It's just been one big rolling mega-event for like 10 years now. I wouldn't worry about it - if there is a creative team that interests you, jump in whenever. It's not like it makes any fucking sense anyway 
I mean, they recently went through something called 'The Heroic Age' - all the books got branded with this. I double-dare anyone to tell me what this actually meant for any books that didn't have Steve Rogers in it though. Basically, he became head of SHIELD. It was billed as this line-wide change in tone - all the superheroes would be like accepted and happy and inspirational and shit. Were they fuck
Yeah, it's kind of ludicrous. A few weeks ago I went back and read Pak's Incredible Hercules run (because Amadeus Cho
) and it was one giant line-spanning clusterfuck after another. It was kind of hilarious because a 2.5 year, 30 issue run has all this shit like Asgard in Kansas, Dark Avengers, Osborn as Iron Patriot, Secret Invasion etc. etc. etc. that I had completely forgotten about, just lying around the edges. It's completely ludicrous comics.
One thing I loved was the slow open. Starting with a page of text takes balls, but using a double page splash on a tableaux of a family making dinner and chit-chatting? That takes some balls, especially in a first issue. Lemire really has a handle on the slow build-up of tension that is needed for true horror. He also has the voice for Buddy down - I felt comfortable with it right away. That said, if you were comparing it to Morrison's Animal Man I'd have to agree with 'alright'. I thought it was easily as interesting as say, Sweet Tooth or American Vampire though, which is a lot more realistic an expectation I think.
"Alright" is pretty high praise from me for a DC/Marvel book - it means it's something I'll continue reading and supporting with my dollars, which is pretty rarified company. And you're right - the family scenes and the slow burn do really add to the overall tone, so complaining "this is slow" is not really fair. I mentioned to the woman last night as I was reading it that one of the things I like most about Animal Man is that he has a real family that's not just there to get kidnapped or shoved into refrigerators, and that the family drama is on par in importance with the superheroics. While it can seem kind of like trite legacy hero brand extension for some heroes, for Buddy I think bringing Maxine into the fold is a really good direction for the book. You are also right that the tone of Buddy's dialogue and "everyguy"ness was nailed straight from the start.
I think it's worth noting that (for the first arc, at least) DC now has me supporting two books in digital monthly - Action Comics and Animal Man - which is $6 more per month than they were getting from me before. If they'd just gone day-and-date digital without a full systemic reboot, I doubt I would have taken a look at any of the wares. So, chalk some up at least a partial victory for the "new 52."
