Astro City: Local Heroes

Astro City, Vol. 5: Local Heroes by Kurt Busiek
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Astro City is home to lots of interesting people: a doorman who never managed to leave the city, a comic book writer struggling to write about real super heroes, a lawyer who has to defend a man whom is most certainly guilty, the would-be girlfriend of a super hero, an actor who plays a hero on tv, a girl forced to spend the summer with relatives in the country, and an old super hero who steps up when no one else is available...

Here we are, another visit to my favorite city. It's hard to keep finding new things to gush about. As with the last four volumes, there's a tremendous sense of history. What the hell happened with the Silver Agent, Kurt? Anyway, the familiar song is playing in the background instead of blaring in our ears and the humans take center stage.

The doorman's story in the first issue in this collection is a great slice of life tale. I wasn't as fond of the second one, mostly because I'm uneasy about super hero comics in a super hero universe. It was still good, though. The story of Atomicus was probably my second favorite of the book, a tribute to all those stories where Lois is trying to figure out Superman's identity. Leave Atomicus alone, bitch!

The Crimson Cougar's tale was good. There was a nice "coming to Jesus" moment near the end that I liked quite a bit. When the Samaritan is disappointed in you, it's time to rethink things. It ended nicely. Pastoral, the middle story in the book, was easily my favorite. It was the story of a girl from Astro City experiencing small town life and a small town super hero, much to her chagrin. It rang true on so many levels. So good.

The lawyer's tale was an interesting look at what a lawyer's life might be like in a city of super heroes and showed how broken our legal system can be at times. It would have been a little depressing if not for the Blue Knight. Supersonic's tale, the tale of an old man without a whole lot left to give, was another emotional one. Who can't relate to getting older and not being as capable as you used to be? The story wrapped with a tribute to 9/11 and it was short but sweet.

I see a lot of people bitching about Brent Anderson's art not being typical superhero fare. I don't think it should be since the story focuses more on the human characters. I think it suits the stories perfectly. Also, he hides things in the background. Check out Josh's reflection in lawyer story.

As with the previous four volumes, I feel like there are decades of old comics set in Astro City just waiting to be read in a storage area somewhere out there. I think the reason I like Astro City so much is because it doesn't keep rehashing the same tales of guys in costumes punching each other we've all been reading for decades. Instead, Kurt Busiek and Brent Anderson go for the human approach. Four out of five stars.

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