Animal Man #16 Review

ANIMAL MAN #16

by Jeff Lemire, Steve Pugh and Timothy Green

Just when you thought Green Lanterns couldn't get lamer than Guy Gardner... Comes Medphyll. 

I named Animal Man as my favorite series  of 2012, and I think it deserves the title. Now, many of the reasons I love the series is for its characters and plot. The plot is moving along rather slowly, and this issue felt like Jeff Lemire was just trying to cram as many cameos  as possible  into one issue. The flashbacks involving Maxine comes to  its tragic conclusion, which is just as frightening as it was in the previous issues. Now, most of the characters in the book are just as strong as ever, except for one. Medphyll. He is one of the most lifeless and bland characters I have ever read. If I were Animal Man, I would just choose to leave him to ROT (no pun intended) in Metropolis. He feels incredibly useless. Thankfully, the rest of the story runs along smoothly. 

Steve Pugh and Timothy Green do a spectacular job. While the transition between artists is still jarring, both artists did their best. Timothy Green makes Maxine's story absolutely creepy while Steve Pugh evokes a bit of Charlie Adlard in the future side.

Animal  Man #16 is a surprisingly weak issue for one of my favorite series of 2012. I hope the conclusion to Rotworld is every bit as epic as I hope it well be, but the calm before the storm is only average/

STORY: 3/5

ART: 4/5

VERDICT: 3.5/5