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A review by dubsington
Astro City, Vol. 1: Life in the Big City by Kurt Busiek
3.0
Astro City might be one of the most awarded comic series of all time. So as I start my journey digging into more graphic novels and serialised comics, I knew I had to check it out.
First off I should say I generally avoid superhero comics altogether. I tend toward other stories. But with the unique take on superheros, or at least unique point of view and the amount of positive feelings around the series, I knew I wanted to dive in.
To begin, Astro city is an anthology series, where each issue is a different and unique story. Characters will eventually repeat, and slowly themes and conflicts will recur and become an undercurrent, but mostly each story is separate. The singular tie being the city. This provides the creative team freedom to explore unique ‘what if’ and small slice-of-life scenarios with superheroes unique from other works.
That freedom of ongoing conflict to explore much shorter stories though, means a trade. Off or sorts for character building and development within a single six volume collection.
That said, the six stories contained in volume one are excellent. For those that enjoy superhero stories but are feeling fatigued by the constant barrage of movies, shows, and comics from the big 2, Astro City might be the perfect balm.
I’ll expect to revisit Astro City’s later volumes here and there when I feel the need to dip my toes into the many interesting stories they are sure to offer.
First off I should say I generally avoid superhero comics altogether. I tend toward other stories. But with the unique take on superheros, or at least unique point of view and the amount of positive feelings around the series, I knew I wanted to dive in.
To begin, Astro city is an anthology series, where each issue is a different and unique story. Characters will eventually repeat, and slowly themes and conflicts will recur and become an undercurrent, but mostly each story is separate. The singular tie being the city. This provides the creative team freedom to explore unique ‘what if’ and small slice-of-life scenarios with superheroes unique from other works.
That freedom of ongoing conflict to explore much shorter stories though, means a trade. Off or sorts for character building and development within a single six volume collection.
That said, the six stories contained in volume one are excellent. For those that enjoy superhero stories but are feeling fatigued by the constant barrage of movies, shows, and comics from the big 2, Astro City might be the perfect balm.
I’ll expect to revisit Astro City’s later volumes here and there when I feel the need to dip my toes into the many interesting stories they are sure to offer.