Astro City, Volume 16: Broken Melody

For a couple of volumes now, the mysterious Broken Man has been floating in and out of continuity; warning readers of some terrible doom. In Astro City, Volume 16: Broken Melody, many (but not all) of the questions of the Broken Man's origin are explored. Also, we get an in-depth look at the importance of Astro City's music scene and it's long history of music genre themed superheroes.

Somewhere in the middle of this volume is the 100th issue ever published about one of my favorite comic book cities. It explores the controversial origin and history of the Astro-Naut. This Clark Kent/Tony Stark/Howard Hughes hybrid is whom the city gets it's moniker. It was a wild 1940s era ride.

This entire volume was absolutely fantastic. Every story was top notch stuff from Kurt Busiek, Brent Anderson and Alex Ross. I also pride myself at solving the mystery behind this entire story before the big reveal!

Astro City hasn't dropped in quality. But Broken Melody is one of the best volumes in this series. And it's the best story arc I have read since Volume 14: Reflections; the Tarnished Angel sequel. 

If you read one non-main stream superhero this year- this volume is in a very close tie for the one I recommend. Jeff Lemire's Black Hammer, Volume 1 is the other honoree. 

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 10 out of 10 stars.

Astro City, Volume 15: Ordinary Heroes

I really don't think it is possible for the creative team behind Astro City to come up with a bad story. Astro City, Volume 15: Ordinary Heroes is another fantastic collection of Vertigo Comics by Kurt Busiek, Brent Anderson, and Alex Ross. 

This collection answers some of Astro City's must pressing questions such as just really how did the original Jack-In-The-Box die? But the question that I have been waiting a near eternity for is who is the Hanged Man? 

I was ultra excited for that issue and the City Councilmen of Astro City did not disappoint!

As Astro City neared in's 25th anniversary, several guests artists were brought in to help with the festivities. But honestly, I couldn't tell you who they were or really how they contributed because I couldn't discern any slip in the level of quality here.

There were a couple of other stories added here such as one starring a cat named Kittyhawk. The new pet of one of Astro City's countless superheroes, there's more than meets the eye with this precocious feline. Another great story. 

I love Astro City. It's one of my all-time favorite titles. When I find a new volume, I know that I am in for a treat as this city has been carefully placed in the hands of three masters.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 10 out of 10 stars.

Astro City, Volume 13: Honor Guard

This is the collection Astro City fans have been asking for. The origin of Wolf Spider- revealed! The secrets of the American Chibi uncovered! Plus an epic battle between Samaritan and Nightmare and much more. 

This was one of the best collections of Astro City. This announcment is pretty difficult to surmise considering that's rarely ever been a bad story ever in lengthy history of Astro City. 

Featuring artwork by guest artist Jesus Merino, Merino has proven that he's got what it takes to be a member of the Astro City Architects. He could sub in for Brent Anderson and Alex Ross anytime in my opinion!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 10 out of 10 stars.

Astro City, Volume 14: Reflections

 Excerpt from Amazon.com:

"Then, a spotlight on three generations of Jack-in-the-Box, as the second Jack-in-the-Box's son must decide whether to follow in the family footsteps or take another path. Also featuring the Trouble Boys, Mister Drama, the Weirdies and more."

Nope- that does not happen in this book! I'm not sure which volume Amazon is detailing, but they got this wrong!

What is in Volume 14 of Astro City is as follows:

• When a member of the First Family is kidnapped by inter-dimensional beings, the team declare all-out war! But this story isn't told from the heroes perspective but from that of the enemies. It's a very intriguing tale about propaganda and just who are the real enemies in war.
• In an anniversary story, the Samaritan is troubled by terrible nightmares. In order to determine the source of the problem, the hero will need to be quarantined for 24-hours. Marvel at how the entire Astro City superhero community comes together to pick up the slack for the fallen leader of the Honor Guard.
• Busiek, Anderson, and Ross revisit a classic forgotten character: Steeljack. Has the aged villain finally gone straight? Will he be able to stay righteous when he's approached by a former for help?

       This was a great volume. Steeljack's story, Tarnished Angel, is my favorite Astro City tale. So it was great getting to see what he was up to again. The First Family epic was very thought provoking and the Samaritan story was extremely touching.  The trio of Kurt Busiek, Alex Ross, and Brent Anderson did it again with this volume! 

        Amazing stuff!

      Worth Consuming!

      Rating: 10 out of 10 stars.

Astro City, Volume 12: Lover's Quarrel

    Enjoy another trip to Astro City with your guides Kurt Busiek, Brent Anderson, and Alex Ross. On this trek, discover the love/ hate on again/ off again relationship of Quarrel and Crackerjack through the numerous back alleys and secret headquarters of the community. Then enjoy the music scene of Astro City as the silver-back (and super-smart) gorilla Stick ventures from his Arctic paradise homeland to the City of Heroes in hopes of becoming a drummer.

     It's another fun journey to one of my favorite fictional cities. The Quarrel story started off a little rough, but once I realized who the narrator really was, the story got quite intriguing and quite good. The Stick story was brilliant. It was a tribute to comicdom's long-running obsession with apes. I'll admit, I had to flip ahead because I was going to be quite mad if this volume ended with dead monkey.

(SPOILER: It didn't.)

    Another great volume. I was a bit disappointed that this volume didn't include the ubiquitous sketch book section. There was a script section instead but it wasn't quite the same...

    Worth Consuming

    Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Astro City, Volume 2: Confession

  Volume 2 of Kurt Busiek's award-winning series stars the Confessor and his new sidekick, Altar Boy. The duo is the Astro City equivalent of Batman and Robin. So I thought I would be reading a sort of tribute to the Dynamic Duo but with a Catholic slant to their personas. Instead, Confession is the Astro City version of Watchmen. 

    A serial killer is on the loose in the poor neighborhood of Silent Hill and the carefree superheroes of the metropolitan marvel seem unable or unwilling to do anything about it. Along with several destructive episodes of careless heroics, the inaction of the city's heroes has allowed the Mayor to sway public opinion and opened the city up to an alien invasion. Added to the chaos is the Confessor's strange behavior as he the only hero who conducts searches for the Silent Hill killer. But why does even the burg's mystical protector, the Hanged Man, shy away from this troubled Man of God in his pursuit of justice and what is the horrible secret that keeps the Confessor awake at night?

    With Halloween almost here, I thought this would be an eerie (but fun) little jaunt through Astro City. I was not disappointed. Busiek crafted not one but two great mysteries in this story. The main one about the Confessor- just who or what is he? Since this is technically the second volume of the franchise, if you view all of the comics published under different publishers as a whole and I've read all of these out of order, I already knew his secret. But I was completely unawares of the whole alien invasion plotline and so my a priori knowledge of Astro City didn't detract from enjoying this story. Also, the intimidating presence of the Hanged Man throughout this book just deepens my level of interest in wanting to know more about his origin, which after 20-years of publication, Busiek has just scratched the surface with him.

     With completing Confession, my historic tours of Astro City is now complete. Thankfully, there's an all-new series being published monthly by Vertigo. So, I'll get to make some return trips from time to time. But with the inclusion of the rare Wizard issued mini-comic #1/2 added at the end of this volume, I am all caught up on all of the classic Astro City stories. 

     This really is one of the best franchises in all of the modern age of comics. With it's timeless approach to honoring all genres and levels of comics and pop culture history, my trips to Astro City is always fresh and never do I see the same thing twice. Plus, with the very rare exception of a fill-in artist or guest writer, it's rare to have the same trio of writers and artists working on the same project for as long as Busiek, Brent Anderson, and Alex Ross have. To put the trio's 20-year run into perspective, Stan Lee and Jack Kirby's longest continuing collaboration on a title, which was Fantastic Four, was only 9 years. 

     That's dedication not just to the craft but to the level of pride and care Busiek, Anderson, and Ross put into every issue of Astro City.

    Worth Consuming

    Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

    

Astro City: Private Lives

• A day in the life of the personal assistant of the world's greatest sorceress.
• An ex-con with exquisite taste in clothes struggles to go straight on a minimum wage salary.
• A museum devoted to evil robots, curated by an elderly woman with a shadowy past.
• A city, bit by the love bug, when the personification of desire visits planet earth.
• A teenaged criminal mastermind's birthday wish.

    Privates Lives is another volume into the world of Astro City. This volume focuses some of the lesser known heroes, villains, and citizens that have appeared in the background of one of those most all-encompassing comic universes of all-time. It's also one of my personal favorites. 

    Writer Kurt Busiek could write the Astro City phone book and I'd love it. Artist Brent Anderson would design all of the logos of businesses advertised therein and Alex Ross would paint the front and back cover and I'd adore it! That level of masterful detail into each and every corner of Astro City is what makes the 'Busiekverse' one of my all-time favorite worlds in all of comicdom.

    If you don't believe me, take a look at the nearly 40 pages of sketches, notes, and drafts at the end of this volume. Busiek might be the brains behind Astro City, but the community would be nothing without the extensive input the writer has with his artists cohorts. One of the great things about this series is that it doesn't just use comic books for inspiration but all of history and pop culture.

    A good example of this is the cover to issue 15. It shows the mysterious curator of the robot museum repairing an exhibit piece. That image alone by Ross is stunning. But look in the background of this work. There's a Cyberman's head from Doctor Who, a dormant Sentinel from the X-Men, the arm of C-3PO, and at least one of DC's Metal Men hiding in the curator's workshop. Not to mention countless more goodies lying about. This is a classic example of all the exciting eye candy that the trio of Busiek, Anderson, and Ross sprinkle throughout every page of this amazing series. 

    Yes, I'm giving great lip service to this series and its creators. But that doesn't mean that I thought everything was great. Storywise, I thought the tale about the wandering personification of desire was terrible. The prose was inconsistent and rambled just about as much as the story itself. One scene might take place at 4 pm and the next at 4 am. But, Busiek neglects to tell the reader if the story jumps to 4 am tomorrow or 4 am earlier that morning.  The art at least was of the same superior quality of the other issues in this volume, but it couldn't save this story.

    Despite my misgivings of that story, this volume was spectacular. With a cliffhanger that promises to tie in all of the stories in Privates Lives into a single sweeping mosaic, I can't wait for that follow-up volume to drop. At least I don't have to wait very long for it. (It's due in stores on Nov. 24th.) 

    So, what are you waiting for? Pack your bags for an all-expenses-paid tour of Astro City. Just be sure to pack a basket for all the Easter eggs you're sure to find when your there.

   Worth Consuming

   Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Astro City: Family Album

    This Astro City anthology collects issues from the second volume of the award-winning series after it switched publishers from Image to Vertigo (known as Homage/ Wildstorm at the time.) Thankfully, the collective creative team of Kurt Busiek, Brent Anderson, and Alex Ross is still the same, as is the city itself. Now, I know why Homage/ Wildstorm eventually became Vertigo as it was bought out by DC- so the only change was ownership rights. But I cannot find a definitive answer as to why the switch from Image. But really, it's all pretty seamless between quality and publishers, if you ask me.

   In this volume, tourists of Astro City will see the superhero metropolis through the eyes of a brand new resident during a major crisis that draws in just about every superhero imaginable against a weather god. Then, explore the wonders of Challenger Mountain as young Astra Furst ponders what it's like to be a normal kid. When she runs off to investigate for herself, her family will literally move heaven and earth to find her in a dazzling voyage to the underworlds of the Busiek-verse.

   The next stop on our tour of the City will have us being bad as a washed up criminal pulls off the crime of the century. But, his new found fortune and cross-country tastes are not enough for the villain who desires a little recognition for his brilliant scheme. Guests will then have a chance to meet Jack-In-The-Box, a clown themed superhero who is given three possible glimpses into his future when his wife announces that she it with child.

    Finally, relive the glory days of 1940s Hollywood with a tale from Loony Leo, a cartoon lion who came about during a mad scientist's testing of a camera that brings motion pictures literally to life. It's a tale of ups and downs, but it's also the best story in the collection and is the purrfect ending of your trip through Astro City.

    This was a very good collection. As I mentioned earlier, the Loony Leo story was the best. But I also really enjoyed the Jack-In-The-Box story too. In previous readings of Astro City, Jack pops up often but his backstory is never explored. I was glad to finally get my hands on the volume that answered all of my questions about the mysterious vigilante.

    Once again Anderson's interior art brings this city to life in vivid color and candor. Busiek's imagination pulls no punches and neither does Anderson's art. You see the city as it really is, warts and all. This is all capped off by cover art and designs from my all-time favorite artist, Alex Ross. You'll really want to look at the back-up feature about the designs and art of the comic as you get glimpses of rare live-action photographs of the muses of Ross' cover work. (You won't believe who or what he used as inspiration for Rex on the First Family covers but it makes complete sense.)

   Worth Consuming

   Rating: 10 out of 10 stars.