The second Astro City MetroBook has some of my all-time favorite stories from the esteemed series by Kurt Busiek, Brent Anderson, Alex Ross and company. The series has established itself by this time as one of the best in all the field all time and has found a home for the time being under the Homage brand at Image Comics.
The first story introduces us to Looney Leo, a cartoon character who is brought to life through the machinations of a supervillain. Evoking memories of Tawky Tawny, Leo is a much gruffer character and has a range of misadventures as he tries to find a path of sorts through a real life which he has little or no preparation for. I'm reminded of Fatty Arbuckle among other infamous characters from entertainment.
And then we are treated to one of the all-time best stories in Astro City lore, the saga of the down and out Steeljack. Steeljack is an ex-con, formerly known as "The Steel-Jacketed Man", he's grown weary of a life of crime and is merely trying to find a way to get along. But this dour protagonist finds things quite difficult as he's forced time and again to mingle with old friends, most all of them hoods of some kind. When an unknown force is killing masked villains in the area, he gets pulled into becoming a de facto gumshoe, but as he tells time and again, he's not really cut out for it. As the story rumbles along for six issues we meet the discredited hero El Hombre and the whimsical and tragic villain Mock Turtle. This one has lots of twists and turns and we get to see the heroes from the other side for a change.
One of the most fanciful stories is about a woman who writes comic book stories for the publisher Bulldog Comics. The editor is a blustery fellow full of positive thoughts who is able to talk talent into doing things they perhaps regret later. When a villain takes issue with how he's portrayed things get dangerous and more than a tad nasty. But that's nothing compared to what's coming. A great one.
We switch from comics to television when the star of the show The Crimson Cougar wants a little taste of what it's like to be a real superhero. He regrets his decision pretty quickly and takes steps ultimately to remove himself from the limelight, with a little help from his friend. And that brings the first Astro City series to an end. But wait, it's not over yet by any means.
Astro City converts now to a sequence of limited-series runs, the first is a five-issue run labeled "Local Heroes". This plays hob with the numbering but that's something for completists to worry about really. The first of these issues tells the tale which gives us a look at what it might like to visit Astro City for the first time and what it might take to live there full-time. Our guide is a doorman at a local hotel who welcomes the newcomers and reflects on his own days being fresh in town.
We get a highly personal story in the second issue where we follow the memories of a older lady as she reflects on the past and her attempts to achieve all that life had to offer. She found success in a career and for a time a seeming romance with a freshly-minted superhero named Atomicus. But her efforts to unlock his secrets prove tragic.
The third issue takes us outside Astro City to the small country town of Caplinville where we follow a teenager forced to spend the summer with her relatives. She's a big city girl and has a difficult time getting used to the slower pace of the rural community and then she finds even these folks have superheroes and secrets. The Roustabout is a fine addition to Astro City's cavalcade of heroes.
We encounter the Blue Knight in this two-part story which focuses on an honest lawyer who gets trapped between doing his best for his mobster client and protecting himself and his family. His success in the courtroom surprisingly doesn't give him the security he desires and so the Blue Knight takes a hand. This closes the Local Heroes run.
Echoes of the Silver Age resound as Supersonic is called out of retirement and back into duty to help save the city. This special issue focuses on a hero who knows he's lost a step or two but must still try and bring the opponent down. It's a battle not without cost, but also not without enlightenment.
In a short story which nested among many others celebrating the bravery of first responders, we get a tale that has no superhero, just regular heroes. In the real world that's what we have.
In Astro City - A Visitor's Guide we are treated to a small tale by Busiek and Anderosn of a woman who gets wrapped up inside a heinous villain who is just waiting his chance. She survives and even thrives after her brush with danger and even possible death. The rest of this charming comic are faux ads for various places in Astro City, a map of the city, a brief history, as well as a rousing roster of hero bios decorated with wonderful portraits by the likes of Carlos Pacheco, Jim Lee, Dave Gibbons, Jerry Ordway, Walt Simonson, Lee Weeks, Jackson Guice, Jim Starlin, Al Milgrom, Howard Chaykin, Mike Golden, Darwyn Cooke among many others. Alex Ross paints a stunner of a cover for this one.
And that's the second MetroBook. Look for the next overview in a few weeks.
Rip Off
No comments:
Post a Comment