Covering issues #27-50 (1990-1992)…
After Grant Morrison, the series was written by Peter Milligan for seven issues, with Chaz Truog continuing his role as penciller. From issue #33, that creative team was replaced by Tom Veitch and Steve Dillon. During this period, the Bakers relocate from California to Vermont.
Appearances that I consider to be fairly minor are indented. The below titles were published by DC Comics unless otherwise noted.
Animal Man #27
“The Coma Kid”, September 1990
Peter Milligan [w], Chas Truog [p], Brian Bolland [c]
Buddy wakes up after being in a coma for 3 months, the cause of which is unknown. Ellen looks different, smokes cigarettes, and seems generally annoyed with Buddy, while Maxine senses that Buddy is not her true father. Buddy sees a vision of a jungle in their bathroom and occasionally behaves like a wild animal, embarrassing Ellen in front of her friends. One night, he visits the zoo and beats up two police officers. Later, when preparing to speak at an animal rights rally, he bites into a horse in front of a shocked crowd. Meanwhile, Maxine meets a primitive human in their home and asks whether it will bring her father back.
Animal Man #28
“The Naked Afternoon Snack”, October 1990
Peter Milligan [w], Chas Truog [p], Brian Bolland [c]
Buddy is taken to a police station for killing the horse but is freed when the CIA intercedes. He realises that he is not in his reality when he learns that Marvin Gaye is still alive. He returns home to find that Ellen is having an affair and wants a divorce, and he gets into a fight with the other man. A person called the Nowhere Man recruits Buddy on a CIA mission to save the president from superpowered, murderous, child triplets known as the Angel Mob. Nowhere Man’s bodily form is unstable (brought upon by sexual repression during puberty) and he can only communicate effectively by inserting random words into his sentences, which he refers to as the Burroughs technique. Nowhere Man later joined a circus and became part of a superhero team with the Front Page and the Notional Man, who he owes money to. He and Buddy are attacked by Nowhere Man’s former colleagues and Buddy kills Front Page, but Notional Man later retaliates by blowing up a nightclub that the heroes are visiting.
Animal Man #29
“Born To Be Wild”, November 1990
Peter Milligan [w], Steve Dillon [p], Brian Bolland [c]
Buddy survives the blast but is prevented from seeing his children by a court order. Buddy takes the children out of school and they go on a road trip pursued by the Notional Man, who has a highly advanced sense of smell. Buddy learns that Maxine can also see the apeman and the jungle in the bathroom. They encounter the apeman in the road, frozen in place, and when Buddy touches it he feels a sensory overload before the creature disappears. The Notional Man kidnaps and traps Maxine in a car and threatens to push it into a ravine. Notional Man explains that he was a phantom pregnancy brought to existence by his mother’s strong desire for a child, and he forces Buddy to mutilate himself. Buddy eventually resists, and Maxine plummets off the cliff. Buddy inherits the fierce love of an animal for its offspring, and this distracts Notional Man long enough for Buddy to kill him. Buddy finds that Maxine is still alive and, grateful, he visits a church to pray. He has a vision of a weird creature dripping blood, then of another Animal Man crashing through the church window.
Animal Man #30
“A Nice Day for a Weird Wedding”, December 1990
Peter Milligan [w], Chas Truog [p], Brian Bolland [c]
Buddy discovers that his other self is dead and then finds himself as the groom in a strange wedding. He flees the scene and learns from the CIA agents that he has been affected by Lucinda Angel, who has the ability to cause hallucinations. Buddy is forced into accepting the job defending the president as the CIA believes that he and Nowhere Man, who both have unstable minds, have a better chance of defeating the Angel Mob. Buddy visits the jungle in his bathroom and encounters the immobile apeman again. Buddy fights a saber-toothed tiger, who he realises has been affecting his recent behaviour. Later, he and Nowhere Man attempt to defend the president, with Buddy battling the telekinetic Mark Angel. Buddy is thrown off a building and killed.
Justice League Europe #21 (1989)
“Blood, Sweat and Tabloids”, December 1990
Keith Giffen, Gerard Jones [w], Marshall Rogers [p]
Justice League Europe relocates to London after the Paris embassy is destroyed, and Inspector Camus learns that he has been stationed with them too. Captain Atom is relieved when Maxwell Lord makes Catherine Cobert the new head of the JLE. Silver Sorceress and Blue Jay have joined the JLE and try to bond with Kilowog, Kara is angry that a revealing photo of her has been published in a newspaper, Vivian D’Aramis (Crimson Fox) takes charge of her company’s London offices, and other members of the League go shopping in London. Catherine learns that the League’s cat has killed a dog. Atom apologises to Catherine for his attitude and accidentally gifts her some lingerie, giving Catherine the wrong impression.
Animal Man appears on a computer screen in one panel when Catherine closes Buddy’s file in the JLE database.
Animal Man #31
“Rites of Passage”, January 1991
Peter Milligan [w], Chas Truog [p], Brian Bolland [c]
Lucinda is mad with Mark for killing Buddy. After Buddy’s funeral, Nowhere Man decides to investigate the jungle to solve Buddy’s mystery. There he finds another version of Buddy who understands more about what is going on, explaining that the jungle is a prehistoric past that also contains artifacts from the 21st century. Buddy wants to speak to Lucinda so he follows Nowhere Man (and his new partner the Green Cigarette) on their next assignment defending the president. Buddy prevents the assassination and speaks with Lucinda, who agrees to surrender the Angel Mob to the authorities if they will not be harmed. However, the president later breaks his promise to Buddy and the Angel Mob are violently apprehended.
Animal Man #32
“Schrödinger’s Pizza”, February 1991
Peter Milligan [w], Chas Truog [p], Brian Bolland [c]
President Eagleton threatens to conduct experiments on the Angel Mob and Buddy, so Buddy kills him but is knocked unconscious when escaping. Buddy is saved by Nowhere Man and explains his theory about the apemen and jungle. Time travellers from the 21st Century visited the prehistoric time because of its significance to human evolution. However, one apeman became stuck in the time portal, trapped between the distant past and Buddy’s time, and this affected Buddy’s behaviour. Buddy also believes that he awoke from his coma in a parallel universe, in the sense of the many-worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics. He entered the bathroom jungle when he first encountered it (in Animal Man #27) but in a parallel world he avoided the jungle and later died at the end of Animal Man #30 (which was the sequence of events the reader observed). Meanwhile, the original Buddy was still in the jungle, which is a place that allows different editions of Buddy to meet. Whenever he tried to leave the jungle, it was into a slightly different world and that world’s Buddy would die, only to awake from a coma into a new universe. Having explained his theory, Buddy and Nowhere Man go to rescue the Angel Mob, but only Lucinda is still (barely) alive. She fixes Nowhere Man’s speech, and implants a hypnotic trigger into Buddy so that, when he awakens from a coma again, he will be jolted into his correct universe. They allow Lucinda to die, Buddy pulls the apeman out of the time portal, and Buddy then kills himself to awaken in his proper reality. Doctors are unsure about what put him in the coma in the first place (but it’s implied that it was caused by the meeting with Grant Morrison).
Animal Man #33
“I am the Man of Deep Ungodly Powers”, March 1991
Tom Veitch [w], Steve Dillon [p], Brian Bolland [c]
Buddy is working as a stunt man and notices several dead birds of prey. When he flies home from work with Cliff, a man fires arrows at them, with one striking Cliff. On the way back from the hospital, Buddy sees the assailant (a hippy engineer named Travis Cody) and takes him to the police. Buddy meets a parks officer, Dwayne, in the woods and they discover that the dead raptors have been cooked from the inside. Buddy has to fight off a sudden attack by a wolverine and then finds his hand has transformed into a claw. Elsewhere, a Native American man creates a small figurine of Animal Man.
Animal Man #34
“Requiem for a Bird of Prey”, April 1991
Tom Veitch [w], Steve Dillon [p], Brian Bolland [c]
Maxine behaves like a wild animal and chews up her stuffed toys. Buddy returns home from the woods to find a dead owl hung from his door, and Cliff believes Travis is experimenting on dead birds. Buddy acquires the abilities of a rat to break into Travis’ house to confront him, but Travis knocks him unconscious with a wrench. While unconscious, Buddy is visited by a sparkly being seemingly connected to the old Indian man and his hand returns to normal. Buddy returns home to find that Maxine has befriended a group of rats and is apparently affected by Buddy’s powers. Buddy has Travis arrested, but Travis accuses Buddy of being behind the bird deaths. When out flying, Buddy is attacked by an eagle and realises that his powers of flight are causing the deaths of nearby birds.
Animal Man #35
“Dead Dogs on Ice!”, May 1991
Tom Veitch [w], Steve Dillon [p], Brian Bolland [c]
Buddy refuses to travel by flying and visits Travis to apologise. Travis has invented a way to measure Buddy’s connection to the morphogenetic field and Buddy agrees to take part in experiments. They learn that Buddy’s connection to the morphogenetic field is weak, but he can still successfully inherit powers from nearby animals. Buddy decides to use this knowledge on a film shoot in Mexico, but the director Raney Fox’s treatment of dogs on set causes Buddy to become distracted. The stunt is ruined and Buddy is fired. Buddy is then approached by an executive from S.T.A.R. Labs who plans to enlist Buddy as an environmental spokesperson so they can secretly dump toxic waste. Meanwhile, Maxine befriends the sparkly creature who she calls Mister Rainbow.
Buddy mentions that the Bakers’ dog Skipper has been killed by a car driven by a “Mr. Morrison”.
Animal Man #36
“The Call of the Wild”, June 1991
Tom Veitch [w], Steve Dillon [p], Brian Bolland [c]
Buddy is suspicious of the offer from S.T.A.R. Labs’ Buck Samson to monitor endangered species and he rejects it, but vows to investigate further. Maxine steps through Mister Rainbow and into a colourful world where she meets the Indian, who she names All The Animals. When Buddy returns home, Maxine tells him that the animals want to tell him a secret. Buddy gets paid for his stunt work but he spends all the money on equipment to resume his superhero career, and this causes tension between him and Ellen. Elsewhere, a group of Indians craft a figure of Travis and send the Messenger (“Mr. Rainbow”) to him.
Animal Man #37
“The Zoo at World’s End”, July 1991
Tom Veitch [w], Steve Dillon [p], Brian Bolland [c]
Buddy experiments with the power of a spider but accidentally frightens a talk show host who then publicly insinuates that he is out of control. Ellen becomes disturbed by Buddy’s behaviour and plans on taking Maxine away for a while but doesn’t find the opportunity to tell him. After being visited by the Messenger, Travis warns Buddy that the world is ending and insists that Buddy take his family to New York to escape on a spaceship, but Buddy doesn’t believe him. Buddy is performing for children at the San Diego Zoo when the Indian, frustrated with Buddy, smashes a figurine in Buddy’s likeness. This causes Buddy to lose control of his powers, killing all the animals in the zoo.
Animal Man #38
“The Penalizer”, August 1991
Tom Veitch [w], Steve Dillon [p], Brian Bolland [c]
Buddy is depressed after the zoo incident and is hounded by the press. Ellen takes Maxine to Vermont for a while. Travis leaves to go to the spaceship in New York and gives Buddy another chance to follow, but Buddy rejects him. Cliff and his friend Ace vandalise and torch Travis’ empty house, mimicking the comic book anti-hero the Penalizer. Buddy feels overwhelmed with animal powers again and seemingly fights and kills the Messenger.
Animal Man #39
“Master of Wolves”, September 1991
Tom Veitch [w], Tom Mandrake [p], Brian Bolland [c]
Travis meets with the old Indian, who doesn’t know anything about Travis’ vision of the apocalypse, but they watch television reports of animals going wild in San Diego, including packs of wolves roaming the streets. Dwayne visits Buddy for help with the wolves, but Buddy is still emotionally and physically exhausted. Cliff and Ace take the M-Field Meter out of Travis’ burnt out house, and Buddy realises that Cliff was responsible for the fire. Buddy hits him, and Cliff decides to run away with Ace. Buddy frees the animals he was keeping in his backyard and runs naked through the night with a pack of wolves, almost being shot. Buddy is visited by his stunt coordinator Dave and offered more work for the director Raney Fox. Buddy instead decides to travel to Vermont.
Animal Man #40
“Bear Claw Soup”, October 1991
Tom Veitch [w], Steve Dillon [p], Brian Bolland [c]
Buddy stops at a gas station where the Phantom Stranger and Doctor Fate approach him for help, but Buddy wants to be left alone. He then stops in New Rosewood, a town where the economy is built upon the killing of bears. The Indian man speaks to Buddy in his dream explaining that he needs help in conquering an enemy. Buddy comes across the submerged (Old) Rosewood and is detained by employees of the Bear King Ranch. The Ranch’s owner (Bear King) forces Buddy to go on a bear hunt on protected government lands. They then return to old Rosewood, whose waters have receded, and Buddy finds that the ranch employees’ bloodlust has transformed them into animals. Buddy is hunted by them but comes across a group of bears and, together, they kill their pursuers. Buddy senses new abilities and a bear tells Buddy that he will soon gain even more knowledge.
The issue is dedicated to Alan Moore, Steve Bissette and John Totleben who created Swamp Thing #39, the previous appearance of the town of Rosewood. The cover of this issue denotes that it forms part of the ‘War of the Gods’ crossover event.
War of the Gods (1991) #3
“Casualties of War”, November 1991
George Pérez [w, p]
Circe has stirred up a war between Greek, Roman, and other gods with the aim to harm Gaea, the Earth goddess. Mars and Ares fight in Ares’ home Areopagus, and Harmonia prevents her sister Eris from killing their father Ares. The Suicide Squad, with Black Adam, approach Circe and her followers in South America, but Circe drives Black Adam away using a statue of Set before killing Javelin. Black Adam finds himself at an Egyptian temple with Lobo, where Son of Vulcan leads them to a chapel where the Metal Men watch over a dying Billy Batson. Buddy arrives at the Tower of Fate and magical heroes explain that the animal people he faced in Rosewood were Circle’s bestiamorphs. The heroes extract some of Buddy’s blood for a magic spell and, drawing on Buddy’s power, the bestiamorphs are transformed back into animals. Hermes and Harmonia try to instigate a battle between Diana (Wonder Woman) and Circe in Chronus’ limbo, where Diana is fated to defeat Circe, but Wonder Woman is more concerned about her ailing mother Hippolyta. Circe later battles and kills Hermes in limbo. A number of heroes find themselves on Themiscriya where US fighter jets have broken through the island’s forcefield and are ready to attack it. Circe presents Wonder Woman with the skeleton of Hermes before turning Wonder Woman back into the clay soil that she was created from. New Olympus, the home of the gods, then appears in proximity to Earth.
Animal Man #41
“The Stone That Cracked Open The Earth Like An Egg”, November 1991
Tom Veitch [w], Steve Dillon [p], Brian Bolland [c]
The old Indian man (The Stone That Cracked Open The Earth Like An Egg, or Stone) offers Travis work in a paint factory, but Travis is instead blackmailed by Buck Samson into accepting a job at S.T.A.R. Labs as Samson is aware that Travis has violated probation by leaving the state. Travis is shown around the laboratory and discovers featureless humanoid creatures in pods. Buddy spends a night at Ellen’s mother’s farm in Vermont and wakes up to find the cows and horses floating around the house. He resolves the situation and talks to Ellen about feeling part of a greater intelligence during his experience in Rosewood. He decides to look for Cliff but they are visited by Buddy’s hunting falcon Harriet who tells Buddy to go to Stone. Stone claims that the Indians gave Buddy his powers, and punches him for killing the Messenger. Meanwhile, Maxine finds a blue egg amongst the chickens and a tiny triceratops hatches out of it. Maxine claims that she made the creature and names it Winky, while Ellen’s mother receives a call from a terrified Cliff in San Francisco.
Who’s Who in the DC Universe (1990) #14
“Anarky to Wildebeest”, November 1991
Tom Veitch [w], Brian Bolland [p]
The second series of Who’s Who… (with a slightly revised name) ran for 16 issues from 1990 and continued to function as an encyclopedia of DC Comics characters. Each entry includes an image (a combination of original and existing art), some personal data, a character history, and information about their powers. The Animal Man entry in issue #14 presents two origins for Buddy, with him being caught in an explosion that either gave him powers or incinerated him completely, before being rebuilt by the yellow aliens. It also mentions that he is a still a member of the JLE but is on sabbatical.
L.E.G.I.O.N. (1989) Annual #2
“2001!”, December 1991
Alan Grant [w], Mike McKone [p]
A time-traveller named Waverider visits L.E.G.I.O.N. HQ in search of a hero who will one day enslave the universe as a being known as Monarch. Vril Dox captures Waverider, but allows his prisoner to see into his future. In ten years (2001), Dox and Lady Quark lead an oppressive L.E.G.I.O.N. force, while many former members organise a rebellion against them. The rebels discover that Dox and Lady Quark are being controlled by the Computer Tyrants and are planning to take over more of the galaxy. Past and current members of L.E.G.I.O.N. clash and the survivors travel to Cairn to stop Dox, but they are defeated when Dox and Quark fuse together into a new being. Back in 1991, Dox decides to free Waverider and cease his time experiments to prevent that future from occurring.
Animal Man appears in the background on one panel as Earth’s heroes fight Monarch sometime in the future.
Animal Man #42
“Men Without Eyes”, December 1991
Tom Veitch [w], David G. Klein [p], Brian Bolland [c]
Travis doesn’t want to work for S.T.A.R. Labs, who were impressed by his M-Field Meter, but he agrees to their offer after he is seduced by Samson’s assistant Kami. The knacker Homer Gethro is paid to bring dead animals to S.T.A.R. Labs. Homer recovers a dead cow from the Frazier farm, which gives off unusual readings that the lab scientists are very interested in. Ellen learns that Cliff has been picked up by his suspicious Uncle Dud in San Francisco. S.T.A.R. Labs offers to sell the humanoid prototypes to a military group and organise a mock battle where the prototypes (armed with paintball guns) must fight a group of soldiers. The prototypes steal real weapons and kill the soldiers before also killing Homer and stealing his car. A large bear approaches the Frazier farm and Maxine hugs it, claiming that it’s her father.
Animal Man #43
“Tiger, Tiger, Burning Bright”, January 1992
Tom Veitch [w], Steve Dillon [p], Brian Bolland [c]
Buddy’s unconscious body is with Stone and another junior shaman Tristess, while his consciousness is in the colourful realm known as the Hidden Place and his lifeforce is within the bear. Buddy understands that the yellow aliens were concocted by his imagination to help him understand the origin of his powers. Maxine continues to play with the bear but tells Ellen that it will soon leave and return to Buddy. Travis hacks the S.T.A.R. Labs security system and learns that his friend Moonlight is secretly working for Samson against the interests of his native people. Captain Silva, the only survivor of the military demonstration, tells Samson that the prototypes (named X-Types) have escaped. Silva is promptly murdered and Travis witnesses his body being recycled in a machine. Buddy and Tristess’ bear avatars meet and have sex, and when Buddy awakens he kisses Tristess. Ellen’s mother tells her daughter that Buddy is trouble.
Animal Man #44
“Who IS That Masked Woman?”, February 1992
Tom Veitch [w], Brett Ewins [p], Brian Bolland [c]
SA woman resembling Tabu (last seen in Animal Man #12) encounters two X-Types robbing a blood bank for plasma to stay alive. She kills one and the other flees. Buddy is attending a barbecue when “Tabu” arrives and they fight, only for the woman to reveal herself as Vixen. Vixen explains that she and Tabu were two halves of a spirit and that she gained further powers when Tabu died. Travis also arrives at the party, warns Buddy about Moonlight, and explains that Samson wants to study Buddy’s DNA. They travel to the farm and Ellen’s mother notifies Buddy that Raney Fox wants to make a movie about him. Ellen applies for a job at Wonderful Publishing in New York and is assigned to comics editor Les Decker, who is responsible for The Penalizer title. They come across a story that Cliff and Ace have submitted to Les. Elsewhere, the remaining X-Type absorbs the plasma from a fox to stay alive, and then encounters Maxine.
Animal Man #45
“The Beat of Darkness”, March 1992
Tom Veitch [w], Steve Dillon [p], Brian Bolland [c]
Ellen dreams that Buddy is having an affair and asks him about it, but he denies it. Ellen is colouring an issue of The Penalizer for Les and realises that he has stolen some of Cliff’s ideas that he had previously mocked. In that issue, the limbless villain Doctor Darkness provides two young teens (one named Cliff) with drugs and asks them to assassinate the Penalizer, but they are killed during the attempt. At home, Les gets a call asking for help ridding an apartment block of drug addicts, so he dresses as the Penalizer and arms himself. Buddy agrees to meet with Raney and a writer about his biopic and they arrive just as Buddy and Ellen are looking for Maxine. They find Winky with an injured leg and Buddy senses that Maxine is being kept underground somewhere.
Animal Man #46
“A Rage Of Fathers”, April 1992
Tom Veitch [w], Steve Pugh [p], Brian Bolland [c]
Buddy reminisces to Ellen about a time in his late teens when his father Frank forced him to go hunting. Frank explains that they are part of a lineage of hunters, stretching back to Jack Baker who knew Tomahawk during the Revolutionary War. Buddy refuses to kill a buck but is forced to pursue a bear. He sees a UFO crashing to Earth and is knocked unconscious. When he awakens, he witnesses his father being seriously injured by the bear, but an Indian arrives and heals him. The Indian then touches Buddy and takes him to the spacecraft, which he explains is a cocoon that houses his enemy. Buddy is unable to open the craft and it burrows deeper into the ground, and Buddy is told he must wait for it to reemerge. Buddy wakes up in the Bakers’ hunting lodge again and doesn’t recall the presence of the Indian. Soon after, using his newfound powers, Buddy protects the teenage Ellen from a tiger that has escaped at a carnival and she agrees to go out with him.
Animal Man #47
“The Shining Man, Part One: The Dark Side Of God”, May 1992
Tom Veitch [w], Steve Dillon [p], Brian Bolland [c]
Mike Maxwell (previously B’wana Beast) found that he still had powers even after giving away his magical objects (in Animal Man #13) and is now hiding in a cave with Maxine after killing the final X-Type. Buddy attempts to rescue Maxine, but his hands are affected when he grabs Mike. Mike offers the Bakers to the Antagon: the ancient enemy of stone that appears as a large structure hidden within the cave. Meanwhile, Travis steals a virtual reality helmet from S.T.A.R. Labs and uses it to hack into their computer system from home. He enters a microscopic city where lab engineers can manipulate DNA. He finds that Samson is building a template for a superhuman body that uses flesh affected by Buddy’s powers. When Travis tries to leave, Samson attacks him, frying his brain.
Animal Man #48
“The Meaning Of Flesh”, June 1992
Tom Veitch [w], Steve Dillon [p], Brian Bolland [c]
Possessing Mike, the Antagon leaves the cave intent on destroying all life, and begins with killing Raney Fox. Buddy also emerges and takes an injured Maxine to Stone. On the way, he realises that his powers had been affected by the Antagon for months. Buddy enters a sweat lodge with Tristess and Vixen and they are visited by Stone and taken to the hidden world just before the Antagon arrives to kill them. The trio of heroes, plus Maxine, find themselves in a microscopic land. Meanwhile, Travis’ consciousness is trapped inside the computer system and Kami helps him to expose Samson. Elsewhere, Samson is linked up to his virtual avatar and undergoes a procedure to replace half of his genetic structure with molecules imbued with morphogenetic energy. Upon Samson’s instructions, Moonlight Jackson kills Kami.
Animal Man #49
“The Hot Heart Of Abstract Reality”, July 1992
Tom Veitch [w], Steve Dillon [p], Brian Bolland [c]
After killing Kami, Moonlight kills Travis’ body. Samson and his scientists download and disperse the data that makes up Travis, but Travis has already alerted S.T.A.R. Labs in San Diego of Samson’s activities. The San Diego group attacks the Vermont lab but Samson overcomes the threat with his new superpowers that allow him to manipulate matter. Samson learns of the threat posed by the Antagon and decides to defeat it to gain notoriety, naming himself Metaman. Buddy and the others are in a microscopic state near the Door Between The Worlds. Buddy subdues a giant dust mite to guide them and they pass through the door to meet Stone and other Animal Masters Arum and Krate at the Labrador Peninsula. Stone explains that the Animal Masters at the beginning of time were responsible for creating all the animals, but the Antagon also emerged as an opposing force to destroy life. The Masters eventually managed to defeat the Antagon, which then stayed protected and dormant in a cocoon for 10 million years until it began to reawaken and was found by the teenage Buddy and a younger Stone (as depicted in Animal Man #46). The next generation of Animal Masters (Buddy, Vixen, Tristess and Maxine) must now defeat Antagon, who has possessed the fifth Animal Master Mike Maxwell. Buddy arrives back at the farm to drop off Maxine. The scriptwriter is still intent on making Raney’s Animal Man film and decides to give the script to Les Decker to make it into a comic book first.
Animal Man #50
“Journal Of A Plague Year”, August 1992
Tom Veitch [w], Steve Dillon [p], Brian Bolland [c]
The scriptwriter recounts surviving an attack by Antagon. He then witnesses the battle between Maxwell and Metaman, which sees the death of Moonlight. Maxwell is defeated but Antagon inhabits Metaman instead. The elder Animal Masters lead Antagon to Buddy, Tristess and Vixen but are destroyed in the process. Buddy realises they will lose a physical fight and they instead decide to use their powers to imagine and create a new world, one in which Samson is still alive but exists powerless and in a prehistoric age. Back at home, Maxine creates a butterfly out of nothing, and the writer professes his attraction to Ellen. The two hug as Buddy returns home and he jealously fights the writer, and clarifies again that he is not having an affair with Tristess. Afterwards, the writer continues to meet with the family until the Animal Man Movie is optioned in Hollywood.
Next: Issues #51-89 (1992-1995)… ▸
[w] denotes writer, [p] denotes penciller, but I have included both penciller and inker if both are credited equally as artists. [c] denotes cover artist when it is a main series or Animal Man appears on the cover.