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Post by codystarbuck on Feb 14, 2018 14:03:37 GMT -5
This was a fun trip through great literature and dreams, though it does kind of halt the story. It seemed weird, at the time, though it does kind of fit into things. Again, Busiek displays a talent for coming upfor th perfect name, especially Clever Dick.
Sinclair is also the name of a British tech company and it's founder. The company built the best-known home computers in the UK, during the digital revolution, and also created an electric cycle, that failed due to a lack of real horsepower.
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Post by rberman on Feb 14, 2018 14:15:04 GMT -5
This was a fun trip through great literature and dreams, though it does kind of halt the story. It seemed weird, at the time, though it does kind of fit into things. If I were king of Astro City, (1) I would have the stories of El Hombre and Mock Turtle be their own freestanding episodes before the story of Steeljack begins. There could be a little scene of each of them fit into the Steeljack story somehow. (2) I wouldn't require frame stories. Stories set in the past could simply begin with a date in the corner of the first panel or something. Frame stories are fine when they set something up at the beginning that pays off at the end of the flashback, but especially for the Mock Turtle story, it wasn't necessary to show him talking to the reader on the splash page. And the "depressed Steeljack" frame story just took up pages in the El Hombre issue. |
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Confessor
CCF Mod Squad
Not Bucky O'Hare!
Posts: 10,202 
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Post by Confessor on Feb 14, 2018 20:31:28 GMT -5
Sinclair is also the name of a British tech company and it's founder. The company built the best-known home computers in the UK, during the digital revolution, and also created an electric cycle, that failed due to a lack of real horsepower. It also failed because it looked utterly ridiculous, was potentially unsafe for the roads, and was widely regarded as a national joke. Nobody wanted to be seen dead in one. |
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Post by rberman on Feb 15, 2018 6:46:47 GMT -5
Volume 2, Issue #18: The Empty Shell (August 1999)
Theme: Let It Go Focus Hero: We finally get back to Steeljack, and the plot is very dense. Mock Turtle is dead already, having been attacked with a freeze ray and poison gas before being thrown off a roof. In hopes of flushing out whoever is killing criminals. Steeljack decides to take a criminal job with The Conquistador, a Doctor Doom type who boasts of an elaborate plan to attack many targets at once by hiring pretty much every super-villain in town. He seems overly concerned (for a criminal mastermind) that no one die during his scheme, though. This makes Steeljack think of the story he recently heard of how El Hombre’s giant robot scheme went awry years ago and caused collateral deaths. Steeljack also finds the second generation Irregulars milling about in a rubble-strewn lot in The Sweatshop. They won’t tell him anything more about Bravo, the former junior partner of the disgraced El Hombre. Bravo, now Police Detective Ruiz, finds Steeljack first and roughly warns him off the case. At the behest of her mother, Steeljack intervenes in an art robbery Yolanda Costello is carrying out with the Goldenglove. The building collapses during a battle between Steeljack, Goldenglove, and one of Conquistador’s murderous robot drones, and Steeljack ends up in jail. Donnelly Ferguson visits Steeljack and confesses that he knows that Conquistador is the one killing people after they work for him, but Ferguson keeps setting the jobs up anyway. That snake! Civilians: Maria Alvarado is no longer married to Ramon Vega. Now she runs Alvarado Funds, an investment service. She talks to Steeljack, but also reflexively calls the cops just because a felon came to visit her. It’s a far cry from her past as a social justice warrior. Places: Viscardi Boulevard is in The Sweatshop. So are Haney Street (We also had a Senator Haney back in Vol 1 issue 6) and stores named Iger’s (We’ve seen Iger Square before), Xochtl Mexican Food, and Duncan – Costanza Fine Meats. Big Sleep Mattress Co. and Sampson Electronic Pagers have stores right by the Heck Avenue (even I know Silver Age Marvel artist Don Heck; we saw Heck Street previously) subway station. My Two Cents: The issue’s title refers to the death of Mock Turtle but also how people aren’t what they once were. Steeljack previously saw how Quarrel II didn’t follow her dad into a life of crime. Now he sees how Bravo went from angry street urchin to costumed hero to cop, and how Alvarado went from social worker to banker. These people didn’t feel constrained by the set-up of their lives. They flipped the script, moved on to something else. Why doesn’t he have the vision to do the same? But really he has. He hasn’t had a criminal thought since getting out of prison; he just hasn’t recognized his new identity yet. It’s just his unimaginative brute force tactics that have gotten him back into hot water with the cops. 
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Post by codystarbuck on Feb 15, 2018 19:50:36 GMT -5
Ramon Vega might be a little obscure. In the George Hamilton film, Zorro, The Gay Blade, Don Diego Vega has a twin brother, Ramon aka Bunny Wigglesworth (an British identity he took on, after leaving the family home). Some may not be aware that Nick Cardy's birth name is Viscardi.
I couldn't help but feel that Busiek was telegraphing the ending pretty heavily here. He was a little more subtle in the Confessor storyline.
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Post by rberman on Feb 16, 2018 7:56:55 GMT -5
Volume 2, Issue #19: The Only Chance (November 1999)
Theme: Low credibility Focus Hero: Steeljack escapes during transport back to Biro Prison. One of Conquistador’s murder drones intercepts him on his way to warn the assembling criminals that The Conquistador may kill them after the job is done. Steeljack takes boats, trains, and automobiles to Chicago, where two Blues Brothers-looking crooks help him get the means to visit Honor Guard’s floating HQ near Pittsburgh. Almost the whole team happens to be there: M.P.H., Beautie, Samaritan, Quarrel II, N-Forcer, Black Rapier, Cleopatra II, and the visiting Winged Victory. ( The Gentleman is absent.) After a brief “hello” fight, he tells of how El Hombre is now The Conquistador, planning to redeem his name by capturing all the lowlifes of Astro City in one fell swoop. Honor Guard don’t find his story credible, taking the word of Police Detective Ruiz (the former El Hombre sidekick Bravo) that Steeljack’s story has no basis. Besides, even if it’s true, it’s a great plan for capturing a bunch of villains! (This is a fair point, though so far, Conquistador has been executing his flunkies, not arresting them.) Quarrel transports him back to prison in the Honor Guard quinjet, but he escapes en route. That's two escapes in one issue, for a relatively low-powered super. Civilians: Mrs. Costello, Yolanda’s grandmother, helped care for Steeljack’s ailing mother long ago. Mick Keneally is the older brother of The Wolfhound. Cherry Goldstein went from the backseat of a junked car with Carl, to marrying The Mockery. Aggie Morisi is Handgun’s widow. Oprah’s TV show airs from Chicago. Other Villains: Longhorn, Muscleman, and Jackdaw are mentioned. Places: Biro Island Prison opened in 1942 and added a section for supervillains in 1955. Torres Island was destroyed by The Underlord (Mole Man?) in 1983. Derbyfield is mentioned. My Two Cents: I don’t believe that Steeljack’s eight hundred pound weight was really all it took to break a metal chain thick enough to support a tank, but hey, it gets the story moving. Steeljack also gives up pretty easily in his attempt to warn someone, anyone in Kiefer Square about Conquistador’s plans. He spends the issue appropriately clad in a jersey from hockey team Astro City Heroes, but he has no credibility with Honor Guard, whereas the Blues Brothers guys were prepared to give him all sorts of help based on their past association. This is another example of the “social capital” I mentioned in a previous installment. When people trust other people, things can happen. Without trust, people feel obligated to enact various safeguards before interacting. Quarrel has Steeljack both locked up and locked out, refusing to hear anything he might have to say about her parents. It‘s also not a good sign that Bravo seems to be covering for Conquistador. 
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Post by Deleted on Feb 16, 2018 10:46:38 GMT -5
Astro City was one of those titles that I skipped reading in the 90's. Now I wish I would have read it. Loving this thread. I checked at my LCS but it appears the first 6 volumes of trades are out of print.
Please correct me but there is:
The first 6 issue mini series.
A 22 issue series.
The current series ending with #52.
And the 16 issue Dark Age series.
Anything else to look for? I am not concerned about any one issue specials.
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Post by codystarbuck on Feb 16, 2018 12:35:43 GMT -5
That's pretty much it, apart from the 1/2 issue and the specials.
At that point and time, Oprah's show was broadcast from Chicago. It began there and was syndicated nationally. When they started doing the bookclub, one of her staffers would get the books from Barnes & Noble. At some point, one of the booksellers at a Chicago store did something that riled a staffer and Oprah got miffed. It royally ticked off the home office, who went into full damage control mode to smooth things over. We used to have branded displays for that, during the height of it. I just wish she would have chosen something different, fromtime to time. Almost every selection was some sad, weepy story, with an inspirational ending. Jeez, how about a mystery, for once?
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Post by rberman on Feb 16, 2018 14:53:00 GMT -5
Astro City was one of those titles that I skipped reading in the 90's. Now I wish I would have read it. Loving this thread. Good to hear! I am trying to not make the recaps too tedious; long explanations are more interesting to people who have read the issues and can "follow along" in their heads, compared to people who haven't. At least, when I myself start reading an in-depth recap of an album I haven't listened to or a book I haven't read, my eyes start to glaze over. As far as buying the trades: Amazon has used copies of most of the old ones. |
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Post by Deleted on Feb 16, 2018 15:07:15 GMT -5
Astro City was one of those titles that I skipped reading in the 90's. Now I wish I would have read it. Loving this thread. Good to hear! I am trying to not make the recaps too tedious; long explanations are more interesting to people who have read the issues and can "follow along" in their heads, compared to people who haven't. At least, when I myself start reading an in-depth recap of an album I haven't listened to or a book I haven't read, my eyes start to glaze over. You are doing a great job. Enough for me to start looking for trades or back issues. |
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Confessor
CCF Mod Squad
Not Bucky O'Hare!
Posts: 10,202
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Post by Confessor on Feb 16, 2018 20:19:26 GMT -5
Astro City was one of those titles that I skipped reading in the 90's. Now I wish I would have read it. Loving this thread. I checked at my LCS but it appears the first 6 volumes of trades are out of print. Please correct me but there is: The first 6 issue mini series. A 22 issue series. The current series ending with #52. And the 16 issue Dark Age series. Anything else to look for? I am not concerned about any one issue specials. That's pretty much it, apart from the 1/2 issue and the specials. There was also the five issue Astro City: Local Heroes mini-series too. In addition, there was a two-issue Astra series and, most importantly, a two-issue Silver Agent series, which is extremely important, since it finally answers what happened to the Silver Agent. |
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Post by codystarbuck on Feb 17, 2018 0:22:58 GMT -5
Astro City was one of those titles that I skipped reading in the 90's. Now I wish I would have read it. Loving this thread. I checked at my LCS but it appears the first 6 volumes of trades are out of print. Please correct me but there is: The first 6 issue mini series. A 22 issue series. The current series ending with #52. And the 16 issue Dark Age series. Anything else to look for? I am not concerned about any one issue specials. That's pretty much it, apart from the 1/2 issue and the specials. There was also the five issue Astro City: Local Heroes mini-series too. In addition, there was a two-issue Astra series and, most importantly, a two-issue Silver Agent series, which is extremely important, since it finally answers what happened to the Silver Agent. Somehow, I was thinking Local Heroes was part of the regular run of things. That's the thing that drives me nuts about the series, the renumbering and restarting. Really, i think the OGN route is best, anyway, given how the series has really been driven by storylines, from it's first relaunch. |
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Post by rberman on Feb 17, 2018 8:56:48 GMT -5
Volume 2, Issue #20: Wow Finish (January 2000)
Theme: Confirmation bias Focus Villain: The Conquistador’s crime wave is cresting. Steeljack finds his hidden base at Wildenberg Center, a failed commercial development. (The real Harry Wildenberg was a successful pioneer of comic books in the 1930s, though.) Conquistador comes out to meet him, and revealing herself not as Hidalgo (El Hombre), but rather as social worker-turned-investment-banker Maria Alvarado! Steeljack recognizes this as a ruse; it’s actually Hidalgo after all, trying to disgrace the woman who jilted him long ago. He plans to kill all his minions under a new guise of El Guerro, dressed like a banana republic military dictator. Conquistador defeats Steeljack but then saves him from drowning, for unclear reasons, and Steeljack revives and wins Round Two. Other Heroes: Honor Guard (N-Forcer, The Gentleman, Samaritan, Beautie, and Cleopatra II, again accompanied by Winged Victory) arrive to bear away Hidalgo’s body. Turns out they really were investigating the story Steeljack told them last issue. Goldengloves II has decided to go first to vocational school and then “study engineering” while training with the Irregulars. How does that work exactly? Vocational school (to become a plumber, an auto mechanic, etc.) is an investment of time and money that’s usually mutually exclusive with college plans to become a white collar professional (an engineer, business administrator, etc.). Still, an apparently happy ending for her. It’s unclear what caused her change of heart, though we see her with Detective Ruiz, who apparently was protecting Hidalgo in the false belief that he was innocent, not deliberately covering for a guilty man. Focus Hero: Since he thwarted the “kill all the villains” part of Conquistador’s plan (but not the “countrywide crime wave” part), Steeljack’s own recent activities are being forgiven. By now, it’s quite a list: associating with felons, demolishing the art collector’s whole brownstone, resisting arrest, breaking loose from a police helicopter, smashing into Honor Guard’s HQ, assaulting Quarrel II, destroying a quinjet, and hijacking a cropduster… did I miss any? He remains unclear whether Ferguson sent him to Conquistador in the first place to help him solve the crimes, or to get him killed, or just to make some money as a broker. Ah, life's ambiguities! Other Villains: Lots, due to the crime wave. The Fog robs Astrobank. Gluegun robs a brokerage house, though I wonder again what valuables are actually kept onsite. Strangematter damages Outcault Bridge. Longhorn battles The Irregulars at an electrical substation. The Unholy Alliance battle Honor Guard in Detroit. Mechanimator battles The First Family in St. Louis. Smoke and Mirrors make illusions of all Astro City in flames. Civilians: Marge gets stuck in the Astrobank vault. Dusty flies a cropdusting biplane, though cropduster planes don’t really look like that anymore. Places: The cemetery is on Cemetery Street. Makes sense! Steeljack takes a job there even though his super-strength would be more helpful in any number of other trades. He likes the thought of working near the graves of his mother and the boy he shot so many years ago. My Two Cents: Hidalgo’s original super-identity was an athletic gymnast with a trick whip, but now he favors uniquely made super-suits. I guess one can buy such things as a reclusive billionaire; he’s no Techspert. I wonder about the story arc’s superstructure. It might have been better to introduce El Hombre and Mock Turtle’s freestanding stories first, rather than frame them within Steeljack and Donnelly’s larger tale. Armchair quarterback complaints, I know, I know. As much as anything else, this set of stories is about social inertia, the difficulty in changing course once you build a reputation. Hidalgo’s former associates have trouble seeing him as anything but a hero, even after he builds a giant robot that kills civilians. Carl can’t get treated as anything but a criminal by either Honor Guard or Ruiz. Even when he proves that he’s right, defeats Conquistador, and prevents a slaughter, the best that Samaritan can say is a brusque, “Just lie there. An ambulance will come for you.” This from a guy that, we know from the very first issue, could have whizzed him to the hospital in half a second if he felt like it. But he doesn’t feel like it. He’s a crime fighter, and Steeljack is just one of those annoying low level supervillain bruisers, fresh out of jail, who hasn’t had a chance to get into trouble yet. It’s so hard to get over a first impression. When people meet you, they form an image of you in their head, and when they meet you again later, they don’t see the “now” you; they see that image. Psychologists call this “confirmation bias,” the tendency to shoehorn new data to fit with whatever conclusion you have previously reached. We all fall victim to this fallacy, all day long. 
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Post by Icctrombone on Feb 18, 2018 3:58:06 GMT -5
Kudos to you rberman for churning out these reviews. |
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Post by rberman on Feb 18, 2018 8:49:07 GMT -5
Astro City Local Heroes #1: Newcomers (April 2003)
Theme: Ordinary hero Focus Civilian: Donacek, a former hockey player, is now the doorman at The Astro City Classic hotel. He tells the reader the tale of when he first came to Astro City fourteen years ago and was rescued by The Confessor (I) from Ragged Tom and his zombie horde. Another time twelve years ago while Honor Guard defended the city from Destructoids who look like giant stone Aztec Celestials, Donacek saved a falling child. She lives in the neighborhood and he watches her life unfold from a discreet (non-creepy) distance, pleased that he helped make a difference. Heroes: Silver Agent, Silversmith, and Starfighter are namechecked. The Irregulars had a tough fight against Redline and ended up in the Gaines River. Winged Victory foils an abortion clinic bombing. The Crossbreeds rescue kidnapped children. Samaritan fights Dr Nautilus’ giant octopoid Tentacus. Crackerjack and Quarrel II engage the Sweet Adelines Gang (who are dressed like barbershop singers) at the Sprang Museum of Popular Advertising. Cleopatra II, speaking in the stilted, formal manner sometimes seen by Storm of the X-Men, captured Demolitia and Slamburger.
Other Civilians: We get three scenes each from several Classic visitors: Once when they arrive at the Classic, once when they leave, and once during some scene of jeopardy they encounter in between. Their stories are: (1) A Hollywood lady from Whitworth Productions wants to talk to Samaritan about a TV deal. Samaritan saves her limo from falling off the bridge (and, oddly, Anderson chooses to give us two upskirt shots of her. Are we doing manga now?); she flubs her chance to pitch him on her show during his own pitched battle with Tentacus. (2) A family is caught up in the Sweet Adelines attack on the Sprang Museum; (3) Mr. Jasensky is in town for an organized crime summit at Gleason Hotel. He gets roughed up by Slamburger and then escapes Jack-in-the-Box III.
Places and Businesses: The trade edition chapter page has a humorous newspaper clipping about strange doings in Goldwater. An alien named Kroseth IV was defeated by Honor Guard and accidentally incorporated into a house which Honor Guard rebuilt after the battle. Rosemary Lucey lived there at 414 DeCarlo Avenue. The Astro City Experience Hall is on Maneely Ave. Museum Row, Dedication Park, and Sullivan Park are mentioned. Current Communications (Samaritan’s employer) has its own building. U-Move equals U-Haul. We see a Romay Linen service truck. (Astro City’s original name was Romeyn Falls.) Fisher Garden has hockey games. There’s a traffic jam on Shuster Expressway. My Two Cents: This the first story in the fifth trade collection, which is called “Local Heroes.” It was actually released three years after the next two issues that I'll cover here, and I'm not sure why the trade collection is out of order, but it doesn't really affect the story either way since the stories are self-contained. It’s the fourth time we’ve had a civilian POV character (The others were Marta the legal clerk, Mills the Rocket editor, and Pullam who moved to town with his two kids.), and each time there’s a different spin on the Marvels theme. This time, it’s a simple concept that boils down to a single scene: we see a regular guy not only sticking around despite the carnage, but contributing to the welfare of his fellow men while the battle still rages around him. The rest of the issue is taken up by heroes around town doing stuff that he isn’t aware of, so he’s not the true narrator of the whole issue; the unifying theme is that all the super-fights we see have Classic guests as witnesses. 
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