Astro

One of the many charms of “Astro City” is how Kurt Busiek uses it to tell stories on all sorts of subjects while still keeping it within the superhero genre. That’s the case with “Astro City” #35, where Busiek and Ron Randall delve into the history of multiple heroes who took the Jack-in-the-Box name. However, while this is a superhero story, it applies more broadly just as well. Strictly in terms of superhero trappings, Busiek’s script is strong. Busiek takes the time to showcase more about the different Jacks-in-the-Box and gives each hero an origin, while also exploring the different motivations and techniques of whoever’s behind the mask. From working solo to having others alongside, there are differences between each of the different characters involved. More importantly, Busiek neatly sidelines what could easily become a lineage of characters moving into the future; we’re shown that it’s not only a career that won’t work for everyone, but also just how easily disaster can strik

Who says you can’t go home again? In “Astro City” #32, Kurt Busiek and Brent Anderson revisit one of their classic storylines, “Tarnished Angel,” with a return to Steeljack now that he’s given up a life of crime. While reliving past victories often isn’t a good direction, “Astro City” #32 pleasantly eases readers into seeing an old friend once more. It’s been well over a decade since I read the original “Tarnished Angel” storyline, and thankfully Busiek assumes that other readers besides myself are in the same boat. He quickly and effortlessly eases us back into the story with a tiny bit of exposition to lead the way. In the case of “Astro City” #32, this feels especially natural because Busiek once again tells it in a crime noir/hard-boiled detective style, a genre that lends itself to a running inner monologue from the protagonist. This monologue is the core of “Astro City” #32; while the plotting is good, it’s the voice in which Busiek tells the story that everything else hangs on

It would be easy for “Astro City” to bang out a series of one-off stories, focusing on different, iconic ideas and moments within the superhero genre. In the case of “Astro City” #31, however, it’s anything but a one-off story. Kurt Busiek and guest artist Jesus Merino instead provide a sequel story to an earlier issue, while simultaneously advancing and updating one of the central groups within the “Astro City” series. I’m delighted Busiek has chosen to return to the Living Nightmare in “Astro City” #31. Such a simple but memorable character design deserves to be seen again, doubly so considering the character’s intangible, hard-to-defeat nature. Rather than simply have some of the series’ heroes tangle with Living Nightmare, Busiek turns the idea of a sequel on its head, because that’s the sort of thing that makes “Astro City” fun to read every month. It’s apt this issue follows the two-parter (in “Astro City” #29-30) showing the perspective of an individual member of a “villain” s

When it comes to superhero stories, “Astro City” consistently shows us other angles besides the road-most-traveled; Kurt Busiek and Brent Anderson continue that strong work in “Astro City” #29, where we learn just what it’s like to live in the alternate dimension that our heroes infrequently visit and fight against. “Astro City” #29 follows Zozat, a young Zirr who regards the dimension that holds Astro City only as the home of the evil First Family who has invaded on multiple occasions. As “Astro City” #29, we see just how the “villain” side of that sort of story would come across, doubly so for an average citizen of that world. It all leads up to another appearance by the First Family, of course, one that ultimately plunges Zozat right into the middle of the action. What’s nice about “Astro City” #29 is how well Busiek is able to walk down the proverbial middle of the road. It would be easy to simply cast the Zirr as mindless, unable-to-think-for-themselves people who are in the th

When reading “Astro City” #28, it’s understandable if you have a sense of dejà vu. There are multiple story elements here we’ve seen in other comics from Kurt Busiek, and — while he continues to use them well — it’s hard to shake that familiarity. Fortunately, thanks to guest art team Gary Chaloner and Wade von Grawbadger, there’s still something different and new for experienced Busiek fans to soak in. The plot of the comic is straightforward, as Busiek gives us the origin story of Australian superhero and Honor Guard member Wolfspider. As we go from mutated child (due to an accident) to restored young man who becomes a superhero, the strongest through-line is Wolfspider’s love of Queenslaw, an Australian cartoon featuring fictional superheroes from all across the continent. Having the shrunken Wolfspider playing along with the cartoon as he watches the episode is adorable and imbues the book with a certain upbeat nature. That nature continues even as we start to plumb depths we’v

It’s been twenty years since the debut of “Astro City,” a comic which explored what Superman-analogue Samaritan dreamed of, and it’s apt that Kurt Busiek and Brent Anderson celebrate that anniversary by revisiting its themes in “Astro City” #26 for “In Dreams 2015.” Since that original story, Samaritan has come a long way; he still forever protects the rest of the world, but he is in a good relationship with Winged Victory and is no longer completely alone. While Samaritan still dreams of flying, something dark invades his dreams, and that lack of release within his subconscious starts to bleed into his everyday life with bad consequences. I love the idea of seeing Samaritan’s dreams return in “Astro City” #26, doubly so now that they’ve gone darker, which feels as much a reflection of comics today as it does a reaction to that overall grim nature. While the setup is great, Busiek needs to provide a reason for this before the comic loses some of its steam. It’s the evil-force portion

“Astro City” #23 is one of my favorite issues of the series in a while, thanks to its introduction of Sticks, the gorilla who just wants to be a drummer in a rock band. Unfortunately for poor Sticks, he’s in “Astro City,” where superheroes and supervillains alike see him as an asset. Kurt Busiek and Brent Anderson’s latest creation’s attempt to make a life of his own delivers a compelling opening chapter in the character’s debut story. “Astro City” is well known for creating its own riffs on lots of different classic comic book ideas, and it’s easy to see Sticks’s genesis as connecting with the classic Gorilla City from DC Comics (with a mixture of other sources, like Marvel’s Savage Land, among others). Instead of wanting to conquer the universe, or defend his homeland from the dimensional rifts that regularly gape open, though, Sticks sees his chance to have a different life, and that’s where the appeal for the character ultimately comes from. Sticks isn’t the first character in t

“Astro City” is at its best when Kurt Busiek and Brent Anderson find that perfect balance between adventure and character examination, and so far that’s what we’re receiving in their latest storyline. “Astro City” #19 is the second part of a story exploring the life (past and present) of Quarrel, and it hits the mark over and over again. What’s great about “Astro City” #19 is that, at its core, it makes you care about Quarrel, a character who’s been little more than a face in the background up until now. Busiek alternates between dealing with her in the present day — confronting the fact she’s aging, unlike corporate characters — and running through her history as a hero. It helps that Quarrel’s a self-made hero that pulled herself up by her proverbial bootstraps from an awful situation, something that makes us a little predisposed to like her. Even without that bonus, Quarrel is likable and someone with which the reader can quickly empathize. Between her early bewilderment upon arri

I like the concept of “Sorrowsday,” Kurt Busiek and Tom Grummett’s story for “Astro City” #17. But for a series that has normally worked so well in dipping in and out of a long, fictional history that is often described to us rather than actually experienced, this is an issue where I feel we needed the actual experience in order for this comic to have worked at full capacity. “Astro City” #17 gives us the story of a microscopic universe’s people, their foe Krigari Ironhand that regularly tried to bring his army into the world of Astro City, and how Stormhawk of the Honor Guard had ultimately sacrificed himself to stop Krigari. The story is told through Eth, a member of the microscopic Quiqui-a, as he explains the rise of Krigari and the sorrow that has resulted from the telling of this story. Often, Busiek’s relating of “Astro City” stories that we’ve never seen is charming and enthralling, but it never quite coalesces here. Maybe it’s because Stormhawk’s a bit of an enigma — I bare

I adore “Astro City” and every month there’s a new issue is always reason to celebrate. But in the case of “Astro City” #15, Kurt Busiek and Brent Anderson’s story has little else besides sweetness going for it, with a progression that shifts back and forth between predictable and ideas coming out of nowhere. Don’t get me wrong, Ellie and her robots are rather adorable. I like the way that Busiek writes her dialogue; it’s calm and relaxing, an amalgamation of every beloved grandmother figure out there. Already knowing that she’s innocent certainly doesn’t hurt matters, of course, but Busiek gives readers someone to cheer for even as she’s thrown into jail over crimes that she wasn’t responsible for. And in many ways, the high point of the comic is when she confronts her nephew Fred, who is responsible for the crimes in the first place. It’s the sort of moment where you can see it playing out exactly that way; not in the typical comic book fashion, but more along the ways where your g