been meaning to check out animal man, new 52 stuff an okay place to start?
ehhh... i don't think so
the new 52 animal man changed writers/direction (it's one of the two but it might as well be writers with how drastic of a quality drop it was) a little in so this insanely interesting concept ultimately got scrapped in favor of a much more generic kinda outlook on the thing. plus it's a victim of really harsh editorial meddling later on in that run too so it ends up just getting worse and worse. i dropped it around that period.
the concept is seriously extremely interesting though and a really fantastic and unique thing- there's a very heavy horror aspect to it and the initial writer really does strong work with it
the quintessential animal man is grant morrison's- it's a bit dated and definitely blunders quite a few times but the run is overall pretty short (26 issues) and the highs are some of the greatest highs in the mediums, i think.
i think it's considered to be one of the greatest comic runs period and i personally feel it's there or very close for good reason. but you can definitely tell it's a product of it's time in the same way you can tell watchmen is. i don't know if i'd say it really detracts from it but rather it provides insight to it's contents in the same way you'd do so with watchmen