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Astro City Vol. 1: Life in the Big City (Astro City #1)

by Kurt Busiek, Alex Ross, Brent Anderson

4.1 of 5 stars 4.10 · rating details · 4,291 ratings · 104 reviews

Volumes 1-6 of "Kurt Busiek's Astro City" are collected in this volume that also includes a sketchbook showing the development of Astro City a cover gallery of cover paintings.

Paperback, 192 pages

Published June 23rd 1999 by WildStorm (first published 1996)

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Jun 04, 2013 mark monday rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: comikon

i have a favorite fantasy, although it is more of a fantasy world or even a fantasy way of how a big city could look and feel. it is a version of 1940s/50s/early 60s america, but minus the stifling straight whiteness of it all, minus the prejudice and racism and sexism, and definitely minus the atrocities happening around the world during those decades. it is a world of fast-talking, wise-crackin' ace reporters in glorious black-and-white; ambitious young ladies taking on the big city in gloriou...more i have a favorite fantasy, although it is more of a fantasy world or even a fantasy way of how a big city could look and feel. it is a version of 1940s/50s/early 60s america, but minus the stifling straight whiteness of it all, minus the prejudice and racism and sexism, and definitely minus the atrocities happening around the world during those decades. it is a world of fast-talking, wise-crackin' ace reporters in glorious black-and-white; ambitious young ladies taking on the big city in glorious technicolor; retro-futuristic inventions and space travel; gorgeous femme fatales and tough, melancholy private eyes; strange adventures with sinister villains and heroes & heroines who are kind and decent at heart. the works, all the tropes and all the imagery that movies from that era infused into me since i was a kid.

although it is set in the 90s, the determinedly retro Life in the Big City gives me that city of my imagination. it has all the enthusiasm for life in the big city, all the excitement for the future, all the love for the 'common man', all the hope and sweetness and adventure. even better it is a multi-racial world and it doesn't include all of the isms that would nauseate me as an adult. it is rather like a dream come true. yay for dreams come true!

Busiek & Ross' series Astro City is clearly indebted to the brilliant Marvels. well, since the two of them came up with Marvels, i suppose they are indebted to themselves. it takes that graphic novel's central idea of Us Common Folk living in a world of wonder and superheroes and makes it the ongoing theme: what would it be like to live in that world, to live amongst mortal gods, to read about them in the paper or to see them flying overhead? what would that feel like? and what would the city that houses such larger-than-life things look and feel like?

Busiek includes the thought processes of the heroes themselves, often but not always making them central to his stories, and usually making them nearly as mortal as us common folk. a Superman who is so busy saving the world that at night he dreams only of flying free. a lonely Wonder Woman whose sole purpose is to protect and empower women everywhere. a Fantastic Four, a bizarre clown version of Batman, and so many more. who is The Confessor? what is The Hanged Man? and what the hell is up with Crackerjack? some of the heroes are made human, some are made mysterious, others are clearly biding their time before the focus moves to them. things for the reader to eagerly anticipate.

the writing is warm, witty, and wise. the iconic covers by Ross are splendid. the art by Brent Anderson is... well, i'm not as big a fan of his work as others may be, but he is often rather good and i like many of the background details that he cleverly includes throughout his panels.

i'm not sure this is actually a '5 star book' because there is a rather high level of cheesiness that comes up in the fifth story (oh, Crackerjack, i shake my head at you). but i don't care. my 5 star books are my favorite books and now, after a third read, this remains a glorious favorite.(less)

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Apr 25, 2013 William Thomas rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: all-american, believe-the-hype, fabulousness, graphic-novel, literature, modern-literature, modern-art, pitch-perfect

Who remembers when Busiek and Ross's 'Marvels' hit the stands and made history with it's new take on capes storytelling?

That was the only time I really ever loved Busiek's work. And that's because I never picked up a single issue of Astro City. Around 96-97 I started falling in love with music an spent all of my money on concert tickets for Ozzfest and new CDs and fell out of love with a lot of comic books, although I often reread my collection hundreds of times without buying anything new for...more Who remembers when Busiek and Ross's 'Marvels' hit the stands and made history with it's new take on capes storytelling?

That was the only time I really ever loved Busiek's work. And that's because I never picked up a single issue of Astro City. Around 96-97 I started falling in love with music an spent all of my money on concert tickets for Ozzfest and new CDs and fell out of love with a lot of comic books, although I often reread my collection hundreds of times without buying anything new for nearly ten years. I guess I really missed out. When I came back into it, there was just so much of missed, I'm still catching up.

But when DC announced that they were going to be resurrecting Astro City as a Vertigo title a few months from now, I decided I might want to see what kind of work had been done under the Image banner way back when. God damn it, I'm glad I took a chance.

I'm often severely critical of many writers in the Big 2 for just coasting on the names and histories that have already been built for them. Busiek, though, doesn't get much criticism from me. That's because I can't remember a single thing he did on Avengers even though I read his entire run in the single issues back in the day. I just always thought of the man as forgettable. Like I said, though, Marvels, as we all know, was a big story with huge ramifications for a Big 2 publisher and grabbed everyone by the throat when it hit stands. So it's no surprise that Astro City is basically Marvels all over again.

Busiek tells stories in Astro City from the perspective, mainly, of average citizens inhabiting a city filled to the brim with DC-styled heroes. If you were going to compare this work to anything else, it would be very closely related to Will Eisner and a amalgam of Gold and Silver Age superhero stories. It's grandiose and extremely human. The inner dialogues, the monologues, the conversational tone- it all just feels so perfect, so fluid. Everything converges and coalesces, and there isn't a single thing to change in any of these issues.

Grade: A+(less)

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Aug 17, 2008 Tom Troutman rated it 4 of 5 stars

It must be considerably odd to reside in a city where super-heroes & villains are constantly releasing their sexual frustrations by adorning ravishing costumes and Grecco-Roman wrestling one another. In my town all we have are hobos and creeps. One in particular wields a mysterious piece of chalk which he uses to deface sidewalks with biblical rants. I guess that’s a superpower in some sense. I mean I can't even remember to put on deodorant half the time and this guy has a brain full of Veg...more

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Mar 05, 2010 Mr. Quigley rated it 4 of 5 stars

Astro City is proudly unoriginal, adapting from many sources in the Silver Age pantheon. Some of the main characters are pastiches of Superman, Wonder Woman and the Fantastic Four, and every character pays homage to someone. I won't spoil anything, but the storylines, too, riff in familiar keys.

It doesn't miss many notes, though. Several characteristics stand out as deserving exemplary praise. Brent Anderson's art is consistently astonishing, especially his characters' faces, yet so consistently...more

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Jun 18, 2013 Shawn rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I've read the stories in this volume many times since 1995. You know what? They still hold up today and I'd put them up against most books on the shelves right now. As mentioned in his intro, Busiek doesn't provide a realistic approach to superheroes. That's been done by others, some brilliantly and some....not so much. Either way, what would be new about deconstruction superheroes? We've broken them down, tore them up, disected them to the microscopic level. Now, Busiek, Anderson, Ross and comp...more

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Jun 09, 2013 Jowel Uddin rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: books-read-2012-2013

Astro City Review

Astro City was simply amazing. The cover itself is very serene and very welcoming. Welcoming, that is the tone that Kurt Busiek creates in his Astro City, which is definitely a masterpiece. Astro City serves to be a new, more fresher look on the superhero and comic book genre –as heroically and very boldly stated by Kurt Busiek in his introduction to the work.

The characters within Astro City are simply marvelous. From a Superman-like hero called Samaritan, who is from the f...more Astro City Review

Astro City was simply amazing. The cover itself is very serene and very welcoming. Welcoming, that is the tone that Kurt Busiek creates in his Astro City, which is definitely a masterpiece. Astro City serves to be a new, more fresher look on the superhero and comic book genre –as heroically and very boldly stated by Kurt Busiek in his introduction to the work.

The characters within Astro City are simply marvelous. From a Superman-like hero called Samaritan, who is from the future and too busy, to memorable members of the Honor Guard– much like a Justice League– such as Jack-in-a-Box or Cracker Jack. The heroes are plentiful and Astro City acts as what Kurt Busiek wanted it to be: an exploration into the inhabitants of a superhero world. There isn't a whole lot of realism, no, that would defeat the purpose of comics, superheroes, and Astro City. Instead, Busiek builds an universe where the reader feels a strong connection to Samaritan, and the other heroes. A connection that one does not as easily feel with Superman or Batman instantaneously. The reader feels as though he too feels the burden of living in a world with superheroes, and Busiek helps to create a lens that not many readers are accustom to. Busiek took a daring approach with Astro City, and it worked.

The small vignette-like stories within Astro City help to introduce quite a lot of characters, while also keeping the stories fresh and quick. The reader gets a gallop of the more darker areas of Astro City, while also receiving humor from characters like Crackerjack. The plot is very engaging, and the whole idea of Astro City, and its welcoming spirit, keeps the reader wanting more.

Astro City within its first volume explores the theme of heroism and its multi-purposeful definition. Astro City, much like any metropolitan city, is very diverse. Its heroes too are very diverse, and the book aims to get across the point that all types of heroes exist, with all types of perspectives. Some like the Winged Victory, are a patron, nay harsh advocate of women, whereas others such as Jack-in-a-Box are more secretive. Not all heroes have the same purpose, the same muse, or the same methodology, as hinted by Crackerjack, and Astro City helps to convey that heroes –and heroines –come in all shapes, sizes, methodologies, and ideologies, yet they are all ultimately heroes in the eyes of the common man.

Astro City was a great read, and a definite suggestion for all readers.(less)

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Jan 15, 2013 Fizzgig76 rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: graphic-novels-and-trade-paperbacks

Reprints Astro City (Limited Series) #1-6 (August 1995-January 1996). Welcome to Astro City…a place that can be scary or wonderful…depending on your perception. Astro City is a place where a superhero like the Samaritan can dream of enough free time to fly, a reporter witness the world being saved and can never tell anyone, a low-level crook can learn the secret identity of a hero, a girl from Shadow Hill can feel more threatened in the city, an alien can secretly be walking among the people, an...more Reprints Astro City (Limited Series) #1-6 (August 1995-January 1996). Welcome to Astro City…a place that can be scary or wonderful…depending on your perception. Astro City is a place where a superhero like the Samaritan can dream of enough free time to fly, a reporter witness the world being saved and can never tell anyone, a low-level crook can learn the secret identity of a hero, a girl from Shadow Hill can feel more threatened in the city, an alien can secretly be walking among the people, and two superheroes can enjoy a night on the town. Welcome to Astro City…a place you might never want to leave.

Written by Kurt Busiek, illustrated by Brent Anderson, and with covers by Alex Ross, Astro City: Life in the Big City collects the six issue limited series what introduced Busiek’s world. It was well-received by fans and critics and this collection won an Eisner and Harvey award for Best New Series with issues #1 and #4 receiving particularly noted and awarded.

Astro City is a great comic and one of my favorite comics from the ’90s. Spinning off the ideas explored in Marvels, Busiek looks into a real functioning city with superheroes. What do superheroes interact with the people they protect and each other? If there is a world of superheroes, how does the public really view them? These are the themes of the series and Busiek does it great. This theme of “real world superheroes” really influenced many of the comics of the late ‘’90s and early 2000s and the comic’s almost retro approach to superheroes, I think also helped spawn (with other series like Alan Moore’s Supreme) the retro boom which had comics like Superman even returning Krypto to action.

Astro City also boasts some of the greatest covers. Alex Ross who did Busiek’s Marvels joined up for this series covers. I think Ross sometimes is overplayed and in the big picture scheme, his art sometimes looks alike, but here it really draws the reader in to Astro City. Brent Anderson follows it up with solid art and is usually credited by helping co-create the series.

In this volume, Busiek starts to introduce characters and themes that will come into play later in the series. With little hints and introductions, the world of Astro City is enriched. Here we hear mention of the Confessor (who comes into play later in the continuing series) and the alien invasion is initialized in issue #5. The First Family who plays an early role in the main series is shown in issue #4 and characters like the Hanged Man and Jack-in-the-Box are introduced but explored later. It is a great format that has you wishing for more issues.

Astro City: Life in the Big City is a great collection and addition to the library of anyone who really loves comics. It is really for the comic book reader who will see the clichés and standard superhero references made by Busiek and recognize how even clichés can become something new if explored correctly. Astro City: Life in the Big City is followed by Astro City: Family Album.(less)

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May 22, 2012 Dale rated it 3 of 5 stars

It was okay

Let me start with this: I am not a big comics fanatic. I read some of these bigger collections from time to time for entertainment, but I've never been to a comic book shop, I don't own a Green Lantern shirt and there's no Superman sticker on my car.

But, I do know what I like and, for me, Astro City was an "okay" collection of new superheroes. This collections includes 5 stories, 2 of which I found tedious. In the intro, Busiek claims to want to get back to basics and stop the "decon...more

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Aug 20, 2011 Jennifer rated it 5 of 5 stars

This really is a good example of what can be done with superhero stories. Astro City has plenty of action and gorgeous art, but it gets at the psychology of the heroes, too, and of the people of Astro City itself. That it manages to do that without the shock tactics of, say, Frank Miller (or even Alan Moore?) shows that Busiek has a lot of skill and insight.

I basically devoured the book, and would pretty much recommend it to anyone, maybe especially to people who think stories about superheroes...more

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Jan 06, 2011 Christopher rated it 5 of 5 stars

Hooray for my local library for having all the collected volumes of Astro City in circulation! I'd heard of this series for years, but never took the time to give it a shot. In the case of Astro City, I was better late than never. I'd recommend this book to anyone, comic geek or not. It's an original series, so readers don't have to worry about years of continuity or if you're supposed to know who so-and-so's secret identity is. With this volume, you start from square one. So out of the gate, yo...more

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Oct 07, 2010 D.M. rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

It may come as a surprise to anyone who knows me as a comics geek, but I don't really care for superheroes. I've got nothing against them, I just can't get into them.
That considered, I can't really help liking Astro City for some reason. Busiek's writing works perfectly within the world of superheroes, while telling fairly un-superhero stories. Anderson's art does likewise, hanging just at the acceptable edge of superheroic comic art. And of course Alex Ross' covers were the perfect choice for a...more

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Sep 23, 2010 Peter rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Anyone

Shelves: comic-graphic-novel, fantasy, library, science-fiction

A nice change from the usual ponderous crap that's so often issued by the Big Two. Of course, this isn't from the Big Two, which is probably why it's not crap.

There are a number of thinly-disguised re-takes on classic superhero characters; this has practically become a genre in itself. I almost wonder if DC and Marvel might eventually start publishing their own thinly-disguised re-takes of their big properties, just to get in on the action!*

Anyway, the book consists of a series of mostly-unrelat...more

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Mar 03, 2010 Ann rated it 4 of 5 stars

Enjoyable collection of short graphic stories set in a city where superheroes are a known part of the everyday events of city life. The art is stylish and brightly kinetic; the stories take a thoughtful if not deep look at the lives of the superheroes and the lives of the regular people who populate the city.

The superheroes themselves are allegories for the struggles of middle aged life: The Good Samaritan struggles to find some semblance of a life for himself (love, fun) while literally having...more

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Mar 01, 2010 Benjamin Quigley rated it 4 of 5 stars

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Sep 18, 2012 Paul rated it 4 of 5 stars

Kurt Busiek's love letter to superheroes.

After their breakthrough work Marvels, Busiek and Alex Ross launched Astro City to explore the deeper implications of superheroes. Astro City itself is a fully realized superhero setting right off the bat, with distinct neighborhoods, protectors, and villains. But, as Busiek insists in his introduction, it's not a deconstruction or a "realistic" take on superhero universes, but rather a chance to really poke around and explore the implications of them. An...more

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Dec 24, 2010 Wirotomo Nofamilyname rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: The Bystanders & The Benchwarmers

Shelves: i-bought-it, comics-superhero, english

Komik yang unik, yang menceritakan sebuah kota yang tidak biasa, yang dihuni oleh para superhero, villain, masyarakat biasa (di atas tanah), masyarakat di bawah tanah. Sang pengarang, Kurt Busiek, pada kata pengantar buku ini menyatakan bahwa ini adalah kisah seandainya kita, manusia biasa, dapat hidup di dunia superhero.

Buku ini terdiri atas 6 cerita, yang kesamaannya adalah settingnya, Astro City, kota penuh superhero dan monster, dan anehnya tetap berjalan seperti biasa dengan adanya warga bi...more Komik yang unik, yang menceritakan sebuah kota yang tidak biasa, yang dihuni oleh para superhero, villain, masyarakat biasa (di atas tanah), masyarakat di bawah tanah. Sang pengarang, Kurt Busiek, pada kata pengantar buku ini menyatakan bahwa ini adalah kisah seandainya kita, manusia biasa, dapat hidup di dunia superhero.

Buku ini terdiri atas 6 cerita, yang kesamaannya adalah settingnya, Astro City, kota penuh superhero dan monster, dan anehnya tetap berjalan seperti biasa dengan adanya warga biasa di tengah "keramaian" tersebut.
Keenam cerita ini memiliki POV yang berbeda-beda. Cerita ke-1 dan 6, POV superhero, cerita ke-2,3,4 POV warga biasa, dan yang paling aneh cerita ke-5, POV nya adalah alien.

Keenam cerita itu dapat digambarkan sebagai berikut:
Superhero yang hanya bisa menikmati terbangnya di mimpi (karena kesibukan sebagai superhero sepanjang hari), reporter yang menjadi saksi sebuah pertempuran superhero-villain tetapi kesulitan menceritakannya dalam reportasenya (karena semua harus dapat dikonfirmasi ulang), seorang penjahat kelas teri secara tak sengaja mengetahui identitas rahasia seorang superhero (apakah akan dia sampaikan ke boss mafia atau bagaimana), seorang wanita pekerja yang tiap hari harus menjalani perjalanan dari kampungnya ke Astro City untuk bekerja dan kemudian terjebak dalam perkelahian superhero-villain (apa yang akan dia lakukan?), seorang (atau seekor?) alien ditugaskan untuk mengamati para penghuni bumi dan kemudian mengirim sinyal sebagai tanda penyerbuan ke planet asalnya (akankah dia melakukannya?), dan terakhir kencan antara 2 superhero paling ngetop di Astro City (bagaimanakah akhirnya?)

rekomendasi:
saya sangat suka komik ini. Sepertinya akan saya teruskan membaca seri ini. Bintang 5 untuk ide cerita yang walau tidak orisinal tapi unik, walau absurd tapi menarik.
Sedang mengenai gambarnya, walau penggambaran ekspresi para tokohnya meyakinkan, tapi saya memang tidak suka style Brent Anderson jadi inilah penyebab saya turunkan bintangnya menjadi 4. tapi saya suka komik ini.
(less)

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Apr 18, 2009 Sarah rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: comics

I think I'm going to have a hard time describing how much I enjoy Astro City, even in its first six issues. Kurt Busiek has long been one of my favorite comic writers, because he has a strong sense of story movement and his characters' humanity always shines through in the action, creating a total world where the exploits of a hero are not simply calculated but come from someplace deeper.

But that trademark sensibility is only part of what makes Astro City: Life in the Big City so special. By cre...more I think I'm going to have a hard time describing how much I enjoy Astro City, even in its first six issues. Kurt Busiek has long been one of my favorite comic writers, because he has a strong sense of story movement and his characters' humanity always shines through in the action, creating a total world where the exploits of a hero are not simply calculated but come from someplace deeper.

But that trademark sensibility is only part of what makes Astro City: Life in the Big City so special. By creating a new world for his heroes and villains to play around in, Busiek and his creators actually do something more: they create a city where anyone could live, and do so with such detail and love, that I know I certainly wouldn't mind living in a city of superheroes.

Busiek is able to embrace the bouncy fun of Golden Age costumed heroes while understanding their gravity and sacrifice in a nuanced, non-Christlike way. His Samaritan, the Honor Guard, the Irregulars, all of them, have a strong sense of duty, so their response is to become heroes in a world that values them without thinking them out of the ordinary. So their trials do not become insane quests that give no thought to the universe around them. On the contrary, all they think about are the other people, much like policemen or firemen or EMTs would.

And that is how the citizens of Astro City view them, for the most part. They are not saviors but helpers or protectors. And it's that lack of self-inflation that makes Astro City so breezy and imaginative. Busiek is able to create regular people, and examine their trials and tribulations right alongside the superheroes'. It gives the whole reading experience a balance, and makes for some surprising parallels between the guardians and their supporters; we learn more about superhero convention and the basis for superhero creation than if we were to read any of the more Nihilist deconstruction pieces by Moore or Miller. Busiek writes in his forward that we ought to move past that deconstruction onto the next step. And we are, at a joyous examination of living in a golden 21st century.

It should also be mentioned that the artwork for this book is fantastic. My boyfriend pointed out that a lot of the panels were laid out as if they were drawn in the 1950s mode of eye movement. I even saw some panels that reflected the 1970s or 1980s, and all of it coalesced together brilliantly. Brent Anderson put a lot of energy, emotion and love into these issues, and it shows. Likewise, the cover art and character design by Alex Ross roots everything in reality while still adding enough loopy details for you to laugh at any hero's costume.

A great first volume, one I will recommend to everyone who loves comics or graphic novels.(less)

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Jun 05, 2013 Ed Dinnermonkey rated it 4 of 5 stars

Kurt Busiek's previous work to this, the classic 'Marvels', took 50 years of superhero history and told it through the eyes of the man on the street, a jobbing photographer with his own career and family to worry about. The greater stories behind titanic clashes are not fully explained because, well, they aren't the story. Busiek asks one big question and runs with it: What is it like to live in a city of superheroes?

Astro City continues to answer this big question, only this time the city and i...more

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Oct 05, 2012 Antonio rated it 4 of 5 stars

Primer volumen de presentación para Astro City en el cual encontramos 6 historias individuales que nos sirven para adentrarnos en esta ciudad en la que conviven tanto ciudadanos normales como superhéroes. Además, vamos conociendo a algunos de estos superhéroes desde su propia perspectiva o desde la de esas personas con vidas mucho más 'aburridas'.

Ya que no encontramos de momento ninguna historia destacable sí me gustaría mencionar el buen trabajo por parte de Brent Anderson y compañía en el dibu...more

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Jan 10, 2012 Oscar Salas rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Tras un comienzo absolutamente grandioso, era imposible que el nivel no decayese sobre el final, aunque sigue siendo un cómic sobre la media. Sigo considerando el episodio 2 de esta serie (y de este tomo) como un cómic de cabecera que define gran parte de mi filosofía creativa en el noveno arte. Releer dichas historias y volver a exclamar de puro gozo, tal como hace mas de 10 años, es una sensación maravillosa.

El arte de Brent Anderson sigue siendo irregular, en gran parte por culpa del entintan...more

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Mar 14, 2012 Dan rated it 5 of 5 stars

Many reviewers have expressed Astro City's greatness in more eloquent ways than I can, so I will only add that this is probably the best superhero series I've read since Watchmen. And of course it will draw comparisons to Watchmen (and why not? doesn't everything?) for many reasons, most notably for being a "throwback" to the golden and silver ages of comics. Much like Alan Moore's Minutemen/Watchmen, Kurt Busiek's heroes populating Astro City are his own versions of Superman and Captain America...more

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Jan 29, 2010 Ryan Mishap rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: graphic-novel

Recommended as a series that looks at the superheroes from different angles than most fare, this isn't satire, but pretty good storytelling. For instance, the first story begins with a man dreaming he can fly. The dreamer is the Samaritan who can fly anywhere in the world in seconds--he's so busy, he never has the time to just enjoy the flight, as it were.

The stories shift points of view, allowing us to get some background and idea of the scope of the title city, where costumed heroes and villai...more

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Mar 21, 2013 Katie rated it 4 of 5 stars

This was just fantastic. I read it for a book club & I definitely have my fingers crossed that the library carries the rest of these volumes. There are 6 stories in this one, each one from a different perspective, answering the question...in a world with superheroes, *what else* happens? What is life like for the regular joe surrounded by supernatural heroes & villains? There are also stories about the heroes themselves, but more from the perspective that these are living breathing (most...more

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Jan 15, 2012 Sean rated it 3 of 5 stars

I remember when Astro City first came out and it was a critical hit. I never read it then but wanted to. After finally sitting down with a copy of the first trade I see why it was popular to a degree but I just couldn’t get into the world that Kurt Busiek created. While the ideas were interesting the characters seemed all too similar to those I’ve already read about and are familiar with. It was really hard to care about those involved. The art by Brent Anderson was solid but not spectacular. Ov...more

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Jan 26, 2010 Matthew Bellamy rated it 5 of 5 stars

I've written and re-written this review several times now. So far, I've attempted to capture what I love about Astro City in terms poetic enough to do it justice. But it is late, and I am tired. Like Samaritan, I wish to dream a little dream of tossing about the sky and challenging puffy clouds to duels before the electronic buzzer of reality calls me back to the world of the living. So, to keep it short, if you read one comic book series, read this one. Yes, over Watchmen, over the Dark Knight,...more

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Jun 01, 2011 Nancy Martira rated it 3 of 5 stars

Recommended to Nancy by: Josh Shabtai

Shelves: 2011, borrowed-books, comics

Relatively speaking, I know next to nothing about the DC and Marvel universes, so reading this first volume of Astro City I felt like I was only appreciating a small percentage of what was thrown at me. All of the characters seem passingly familiar, like that girl who sat behind you in homeroom 15 years ago; the face is still blurry in your mind and you just can't recall the name. Interesting framing concept, I'll continue with this series to see if the characters and universe come into sharper...more

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Dec 08, 2009 Rosalia rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 500-essential-gn, graphic-novels, superheroes, 2009

This was so much more then a super hero graphic novel. This tells the story of Astro City by following some very different residents through their everyday life. All of the stories are interesting and reveal something not only about the city but the characters who people the stories as well. The art style was also gorgeous, capturing a retro/future feel that can usually only be seen in pieces written in the past that believed we would all be driving flying cars by now. I can't wait to see where...more

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Feb 23, 2013 Hazeltwilight rated it 5 of 5 stars

To save on writing a LOT of reviews (I have read all of the series that has been published so far) I'll just do a general review for the whole series on the first volume.

This is one of the best superhero comics you can buy.

I say this for a few reasons

1. There is, and baring any unforeseen circumstances, only one creative force behind this book (and a couple of artist). This enables the series to have complex internal history and narrative consistency that just isn't possible in most superhero co...more To save on writing a LOT of reviews (I have read all of the series that has been published so far) I'll just do a general review for the whole series on the first volume.

This is one of the best superhero comics you can buy.

I say this for a few reasons

1. There is, and baring any unforeseen circumstances, only one creative force behind this book (and a couple of artist). This enables the series to have complex internal history and narrative consistency that just isn't possible in most superhero comics. This also means no one is going back reviving characters, undoing old story lines or any of the other dangers of a mass written narrative.

2. On a similar note, it all feels like the same world. This world, these characters were all created at the same time. There isn't any awkward trying to fit X men with Avengers. Nor is they any point where you have to wonder if Wolverine really can be in all those places at once. (I'm not trying to pick on Marvel, just the examples I thought of first) And as I mentioned above it uses the same two artist. This creatives a cohesive visual look, especially as they help design all the superhero costumes.

3. There are some really creative and interesting stories being told here. Some of them are the classic Superhero vs Supervillain, but others are about the everyday or the odd or the sidekick or the civilian or any number of things. There are stories about the realities of the living in the world of superheroes. This means there is a variety of stories as well. Some of them are long and take multiple volumes and some are only one issue long.

4. Time passes. This is one of the coolest things. The heroes aren't the same age forever. They age in real time. A child superhero later returns when she graduates from college.

5. The more you read the more rewarding it is. Because the story lacks a singular narrative it might seem that there isn't any way to get to know the characters, that they just get lost in a sea of faces. But the more of the series you read the more of the world and characters you discover. A background character in one issue will be the star of another. A minor event in one issue will become a driving event in a later arc. Want to know what's up with a character from an earlier story arc? Don't worry he or she will show up again with some a little nugget of knowledge about the current state of affairs. The mysterious historical event that keeps getting mentioned? It'll get it's own story eventually. It's like a treasure hunt or a jigsaw puzzle, each piece revealing more and more of the world and character of Astro City.

6. Yes, the superheroes are often just the familiar superheroes with new skins, but that isn't a bad thing in my opinion at all! Busiek can tell stories with them that he can't with known heroes that need to last the ages. He can *SPOILER* kill his batman analogy after one story arc. Kill him for real! It's your favorite heroes with no editorial constrains.

Overall Its the consistent, manageable (no 600+ issues here), innovative superhero world that just isn't possible for the big two because of the nature of comic industry.

While not every issue is perfect, if you like superhero comics do yourself a favorite and check out this series!(less)

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May 20, 2013 Jonathan rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: graphic-novels, fantasy-sci-fi-challenge, action-challenge-2, science-fiction

So, this finally concludes my borrowed pile of graphic novels. As a result I have become a fan of Kurt Busiek's graphic novel work. His work on Marvels is unparalleled in the Marvel Comicverse and his work here in Astro City Volume 1 is likewise excellent.

Busiek explains in the foreword (one of the best forewords for a graphic novel in my eyes) how often individuals comment that his work makes the world of superheroes realistic. He pointedly argues: actually I don't. There are vampires and othe...more
So, this finally concludes my borrowed pile of graphic novels. As a result I have become a fan of Kurt Busiek's graphic novel work. His work on Marvels is unparalleled in the Marvel Comicverse and his work here in Astro City Volume 1 is likewise excellent.

Busiek explains in the foreword (one of the best forewords for a graphic novel in my eyes) how often individuals comment that his work makes the world of superheroes realistic. He pointedly argues: actually I don't. There are vampires and other creatures of the supernatural that could have come straight from Lovecraft's work in this volume. Then there are the superheroes themselves, each a unique creature of science or magic straight from Busiek and his team's minds. So rather than make realistic superhero stories what Busiek does is make superhero stories that humanise the hero.

Busiek writes in his foreword, the superhero tale has often been frowned upon as being far too immature, of being a macho wish fulfilment metaphor for the teenage male. And he agrees that the hero has been used in this way with its archetypical basis. However, he disagrees that this should be frowned upon entirely. He states that it is the power of the hero that he or she can be used as a metaphor. The problem, he notes, is in restricting the imaginative power of the superhero, of allowing the superheroic to only be a male power figure. He challenges that female empowerment, civil rights movements and historical periods can also become subject to the metaphoric power of the superhero. In fact, near anything can be done by the superhero, such is their figurative stature.

As such Busiek clearly tries to explore this kind of ability of the superhero figure in his novel, observing how power and reality intertwine. And in his own way Busiek turns the heroes of his world into symbols for the ordinary man and woman with extraordinary abilities. He observes what other graphic novel authors do not: the effect of the superheroic upon the ordinary world and the struggle of the superheroes to be more than ordinary.

In essence this volume is an entire love-letter, or perhaps a volume of sonnets in graphic novel form, to the figure of the superhero. Busiek makes the telling remark that in recent years authors have been taking apart the psychoses and quirks of the superheroes in the Watchmen and Batman: The Dark Knight Returns of the world. But, he notes, why take anything apart (say a watch for instance) unless you intend to put it back together again? And that is also what Astro City Volume 1 aims to do. It aims to put together the superhero and show them as the legendary and powerful figures that they are. And I believe Kurt Busiek and his team have succeeded excellently.(less)

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May 02, 2012 Mike rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: favorites, graphic-novels, starters-sequential-art

Why would a man who could fly dream of flying?
What's news in a world where anything can happen?
What should a small time crook do with the greatest of all secrets?
What is it that defines home?
How would our lives look to an outsider?
Is there time for superheroes to take a night off?

Life in the Big City collects Astro City vol. 1 issues 1-6. This is the complete original miniseries.

A tad over 15 years ago, Kurt Busiek introduced the world to Astro City. It was his attempt to tell stories of depth i...more Why would a man who could fly dream of flying?
What's news in a world where anything can happen?
What should a small time crook do with the greatest of all secrets?
What is it that defines home?
How would our lives look to an outsider?
Is there time for superheroes to take a night off?

Life in the Big City collects Astro City vol. 1 issues 1-6. This is the complete original miniseries.

A tad over 15 years ago, Kurt Busiek introduced the world to Astro City. It was his attempt to tell stories of depth in the medium of superhero comics, as both a celebration of them and to push the boundries of what they were capable of. In his own words from the prologue: "We've been taking apart the superhero for ten years or more; it's time to put it back together and wind it up, see what it'll do."

What it did was create wonderful stories in a world of heroes, that answer the question above and tons more like them. This is not a comic about a hero - it's a comic about all of them. Most of the six standalone stories here star a different character, from heroes to criminals to bystanders. This is a comic about life as much as anything else.

Astro City was an enormous undertaking. Busiek did not want to limit his stories to a single perspective, nor establish a setting that felt hollow or could change to suit events. He created an entire world to explore, with fully realized geography, denizens of all types, and depth and consequences to the stories he tells there. There is a full history to this world, which we get wondrous glimpses of here and there until later trades fill us in. The careful groundwork set up here connects to and is built upon by all the future trades. All the stories (including the individual ones here) read fine alone, but together they have amazing depth and resonance.

Since he was creating an examination of heroes, Busiek used many familiar archetypes. You will see similarities between Samaritan and Superman, Winged Victory and Wonder Woman, etc. But to equate them or dismiss Astro City's heroes as imitations would be a mistake. Even while using the archetypical nature of these characters as a point of discovery, Busiek makes them compelling, complex people in their own right.

The consistent art is also a strong positive. Alex Ross provides his usual astounding work for the covers, and the interiors are all Brent Anderson. Anderson's art has a unique style and can take some getting used to. It's not quite as crisp as the typical comic art, but it suits the stories extremely well and his habit of leaving some details a little obscured pays off beautifully when the scene requires more detail (which he provides in amazing fashion - emotion comes across strongly from his characters). Personally I love it, but it's worth mentioning that it's not everyone's cup of tea.

Life in the Big City is the start of a truly phenomenal comic and should be read by any comic book fan. The most impressive part is that Astro City would get even better in the second trade...
(less)

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About Kurt Busiek

Kurt Busiek is an American comic book writer notable for his work on the Marvels limited series, his own title Astro City, and his four-year run on Avengers.

Busiek did not read comics as a youngster, as his parents disapproved of them. He began to read them regularly around the age of 14, when he picked up a copy of Daredevil #120. This was the first part of a continuity-heavy four-part story arc;...more Kurt Busiek is an American comic book writer notable for his work on the Marvels limited series, his own title Astro City, and his four-year run on Avengers.

Busiek did not read comics as a youngster, as his parents disapproved of them. He began to read them regularly around the age of 14, when he picked up a copy of Daredevil #120. This was the first part of a continuity-heavy four-part story arc; Busiek was drawn to the copious history and cross-connections with other series. Throughout high school and college, he and future writer Scott McCloud practiced making comics. During this time, Busiek also had many letters published in comic book letter columns, and originated the theory that the Phoenix was a separate being who had impersonated Jean Grey, and that therefore Grey had not died—a premise which made its way from freelancer to freelancer, and which was eventually used in the comics.

During the last semester of his senior year, Busiek submitted some sample scripts to editor Dick Giordano at DC Comics. None of them sold, but they did get him invitations to pitch other material to DC editors, which led to his first professional work, a back-up story in Green Lantern #162 (Mar. 1983).

Busiek has worked on a number of different titles in his career, including Arrowsmith, The Avengers, Icon, Iron Man, The Liberty Project, Ninjak, The Power Company, Red Tornado, Shockrockets, Superman: Secret Identity, Thunderbolts, Untold Tales of Spider-Man, JLA, and the award-winning Marvels and the Homage Comics title Kurt Busiek's Astro City.

In 1997, Busiek began a stint as writer of Avengers alongside artist George Pérez. Pérez departed from the series in 2000, but Busiek continued as writer for two more years, collaborating with artists Alan Davis, Kieron Dwyer and others. Busiek's tenure culminated with the "Kang Dynasty" storyline. In 2003, Busiek re-teamed with Perez to create the JLA/Avengers limited series.

In 2003, Busiek began a new Conan series for Dark Horse Comics, which he wrote for four years.

In December 2005 Busiek signed a two-year exclusive contract with DC Comics. During DC's Infinite Crisis event, he teamed with Geoff Johns on a "One Year Later" eight-part story arc (called Up, Up and Away) that encompassed both Superman titles. In addition, he began writing the DC title Aquaman: Sword of Atlantis from issues 40-49. Busiek was the writer of Superman for two years, before followed by James Robinson starting from Superman #677. Busiek wrote a 52-issue weekly DC miniseries called Trinity, starring Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman. Each issue (except for issue #1) featured a 12-page main story by Busiek, with art by Mark Bagley, and a ten-page backup story co-written by Busiek and Fabian Nicieza, with art from various artists, including Tom Derenick, Mike Norton and Scott McDaniel.

Busiek's work has won him numerous awards in the comics industry, including the Harvey Award for Best Writer in 1998 and the Eisner Award for Best Writer in 1999. In 1994, with Marvels, he won Best Finite Series/Limited Series Eisner Award and the Best Continuing or Limited Series Harvey Award; as well as the Harvey Award for Best Single Issue or Story (for Marvels #4) in 1995. In 1996, with Astro City, Busiek won both the Eisner and Harvey awards for Best New Series. He won the Best Single Issue/Single Story Eisner three years in a row from 1996–1998, as well as in 2004. Busiek won the Best Continuing Series Eisner Award in 1997–1998, as well as the Best Serialized Story award in 1998. In addition, Astro City was awarded the 1996 Best Single Issue or Story Harvey Award, and the 1998 Harvey Award for Best Continuing or Limited Series.

Busiek was given the 1998 and 1999 Comics Buyer's Guide Awards for Favorite Writer, with additional nominations in 1997 and every year from 2000 to 2004. He has also received numerous Squiddy Awards, having been selected as favorite writer four years in a row from 1995 to 1998, (less)

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