I picked this issue up on a whim under the prevailing theory that a reader could pick up any issue of a series and dive right in.

While there was a lot going on I didn’t quite understand (like if this was a Justice League from an alternate reality or the future) Gerry Conway is telling a human story of a man going through a mid-life crisis. All the powers and costumes are metaphor for what happens to a man when he’s faced with his mortality. Conway has a good grasp of the characters making it read very much in the spirit of the original Vertigo Animal Man series.

The art is solid. Chris Batista draws some great faces heightening the humanity of the story.

Mission accomplished. After picking up one issue in the middle of a story I am ready to continue reading to see how it all ends.