[Guest reviewer Zach King writes about movies at The Cinema King and about comics on Instagram at Dr. King’s Comics.]

“I’ve been a Forager fanatic for most of my life, ever since finding the comic in the waiting room of our childhood guitar teacher, James Ray. I squeezed Bug into my New Gods entry in my issue of DC Solo, along with Orion, Lightray and Mister Miracle. And when Lee and I were coming up with proposals for Gerard Way and Jamie S. Rich after an invite to play in the Young Animal playground, I just kept throwing Bug in every single one of them.” — Michael Allred

I’m too close to the material to recognize the broader reputation of Young Animal. I was all-in for this initiative, a pop-up imprint at DC circa 2016. Doom Patrol and Far Sector certainly resonated, and we see Mother Panic turn up every now and again to remind us of that moment in comics history when Gerard Way and some of his friends just got weird with DC’s back catalog. I’ll resist the urge to sound the call for a Young Animal Compendium or two (who am I kidding? Of course I want these books!), because what I really want to do is talk about Michael Allred.