Legion World Forums LEGION COMPANION Dr. Gym'll's Cultural Rarities Astro City

The Beautie special was probably the first time in a long time where I suddenly felt like it was time for Astro City to resume it's place in my mind as a premiere comic book. These one-shots I think went a long way reinvigorating Kurt so he could finish the Dark Age on a strong note.

It was also one of the most original Astro City stories of them all. Thematically there were some nice nods to comic book history but for the most part, she as a character and the story itself were pretty unique, I thought.

When I read someone say Busiek is washed up, or even over-rated, I think the Beautie special stands as evidence those people are flat out wrong.

And now I REALLY need to get that Samaritan special, since you rank it even higher!

Keep in mind that all criticism is subjective, so it's possible that you might rank them differently. The Beautie special is fresher in my mind because I read it probably within the past year for the first time.

The Samaritan special I read once and longer ago. But it sticks out in my mind in how well Busiek nailed the villain point of view (I think he was called 'Infidel', not 'Pagan', Blacula, IIRC.)there and with kind of a unique flair. There were also some nice story twists that stick out in my mind.

Either way, I can't imagine anyone ranking any of the stories from Local Heroes-on above those two stories. I've reread everything pre-Local Heroes at least once or twice. Whenever the next wave of AC is imminent, I'll make a point to reread all the DC/WS Astro City to get some better perspective, especially considering how spread apart that stuff has been comparatively.

The only thing I can add is that as good as the Dark Ages was at times, it was too long (even if you don't factor in the publishing delays) and doesn't compare to the two previous extended storylines featuring the Confessor and Steeljack in overall quality, consistency and impact, IMO.

By and large, however, I tend to prefer the one-shots and shorter continued stories.

I just re-read the Supersonic special a few days while reorganizing books, and it still holds up. Definitely a keeper.

I'll third the praise for the Beautie special. One of the best ever ACs. The best for me remains the 1/2 special with The Hanged Man, but this one is up there.

Oh yeah, as far as the entirety of Astro City is concerned, that one is definitely one of the very best to beat for sure!

What did you think of the Samaritan Special with Infidel, Miner?

Favorite AC story of all time- the Wizard 1/2 issue. The Image/Homage reprint (with a solid prose story to boot) is on my nightstand. I love <span class="spoiler_containter"><span class="spoiler_wording">Click Here For A Spoiler</span><span class="spoiler_text">the idea of a CRISIS-like event-- nicely told in what, 6 panels over a two page backdrop splash of the Eterneon/Time-Keeper battle-- having such personal repercussions</span></span>... beautiful story.

I pretty much agree with what you wrote. Excellent job getting into the head of a major comic-book villain. I'd have to pull it out again to make sure, but I recall a few one-or-two panel hints of adventures that took place that sounded fascinating. Busiek (and Morrison) has nailed that sort of thing; it really adds color and a sense of history to the AC universe.

I really need to do a full reread to decide which are the best. In the entirety of Astro City, the Confessor story stands out as the #1 story, but I'd love to reread to see what other stories are close. Others that stand out all these years later are the story about the reporter (that introduced the Old Soldier and others) and the Crackerjack / Quarrel / revelation of the old man is really an alien story.

I did not find the Samaritan story, but plan on hitting up another CBS this week for shits & giggles to see if I can find it.

One of my favorite stories of all time is the 1/2 issue. With the man who dreams of a woman every night after one of the heroes big Universe saving adventures (which I believe took one huge panel to tell.

Stories that stand out in my memory as being great are also the 1/2 issue with the Hanged Man (of course), the Confessor storyline, the Mock-Turtle/El Hombre tragedy, the Supersonic Special... more that I'm forgetting. They've all been great though. I don't think I've ever read a bad issue of Astro City.

No, there's never been a bad one. At their "worst" they're still better than the average book. AC's best, however, are among the very best the industry's seen over the last two decades.

Another standalone I really love is the Looney Leo story from the ongoing. That was a unique, fun and at the same time kinda tragic story. From the original mini, I've always had a soft spot for the issue that spotlighted Shadow Hill (the Hanged Man's stomping grounds) and the girl who grew up there and thought she wanted to move away.

As I said before, the Confessor and Steeljack storylines are superior to the Dark Age story, IMO. Besides its length and delays, I think it suffers from it not originally being crafted as an AC story. Kurt says this was the basic story he had plotted for the Marvels sequel that never got made (before Eye of the Camera, anyway) It's just an opinion, but I think AC is its own thing, and its stories (even if sometimes inspired by takes on the Big Two) should be crafted for that universe, not the other way around.

Thinking about how good Astro City is has made me realise how disappointing Busiek's forays into the DCU have been.

Other than a couple of Justice League of America issues from *decades* ago, a Red Tornado mini from almost as long, and Power Company (not a great book but not bad either), I can't think of one DCU story from him I've enjoyed (caveat - I haven't read his One Year Later Superman run that I hear wasn't bad).

Thinking about it, I think part of the reason I haven't enjoyed his DCU stories is because he never sets them in the DCU! Dude is obsessed with telling tales about alternate versions of DC heroes or taking our heroes to alternate universes -

* 2 of his 4 original JLofA stories were set in an alternate universe (and they were his worst 2).
* His more recent JLA run heavily featured the Crime Syndicate and their alternate earth (and really wasn't very good IMO).
* Trinity was all about an alternate world without Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman so that I never felt that anything I read in it was actually going to have any lasting effect on anyone or anything in the DCU. It was also totally boring IMO.
* His Aquaman was set in the DCU but may as well have been an Elseworlds since it was about a character who looked like Aquaman and had Aquaman's name... but was totally different to the Aquaman we know.
* Even his apparently good Superman run was about a weird alternate future or something from what I gather.

Why does Kurt bother taking assignments to write in the DCU if he seems to have such an aversion to it? It's a shame because I would MUCH rather have him there controlling the futures of these characters than Robinson, Winick, Giffen or even Johns who have all shown themselves as writers far too kill-happy for my liking.

Looks like AC remains at DC . That's how I thought it would roll. Even DC wouldn't be that stupid. Also, an AC movie in the works with Busiek providing a script treatment!

The most of Astro City that I've read was the first volume, which I've borrowed twice from the library, but haven't seen in a couple of years. Beyond that, issues I've glanced at in the store I work at, and now the only issues that I own are the one-shot about Beautie and the two-issue mini on the Silver Agent.

I recall the stories about Samaritan, his date with Winged Victory, Crackerjack, Jack-In-The-Box, and the woman whom commuted from Shadow Hill and decided it was safer there.

I'd like to start learning more about Astro City, but what has particularly caught my interest is the group of heroes called The Crossbreed. I understand they think their powers came from God, so they give themselves biblical names, and try to spread the word of Jesus and are labeled "The Jesus Freaks". What can you guys tell me about them?

Not much more than what you've said, off the top of my head. They're all named after biblical figures and have powers one might associate with their stories. For example, the one who looks like a lion is named Daniel after "Daniel and the lion's den". They've mostly had cameos and haven't been focused on very much yet, IIRC.

A REVIEW OF THE "ASTRO CITY: SHINING STARS" TRADE

I'd like to preface this review by saying that I'd been a Busiek skeptic for a long time. I didn't enjoy his Avengers run. At. All.

But thanks to Lardy and his passion for Astro City, I finally decided to give it a fair chance. When I looked at summaries for all the trades, I decided to start with Shining Stars, which collects a bunch of AC specials -- two one-shots, focusing on Samaritan and Beautie, and a pair of two-parters, focusing on Astra and Silver Agent.

When I announced this in another thread, this was Lardy's reply:



Lardy's prediction turned out to be quite accurate.

I loved the Samaritan story, which is actually more about his nemesis, Infidel. It's one of the best looks at what makes a super-villain tick that I've ever read. Infidel is up there with the best portrayals of Marvel's Doctor Doom. Samaritan, by comparison, can't help but seem a bit of a cipher, but it didn't lessen my enjoyment at all.

I loved the Beautie story even more. The bizarre concept was almost off-putting at first, but Busiek pulled it all together beautifully (no pun intended.) And I couldn't help but think that if this story had been done in the DCFU, it would have had the exact creepy and gruesome payoff which Busiek brilliantly teases us with hints of, only for it to turn out to be something completely different. By far my favorite story from this trade. Note that I avoided any kind of spoilers or specifics, because I think this is really a story that needs to be read by anyone who loves comic books.

The Astra story, by comparison, felt kind of flat to me. Astra is a member of the First Family, a sort of extended-family homage to the Fantastic Four. She's sort of a female Johnny Storm, although we see that her reputation is far from the real her. In a way, I think this works against the story, because Astra came off to me as kind of...bland, I can't think of any other way to put it. To paraphrase what Lardy said, this story suffers from being the culmination of a long-running plot while also technically being a done-in-one.

The Silver Agent story compounds this problem. It's borderline inaccessible to an AC novice, and it doesn't help that I'm not a fan of the Greatest Generation that Silver Agent comes from (my favorite Golden Age characters are people like Wesley Dodds and Dian Belmont, people who didn't fit in with those times.) The sacrifice that Silver Agent makes at the end would be a lot more affecting if we were given more information about the villain whose life he took, I think.

All in all, the first two stories left me wanting more AC, and perhaps reading the rest of the series will help me appreciate the last two stories better.

My thanks to Lardy for making this possible.

(And I don't yet know which trade I'm going to read next.)

Those are two of the very best AC standalones to date, even considering that there have been some truly great ones throughout its run. I'm so glad you loved them!!! I was nervous as hell because I know you typically don't care for anything Busiek-written. It just goes to show that a great story is a great story!



I honestly don't think the Astra 2-parter was a great story in any context. It benefits from an earlier 2-parter where we meet Astra as a child (and is a better story), but it's pretty average AC, regardless.



Yeah, the Silver Agent story ties in heavily to the long "Dark Age" storyline. It doesn't work well out of that context at all--and, like the Astra story, I think this one is only "average" AC. Even for me, it's pretty confusing.



DON'T try "Dark Age" next!

If you want to try an extended storyline next, try either "Confession" or "Tarnished Angel" (or both). For another good collection of one and two-parters, try "Family Album" or "Local Heroes" (the latter of which, I'm reading now).

Amen to that.



Much appreciated, Lardy. Since you're currently re-reading "Local Heroes", I think I'll go for that one, then we can discuss it with it fresh in both our minds.

I liked "Confession" a lot. It's the first Astro City stories I read as a collection.

The Beautie story is the one that made me finally think AC "was back". As Dark Age dragged on for years, this was so good it felt like a revelation.

All 4 trades Lardy recommends are terrific! I think you'll like all of them, as I know I look back at them all very fondly.

Cobie, did you ever read that Samaritan special story with Infidel or the Supersonic special?

No, I've never been able to find them. I haven't looked in awhile though so I'll check again, and maybe my cbs can help me. I have all the other AC issues as floppies so that's how I want to get these.

The ending of the previous arc with Winged Victory struck such a chord with me, I actually cried while reading it. It still makes me cry.

You know, SK, I thought of you when I was reading that story.

Got my signed AC #15 in the mail yesterday!

Awesome, Lardy!

Hope to be able to read Local Heroes this weekend, if my physical health cooperates.