Astro City #1-3

Kurt Busiek has still got it.

 I read but didn’t love the Dark Age mini-series; too many of my favorites were off-screen. But they are back here in the new volume, along with fun new creations like American Chibi and Wolfspider. It’s odd, these characters haven’t appeared anywhere but in this title, but they’ve been around so long, seeing the Samaritan, MPH, and Winged Victory is pretty great.

The first issue gives us the Sandman-esque Broken Man. He opens the issue breaking the fourth wall and addressing the reader directly. According to him, the reader is actually helping save the world by reading the first issue of Astro City! That’s a great idea, and the twist on the final page left me with a smile on my face. It’s an issue that keeps you thinking for a bit.

Issues 2&3 feature Marella Cowper, a phone bank operator for the Honor Guard. It’s a high-stress position, but one where Marella can do a lot of good. Busiek keeps the story nicely grounded on her, but still delivers some nice moments with the Guard members themselves, especially Cleopatra. It’s funny, but I almost wish Busiek could leave the “normal human” point of view a bit more; I’d love to see straight up super-heroics featuring these characters. Astro City always had a bit of a DC feel to it, so this could really scratch an itch for me these days!

One thing the series is lacking at this point is a strong antagonist. None of the villains in the first three issues have enough weight or danger to them to give any strong sense of suspense. The Honor Guard has the situation under control pretty much the whole time, so there is a bit of tension that is lacking.

Brent Anderson continues to deliver strong, emotional work as he has for years now. I love the new Wolfspider character, with his awesome jet-bike. I never realized quite how cool Cleopatra was until these issues either. She’s basically a female Thor, and Anderson really gives her the gravity and power she deserves.

I hate paying $3.99 for these issues that don’t even have a digital code, but now that I’m back, I don’t think I can leave Astro City again.

Astro City is a place where comics are GOOD.

Trinity TPB #1

I know I've only read the first 17 issues, but I'm really enjoying Kurt Busiek's tour of the DCU. In fact, this is probably the closest I'v'e felt to "my DCU" that I've read in years. Busiek's great mix of heroes and villains, along with his classic take on the trinity, make this really comfortable. I realize that comfortable isn't always what we look for in a comic, but in this gory era of DC, I'll take it.

Three villains are attempting to set up the trinity as prime keys in the makeup of the multiverse. There is a lot of tying in to tarot decks, which always seems a bit silly to me, but in this case Busiek keeps the influence light enough that I didn't lose interest. Morgan Le Fey, Despero, and Enigma create a neat bunch of new characters (Primat, the romantic super-ape is the best one) who must seek out artifacts from the trinity's past in order to cast a spell that will remake the DCU in the villains' image. What's neat about this is how often Busiek gets to explain his take on the characters and provide little details to help us see how they are different, but more importantly, how they are so similar. As the spell starts to take effect, the heroes start to see things with each other's point of view, the neatest being a Wonder Woman-strategy with Batman's determination as Superman takes on the Crime Syndicate of America on their evil Earth. Superman is brutally awesome here, he dismatles the group in moments, even impressing the JLA.

Fabian Nicieza works with Busiek on the backups and he gets to spend some quality time with two favorites of mine: Gangbuster and Hawkman. These two work really well together, and their chapters as they take on the villain's team of flunkies are quite enjoyable. The two authors spend time tourin the DCU with othe characters too, including Oracle, Riddler, Nightwing, Robin, the Outsiders, John Stewart, and more. This feels so JLA-y, how could I not like it? What surprises me the most about this first trade is that when the assembled heroes of the DCU show up to take on hordes of bad guys, I was still excited. In the past I would take pleasure in spottin gBlue Beetle, Booster Gold, Captain Atom, Martian Manhunter, Mr. Miracle, or Barda, but in this I was actually digging the folks I did get. That hasn't happened in awhile.

The art is from a great bunch of artists. Mark Bagley handles the lead material, and does a great job with the action especially. The backups come from solid artists like Tom Derenick, Mike Norton, and personal fave Jerry Ordway. This is a solid DCU tale, and I look forward to the next trade.

Good