Animal Man #22

Issue Details

Synopsis

Buddy feels he needs a time machine to go back and save his family. First he visits the Time Commander, but his hourglass is broken and he's having a bit of a breakdown. Next, he and Booster Gold go to ask the Rip Hunter and the Time Masters for help. At first Hunter refuses, but Buddy makes up a story about two time traveling villains teaming up against the Justice League. Hunter buys his story, and gives Buddy a damaged time machine that has a dent in it. As Buddy and Booster leave, Booster asks him how he got Hunter to let him borrow one of his machines. When Buddy remarks that he lied, Booster asks him what kind of hero is.At Arkham Asylum, something is beginning to happen to Psycho Pirate. He looks at the reader and tells us that he sees us watching him and calls us perverts. He grabs his head and complains about the pain. Suddenly, an array of colors erupts from his head and leave a comic book on the floor. Psycho Pirate goes to pick it up, and it's revealed to be the classic "Flash of Two Worlds" story.Meanwhile, Buddy has returned home and is in his kitchen preparing to activate the time machine. He does so, and we see several panels of him traveling through time. He ends up across the street from his house, and sees himself and Ellen after Mirror Master's attack. He tries to get their attention, but ends up disappearing and going further back in time. He winds up in a tree and sees his son Cliff walking below him. He calls Cliff's name, but he doesn't hear. Buddy disappears again. This happens a few more times. His daughter Maxine manages to see him, and he talks to her for a second; long enough for Ellen to look out the window and see her daughter talking to a strange man. Buddy goes further back in time. Buddy is beginning to despair... he keeps going further back in time and meets himself first as a teenager and then as a child. Finally, Buddy stops time traveling. He has landed back in the sixties, in a park. He sits down on a bench and holds his head in...