Animal Man Annual #1

Event the Animal Man Annual covers suck.

I have a feeling that this Annual will have nothing to do with the current story arcs going on in either Animal Man or Swamp Thing's regular comic book. That's because Animal Man #9 ended with the Baker Family meeting John Constantine and I don't see him anywhere on the cover of this comic book! I guess judging what's in the comic by what's on the cover is a pretty amateur mistake though, seeing as how DC doesn't give a single shit about whether it's covers are correct or not. And I don't just mean that the cover portrays the inner story in a whimsical or fantastic way but that the cover actually has nothing at all to do with the comic book. Look at the covers of Blackhawks #6 and Blackhawks #7 as examples. Those covers were probably planned for the story line that would have happened if the comic book had never been cancelled because they don't have anything to do with the actual stories inside. Blackhawks #3 put Irish on the cover with Canada when it should have been Wildman! Blackhawks may have had a 50% error rate on its run of covers!

Enough about Blackhawks! That shit was cancelled months ago.

A-ha! So this comic actually has an editor's note that says it takes place immediately after Animal Man #9. While Ellen and Cliff check in to the motel room where they meet John Constantine, Maxine and Socks head out into the trees nearby so that Socks can urinate.

It's as if Lemire has been reading my commentaries! I'm overjoyed that this is the direction that The Rot plot has taken! Now the Avatar of The Rot just needs his own title!

Socks doesn't want to speak of the current Avatar of the Rot. He says he is a very evil person. Is the current Avatar William Arcane? Or is it the creature Sethe? I'm not sure the comic was very clear or I wasn't aware while reading it of the importance of the avatars. Oh well, this is an Animal Man comic book so I won't worry about it here. I'll just settle in and listen to Socks tell Maxine a story.

Oh yeah, that's what is happening in this Annual. So I was right about it not really having anything to do with the current storyline. And since Animal Man wasn't involved in some wacky crossover for his Annual to be a part of, this annual is a stand alone story instead. Those are the main uses of annuals. And they're also usually used to showcase new talent at DC Comics.

Socks story takes place in 1894 in Manitoba where The Rot last tried to upset the balance between the three kingdoms. Crops died and livestock died and lots of flies flew in. So some members of the town and a couple of Royal Canadian Mounted Police headed into the woods to investigate.

"Heading into the woods" is always a sure sign that someone is going to die. When people go camping, they're usually okay. But if they decide they're "headed into the woods" instead of "going camping," they're going to die. It's just the way it is! Words have power!

Pretty soon a man named Jacob's eyes begin bleeding just like Buddy Baker's eyes did in Issue #1! And then one of the Mounted Police comes back from taking a leak with a message.

I think he had a little trouble undoing his zipper.

Worst camping trip ever.

The eviscerated Mountie was only the first monster to come out of the woods. A bunch of other Rotten Monsters storm the group and kill everyone except Jacob who has just discovered he's an avatar of The Red. He's almost killed when, luckily for everyone except The Rot, The Swamp Thing of 1894 lives in this forest in Manitoba! He rescues Jacob and gives him a bit of history on the Elementals.

I think this Annual should be recommended reading before someone picks up Swamp Thing or Animal Man.

Jacob has a vision of the future where all of DC's super heroes lie dead and impaled on poles. Then he sees Buddy Baker in his vision and Buddy tells him they can't win against The Rot because eventually it will win. He says it took his family from him and did something horrible to Cliff. But this confession seizes Jacob with terror and he wakes from his dream state to race back to town to check on his family. This wife and daughter and dozens of townsfolk have already been claimed by The Rot. But he and the Swamp Thing defeat them all, even the two most powerful which call themselves The Hunters Two. So it looks like they pick up a Third Hunter Stooge in the next 100 years or so!

And then she heads back to meet the Justice League Dark!

Animal Man Annual #1 is a great introductory comic for people wanting to read Animal Man or Swamp Thing. The problem is nobody is going to pick up this book if they're not currently reading Animal Man! I wonder if Annuals once had a connotation for being a comic book someone could pick up as an example for the rest of the series. It would be a one shot story that a reader could sample to see if they'd like to jump into the series. If that's the way they used to be (because I remember a time before every summer Annual Crossover event where Annuals were just random stories that had nothing to do with anything in the current series), then this comic does that really well. I just don't think people think of Annuals in that way anymore!