Story: A young orphan named Brian Kinney takes a bus from the country to Astro City, determined to make a mark in the world and earn the respect of those around him – something he feels his father failed to do. He works at the periphery of the hero scene, working as a busboy at establishments that cater to the superpowered community. He catches the eye of the Confessor, a nighttime vigilante who agrees to train him, and Brian soon assumed the role of Altar Boy. It’s not the best of times to be a hero, however. A series of unsolved murders in the Shadow Hill section of town has the citizens on edge, and a number of heroes have had run-ins with the media. When the mayor demands that heroes register with the government, he fans the anti-hero sentiment and eventually declares all costumed activity illegal. Brian finds his attention divided between many mysteries, chief among them being: Is there a larger threat looming behind these events? Who is the Confessor, really? Can Brian trust him? And why is he trying so hard to be a hero in the first place?

Review: This six-chapter arc is probably Busiek’s crowning achievement to date on the Astro City series. The complex plot builds well, with several mysteries raised and solved along the way, and readers of the two previous volumes will note payoffs for what may have seemed throwaway events in those earlier short stories. As always, Busiek’s focus in this series is on character, and Brian Kinney/Altar Boy is a good one – a determined, talented and truly heroic young man who might be doing the right things for the wrong reasons. Brian’s dead father, a doctor who offered his services willingly without much thought of his own financial well-being, looms over the story; Brian feels his father let himself appear weak and be taken advantage of, and Brian is determined not to let the same thing happen to him. The son trying to avoid and overcome the mistakes of the father is certainly not a novel theme, but it’s so used so often because it works, and it works because it’s so often true. Certainly, I have no trouble relating to such stories when told by a writer as skilled as Busiek. (more…)

Story: Another set of short stories from Astro City, including two Eisner Award winners. In this volume: A single father brings his two daughters across the country to rebuild their lives in the City. A ten-year-old superheroine tries to escape to a normal life. A thief gets away with the perfect crime – perhaps too perfect. The arrival of would-be heroes from the future forces a present-day inventor and hero to reassess his career. Willed to life by an audience’s belief, a cartoon star finds fame and fortune all too fleeting.

Review: As the American comics industry shifts from a periodical market to a book market, some readers have decried a tendency to “write for the trade,” padding out stories to four, six, or more chapters in order to make a complete volume. This collection of Kurt Busiek’s Astro City proves that collections of shorter stories, connected only by theme or setting, can be more than worthwhile additions to the bookshelf. (more…)

Story: This collection of standalone stories illuminates different corners of the fictional universe of Astro City. Among the stories: The city’s leading superhero tries to be everywhere at once, and berates himself for every wasted second as he longs for just a moment of his own. A small-time hood learns a hero’s secret identity, and tries to figure out how to profit from the knowledge. A beat reporter gets some advice from his editor on his first day on the job. A young woman tries to balance the demands of her family with her own hopes and desires.

Review: There are many smart people in comics who argue that the superhero genre is totally spent, stuck recycling old stories and old archetypes and doomed to tell superficial power fantasies, no matter how much the hot new creators of the moment try to dress them up.

Kurt Busiek’s Astro City proves these critics wrong. In Astro City, Busiek, Anderson and Ross have created a wonderfully rich setting, a city with a history and character of its own that feels as real and as diverse as any American city. The only difference is that Astro City is full of superpowered individuals, and has been for at least 75 years. Some of these characters are allegories for established heroes published by DC and Marvel – analogues for Superman, Wonder Woman and the Fantastic Four (among others) appear in this volume. Others are wholly original creations, allowing Busiek to take various archetypes in new directions. (more…)