Astro City: Local Heroes

(Homage, 2003-2004)
™ and ©2003 Juke Box Productions

“Welcome back” seems an inadequate response for the return of Astro City, so I’ll have to make up for it in sheer appreciation. Entirely too much time is spent by fans trying to figure out what Astro City hero is an analog to what Marvel/DC character, which, of course, completely ignores the simple, elegant premise of this series: It’s the human element, the lives of people who live between the panels of a super-hero comic book.

Oh, there’s action (frankly, a lot more of it than can be found in your average Marvel comic book), but first and foremost it’s a neat little story. That shouldn’t minimize its merits; neat little stories are always at a premium, especially beautifully designed ones with the sort of ending that will still strike you as unexpected the second and third time you read it (and you will read it a second and third time). It’s not so much a “twist” in the hackneyed sense of the word, but just an extra added flip, the sort that makes you grin and look forward to your next visit to Astro City.

— S.A. Bennett

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