Animal Man #11
“Out of Africa”, May 1989
Credits:
Grant Morrison [writer]
Chas Truog [artist]
Doug Hazlewood [artist]
John Costanza [letterer]
Tatjana Wood [colorist]
Art Young [assistant editor]
Karen Berger [editor]
Brian Bolland [cover (uncredited)]
Background:
Animal Man has also been appearing in issues of Justice League Europe at this time, but his adventures in both titles seem to be independent of each other.
Front Matter:
Cover:
The cover shows Animal Man in his new costume, held within a giant version of one of the aliens’ gloves.
Inside Cover:
The ‘DC Checklist This Week’ section includes the following description of Animal Man #11: “Animal Man and Vixen travel to Africa, as the mystery deepens and animal passions begin to rise.”
Story:
Page 1
The use of “template” in panel 3 could refer to a character template – that is, a set of attributes that are core to the character. For example, regardless of any other variations, Superman is on the side of good, a leader, one of the most powerful superheroes on the planet, and has come to Earth as a baby after his planet Krypton is destroyed. Even if Animal Man’s backstory is changed by the aliens, there are aspects of him (he is a white, middle class male with specific superpowers) that still make him “Animal Man”.
Job Number: G-4639 is mentioned within the indicia at the bottom of the page.
Page 2
This recreates page 1 from the previous issue, but the words are garbled and the alien spaceship is strangely shaped.
Page 3
The morphogenetic grafts seem to be what gives Animal Man his powers. The aliens are concerned with the fabric of the continuity, as anything that challenges the logic of the continuity could affect the entire stratum (DC Universe). Note that the Crisis was implemented because the constant patches being applied to maintain the continuity had become too confusing for readers.
Page 4
As will be explained in the next issue, Buddy finds himself in this white space when his body has not yet been reconstructed.
Page 6
This is the title page. Out of Africa was the name of a 1985 film based on the 1937 memoir of Danish author Karen Blixen about her time living in what is now known as Kenya.
Page 8
Again, I don’t believe B’wana Beast was ever referred to as a ‘White God’ until he appeared in Animal Man. That’s B’wana Beast’s helmet and elixir near the stone throne.
Page 9, panels 4-5
This villager/shaman was seen at the end of Animal Man #9 when he also spoke of the dead and the ghost-country.
Page 11, panel 1
Vixen is speaking in this panel. She says that the aliens dematerialised Buddy, which would suggest that the invisible beasts were working with the aliens.
Page 11, panel 2
Buddy’s costume has changed in a couple of minor ways: it is entirely missing any hint of the horizontal bar from the letter ‘A’, and the legs of the ‘A’ now turn sharply up rather than run horizontally around his back. His powers may be working again due to the repaired morphogenetic grafts.
Page 13
In the Showcase issues, Ali and his gang travel around in a robotic crocodile [pictured].
Page 18
Despite Ellen’s insistence that she doesn’t have kids, there is a tricycle in the yard in panel one. Ellen’s misalignment with the continuity causes her to disappear. It’s unclear whether Ellen’s mind has regressed to a time before she had Cliff, but her comment “after the accident he just couldn’t…” suggests that Buddy was rendered infertile by the exploding spaceship in a different version of their lives.
Page 20
Ali claims to be both immortal and very, very old. In the original Showcase issues it’s unclear whether he has any such powers. Mike Maxwell/B’wana Beast’s friend Ken was certainly dubious of Ali’s repeated claim.
The masked woman is revealed to be named Tabu (an alternative spelling of the word Taboo). She appeared as a silhouette behind Ali in the previous issue but otherwise hasn’t appeared in any comics previously.
Page 21
The aliens are in the ship named the Traveller, currently under assault from Ali’s particle beam weapon.
Back Matter:
Letters:
The letters are written in response to Animal Man #8.
The first letter is from a Scot who praises the accurate characterisation and language of the Glaswegian McCulloch (Mirror Master). He also (incorrectly) guesses that the mysterious character watching the Bakers from the bushes is Animal Man’s arm (severed in issue #2), which has grown a body around it, similar to what occurred in Swamp Thing #5 and #19 (1973 & 1975).
The fourth letter points out that Buddy doesn’t use his powers in that issue, and also asks what is happening with the Mod Gorilla Boss storyline. See the annotations for Animal Man #7 for my notes on this unpublished issue. Art Young responds to say that this story will appear in the future.
The fifth letter pleads with the editors not to let Animal Man stay in Justice League Europe. Art responds that the tone of the JLE issues is quite different and the continuity between these appearances shouldn’t be taken too seriously. Art also mentions that a teleportation tube was installed in the Bakers’ house in Animal Man #9. Though the installation isn’t mentioned in that issue, the tube exists in Justice League Europe #1 in the following month when it is responsible for destroying Buddy’s luggage.
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