Astro City
| Astro City | |
|---|---|
Astro City vol. 2, #1. Art by Alex Ross.
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| Publication information | |
| Publisher |
Image Comics (1995–1996) Homage Comics (1996–2004) Wildstorm (2004–2010) Vertigo Comics (2013–present) |
| Format | Ongoing series |
| Genre | |
| Publication date(s) |
(Vol. 1) August 1995 – January 1996 (Vol. 2) September 1996 – August 2000 Local Heroes April 2003 – February 2004 The Dark Age and the specials June 2004 – August 2010 (Vol. 3) August 2013 – Present |
| Main character(s) | Honor Guard, The First Family |
| Creative team | |
| Created by | Kurt Busiek Brent Anderson Alex Ross |
| Written by | Kurt Busiek |
| Artist(s) |
Brent Anderson Alex Ross |
| Editor(s) | Kurt Busiek Ann Huntington-Busiek John Layman |
Kurt Busiek's Astro City is an American superhero anthology comic book series centered on a fictional American city of that name. Created and written by Kurt Busiek, the series is mostly illustrated by Brent Anderson, with character designs and painted covers by Alex Ross. The first series debuted in August 1995, published by Image Comics, and eventually moved to Homage Comics, part of the Wildstorm Signature Series.
The first Astro City series was published from 1995–1998, and then returned in 2003 with the Local Heroes and The Dark Age story arcs. The Dark Age was set in the 1970s and 1980s and ran 16 issues. In it, the citizens of Astro City ponder the functions and motivations of superpowered individuals, and their overall positions within the community. The Dark Age began publication in 2005 and ended in May 2010, with the final four issues published monthly.
In June 2013, another Astro City monthly series debuted from Vertigo Comics.
Astro City is an anthology series that focuses on a large cast of characters, from small cameo roles of a few panels to full center stage attention spanning several issues. Most of the characters live within Astro City, a center for super-powered beings, and most stories take place there. Some issues are told from the viewpoint of heroes, some from the vantage point of average people, others from villains and shady criminals. Stories also vary greatly in length, from one issue to sixteen in the case of the story arc Dark Age. Stories often reflect particular tropes in superhero stories: that heroes have a unique "rogue's gallery" of villains they fight, that heroes from outside Astro City have powers/names that reflect where they live, and even specific trends in superhero comics (the Dark Age story arc, for instance, revolved around the gritty style of superhero stories that appeared following the publication of Alan Moore's "Watchmen" series).
Astro City explores how people—both ordinary people and the heroes and villains themselves—react to living in their world. For example, in the first story, Samaritan reflects on his life during a typical day in which he spends almost all of his waking hours flying around the world to help people, with little time to enjoy the sheer physical sensation of flight. Other stories involve a date between two high-profile heroes, the initiation of a "kid sidekick" hero, the efforts of a reformed supervillain to find a life outside of prison, a superhero being driven away from Earth by his "love's" attempts to expose him, and the life of an innocent bystander in the days after having been held hostage by a supervillain.
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Wikipedia