DC Relaunch: Frankenstein: Agent of SHADE

The thing that's kind of cool about characters in the public domain (aside from the fact that you can really do anything you want with them) is that somewhere, there's a story for you featuring that character. Whether it be the original, or the comic book version, there's an option for you. What's even better is when it's not just a cool reimagining, but a REALLY cool remimagining that takes the character to whole new levels. And then there's when Grant Morrison does that and totally blows us all out of the water.

Frankenstein: Agent of SHADE comes fully loaded with a supporting cast that may not have been plugged in at first, but in the end just makes sense. First with Frankenstein's monster, who has taken his creator's name, you have this amazing, badass agent that rivals Hellboy, with a swagger that'd make the hardest of men cry. While a leader, he's reluctant in what he does, but he knows it must be done. It's notable when you can somehow make Frankenstein stand out from how he's appeared before, and on top of that look just plain awesome without trying.

Frankenstein is joined by the Creature Commandos, who are looking a bit different these days than they used to. As always, his partner in SHADE is The Bride, who looks very much like the classic Bride of Frankenstein, except for being loaded down with both guns and extra arms. Rounding it out are a number of monsters similar to the classic Universal monster line, and a little girl who I think may be Black Alice? Unconfirmed of course, that's just me trying to figure stuff out from the images that have been released.

DC Relaunch: Animal Man

Every once in a while, you get a character that no one really cares about or acknowledges. They stay to the back of our mind, if that, awaiting a time to be mocked in lew of a positive building on the character and his/her abilities. And then that one story comes along and changes everything. Despite an appearance during Crisis on Infinite Earths, Animal Man was a nothing character, and Grant Morrison was given the character to do with as he willed. The run itself is legendary, overshadowing other works starring the character. All the same, Animal Man is just a simple guy.

Buddy Baker, or Animal Man, had powers bestowed upon him by aliens to be able to tap into any animal and gain its abilities. While at first, this was limited to nearby animals, soon Buddy Baker learned how to tap into the larger network of animals, into something called The Red. Much like the Green for Swamp Thing, the Red is like an index and interconnected network of all animals in the world and the universe as well. Through this, Buddy is able to use the abilities of not only animals that are nowhere in his vicinity, but also animals he may have never had contact with. However there have been numerous times where his connectedness to the Red has either rendered bad situations or problems in his ability to connect to this.

Buddy is a family man. One of the things that have been unique about his stories has been his connection to family. Buddy has a wife and two young kids. Throughout the years, and even in his first stories, he has been relentlessly devoted to them, which is impressive considering the Amazonian like superwomen he often shares ranks with. His children have run up against the superhuman community as well, and writer Jeff Lemire promises no changes from past habits with that regard. Animal Man is about the superhero struggle and how that affects and envelops the family.