We first meet G-Dog. A chance encounter with a magical amulet melds a small time crook with his new dog, Hank. First experimenting as a villain, Hank's instinct to be a good boy slowly changes Astro City's newest hero over to the side of the angels.
Before I go on with my overview of this volume, I have to admit: I cheated. The rule for me with any comic book story is 'don't kill the dog!' or whatever cute little fuzzy there is. So I had to read ahead.
SPOILER- the puppy dies. Thankfully, it's not a shocking death like in The Weatherman. But gosh darn it. No matter how much I prepared myself, I was devastated. Though I wasn't so sad for Hank. He seemed okay with his passing and so I was okay with it. I was in tears for Pet Patrol, Hank's animal teammates who must move on without their canine heavy.
The second story is about a superhero named Resistor. Anytime a protest goes awry, this hero empowers the persecuted to become human shields from counter-protesters. It was an interesting story told from the point of view of a reporter who is convinced that her estranged father is behind the creation of the Resistors.
Lastly, the story of Astro City comes full circle as we revisit Michael Tenicek. Michael first appeared in the Wizard co-produced Astro City #1/2. In that opening salvo, which introduced Astro City to the DC/Wildstorm universe, a cross-time battle of heroes and villains ended up erasing Michael's wife Miranda from existence. Given a choice to move on or allowed The Hanged Man allows Michael the opportunity to forget his bride. But in a tragic twist, Michael decided to for-go that choice and moves on with his set of fractured memories.
Now 25 years have passed. Michael has started Miranda's Friends; a support group for the citizens of Astro City whose lives have been impacted by the influence of those ubiquitous heroes and villains and the tragedy that follows in their wake. Mysterious benefactors have honored Michael's sacrifices by paying for his bills and every needs. Thus 7-days a week, multiple times per day, Tenicek takes care of the lost and broken, all the while basically ignoring his own broken heart. But when a new addition to Miranda's friends attacks him as being a faker who feasts on the emotional needs of the support group, Michael Tenicek will finally have to face the pain of having memories of a woman and romance that both was very real and never occurred at all.
The opening and closing stories were very good. Tenicek's story was the perfect ending to this series. I love how the saga came full circle.
The Resistor story was okay. One would think it was rushed to reflect the changing culture of the deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor. However, those tragedies took place in 2020 almost a full year after this story debuted. So, there's a sort of eerie forbording, especially with a small scene in which both BLM and the police are attacked by snipers.
But the VIP of this volume was the G-Dog story. It both broke my heart and warmed it at the same time. When Doctor Monkey is rebuffed after offering G-Dog membership into the Pet Patrol team, I felt so bad for the genius Capuchin monkey. Knowing Hank's time is growing short, the decision to have G-Dog have as much fun as possible with the Pet Patrol just made me so happy. But again when tragedy struck, I was grieving for Doctor Monkey and his teammates. Hopefully, their story isn't over. Oh man- wait a minute. The series is over...
THINK AGAIN!!!
I decided to research if this is truly the end for Astro City. Thanks to an announcement from about a month ago, Astro City will be re-incorporated into the Image Comics lineup. Hopefully, the Pet Patrol will be back on rounds when the comic is revived in March, 2022! That would be such a treat and a great tribute to Hank! And fans such as me!!
Worth Consuming!
Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.
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