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A review by trike
Astro City, Vol. 12: Lovers Quarrel by Alex Ross, Kurt Busiek, Brent Anderson
3.0
Anther good but not great installment in the Astro City series.
This one focuses primarily on the superheroine Quarrel, her background and relationship with the cocky popinjay superhero Crackerjack, and how they as non-powered costumed crimefighters deal with getting old and losing a step.
At this point Busiek can write this stuff in his sleep, and it's competently done but not as inspired as previous efforts. Still, even coasting Astro City is better than the best efforts in other comics.
The standalone story at the end, "Sticks", is about a talking gorilla, and it's pretty clear Busiek and Anderson were having fun with this one. Talking gorillas are a staple in Golden Age comics, so it was inevitable they got around to doing a story specifically on that. As always, there are some nice twists to the story, with mash-ups from other comics: a hidden valley, an ape city, portals to other worlds, rock'n'roll, with plenty of puns liberally scattered throughout.
This one focuses primarily on the superheroine Quarrel, her background and relationship with the cocky popinjay superhero Crackerjack, and how they as non-powered costumed crimefighters deal with getting old and losing a step.
At this point Busiek can write this stuff in his sleep, and it's competently done but not as inspired as previous efforts. Still, even coasting Astro City is better than the best efforts in other comics.
The standalone story at the end, "Sticks", is about a talking gorilla, and it's pretty clear Busiek and Anderson were having fun with this one. Talking gorillas are a staple in Golden Age comics, so it was inevitable they got around to doing a story specifically on that. As always, there are some nice twists to the story, with mash-ups from other comics: a hidden valley, an ape city, portals to other worlds, rock'n'roll, with plenty of puns liberally scattered throughout.