Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #154840 in Books
• Published on: 1999-06-23
• Released on: 1999-06-23
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 224 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9781563895524
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
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From Library Journal
Busieks Astro City is a place where superheroes live more than it is a place where superheroic stories happen, and this book is more an ode to the myth of superhero lore than an adventure tale, although elements of the adventure permeate it. Busieks hope is to highlight the more humane elements of the superheroic existence, and to some degree the attempt is successful. We feel, for example, the conflict inherent in being both a superhero and an expectant father. However, the pace, which served Busiek well in Marvels (Marvel, 1994), another laconic superhero tale, is too slow here. The art is rich and resembles movie stills, as is appropriate for a family album. Readers steeped in superhero lore will probably enjoy this book. Others wont recognize the family whose portraits adorn this album. For large public libraries.Stephen Weiner, Maynard P.L., MA
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Customer Reviews

One of the better series in the superhero-genre
Astro City is a city filled with superpowered beings. You can't walk from street to street without noticing at least one meta-human, if you're an inhabitant of the city. But not so like most 'superhero-titles' the focus here isn't only on the heroes and their deeds, but on the regular people who live (and try to cope with all the supernatural activities around them) there as well. It tells about their personal lives as well as about the events they all witness.
This Trade-Paperback is the first Astro City collection that collects issues from the ongoing series (#1-3 & #10-13, no loose ends there though).
The great thing about Astro City TPB's is that they both work for longtime readers as for people who are new to the title. For 'experienced' readers there are many recognizable (background-) characters, surroundings and situations that it feels familiair (without being repetitive), yet never the same. At the same time all those recognizable parts aren't vital points to the story-arcs so that new-comers will never feel like their missing out on something (and once they're through reading their first TPB and move on to another Astro City book THEIR party of recognition begins, without anything being spoiled in a previous book. No matter what order you read them in because they work as self-contained books as well). The issues in this book I'd like to advise to especially take a good look at are #10-12. Issue #10 is about a man called "The Junkman" who once managed to pull off the greatest bank-robbery in the history of Astro City. Only the one thing he wants most, recognition for it, he doesn't have. He decides to go back and do it again. Issues #11/12 are about one of the most famous characters of Astro City namely 'Jack-in-the-Box'. One evening he leaves home and he gets confronted with some persons from his 'possible futures'. An event which makes him rethink his activities, both private as professional.
Finally the volume is concluded with some pages filled with sketches of how the characters came to be what they are now AND the Alex Ross covers to the original issues which are collected in here.
Like I said in my review-title, I consider this one of the best titles in the genre where superheroes are involved. It's about superheroes AND about regular folks among them AND about the the lives these metahumans have apart from being heroes. Especially people who liked "Marvels" and Alan Moore's "Top Ten" will have a good time with this book, but it really should appeal to most other comicbook-readers as well, both superhero-fans as fans whose interest lies in the more 'serious' sub-genres. Really well-executed.

Jack-in-the-Box, Junkman, and a Lotta Flashy Astro City Comic Jive
99% of the people who see the cover of Astro City Family Album think (like I did before I read the comics; I came to it all very late) that the clown on this cover is as evil a villain as Stephen King's It. But he's not; he's arguably Busiek's & Crew's greatest creation: Jack-in-the-Box. His story is the most memorable part of this collection. He's a man who's coming to terms with very scary elements of himself that have somehow preceded him into the future and come back now to visit, and they have a hateful vengeance in tow. At the end of this tale, he's dealing with the fact that what should be the happiest moment of his life -- celebrating his wife's pregnancy and the conception of his child -- may very well now be the scariest thing he's ever faced. And on top of that we get another great character, a villain called the Junkman, who is just as colorful and resourceful as our clownish hero; I mean, this guy pulls off the biggest heist in AC history with mechanically enhanced G. I. Joes, a cracked Etch-a-Sketch, and bouncy ball bombs! The first story in this collection, though, "Welcome to Astro City" serves as AC's main them in a nutshell; it's a story about how everyday people deal with living among superheroes and supervillains. The story asks, "Does anyone really want to?" (Of course, we do!) The next story takes that a step further and reverses the whole idea by having Astra Furst decide that she wants to live a day in the shoes of a typical non-super kid. While her Furst Family relatives are out kicking the rear end of every villain they suspect of kidnapping her, she's facing the greatest challenge of her life: beating foul-mouthed, bullying Martrice Lucey at hopscotch. You also get the story of down-and-out, all-too-world-weary and worldy-wise, Looney Leo. He was accidentally zapped off the celluloid screen and into the real world and has been everything from a movie superstar and a three-time loser bilked by a bad contract and a very unfortunate occurrence. This is one of my favorite of Astro City collections. It's fun, philosophically stimulating, and brilliant. Brent Eric Anderson truly comes into his own drawing Jack-in-the-Box, as does Alex Sinclair in coloring him. Where the collections Tarnished Angel and Confession were darkly captivating, moody, and wonderfully troubling, this collection allowed the artists to go all-out bright, brilliant, and visually-stimulating. Thankfully, this includes all the sketches that were in the back of the issues, and you also get the photos (actual photos) that Alex Ross used to use as models for his covers (which, of course, are unparalleled). This is a fascinating introduction into Astro City, and I would argue it's the very place to start. You can jump right into the middle of AC with this collection and understand everything that it's about. There's action here to keep you glued and plights both physical and metaphysical to keep you seating for a long while pondering these characters' fates. This is an absolute winner, and the pinnacle of current comics.

Characters first, fighting last
This trade paperback collects the stories of some of the super hero characters of Astro City. It follows their joys, their disappointments, their thoughts, and their process of growing. Sure there is fighting, but what is important in this collected stories are the psychological process of dealing with a reality that is filled with different kinds of people, heros , villians, and of course, plain old humans. This is a good and insightful read. The bad? Well, if you want Alex Ross, forget it. This book lied. There is NO alex ross save for the cover art. This is written by Kurt Busiek (a great writer by his own right) and Anderson (whose art is sharp but boring). I wanted Ross. But no,only the cover are by him. So if you want action, you'll be disappointed. If you want characters , this is a good read. If you want a good story, well again, this is good. But I recommend readers to be patient and slow on this. This is one to be cherished and enjoyed slowly. If you are a quick reader, you'll miss something. Not in the art, but in the characterization of a hero, villian, or spectator. I bought the Hardcover version of this collected series. It's worth it for me. I would like more exciting art, but Busiek's writing was the primary reason I bought it. Busiek didn't disappoint me.