tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10945794.post6162401172379169248..comments2024-03-27T21:12:28.287-05:00Comments on Collected Editions: Review: Animal Man Vol. 3: Rotworld -- The Red Kingdom trade paperback (DC Comics)collectededitionshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14698269790653953645noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10945794.post-66083896324307260892014-08-26T07:43:25.212-05:002014-08-26T07:43:25.212-05:00I'll just chime in here as a monthly reader of...I'll just chime in here as a monthly reader of Swamp Thing and Animal Man and say yes, the length of this story was agonizingly long and slow, and I quit both books soon after. It felt horribly paced stretched out over a year. I wish I read it as a trade instead. In fact these 2 series are one of the main reasons I am mostly off single issues. I just don't think stories like these are meant to be read in small monthly chapters. I think single issues work best as stand alone stories (see the latest Snyder Batman issue, which is a great creepy stand alone.) Or Paul Dini's Detective run.Jordanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13858465228077926840noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10945794.post-37462107637324189402014-08-25T11:27:55.276-05:002014-08-25T11:27:55.276-05:00Theoretically, what Dijonase said sounds right, ye...Theoretically, what Dijonase said sounds right, yes, that a crossover maybe reads better when you can digest it all in one trade (and then in my case, immediately go on to the non-crossover Animal Man Vol. 4) than it does when you're spending a year reading a crossover in single issues. Obviously I can't speak to all of this because I only read Rotworld in trade and not single issues, but again, theoretically, yes.<br /><br />But i would still say that Lemire and Snyder got something right in their construction of this crossover that, say, Lobdell and company didn't get right in the Superman: H'el on Earth crossover, for instance. Lemire and Snyder join up Animal Man and Swamp Thing for the books' issues #12 and issues #17, and otherwise #13-16 of each series is independent. I felt like this was "just enough" crossover that I felt like I was reading a shared story, but also I never felt like I wasn't reading an Animal Man story nor that the Animal Man storyline was derailed for too long.<br /><br />Superman: H'el on Earth I did think went on too long and felt padded, because it was fourteen (!) issues, and each one connected to the one before, so I thought at times there were too many fight-scenes-for-fight-scenes'-sake and also that the story at times went on unnecessary tangents in order to fill pages (the Superboy Annual, for example). <br /><br />Rotworld is just two issues shorter, but by virtue of how the writers constructed it, I think they were able to meander less and focus on their specific characters more. It was in a way that felt natural, too, whereas Green Lantern family crossovers are often like "Look at this character! Now look at this character!" as you change from title to title, but Rotworld wasn't like that because it was in part parallel, not connecting, stories.<br /><br />Sure, I agree with shag that not every book reads best in trade -- Legends of Red Sonja, which I just finished, did not read well in trade -- but yeah I prefer "binging" on a storyline than stretching it out over six months, too.<br /><br />Daniel's correct on Rotworld, however, that if you just read one title or the other, you may not recognize some characters in the issues #17; this didn't throw me too much, however. If you're looking for a reading order, I'd read Animal Man Vol. 1 and 2, then Swamp Thing Vol. 1 and 2, then Animal Man Vol. 3, then Swamp Thing Vol. 3. If you're reading the Rotworld single issues, as I mentioned in the post above, read Animal Man #12 and Swamp Thing #12, then Animal Man #13-16, then Swamp Thing #13-16, then Animal Man #17 and Swamp Thing #17.collectededitionshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14698269790653953645noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10945794.post-21126595430040287792014-08-25T08:40:56.369-05:002014-08-25T08:40:56.369-05:00It really depends which on-going you follow, I thi...It really depends which on-going you follow, I think.<br />I initially only followed Snyder's Swamp Thing but when the Arcane story lead into Rotworld I wanted to read Animal Man too, to get all aspects of it (I didn't know much about it except that Grant Morrison had a trippy run on it).<br /><br />In the end I felt this was (despite Lemire writing a very good Animal Man) a bad decision as Animal Man even more leads into Rotworld.<br /><br />Now you have two titles that in its first two trades (or 12 issues) leading into Rotworld which then tells two sides of the same story (with overlapping issues in both trades) ending at issue 17 (I think) and two annuals which made this feel bloated for me.<br />You could skip either Swamp Thing or Animal Man but you'll feel like you missed something when Buddy arrives at Arcane's doorstep with Swampy bringing in a huge Batman-robot without knowing how he obtained it.<br /><br />If you want to skip one of the trades I suggest skip Swamp Thing as Animal Man is the (IMHO) stronger one.<br /><br />Reading both titles simultaneous might be the best option IMO. But like I said, in the end it's a pretty long story that probably shouldn't have been. I think that both vol. 2 trades would have benefited if they were half in size.Danielhttp://socializingmogo.denoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10945794.post-84749842609477975032014-08-25T03:34:31.147-05:002014-08-25T03:34:31.147-05:00I haven't read this crossover so I could be wr...I haven't read this crossover so I could be wrong, but the story may seem shorter in this case since the titles took their own stories and only really crossed over at the beginning and end with 13 and 17. If you were reading monthly with both Swamp Thing and Animal Man, the story would be nearly twice as many issues. <br /><br />Comics are obviously designed for month to month but I much prefer them in trades like CE seems to. Whether itsva crossover or just any story in the regular monthly books, I hate waiting for the next part and prefer to "binge" read the whole book. In that case I would say most stories benefit from trade waiting, at least for my tastes. However, I could name a few books which did not read well as a trade and probably would have been more pleasing in smaller monthly chunks. Peter Milligans Red Lanterns titles so far have really seemed to be slow and repetitive, making it hard for me to keep reading the trade. Maybe I would've been more optimistic had I read little bits over time? <br /><br />Anyway, as I said I've not read this crossover so forgive me if I'm totally off base here. I'm interested to see how CE feels about this and other events in the trade format.Wilson1989https://www.blogger.com/profile/17767850173122572195noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10945794.post-203299986426744012014-08-24T20:31:53.439-05:002014-08-24T20:31:53.439-05:00Do you think that crossovers like this generally p...Do you think that crossovers like this generally play better in the trade format? You say that it never feels slow or padded, but I heard nothing but complaints about this event. Most of those complaints were that it was good but went on for way too long.<br /><br />When you read it as a trade you can get through it in an evening if you like. If you follow month to month it takes a full year or so. Do you think that can hurt an otherwise strong story?Dijonasenoreply@blogger.com