Astro City Metrobook, Vol. 1
Writer: Kurt BusiekArtist: Brent Eric AndersonCovers and Character Designs: Alex RossInker, Ch. 7 – 19: Will Blyberg, with Gary Martin for Ch. 18Colors, Ch. 1 – 6: Steve Buccellato and Electric CrayonColors, Ch. 7 – 19: Alex SinclairLetters: John Roshell of ComicraftPublisher: Image Comics
Astro City — the long-running superhero series primarily by Kurt Busiek, Brent E. Anderson, and Alex Ross — is being published in new, oversized paperback volumes, the first of which hit in Spring 2022. I took these new editions as a chance to collect and revisit one of my favorite comics series ever, one that because of the nature of its structure — many issues stand alone, others are parts of relatively short arcs that also function independently well enough — I’d never managed to read in its entirety. And I am very glad to be doing this.
First things first, I think the new books (of which three have been released, with Vol. 4 slated for December) are close to an ideal way to collect and read a large chunk of a run of comics. Each book has about 18 issues of Astro City, at a friendly enough price point of either $30 or $35. The books are substantial paperback volumes, which is a format I really wish more publishers would embrace (Powers by Brian Michael Bendis and Michael Avon Oeming is using this format for new editions as well, and they’re great). The result is an affordable set of collections that are chunky and look good on a shelf, without sacrificing readability. If you are the same kind of reader I am, you have a tendency to never read omnibuses or giant hardcovers (even ones you buy) because their heft necessitates a major arm workout or a table. Not so with these collections, which I’ve easily been reading on planes and in bed.
As for the contents of the collections, in reading them I am reminded that Astro City is among the best work done with superheroes — in any medium — during the 1990s. I think in my head I had sorted these series out of the decade, more closely associating it with the tail end of the ’90s or the start of the next decade. But in revisiting these books, I was surprised to find that the first volume ran mostly in 1995, with the next volume starting soon after. And these comics are so good, that they almost single-handedly refute the idea that the ’90s were absent any great superhero comic books.
The standout issue in Astro City Metrobook, Vol. 1 is Astro City 1/2, which should be in the conversation with the best single issue comic books of all time. It’s a story of a man who has essentially experienced a large-scale superhero event, the type that most — if not all — readers of this volume will be very well familiar with. He doesn’t know it though. History (or continuity, if you will) has been rewritten. He just knows that he’s having strong wispy memories of a woman he doesn’t think he’s ever met. He can’t shake them, and so he goes in search of this woman, finding that no one he knows remembers her either.
What emerges from there is a heartbreaking story of a woman whose sacrifice was in part how the world was saved. It’s beautifully told in a way that feels timeless. And it speaks to what makes every arc or issue of Astro City special — these are comics that use superhero tropes and familiarity to find beauty — even of the heart-rending sort — in the human experience. It’s especially impressive to me that they were able to do that at a time when the market was mostly dominated by more cynical takes on long-time characters. It’s tempting to paint Astro City as a refutation of superhero deconstructions, but in re-reading these books now, I don’t think it’s that at all.
It’s all subjective, of course, but I really don’t think these creators were even considering the larger market. I think they had good ideas — for standalone stories, for character designs, for never-before-used perspectives to look at analogs of famous characters — and, like the man in Astro City #1/2 — they couldn’t shake the need to explore them.
And I could go on. But I will instead conclude here by noting that if you’ve never read Astro City, or, if like me, you read fragments of it throughout the years, these new collections are well-worth a visit or revisit.
Verdict: BUY
Astro City Metrobook, Vol. 1 is available to order now.
