Animal Man #14

Does Animal Man have any powers in Rotworld? Doesn't a living animal need to be somewhere nearby for him to borrow its abilities?

Before Rotworld happened last issue, Ellen had just been taken over by Cliff's vomit. Maxine, Nana, and Socks were the only ones left to combat the Rot and save the world.

Make that just Maxine and Socks.

In the future, Arcane has sent an army of Rotlings and Un-Men after Buddy Baker in The Red. I guess if you read the cover, you knew that was happening. But the cover doesn't show the best thing about the army!

Grifter and Deathstork Deathstroke are dead too! I think Lemire and Pugh decided to take the characters from the worst titles of The New 52 and use them as The Rot's army.

Well, now I know they did!

Felix Faust is leading the Rot troops but he's as human as he ever was. Perhaps The Rot has a problem infecting magic types? Or perhaps Faust just decided to make a deal with Arcane to save his own hide. That makes the most sense since it is Faust and a deal is being made.

Oh. That answers that.

Who might the other turncoats be? Lex Luthor, most assuredly. Maxwell Lord. Rose Wilson. Andrew Bennett. Damian Wayne, the little prick. And probably someone I'd never suspect, like Superman or Wonder Woman.

Beast Boy continues to be the best Beast Boy yet in The New 52. I wonder if Howard Mackie, Scott Lobdell, and Tom DeFalco simply ignore the comics by writers that actually know how to write. They should be learning from them.

Yes, Liefeld, I think you should take it personally that Animal Man and his crew are killing Grifter, Deathstroke, Hawkman, and Hawk and Dove. That ain't a coincidence, Big Guy!

Buddy and his warriors defeat The Rot army although I don't know how. I guess they just crushed everything into organic paste and washed it away with a hose. Felix Faust finally declares he didn't want to win anyway. Typical villain! I bet if he could have won, he would have! But villains always come prepared with a Plan B that's usually some stupid remark like they were just testing the hero or the time wasn't quite right to kill the hero or, like Faust here, the whole thing was simply to "deilver [sic] a message." And that message is that Arcane has Maxine held captive in his castle.

Even though the message is obviously meant to lure Buddy Baker away from The Red Sanctuary, Animal Man still has to try to save his daughter. Constantine thinks that if they can reunite Baker with Swamp Thing, they'll stand a chance. Nobody knows what they'll do with their devastated world if they win but they really don't have anything better to do. They head out to find Swamp Thing and march on Arcane's castle.

Oh? Who's guarding the castle? Rotten Ellen and Rotten Cliff? Or the Rotten Justice League?

Back in the present, before Rotworld happened, Maxine meets up with some kid named William Arcane. He's probably harmless. At least he doesn't have to worry about his allergy to chlorophyll since all the plants are dead. I mean, if he has one of those allergies. They're pretty rare.

Back to the future in Rotworld, Animal Man's group have traveled from San Diego to Central City. So I don't think they're headed toward Swamp Thing's swamp after all. Or I just don't know where Central City is. Perhaps it's on the way. And then the comic book ends with a spoiler for Flash #14!

I guess Grodd defeats The Flash! And somehow avoids turning into a shambling corpse. Perhaps eating the brains of your ancestors makes you immune to The Rot?

Animal Man #14 Rating: No change. My favorite part was where Lemire and Pugh said Rob Liefeld sucks.