TOP TEN :: Top Ten Single Issues Ever :: #10
ASTRO CITY #1
by Kurt Busiek and Brent Anderson
When we first meet the Samaritan, Kurt Busiek’s riff on the Superman archetype, we hear him utter the phrase “There’s never any time,” as he rushes off to save the world again. This issue of Astro City, as well as many throughout the series, examines the ramifications of superhuman activity on the powered and powerless alike. Here we encounter a hero who is struggling to keep both ends of the candle burning in his dual lives: and a character who is much more like us than his Kryptonian cousin, for he too is susceptible to fits of exhaustion from his hectic schedule.
AMEN! This is one of the best superhero comics you could ever read. Astro City made me truly LOVE super hero comics again after quite a while of just feeling “eh” about them.
The whole first mini (now collected in “Life in the Big City” trade) is a must-read for any respectable super-hero lover.
There are several types of comics, some are inventive, while others original, others mine continuity for ideas, while others have a fresh take on the familiar trappings of superheroes. Kurt Busiek is able to be both inventive and fresh, without breaking the rules and roles of traditional comics.
You feel like you are reading the kind of comics you love, but with a more “adult” sensibility. This doesn’t mean smutty, ot turgid with converstaion and dialogue, or with over-the-top and graphic violence. It has more to do with themes and ideas, with plot and character-which many modern writers seem to forget.
Not that I have anything against smut and violence.
This comic book was the one that made me feel 10 years old again. I was no longer a refined comic reader, I was a fanboy again. I wanted to know EVERYTHING about this Universe and I couldn’t wait for the next issue. It gave me the same rush I had the first time I saw the Batcave 2 page spread (Batman has a submarine???) or a Legion of super-Heroes Roster page (How did Ferro Lad die?) or best of all the first time I saw a JLA/JSA teamup (Why do two of the superheroes have the name Doctor?–why are there two Green Lanterns)or when the Avengers Assembled en masse. What a ride– Thank you Kurt Busiek!!