Animal Man #28

By Jeff Lemire & Rafael Albuquerque

I just finished reading Animal Man #28. That was intense. Hold on, I might need a minute. Lemire really pulled out all the stops.

Issue #28 serves as the final battle before the series ends in March’s issue #29. Buddy Baker and Co. make their last stand against Brother Blood and the traitor to the Red. Lemire writes with so much heart. Buddy’s desperation and frustration oozes from every page. On top of that, Maxine finally gets her time to shine. For this entire run, Lemire has alluded to Maxine containing awesome power over the Red. We finally get a taste of her abilities and it’s a really satisfying scene.

Rafael Albuquerque’s art has really complimented Lemire’s story. He’s able to show the character’s emotional states masterfully, while still keeping a kooky quality that should be required in DC’s “Dark” titles. The action is a bloodbath but it’s not overkill. Albuquerque knows when to be subtle and when to go all out with the ferocity.

Lemire has put an end to the action, now he only needs to put a bow on everything so we can have some type of closure. This issue was a great reminder of what made me fall in love with Animal Man in the first place. It’s going to be depressing to see this series go.