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Post by rberman on Apr 30, 2018 7:22:12 GMT -5
Volume 3 #24 “Apeman Blues” (August 2015)
Theme: Find your place Focus: Sticks goes on a mission with the Reflex 6 defeat Master Jizz, who has opened a freakeasy drug den where aliens get telepathically high from the dreams of intoxicated humans. He doesn’t really enjoy the fighting, especially when he sees the drum set left behind by Master Jizz’s house band. If he wanted combat, he would have just stayed home in Gorilla Mountain and shot dinosaurs with laser cannons. (Come on, how cool is that?) So he rejoins his friends in the band, and they start busking, until some villains on skyspeeders strafe them, probably intent on capturing Sticks for some malign purpose. So much for that idea! As Sticks mopes on a rooftop, Samaritan stops by to encourage him to follow his dreams. Soon he’s roaming the alleys of Astro City in a tuxedo and top hat, beating up muggers (and Screampunks, Combotron 3000, and Snowglobe’s Snowdiac of ice monsters) and enjoying it. “ Tuxedo Gorilla” next assembles a band of superheroes. As in, a rock band named Powerchord, with Becca the robot on keys, Dawna (a black Black Canary) on vocals, a human torch to play scorching lead guitar, and a tye-dyed stretchy old hippie on bass. Other Heroes: G.A.L.A.K.T.I.K. is apparently the S.W.O.R.D. to E.A.G.L.E.’s S.H.I.E.L.D. Emma and Ian somehow get Sticks outfitted for his solo career. My Two Cents: Another story about community. I’m reminded especially of the just concluded Quarrel/ Crackerjack story. He was loathsome, but he was also the person whose situation most resembled her own, so she stuck with him. Similarly, Sticks can’t be in a band with civilians, any more than Astra can have a successful dating relationship with Matt the Insider Scoop spy. We’re back to seeing superheroes as a metaphor for caste distinctions, and Sticks just doesn’t belong in the mundane world. 
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Post by rberman on May 1, 2018 5:34:49 GMT -5
Volume 3 #25 “Lucky Girl” (September 2015)
Theme: Double or Nothing Mommy Hero: Hummingbird I ( Barbara Hammacher) was a Wasp-type heroine with a super-suit and no innate powers. A mission begins saving the Baltic state of Zardia from its Chief Geneticist’s Bio-Army. Then it’s off to the Peruvian hidden city of Khapak Igun to face off with the dark God Jabaja, aided by Starfighter, Beautie, Stormhawk, and a couple of other heroes. She falls for Peruvian hero Deven, who has to has to depart when K’un-Lun – I mean Khapak Igun – leaves our dimension again. But he left her a present! His seed. In her womb. Baby Amanda! SHAZAM!: The gods of Khapak Igun ( Filadini, Zti, Toroplin, Ciqunmisu, Cianiqa) each grant fetus Amanda an attribute. Or so we think… Focus Hero: Hummingbird II ( Amanda Hammacher) celebrates her twelfth birthday with her friends Tamar and Gina, underwater inside an air bubble atop a giant sea turtle. I am 100% sure that is the first time that sentence was ever typed in the history of the universe, so we’re off to a good start. After a brief stomach cramp, she sprouts iridescent wings. Amanda gets tutored in heroing (and surviving boy troubles) by the ladies of Honor Guard: Quarrel II, Beautie, and Cleopatra II. Cleopatra I is still around as a civilian to regale Amanda with tales of yore as well. Starwoman takes Amanda on a summer internship in deep space. But her idyllic teen life takes a turn for the ugly when she keeps evolving. Her eyes turn totally black, and her bones are hollowing out. Is she turning into a bird? Yes, she is. She seeks counsel from the Agatha Harkness-like witch Greymalkin, whose name is the street in Westchester County, NY where the X-Men live, and whose former identity was Kitcat, sidekick of Silver Age Honor Guard member Leopardman. “You’re turning into a bird,” confirms Greymalkin. Amanda suddenly no longer feels safe in Greymalkin's spooky house full of cats. All her super-friends team up to open a portal to Khapak Igun. Inside, they are attacked by Inca savages riding jaguars with giant leathery wings, soldiers of the evil god Jabaja. He’s the real one who granted her powers as part of his plan to re-emerge and conquer something or other. But Amanda uses her zap powers to open the prison of the good gods, and they swarm Jabaja. Game over! The gods offer to completely de-power Amanda. She opts instead to keep her powers, trusting that her super-friends will find some way to arrest her progression into a tiny winged creature. Civilians: Doc Royce is a chief scientist at N.R.Gistics. Miscellanea: Honor Guard members get a stipend. Makes sense if they are busy saving the world instead of working day jobs. We still don’t know who pays Honor Guard’s bills. My Two Cents: Amanda has thrived under the many wings of her real mom and all the super-surrogates and mentors. She places immense faith in them that they’ll be able to fix her little medical issue in time. But the clock is ticking, and every day she’s experiencing apparently further permanent changes. Will her hope proved misplaced? We may never know… 
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Post by Rob Allen on May 1, 2018 13:10:56 GMT -5
Graymalkin is the name of Witch #1's "familiar", or guardian spirit, in Macbeth. "Graymalkin" literally means "gray cat".
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Post by rberman on May 2, 2018 7:11:00 GMT -5
Volume 3 #26 “In Dreams 2015” (October 2015)
Theme: World without a Superman Focus Hero: Samaritan’s “naked flying” dreams now include sexytimes with Winged Victory. But he’s getting short-tempered with the mundane concerns of his day job as manager of The Current’s verification department. He loses his temper against Dr. Robotsky’s giant robot which is knocking on The Ambassador’s giant door, shattering it quickly and spilling enemy soldiers and toxic energy across the cityscape, the very thing he cautioned American Chibi against back in Vol 3 #1. Julius Furst offers to run tests on Samaritan, but how can the world do without him for a day? The rest of the heroes are going to really have to step up to the plate! Super-face-offs: Destructoids vs The Gentleman, Winged Victory, and The Birds of Paradise in Rio. The Trolls of Glittertenden vs Triple Star in Oslo. Oilcan, The Robber Barons, and Praetor against unspecified heroes. The Carnivores vs American Chibi in Indiana. Sledgehamsters vs M.P.H. in Chicago. Focus Villain: The Fursts’ tests reveal that Samaritan’s blood has been seeded with many microscopic copies of The Living Nightmare, whom we saw back in the very first issue of Astro City. Those are removed and imprisoned, and now Samaritan is able to get actual rest when he sleeps. Other Heroes: Julius and Augustus Furst remain hale and hearty due to vitalons they absorbed in the Crossworlds.Civilians: Betty and Dean work at The Current. My Two Cents: The twentieth anniversary of Astro City! Winged Victory and Samaritan have been in a relationship that whole time, so it’s striking what they don’t have, namely a family. The only character we’ve seen become a parent during that whole twenty years is Jack-in-the-Box II, who quit active heroing to put family first. Confessor II (mid 30s), Astra (who is now 29), and Quarrel II (pushing 50, old enough to be a grandma) are apparently single and childless. You just know Crackerjack has some illegitimate children (and grandchildren?) running around town, but they never enter the story. Anyway, the main plot revisits Samaritan’s stress-filled life, revealing that (1) his extra stress was actually villain-induced, and (2) the world can get along without him, but just barely, with the concentrated efforts of everybody else. He really is the ubermensch that makes the world go round. "Microscopic monsters in my bloodstream are compromising my hero performance" was also a major plot of Grant Morrison's run on New X-Men in 2002. 
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Post by rberman on May 3, 2018 5:56:35 GMT -5
Volume 3 #27 “GAME OVER” (November 2015)
Theme: Pop Vinyl goes the Honor Guard Focus Heroine: American Chibi helps Honor Guard in facing a quick barrage of monsters including Uberfrog, Ragewings, and Technosaurus Rex, who fade away partway through each battle. She leads them back to Marguerite Li, a video game programmer who is passed out on the floor. Chibi merges with the woman, who regains consciousness. Turns out that Chibi and all of these monsters are part of a video game that Marguerite has been writing for the last three years, and she’s been having unexplained blackouts for the same time period that Chibi has been appearing. Cleopatra II realizes that The Unbodied, a Lovecraftian cult, are behind the mischief. As the heroes ( Samaritan, Assemblyman, M.P.H., Winged Victory, Hummingbird II, Beautie, Wolfspider, N-Forcer, The Gentleman) gather to open a portal and defeat the Unbodied, Cleopatra lets Chibi out of Marguerite to help them. Once through the portal, all the heroes change into adorable bobble-headed versions of themselves and battle wacky/cute monsters like Mesmerons, Warhounds, Kromedome, Whipkrakk, Skeletak, Rock-clops. The final boss, “ He Who Lies Buried,” is delayed by collapsing his Dark Castle. But he can only be contained if Chibi stays in the game world to defend the Ubbow groundhog-people in never-ending battle against the evil overlord. She’s delighted to be granted official Honor Guard status as the rest of the heroes return home. And Marguerite discovers in her drawer a hair scrunchy that lets her mimic Chibi’s powers. Without the bobblehead look. People and Places: Pixelpac is a video game company. Ibbopolis is a ruin inside the video game.  My Two Cents: It’s a Muppet Babies issue, reminiscent of the time (see X-Men Annual #10 above) that Mojo turned the X-Men into kindergarteners. No deep message in this issue that I can tell, just a fun setting and a chance to play with some goofy images, including different art styles for the real world and the game world. The title is ironic, since the point of the story is that video games always repeat, never truly ending.  
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Post by rberman on May 4, 2018 17:57:32 GMT -5
Volume 3 #28 “Yesterday’s Heroes” (December 2015)
Theme: Putting Away Childish Things Focus Hero: Wolfspider (Ben Colston) is an Australian kid who loves watching his favorite TV superheroes, the QueensLaw (Cap’n Cookaburra, Banana Bender, Goldrush, Krokolite, The Territorian, Numbat, and Agent Bluebell). He got his powers when he was bitten by a special spider. I am not kidding. He gained the power to shrink, and his mom made him a Doctor Octopus-type backpack with long cybernetic arms. He uses them to help his mom do science, and then as a young vigilante is invited into Honor Guard, as we have previously seen. Then one day, he sees a TV story about QueensLaw capturing some bank robbers… in real life! Mind. Blown. And they invite him to join QueensLaw! It’s too good to be true! Yup, it’s too good to be true. They’re actually the creations of the villainous Mister Shadow, using the same Doctor Borzoi tech that brought Looney Leo out of cartoonland into Astro City’s world. Wolfspider tricks them into destroying the device, and they revert back to awkward civilians. Wolfspider contemplates repairing the technology and using it to bring his childhood heroes to life in good versions. Nah, that stuff is for kids. Other Villains: Coolangata Pete is a shark-man in swim trunks. Mineral Men are self-explanatory. G.B.H., Jack Panzer, Sweetie, Clawbreaker, and Crimetime are part of a villain squad. Miscellanea: Australian artist Gary Chaloner was a key collaborator on this issue to come up with authentically Aussie heroes and villains, both in concept and execution. My Two Cents: It’s a gentle rebuke to those who are over-invested in super-heroes, to the point that it interferes with their judgment and their ability to operate in the real world. Imagination is fine; just don’t overdo it. OK, guys? 
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Post by rberman on May 5, 2018 6:55:41 GMT -5
Volume 3 #29 “The Menace from Earth” (January 2016)
Theme: Big Buzzer is watching you Focus Alien: In the hive of the Zirr bee-people on the world of Zirros, Zozat son of Zorr and Zarza finishes his school term and goes on vacation. He’s telepathic. The whole hive is buzzing with the news that “ Darzy Conra-Furst” (wife of Nick Furst) has been captured and will be forced into trial-by-combat. But the First Family arrives to rescue her. The battle erupts over the bee-neighborhood, and young Karl Furst crashes at Zozat’s feet. Bee-ple: Past bee-heroes include Kar-zirr the Warbearer, crusher of the Aamin; Warlord Za, cleanser of the Vthuls, and Prince Korzinn, son of Emperor Korzakk, who was defeated and finally killed by the First Family. Droz, Brez, and Igzan are bee-friends. Grum is a pet. Ziriza is Zozat's big sister and Muzz and Dar his family. Azzarian Jelled Dodecapod is a dessert. The Tozonis and Zamirazis are neighbors. My Two Cents: The title of this issue comes from a Robert Heinlein juvenile short story in which a Mars-dwelling teen gets a visit from an annoying younger relative. Here of course, it refers to the First Family, who are an alien threat from the perspective of the bee-people. Where the Dancing Master was a very alien alien, these are very human aliens, and indeed most of the issue consists of alien friends and family sitting around a meal and delivering exposition to each other about the structure of their society and their opinions of the First Family. Combined with all of the unfamiliar names all hitting at once, I confess feeling simultaneously overwhelmed and unengaged, which are not responses I usually have to Astro City. I was all geared up for the story to be about how every side has a point, and the interactions of Zozat’s family would predispose us sympathize with them and their race. But then they start talking about how their children will think more clearly once the priestlords “set your mind correctly,” and it’s clear that these nice bug-folk live under the boot of a dictatorship which maintains control only through brainwashing its citizen-drones into, um, drone-drones. So now we can cheer for the bee-citizens and the First Family simultaneously, and against the evil bee-government. 
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Post by rberman on May 6, 2018 7:09:41 GMT -5
Volume 3 #30 “Enemy of the Empire” (February 2016)
Theme: The rise of the activist Focus Hero: Karl Julius Furst, Nick’s young son, is injured and crashes his flyer when the First Family travels to the Zirros homeworld (dimension?). He’s found by the telepathic Zirr boy named Zazot, who pulls shrapnel from him and reads his mind, learning his perspective on life and their current situation. Zazot’s soldier sister Ziriza tells him to stay away from Karl, but instead Zozat helps reunite Karl with his family. The Fursts defeat the Umbersaurus (comprising 10,000 Zirr warriors amalgamated, including Ziriza). Zazot wonders whether his telepathic bonding with Karl contributed to the Furst’s victory. The Zirr government paints the loss as more of a mutually agreed truce, but really it was a military disaster for the bee-people. Ziriza gets demoted and is mad at Zazot, who is disillusioned with the duplicitous Priestlords. He resolves to grow up and be a better kind of Priestlord to help forge different structure for his society. People: The Aaun and The K’Dann are enemies of the Zirr. Sasha is Karl’s sister. My Two Cents: Zozat thinks of the First Family as having committed “a hostile, warlike invasion of our peaceful home” even though he knows that it was a “pursuit of one of their number (Nick’s wife) who’d been captured by one of our forward squads.” He’s not able to link the two together causally. But after reading Karl’s mind, “I could not think of him as a monster anymore.” This is where I would have expected this storyline to go, and it’s certainly a point worth remembering that experience with “The Other” often forces us to reconsider what the conflict between us was really about. Zazot gets quite an education about the way governments manipulate people, and his response is pleasingly constructive, as he promises to be part of the solution. He’s fired with a more activist sort of idealism, and may himself become the actual “Enemy of the Empire” mentioned in the issue title. 
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Post by Hoosier X on May 6, 2018 14:20:51 GMT -5
I picked up #28 to #30 fairly recently and I think they're all great! It amazes me how Busiek isn't even close to running out of ideas and how often he still produces Astro City stories that are as good as the best stuff from the earliest years.
Sometimes I think my favorite issue is #44.
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Post by rberman on May 6, 2018 14:32:02 GMT -5
I picked up #28 to #30 fairly recently and I think they're all great! It amazes me how Busiek isn't even close to running out of ideas and how often he still produces Astro City stories that are as good as the best stuff from the earliest years. Sometimes I think my favorite issue is #44. #44 is adorable. And the Alex Ross cover for it is great, and still for sale on his web site! If I had $6,000... OK, this is as good a time as any to ask this question. I am almost out of issues of Astro City that have been collected in Trade Paperbacks. The TPBs are grouped by "art by Brent Anderson" or "not." As a result, after issue #36, I can only do reviews for #39, 40, 41, and 44. I assume that the TPB coming out in August (3 months from now) will have issues 37, 38, 42, 43, and maybe 45 and 46. I was planning to post through issue 36, then wait until August before posting any more. What says the group? Should I maintain chronological order for this thread? Or should I post 39, 40, 41, and 44 now, and then go back and catch up the earlier issues in August/ |
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Post by Hoosier X on May 6, 2018 18:04:17 GMT -5
I think it would be better if you review them out of order as they become available to you.
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Post by rberman on May 7, 2018 5:41:43 GMT -5
Volume 3 #31 “Nightmare Life” (March 2016)
Theme: Changing the leopard’s spots Focus Monster: Gus Furst watches over a group of Living Nightmares extracted from Samaritan’s blood back in the "In Dreams" 2015" story. They break free and “vorp” together into one big version. He handily defeats the whole First Family and moves on. He recalls his origins: Doctor Ehrein did experiments on phobic patients, and their combined fears coalesced into a physical manifestation which sometimes rampages, sometimes was a tool of supervillains, and for a time was controlled by the good mind of Lieutenant Pete Carney. In present day, he attacks Honor Guard (Samaritan, Winged Victory, M.P.H., Cleopatra II, N-Forcer, Hummingbird II, Assemblyman) then teleports to Atlanta to confront the villain who has awakened him this time. It’s a bizarre humanoid robot, Doctor Dominax, whose head looks like a giant double-1 domino. Honor Guard shows up too, and we see the Living Nightmare advancing in sentience and choosing to transition from a fear motivation to the altruistic motive of concern for others. Samaritan invites him to keep the company of Honor Guard, and he accepts. People and Things: The Graveyard Ghoul is a horror movie. My Two Cents: This story occurs after “In Dreams 2015” from issue #26. However, it was collected in an earlier volume and that story and is one of the rare examples where the jumbled anthologies of later Astro City trade collections creates a continuity confusion in the trade editions. At least since Mary Shelley wrote “Frankenstein,” sci-fi authors have looked at humanity through the eyes of monsters of varying levels of sentience. Monsters were Marvel’s bread and butter during the pre-FF days, usually with a duplicated letter in their name somewhere as with Groot and Fin Fang Foom, who survived the birth of the Marvel Universe and still appear occasionally. The Hulk was another character of the transitionary period, a semi-sentient rage monster who was green and purple (the colors of Marvel villains) rather than red, blue, and yellow (the colors of Marvel heroes). The Living Nightmare is in that lineage, with a particular eye toward Man-Thing, another fear-based monster hiding a flickering flame of sentience within him. Because Marvel’s heroes each required numerous villains to fight, villains always outnumbered heroes, so there were always plenty of villains available to reform into super-heroes if a redemptive story arc was needed. Hawkeye, Black Widow, Emma Frost, and Magneto are just a few of the characters who made that journey, while the opposite story (hero-turned-villain) rarely occurred in any permanent fashion, even after the demise of the Comics Code. 
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Post by wildfire2099 on May 7, 2018 19:38:42 GMT -5
I think it would be better if you review them out of order as they become available to you. I agree.. it's not like Astro City is a linear story. |
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Post by rberman on May 8, 2018 7:00:15 GMT -5
Volume 3 #32 “Things Past” (April 2016)
Theme: Never thought that dame would darken my door again Focus Noir Hero: Over fifteen years after we last saw his adventures, Steeljack has gone legit. How old is he now? He’s working at the bottom of the Gaines River, salvaging the robot that Samaritan smashed back in #26. We saw his breath-holding ability previously, when Conquistador tried to drown him. Then he plays bounty hunter, nabbing bail jumpers The Butthead Brothers. Plus, he now runs the cemetery! He finds his teen employees Liam (son of Wolfhound) and Carla (grand-daughter of Mistmaster) there in the grass, rounding third base. Get off my mom’s grave and back to work! When he gets back to his office, whom does he find there but… Focus Femme Fatale: Ismiri Dvi-Zaralkh, a.k.a. Cutlass, his former partner with Quarrel I in the Terrifying Three, is rummaging through Steeljack’s desk. She’s from The City of Uld in the Himalayas (another Kun L’un?), and the two once had an affair, but he blew their cover while drunk with an undercover cop, so she dumped him. Now she’s accused of robbing a bank in Scottsdale, AZ. But I’m innocent, I tell ya! Ya gotta believe me! OK, dame. I’ll take your lousy case. But someone is watching them from a rooftop… Other Heroes: Goldenglove is still around, wearing wrestling headgear. Makes sense given her codename, but it still gives me bad Liefeld flashbacks. Anyway, she’s trying to start a team for “at risk” super-teens. Maybe the Trouble Boys Foundation can help fund her? Quarrel II helped Steeljack get a Private Detective license. Other Villains: Dr. Ocula made eye-themed guns. Donnelly Ferguson (Scarlet Snake) has died. Civilians: Jensen and Detective Ruiz are policemen. Preble is a salvage worker. Freddie runs Cosmic Bail Bonds. Ginny is Carla’s younger sister. Places: 421 Ruskin is a warehouse address. O’Malley’s is a bar. My Two Cents: The first couple of pages of this issue are a frame story in which Detective Ruiz finds Steeljack in a collapsed building and begins to hear his tale. The title comes from Marcel Proust’s massive French novel À la recherche du temps perdu, whose former English title was Remembrance of Things Past. Steeljack has settled into a paternal role in his community, but his past resurfaces in the form of his former criminal partner. This story arc returns us firmly to actual Astro City for the first time in quite a while. We’re once again in a classic noir mode with a gumshoe whose client has a sob story, a suspicious past, and romantic baggage with him. What would Sam Spade do? 
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Post by rberman on May 8, 2018 7:00:38 GMT -5
Volume 3 #33 “Things Past – Permanent Records” (May 2016)
Theme: Commercializing nostalgia Focus Noir Gumshoe: Steeljack and Cutlass review the evidence. A bunch of retired villains have apparently gone recidivist recently, including Beekeeper, Springbok (Denise), and Traktor (who looks like the Destroyer from Thor). Steeljack goes for information to The Fixit Man. He has a bunch of old supervillain gear from The Cloak of Night, Multi-Face, and the second Black Opal. Suddenly thugs in old Iron Guard suits bust in, but their Ion-zooka is no match for 850 pounds of steel rage. Fixit died though, and Steeljack follows the trail to Jared Everall, an avid collector of super-gadgets. He proclaims himself a big fan. We’ll see about that…  Other Villains: Steeljack once dated Wrestla. Thunderhead once fought the J-Hawks. Shattershock had a seismo-glove. Dr Ecliptic used grav-pods to fly when he fought Supersonic. A.T.A.C.C. is a War Machine guarding Jared Everall. Other Heroes: Steeljack watches a TV show about the 1920s Blasphemy Boys. Scottie Dinardo is the great-grandson of Radio Raider.Places: The Baxter Building is visible in a nighttime cityscape scene. Superbistro is a Planet Hollywood for hero paraphernalia, while T.J. Scoundrel’s is the villain-theme counterpart restaurant. My Two Cents: Steeljack looks like old Jimmy Stewart in this issue, complete with fedora and trenchcoat. The main focus of this issue is on obsolete gear, the tools of the trade of former supervillains. Fixit stockpiles them, and Everall has been repurposing them for new crimes. It’s a similar general story to what Fred was doing with Ellie’s robots several issues ago. Cutlass and Steeljack find it surreal that their lives have been monetized as window dressing for a diner serving “Electric Chair Onion Rings.” It’s similar to the hero-themed diner which Mark Waid and Alex Ross had shown in the coda of Kingdom Come: 
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