{"id":49215,"date":"2015-01-09T09:43:25","date_gmt":"2015-01-09T16:43:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2015\/01\/09\/astro-city-is-the-super-hero-comic-fans-super-hero-comic.html"},"modified":"2015-05-08T12:49:47","modified_gmt":"2015-05-08T18:49:47","slug":"astro-city-is-the-super-hero-comic-fans-super-hero-comic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2015\/01\/09\/astro-city-is-the-super-hero-comic-fans-super-hero-comic.html","title":{"rendered":"Astro City is the super-hero comic fan's super-hero comic"},"content":{"rendered":"

I've loved Kurt Busiek's Astro City<\/i> book since its inception. Abetted by Brent Anderson on the interior art and Alex Ross on the covers, Busiek plays with, respects, and brings freshness to super-hero tropes in a way nobody else does in the industry. He also spends a lot of time in the series telling about ordinary citizens of Astro City and how living there affects their lives as well. <\/p>\n

It all has a remarkable combo of realistic grittiness with Silver\/Bronze Age hope and drama. <\/p>\n

I tend to prefer the one-offs to the larger arcs, but it's all good and worth buying. There are many collections from the past two decades and for the most part they can be read in any order, since it's less of an ongoing story than a series of tales spanning many decades.<\/p>\n

Triffic stuff. If you love the super-hero genre, you should give it a try.<\/p>\n

Originally shared by +Curt Thompson<\/a>:<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

A little #nerdy9th<\/a> love for one of my favorite comic book lines\/universes, Astro City<\/b>, which is getting a little love on Slate.<\/p>\n

Originally created by Kurt Busiek and Alex Ross, Astro City<\/b> is basically a distillation of the archetypes and tropes of superhero comics. The stories feature analogs of Superman, Bat Man, Wonder Woman and such, but without the continuity and IP protection baggage of the original characters, which frees them to tell great stories in the specific mode of those characters without using the characters themselves.<\/p>\n

What makes Astro City<\/b> rise above the level of mere pastiche (or homage) is the deftly and deeply human storytelling. When we discover that the Superman character, Samaritan's favorite thing in the world is flying, but he literally counts off the seconds doing it, because every waking moment can be better spent saving people, our heart breaks for him a little. Here is a living god, who lives a life of monastic denial and service.<\/p>\n

The Confessor is a dark avenger of the night who has spent a century fighting crime because he can, without hope of any reward because he already knows he's damned beyond redemption. His bleak faith has him saving his city, even though he knows that he's outside of humanity and even grace. (I disagree, but that's what he thinks.)<\/p>\n

And so it goes. Each of these superhuman archetypes has a story. A heart. And for my money, Astro City: The Tarnished Angel is the best superhero noir story ever told, about Robert Mitchum (seriously, it's him, and you hear<\/b> his voice in the narration) playing an aging supervillain fresh out of prison who tries, in the twilight of his life, to do right. To be on the side of the angels. It's sad, it's brilliant and it's lovely.<\/p>\n

Astro City<\/b> is about superheroes. But it's about what superheroes mean to us, too. it's slice of life fiction set in a superhero universe and told with empathy, grace, humor and a deep understanding of humanity, both good and bad.<\/p>\n

If you're not a superhero comic fan? Well, I'd say at least pick up one of the graphic novels and see if it hooks you. Good storytelling is good storytelling.<\/p>\n

And if you a superhero fan and haven't read these books? Go forth and purchase\/borrow. They are worth your time and money and dedication.<\/p>\n

In an increasingly cynical, shallow and movie IP oriented industry, Astro City<\/b> is a series you can love because the creators love comics, love the genre and love the other fans. <\/p>\n

And that's the best kind of storytelling, for me.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\n
\n
\n<\/a>
\nComics’ Best Superhero Series Is Turning 20. It’s Never Been Made Into a Big-Budget Movie.<\/a><\/span>
\nSay you’re a grown-up who likes superhero comics but hasn’t kept up with them. Or else you want to like them or used to like them. Maybe you liked The Avengers or Batman Begins. Maybe you liked comics when you were 10, or 15, and now that you’re 29, or…\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

View on Google+<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I've loved Kurt Busiek's Astro City book since its inception. Abetted by Brent Anderson on the interior art and Alex Ross on the covers, Busiek plays with, respects, and brings freshness to super-hero tropes in a way nobody else does in the industry. He also spends a lot of time in the series telling about … Continue reading “Astro City is the super-hero comic fan's super-hero comic”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[106,11],"tags":[693],"class_list":["post-49215","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-plusposts","category-media-comics","tag-nerdy9th"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":15317,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2009\/07\/25\/bt09-a-is-for-astro-blogathon.html","url_meta":{"origin":49215,"position":0},"title":"BT09 – A is for Astro (#Blogathon)","author":"***Dave","date":"Sat 25-Jul-09 8:26am","format":false,"excerpt":"A copy of Astro City: Local Heroes is one of the prizes that sponsors of $25 or more can potentially choose from. \u00a0 Astro City: Local Heroes\u00a0(Wildstorm) [collects AC vol 2 #21-22, AC:LH #1-5, AC Special #1, 9-11 vol. 2] w. Kurt Busiek; a.\u00a0Brent Anderson, Alex Ross\u00a0 Writing New reader?\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blogathon"","block_context":{"text":"Blogathon","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/blogathon"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/images\/stars5.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4642,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2003\/07\/26\/bt03_top_twelve.html","url_meta":{"origin":49215,"position":1},"title":"BT03 – Top Twelve, Part 1","author":"***Dave","date":"Sat 26-Jul-03 9:29pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Well, now that I've exhausted my stack of recent comics (except for the ones I haven't read yet from this week -- and I might be reduced to that by...","rel":"","context":"In "Blogathon"","block_context":{"text":"Blogathon","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/blogathon"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4663,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2003\/07\/26\/bt03_bring_on_t.html","url_meta":{"origin":49215,"position":2},"title":"BT03 – Bring on the Comics Reviews!","author":"***Dave","date":"Sat 26-Jul-03 11:56am","format":false,"excerpt":"One more round, then I'm taking a lunch break....","rel":"","context":"In "Blogathon"","block_context":{"text":"Blogathon","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/blogathon"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":8903,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2006\/03\/27\/super.html","url_meta":{"origin":49215,"position":3},"title":"Super!","author":"***Dave","date":"Mon 27-Mar-06 1:30pm","format":false,"excerpt":"The LA Times is (rightly) annoyed by continuing efforts by Marvel and DC to lock down the term \"super hero\" with a trademark. Tickets to the California Science Center's latest...","rel":"","context":"In "Comics & Comic Books"","block_context":{"text":"Comics & Comic Books","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/media\/media-comics"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":6908,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2004\/12\/03\/comic_relief_8.html","url_meta":{"origin":49215,"position":4},"title":"Comic relief","author":"***Dave","date":"Fri 3-Dec-04 9:50pm","format":false,"excerpt":"A few graphic novels that have been stacking up ... and up to forty words about them. Review code format: [writing (5-1, faboo to mediocre) \/ art (5-1) \/ suitability...","rel":"","context":"In "Comics & Comic Books"","block_context":{"text":"Comics & Comic Books","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/media\/media-comics"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":11591,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2007\/07\/29\/bt07_essential_comics.html","url_meta":{"origin":49215,"position":5},"title":"BT07 – Essential Comics","author":"***Dave","date":"Sun 29-Jul-07 1:54am","format":false,"excerpt":"Ktbuffy asked: What\u2019s the top three comics you would recommend to a total comic book n00b, and why? Hmmm. Actually, back in 2003, I noted the The Top Twelve Comics...","rel":"","context":"In "Blogathon"","block_context":{"text":"Blogathon","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/blogathon"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49215","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49215"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49215\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":50676,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49215\/revisions\/50676"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49215"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49215"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49215"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}