Scan barcode
A review by trike
Astro City, Vol. 8: Shining Stars by Kurt Busiek
5.0
Busiek and Anderson are hitting on all cylinders on this one. In his introduction, Mark Waid was sure I would like the Astra story the best (he said so), but it was the story that filled in the gaps of Silver Agent's mysterious jailbreak and time jumps that I found the most interesting.
One thing this latest collection does brilliantly is go from the epic to the intimate, a balance that's often hard to achieve in superhero comics. Silver Agent's centuries-spanning tale is both, as we see the influence he's had on more than 20 centuries of heroes who followed him as well as the personal cost to him. The tale of the gigantic struggle between Superman-like Samaritan and the immortal Infidel swoops between both poles as Busiek details the uneasy detente the two titans have brokered. A literal living doll, Beautie seeks her creator and we see epic stories framed from her very personal perspective. And the aforementioned tale of Astra who graduates from college and literally has multiple universes to choose from when deciding what she might do next has to deal with the profound impact ordinary people with their mundane desires have upon her already epic journey.
It's just really good stuff.
Normally I tell people that it doesn't matter which of the Astro City books you start with, but for this one I would make an exception. It's better to read Shining Stars after you've read the other seven books, because it manages to both expand and contract this universe they've created.
One thing this latest collection does brilliantly is go from the epic to the intimate, a balance that's often hard to achieve in superhero comics. Silver Agent's centuries-spanning tale is both, as we see the influence he's had on more than 20 centuries of heroes who followed him as well as the personal cost to him. The tale of the gigantic struggle between Superman-like Samaritan and the immortal Infidel swoops between both poles as Busiek details the uneasy detente the two titans have brokered. A literal living doll, Beautie seeks her creator and we see epic stories framed from her very personal perspective. And the aforementioned tale of Astra who graduates from college and literally has multiple universes to choose from when deciding what she might do next has to deal with the profound impact ordinary people with their mundane desires have upon her already epic journey.
It's just really good stuff.
Normally I tell people that it doesn't matter which of the Astro City books you start with, but for this one I would make an exception. It's better to read Shining Stars after you've read the other seven books, because it manages to both expand and contract this universe they've created.