Saturday, October 20, 2018

Astro City: Shining Stars

Astro City, Vol. 8: Shining StarsAstro City, Vol. 8: Shining Stars by Kurt Busiek
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Astro City: Shining Stars contains four tales featuring the heroes of Astro City.

The Eagle and the Mountain: Once a year, The Samaritan shares a meal with his arch-nemesis, The Infidel.

Most authors use super heroes to tell super hero stories. Kurt Busiek uses super heroes to tell human stories and this one is a prime example. In a very sensible turn, The Samaritan and The Infidel share an uneasy truce, each bent on bending the other to his point of view. The story is told from The Infidel's point of view and it's very interesting to see the history of their relationship unfold. It's a logical conclusion to the never-ending battle between a hero and his arch-enemy and it's very well done.

Her Dark Plastic Roots: Beautie is a life-sized robot doll, not unlike Barbie, who longs to understand her place in the world.

This tale was a sad one. Beautie is an outsider, even among the Honor Guard, who wonders who created her and why. It's a tale of loneliness and isolation, normally heavy stuff for a super hero book but par for the course in Astro City.

Graduation Day + The Gordian Knot: Third generation super hero Astra Furst has graduated from college and is contemplating her next move. But what about Matt, her ordinary boyfriend?

This was both a coming of age tale and a tale of the perils of celebrity. Astra Furst has been in the public eye her whole life and just wants to be normal. Her boyfriend Matt wonders if her future plans include him. It's hard not to feel for Astra. Also, it was nice catching up with the First Family. Astra's tale also shows what the Fantastic Four could be like if they'd been allowed to progress a bit instead of being largely static since Franklin Richards' birth.

To Serve and Protect + Home to the Hill: The Silver Agent has been fighting the iGod in the future for years, snatched away from his prison cell just before his execution. Now, he's returning to his own time to face the music. Will things be different?

This is a tale of not being able to escape the past. It wasn't the Silver Agent tale I wanted to read, how he came to be on death row for murder, but it was still very good, the tale of a man with a second chance to say goodbye.

Shining Stars is another great collection of tales from Astro City. If you're tired of the endless resets and reboots in super hero comics, give it shot. 4 out of 5 stars.

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