“Animal Man” #1 is proof that DC isn’t just sticking with the traditional tried and true comics in their New 52. This first issue from writer Jeff Lemire is thoughtful and sweet yet dark and disturbing. The book starts by beautifully capturing the sweet intrinsic details of marriage and home life. I found these to be the best moments in Lemire’s story. From there we get a very small look at Animal Man using his peculiar powers in a cool hospital scene. But then Lemire’s story goes a little off the rails as he takes “dark” and “twisted” and runs with it. Maybe I’m just tired of writers seeing how dark they can get, but Lemire’s attempt at the macabre didn’t work for me. Certain panels seemed contructed more for shock value than adding any real horror element to the story. Also I couldn’t help but laugh at an animal rights vegan facing enemies call The Hunters!

The most perplexing thing about the issue is Travel Foreman’s art. He certainly uses a unique style and people who like stylized work will get off on this. For me the issue was visually all over the place. There is a certain charm to the look of the opening pages with Buddy and his family but even they feature some really weird, out of context facial expressions. There are also some genuinely ugly pages such as the first splash page showing The Life Web and the bizarre dream sequence towards the end of the book doesn’t relay any sense of horror. Again, there are certain pages that work and Foreman’s uniqueness is it’s strongest in the more down to earth, character driven panels. Unfortunately the inconsistencies of his art outweigh the positives.

This title has gotten a lot of buzz leading up to The New 52. While I did enjoy parts of this first issue, the story goes a little over the top at the end which kinda ruined what the rest of the book had built up. Many will call Travel Foreman’s art great but I found it lacking in several areas. There’s enough here to get me back for another issue. But I’ll be looking and hoping for a more satisfying experience.