Astro City: Victory

 

Astro City has always been one of those comics that was both a social commentary and parody of comic books and superheroes. But it's never been this obvious. The main three characters in this story are Samaritan, The Confessor, and Winged Victory. But in reality, these characters are Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman.
 
   So, I got excited about an all-new Astro City story and I was really reading Trinity (the name for DC's short-lived Superman-Batman-Wonder Woman team-up from 2008-2009.) Astro City is now published by Vertigo, an imprint of DC Comics. Thus, DC is technically the owner of Astro City right now. With 52 potential incarnations of the DC Trinity, do readers really need a 53rd
 
    I've known for a while that Samaritan is an analog of the Man of Steel. But he's not the star of the comic- the city is! Yet in this storyline, that changes very much.
 
    In Victory- the mysterious Winged Victory is under attack by a smear campaign when a group of super villains and students of Victory's women self-sufficiency centers accuse the Champion of the Council of Nike of setting up battles to make her look better in the front of the media's cameras. Naturally, Winged Victory wants to be an independent woman and solve this crisis on her own. But this controversy is proving to be a conspiracy and it may be too much for just one person to solve when the government agency EAGLE comes to shut down her operation and take her in for questioning.
 
    Enter the Confessor and Samaritan.
 
    I really love Kurt Busiek's Astro City. But this storyline is not classic Astro City and that's very disappointing. The story was pretty good. But, it's just too cliched and too similar to other comic book tales I've read in the past.
 
     Thankfully, this volume isn't just about the 'Big Three." Included in this book is the Astro City Visitor's Guide. From 2004, this book is quintessential Astro City because it is about the main character of this series- the bustling city itself. There's some great back story here along with a really neat short story about a girl who takes a superhero tour of the city and ends up becoming a part of the action. There are also about two dozen character sheets about the generations of superheroes to operate in the fair city. Some of these, especially the First Family, are a parody (or knock-offs) of established Marvel and DC properties. Again, they aren't the focus of the book, so it's forgivable.
 
    I got this book from (everyone all at once-) my local library. I'm actually glad I didn't buy this book. In fact if I came across these books as individual issues, the only thing I'd consider buying would be the visitors guide. I look forward to my return visit to Astro City. I just hope that forthcoming trips don't follow the same formula as this venture did.

   Rating: 5 out of 10 stars.