Astro City

Astro City 22

Kurt Busiek finishes off volume 2 on the same low as the previous issues.  Here, an actor turned hero realizes it isn’t all that it’s cracked up to be.  I’m discovering that I really don’t like the Astro City stories about losers.  Busiek rarely makes them sympathetic enough for me to care about them, resulting in a disappointing reading experience.  I did like the lesson from this issue, though:

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: No

Would read again: No

Rating: Didn’t suck

Astro City: Local Heroes 1-5

Busiek returns to form here.  This did come with the revelation that he’d been suffering from mercury poison, impossible to say if his recovery is related to the improvement in his storytelling.  Issue one has a beautiful ending with a callback to the opening scene:

Page 2

Flashback scene.

What a wonderful, unspoken connection.

Issue two has a nice take on the “Lois Lane trying to prove Superman is Clark Kent” trope from the 50s.  Issue three introduces us to a girl who learns to appreciate the intersection between farm life and superheroes.

The last two issues are about a lawyer who goes down the slippery slope of introducing comic book science into the courtroom.  It’s cleverly done, and the Blue Knight character is pretty cool too.

A nice little run, let’s see if Busiek can maintain it.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: No

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Pretty good

Astro City/Arrowsmith

A flip book with super short stories for each one.  Complete filler.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: No

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Fine

Astro City: Supersonic

A pointless issue.  A sad retired cop convinces his retired superhero friend to put on the suit one last time to fight a giant robot.  Poor Supersonic prevails after getting the crap kicked out of him, and I got zero joy out of watching a 70-year old guy get smashed into the ground.  Totally cuttable if I end up gutting this collection.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: No

Would read again: No

Rating: Disliked

Arrowsmith, New comics

New comics!

Batman: The Detective 4

Things are starting to happen as the bad guys make their move and Batman begins his counteroffensive.  Super cute moment from Alfred:

DIE 18

There’s such a dreamlike quality to this book.  I’m not sure if I like this book, but I’m always intrigued by it.  

Seven Secrets 10

There’s no doubt that this will read better all at once.  The art by Daniele Di Nicuolo is always great to look at, though.

Rorschach 10

Tom King reveals the conspiracy here, still somehow making this totally engaging as a standalone issue if you’ve forgotten most of what happened before.  This is really good.

Arrowsmith 1-6

Kurt Busiek and Carlos Pacheco tell a story of World War I but with magic.  There are plenty of cliches, including letters home from the country hick who enlisted with dreams of glory.  But the art is peak Pacheco and the elements of sorcery keep it fresh enough to stay engaging throughout.  The promised sequels never happened, and I’m not sure if I would buy them at this point.  Maybe for the Pacheco art.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: Yes

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Pretty good