Sunday, July 8, 2018

Astro City volume 2: The Confessor

Astro City, Vol. 2: ConfessionAstro City, Vol. 2: Confession by Kurt Busiek
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

When Brian King goes to Astro City to become a hero, he falls under the wing of The Confessor. But what is the Confessor's secret? Who is killing people on Shadow Hill? And why is Astro City turning against the very heroes that protect it? That's what Brian, The Altar Boy, means to find out...

After loving the first volume, I knew I was in for the long haul. Fortunately, I was able to find Astro City volume 2 on eBay for less than an arm and a leg. How the hell is part of this series out of print?

Anyway, the second volume of Astro City is more focused than the first. A single character is used as the point of view character. Brian King heads to the big city to make a difference and quickly finds himself working for The Confessor. The Confessor molds Brian into a detective, just as the relationship between Astro City and its heroes becomes toxic.

While the story is about super heroes and an alien invasion on the surface, it's really about how easy it is for public opinion to shift and for people to become nasty. When the mayor outlaws super heroes, things get ugly in a hurry. Parts of it felt like Marvel's Civil War event ten years before the event.

Using the powerless Altar Boy as the point of view character worked really well. He was a super hero but still enough of an outsider to make it work. The origin of the Confessor was great, although Wizard spoiled it not long after the storyline concluded back in the day. The truth behind why the city turned on the super heroes made a hell of a lot more sense than Marvel's Civil War at any rate.

While you can feel the reverence Kurt Busiek and company have for the whole concept of super heroes, it doesn't feel like they're constrained by the concept. Focusing on the humans in the middle of the super hero conflicts gives the stories a much more personal touch.

As I said when I read Astro City, Vol. 1: Life in the Big City, I didn't really get Astro City when it first came out. Now, a couple decades later, I totally get it. The best super hero stories are the ones that aren't hamstrung by decades of continuity and aren't forced to maintain the status quo: Watchmen, The Dark Knight Returns, and later Astro City. Five out of five stars.

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