Animal Man #13

History

Animal Man #13, cover-dated July 1989 and published on June 1, 1989, was scripted by Grant Morrison with interior pencils by Chas Truog and inks by Doug Hazlewood — the core creative team throughout the run. The series itself existed because DC editor Karen Berger, following the critical template set by Alan Moore's Swamp Thing, recruited Morrison after their work in the British comics scene and pitched the book as a four-issue limited series; strong sales converted it to an ongoing. The entire series was published in DC's higher-quality 'New Format' and carried a 'Suggested for Mature Readers' label rather than the Comics Code Authority seal, giving Morrison the latitude to address subjects like apartheid violence without softening them for a younger audience.

Trivia · 8 facts

• First appearance of Freedom Beast (Dominic Mndawe), created by Grant Morrison and Chas Truog; he is a South African photojournalist and anti-apartheid activist who becomes the successor to B'wana Beast.
• Story title: 'Hour of the Beast.' Cover date: July 1989. On-sale date: June 1, 1989. Published by DC Comics under its 'New Format / Suggested for Mature Readers' banner without a Comics Code Authority seal.
• The issue dramatizes the passing of B'wana Beast's power — the magical helmet and animal-fusing elixir — from the white American Mike Maxwell to Mndawe, who immediately rejects the 'B'wana' title (Swahili for 'master') and adopts the name Freedom Beast.
• Mndawe's argument that 'nothing in South Africa is beyond politics' — delivered in response to Maxwell's claim that the superhero role is apolitical — is the thematic spine of the issue, directly engaging white saviorism nearly three decades before that framing became common in mainstream critical discourse.
• Interior credits: script by Grant Morrison, pencils by Chas Truog, inks by Doug Hazlewood, colors by Tatjana Wood, letters by John Costanza. Cover painted by Brian Bolland, who provided cover art for the majority of Morrison's run and won the Eisner Award for Best Cover Artist in 1992 partly on the strength of this work.
• The issue was edited by Karen Berger, who had championed the title from its inception and would later found DC's Vertigo imprint, under which much of Morrison's run was eventually reprinted.
• Freedom Beast went on to join the Global Guardians and made subsequent appearances across the DC Universe, including a live-action debut in Season 4 of the HBO Max series Titans, portrayed by Nyambi Nyambi.
• The issue has been reprinted in four collected editions: Animal Man: Origin of the Species, the Animal Man Omnibus (first released 2013, reprinted 2022 under the DC Black Label imprint), Animal Man by Grant Morrison Book One, and the Animal Man by Grant Morrison 30th Anniversary Deluxe Edition Book One.

Full credits

Key issues in Animal Man

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#1 1st appearance — Maxine Baker

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#2 1st appearance — T.C.