Animal Man #4

The cover by Jae Lee says it all: Buddy Baker, clad in his blue-and-gold Animal Man suit, is engulfed and dragged down by a swarm of snarling, rust-red monstrous creatures tangled in dark, whip-like tendrils — a visceral image that captures the relentless pressure bearing down on DC's New 52 champion of the Red. Jeff Lemire, Steve Pugh, and Francis Portela deliver *Splinter Species*, the fourth collected volume of their critically praised run, and IGN's endorsement — "nothing but highly impressive and undeniably engrossing" — feels well-earned given the sheer dread radiating from this package. If you've been following Buddy's fight to protect his family and the natural world, this 2014 collection looks like a deeply satisfying next chapter.