Animal Man # 1 2011 NM-

Animal Man # 1, released on September 7, 2011, is the debut of a critically acclaimed series written by Jeff Lemire and illustrated by Travel Foreman. Published as part of DC Comics' The New 52 line-wide relaunch, it shifts the tone of the character's adventures toward a dark, psychological horror. 

The story reintroduces Buddy Baker as a veteran superhero, animal activist, and former stuntman living in suburbia with his wife Ellen and two children, Cliff and Maxine. 

• The Reluctant Hero: The issue begins with Buddy appearing in an indie film about a washed-up superhero. Despite trying to settle into family life, he responds to a police scanner report of a gunman holding a children's cancer ward hostage.
• A Startling Transformation: During the rescue, Buddy uses an unusual "cocktail" of animal abilities, such as the "bark of a dog" to freak people out. After subduing the gunman, his eyes begin to bleed heavily, signaling that something is wrong with his powers.
• The Nightmare: That night, Buddy suffers a horrific nightmare in which his son Cliff is disemboweled in a dead forest. In the dream, three monsters known as the Hunters Three claim they are the true fathers of his child and that "The Rot" is coming for them.
• The Reveal: Buddy wakes to find his young daughter, Maxine, sitting in the yard surrounded by the animated corpses of small animals she has accidentally resurrected using newly manifested powers. 
• Buddy Baker (Animal Man): A family man struggling to balance his "super" identity with his role as a father.
• Maxine Baker: Buddy’s four-year-old daughter who is revealed to be the true avatar of The Red, the elemental force of all animal life.
• The Forces: The issue establishes the central conflict of the series: a war between The Red (life), The Green (plant life), and The Rot (death and decay).