"Animan," is a Funny Slice-of-Life Styled Take on Superheroes

Anouk Ricard is a French comic-maker, and her work is often translated into English. She's done the fun all-ages books about, "Anna and Froga," and created the stellar, "Benson's Cuckoos," some time ago. Her latest work is, "Animan," which is a bit of a superhero story...except not really. Published by Drawn & Quarterly, this book is loosely inspired by the 1980's show, "Manimal." The idea is that as a baby, Francis was bitten by a radioactive mosquito that had absorbed a lot of animals' blood at a zoo. He can now turn into various animals and uses this to be a pet therapist who can (secretly) talk with the animals when he becomes one too. He also helps stop crimes, but doesn't really seek them out. If he's made aware of wrongdoing, he'll make an effort, but he mostly just enjoys his job and living with his girlfriend, a talking frog named Fabienne. Interestingly enough, others can hear her talk, and she is unaware that Francis has powers and only ever sees him as a human. The…