Shameful admission time: I had never read Grant Morrison’s Animal Man run until less than a month ago. But I’m glad I read it before reading this issue, because I have a deeper understanding of how big a pair of shoes Jeff Lemire is trying to fill. Animal Man #6 isn’t as inventive as, say, “The Coyote Gospel,” where Animal Man fights a thinly disguised analogue for Wile E. Coyote, but it has equally high aspirations of cleverness — and I think it pays off. Taking a little break from the main story, this is a look at “Tights,” the indie superhero film starring Buddy Baker that was alluded to in Animal Man #1. Like “The Coyote Gospel,” it’s a thinly veiled cameo by another artist’s work — in this case, Darren Aronofsky’s The Wrestler, with elements of Kick-Ass thrown in — that Cliff is watching on his smart-phone to pass the time. John Paul Leon does his damndest to make it look and feel like an indie movie, from the pacing to the cinematic use of shadow. It’s really more gorgeous than any fill-in issue has a right to be.