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Review: Animosity Vol. 5

Nemesis

Until I was given the opportunity to review this volume of Animosity, this was a title I was only vaguely familiar with.  I knew that it centered around the “awakening” of animals across the planet but very little else.  I was pleasantly surprised to find that this title, while having any number of mystical and comic book elements, has a deep well of introspection and philosophical musings about it.  This book is not shy about tackling the big questions.

Animosity is the brain-child of writer and creator Marguerite Bennet (Batgirl, A-Force).  Nominally, this tale is about a quest by a young girl, Jesse, to find the last remaining member of her family.  Starting in New York, Jesse is joined by her “awakened” animal companions as she embarks on a quest which will take her across a continent.  For those who are unfamiliar with this title, the animals of Animosity suddenly awake one day; gaining full consciousness, the ability to speak without having the physical ability to do so, and instant knowledge of the world and it’s workings.  Predictably, mayhem ensues and many animals rise up in rebellion resulting in the complete collapse of the established order built around human society.  As we follow Jesse’s odyssey we are also witnesses to the emergence of a new order built around a society where animals and humans live in cooperation and/or competition with each other.  This is the genius of Bennet’s multi-layered writing in this series.  The engaging and sometimes surprising tale unfolds with each mile of Jesse’s journey.  However, underneath this journey is an examination of our current society, our relationship with animals, the nature of religion, the effect of civilization on man as we moved away from our animal nature, the price of knowledge and more.  That may seem like an awful lot to lay on a comic book, but Bennet’s craft allows her to weave all of these themes into the book seamlessly while avoiding the pitfalls of being preachy or over the top.  I can give no higher praise than this; while I often found myself disagreeing with Bennet’s answers to some of these large questions, she never failed to get me to think about my own position and reexamine if I still believe the things I do.  Rather than tell me what to think while giving me the trappings of a story; she gave me an engrossing story that illuminated some of her thoughts on life and ALLOWED me to look at my philosophical underpinnings in turn.  Bravo!

The work done by the art team is hit and miss, though it maintains a suitably high standard to earn a higher than average grade.  The line work by artists Rafeal De LaTorre (Lost Kids, Super Zero) and Elton Thomasi (Hassas, Dr Who) is solid but inconsistent from page to page and book to book.  There are some panels and pages across this volume which are truly spectacular.  They display incredible depth, motion and intensity…bringing to life animals that are building new societies or people who are reforming their society in the new order which is emerging.  However, there are whole swaths of panels that seem to suffer due to the attention that is paid to the truly spectacular ones.  It makes for a rather grating experience at times and one almost wishes that the book was drawn to a more consistent standard instead of making one read from one oasis of brilliance to another.  The inking is solid but unremarkable, doing enough to compliment the art but not taking center stage itself.  This is not a complaint per se; merely an observation, as the inking does it’s job suitably.

The color by Rob Schwager (Jonah Hex, Brath) also has moments of brilliance and moments of mediocrity.  At times, specifically in a house full of mystical snakes, the color is haunting and saturated; drawing the reader in and transporting them into a mystical space full of danger and potential answers.  At other times the color is mundane and sometimes wan and pale, making me wonder if the contrast setting on my monitor was turned up too high and was washing the color out.  This also contributes to the feeling of disjointedness and it can be grating at times.

My critiques aside, this was a very good book done to an overall high standard.  The writing and story are incredible and while I have my problems with the artwork, the art team still manages to visually portray the unfolding story and engross me along the way; this is a win.  I highly recommend this book and would encourage anyone who enjoys Science Fiction, Fantasy, Post Apocalyptic Tales, Animal Rights, Religion or Philosophy to pick it up.

Writing – 5 of 5 Stars
Art – 4 of 5 Stars
Inking – 3.5 of 5 Stars
Color – 4 of 5 Stars

Overall Score – 4.2 of 5 Stars

Story and Writing – Marguerite Bennet
Art – Rafael de LaTorre, Elton Thomasi
Color – Rob Schwager
Letters – Marshall Dillon, Taylor Esposito, Carlos M Mangual
Published by Aftershock Comics

Author Profile

Nemesis
Nemesis is a poet, writer and author of the upcoming novel The Long Game. He is a writer of science fiction and supernatural thrillers. Besides novels and short stories he writes for UK based ASAP Comics developing new stories for Level 8 and OPSEC. Nem is a graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point and tries to bring those experiences into his writing.

He lives and works out of his home in Riverside, California with his wife and three children. When not writing he enjoys reviewing comic books and graphic novels for ComicCrusaders.com and living the Southern California life with his family.
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