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Chewy Walrus said:
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I'm Not Mister Mxypltk said:
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And Animalman #26. I guess some people saw that as a big WTF.

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But a fun one! ;\)


While I'm not a big Grant Morrison fan, I did like the writer's commentary on the state of comics through this story which goes through issues 20-26, where Animalman follows a murder to its source, the writer of the series !

Morrison (in this 1989 series) talks about, in the post-CRISIS era (1986-forward), the regrettable loss to readers of those infinite worlds of the pre-CRISIS DC Multiverse we all used to enjoy.

Through the character Psycho-Pirate (who has an odd connection to a supply of Silver Age comics that appear out of thin air) Morrison laments the lost sense of whimsey of Silver Age/pre-CRISIS comics, where virtually any type of comics adventure was possible.
With cameo appearances by the Inferior Five, Jason's Quest, and a whole bunch of other long-forgotten 60's DC characters.

Morrison has them living in a "Limbo" town, waiting for new adventures to be scripted about them. And through the story, laments the turn toward dark steroid-pumped sadistic characters, that are perceived as more "realistic".
( I loved the Green Team, from FIRST ISSUE SPECIAL, trying to buy their way out of Limbo )

And I like the idea (however frequently used by others before Morrison) that these characters aren't gone forever, that they live on, every time someone reads their back issues. And that they can always be revived in a new appearance or series.
I like Ultraman's uneasiness with the idea of being revived as a dark character, fondly remembering the lightness and fun of his earlier appearances ( ironic for Morrison to write this, if you read his JLA: EARTH 2 graphic novel, released in 2000, which had a particularly dark take on Ultraman and the Crime Syndicate. )

And in ANIMAL MAN issue 26, Morrison (writing himself into the story, talking to Animalman) explains his own writing style and ambitions for the series, in a story that's mostly talking heads, explaining as he injects fight scenes, violence, and shock elements, to keep the reader interested while he tells a story that would otherwise, in his estimation, not be interesting to readers.



covers, issues 23-26