I hated the art in Animal Man at the time, but it's grown on me since then - it's worth struggling through shitty visuals for the story, though.
I also hated Richard Case's Doom Patrol for awhile, as well. Maybe I just had an issue with all of Grant's artists for a time.
Johnny,
I agree that Chas Truog's art is pretty lacklustre--I think of it as "Byrne lite"--but the one thing I think he does do well (although not as well as Bolland cover) is convey facial expressions, which was crucial for this series... In any event, I think that if you pick up the first few issues and read from there, you're likely to get so caught up that you'll forget that the pictures aren't any too stylish... Beware the trades though, they published two of 'em--which reprint #1-9, and #10-17 respectively--but they never did a third book, and once you're done with #17, you really are gonna want to read #18-26!!! The good news is that they're out there, and not worth very much, by Overstreet standards...
Dave
DC has just published the third trade, reprinting issues #18 - 26, which as I understand it finishes off Morrison's series. Picked up a copy a week ago but haven't gotten into it yet. The first two volumes are pretty strong, though part of the first book gets a bit derailed by one of DC's damned crossover continuities. . .
I share your feelings about Truog's art. It's what put me off on the series after two issues back in 89. But a friend convinced me a few years back to give them another try, so I read his copies and was enthralled by the ideas (if never by the art). Now that I have all three trades, I re-read them and I think it reads even better this time through (except for the aforementioned derailment into whatever crossover that was).
Animal Man usually suffered from bad artwork
Chas Troug and Steve Pugh did some of the worst artwork seen in DC Comics in the 10-15 years
The story was usually great with Morrison and (later) Jamie Delano
If my memory serves me correctly, isn't the crap DC crossover duing Grant's run "Invasion"?
Hey Johnny & Bill and friends,
I'm glad to hear that they finally released the third trade. Although, of course, these trades never include the letters pages, and it's a shame... Maybe my dissertation will change that (yes, I'm going to invest four years in a quest to make a minor impact on the way comic book trade paperbacks are put together--just think of how proud my mom is!!) And I just wanted to concur with Mark that the crossover was indeed "Invasion", which also buzz-sawed its' way through 2 issues (11% of the RUN!!) of Power of the Atom (in the middle of a crucial storyline involving the return of Chronos!). Those dasmned crossovers... Do they have ANY defenders? Personally, I wish someone would come forward and explain the appeal...
Dave
Actually, I always kinda liked, didn't love, but liked Richard Case's art. He didn't have that something special, but he did some very imaginative work despite his stylistic limitations. I think Grant's scripts had a lot to do with that.
And Dave, I can't think of a single crossover that's been done in the last 30 years that's been worth the paper it's been printed on. We have Stan and Jack to blame for them anyway, and it's not exactly their fault because those long-ago Avengers/FF/Hulk/X-Men multi-issue guest-star extravaganzas were lotsa fun then, but got old a long time ago.
The problem with doing a book like "Animal Man", with Grant was working in a vaccuum. I rarely got any feedback, editorial or otherwise, on the art. You could work your butt off drawing, and all any one would do was talk about how great Grant was. Possibly one of the reasons (it pains me to realise!) that I was chosen for this assignment was that DC wanted an artist that would be overshadowed by the story, the idea being that the original Animal Man stories were kinda lame, but we're redoing the character, and the art will reflect the earlier stories (if that makes any sense). If DC was displeased with the art, I could have been replaced at any time. Basically, DC got what it wanted , artwise. If I "stank on ice" at the time, nobody had the balls to say so. (Actually, I appreciate the honesty! I could've used it ten years ago...thanks, Johnny Bacardi, wherever you are! And don't get me started on "Coyote"! Yikes!) If you want to see more art you'll hate, visit my website: www.chaztruog.com.
Caio, Fanboys-
Chaz
Hel-lo!
Mr. Truog, I appreciate that you came here to defend yourself. While it won't change my opinion of your work on those series, I will say that you were most likely doing the best you could at the time, and there's nothing wrong with that at all. I'm happy that you don't take my comments personally.
And I'll also admit that I have't seen any of your recent work- I fully intend to check out your site and see what you've been up to lately.
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