually a silly and convoluted little story, and it's probably best explained by Buddy Baker's actual thought balloons: "More electronic machines! That's why Grabo's been stealing all that equipment! That crackpot must have stumbled on a sound frequency to give telepathic commands to animals, and he's planning on harnessing their powers to commit crimes on the mainland... an Animal Gang!"

 

Although mired and steeped in Silver Age kookiness and absurdity, Strange Adventures 190 is not a memorable or classic story, but is arguably an historic key since it delivers an early example as to the way Buddy Baker skillfully employs his powers of "borrowing" the abilities of the nearest animals to thwart crime. And although innocent and almost infantile in its presentation, it nonetheless establishes the ground-rules for the more mature and sophisticated adventures of Buddy Baker yet to come.

 

Thanks for reading and as always... Happy Collecting!

 

And to all you collecting Dad's... Happy Fathers Day!

 

SW3D

 

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[Brandon Shepherd]

That is one beautiful '60's, go-go check, 12 cent, split cover you have there! Also a first appearance, white pages, perfectly centered cover and high grade piece! Congratulations on your latest key.

 

Also, nice summary of your personal experience with reading the stories of Animal Man.

[Lee K]

Nice book, 3D. Nicer than mine (in grade anyway)..., oh and welcome to Strange Adventures.

 

Buddy wasn't the only character introduced in this era, if you can read the adventures of June Moone (sometimes Moon), and her origin issues as the Enchantress, look for how many parallels there are to the Capt. Marvel (shazam, style) you can find.

 

Infantile? Yeah, but sometimes that's the beauty of the SA.

 

Lee

[the420kid]

great book. I picked up the Curator copy off CLINK a year or 2 ago. I don't think you can go wrong with this one.

 

Infantino/Anderson cover

[SW3D]

Hey Brandon,

 

I have to agree with you... it is a well center comic. I noticed there is quite a bit of emphasis on centering and quite honestly i never paid attention to such attributes. Now i will be more vigilant.

 

I know you're a fan of DC, so i recommend reading Animal Man because it has that DC thing going on (it's hard to explain but there's the DC way and the Marvel way and they are very distinct).

 

Thanks for reading.

 

SW3D

[SW3D]

Dear LK,

 

I've admired your Strange Adventures/Animal Man set for quite some time now... and quite frankly i would love to have the entire set. In addition to A-Man i would love to collect Infantino's Deadman as seen in SA 205. Of course Neal Adam's subsequent run on it would also be fantastic to collect.

 

I've never heard of June Moone/the Enchantress... however i will look her up and see if i can detect the similarities you mention she shares with Captain Marvel.

 

Although i may have been critical about the Silver Age... it still remains my favorite age. How can anyone not love its charms!

 

SW3D

[SW3D]

Wow... Curator Copy! I've heard of them but i'm embarrassed to ask... what exactly is a curator copy? Is it like a file copy or a pedigree?

 

SW3D