2017 Comic Challenge 301 Astro City Vol 01 #04

TITLE-Astro City Volume 01 #04
PUBLISHER-Image

Another story showing us the normal average citizen of Astro City's POV of living in a place packed with super powered beings.

Our lead is a younger lady. Who lives in what is the supernatural part of Astro City. But works in the dead center of town. She wants to move out of Shadow Hill and not have to worry every night about attacks. Gets offered a chance to split an apartment with some people at work. Then a team of super villains attacks her workplace. Even after being quickly saved by Astro City's version of the Fantastic Four,our lead changes her mind and now wants to keep living in her old neighborhood.

While not as good as the previous two issues,this is still a good comic. It felt more like Busick trying to introduce as many parts and people of Astro City as he could in one issue. Which ended up being done pretty decently.

Astro City Volume 01 #04 gets a buy.

2017 Comic Challenge 300 A Touch of Silver #01

TITLE-A Touch of Silver #01
PUBLISHER-Image

After hearing about this series for years,plus reading what I think is all of Jim Valentino's Normalman series last year,I have been wanting to try out A Touch of Silver. Going into the comic all I knew was it was semi autobiographical,and that Gary Groth of  The Comics Journal hated it.

Ok I see why Groth hated it. This is Valentino trying his best to pull on every fanboy's heartstrings. Imagine if you took Blankets,another comic I hate,and add the art style of early issues of Hate.You would get A Touch of Silver. It is every "Man it sucked growing up as a comic geek. Everyone hated me" story you have heard or lived through at once.

So sorry Mr Valentino,I have at least enjoyed every other thing of yours I have read. But A Touch of Silver is pure crap.

A Touch of Silver gets a pass. Pass it to a trash can and light it on fire so no one else should have to suffer through this god awful comic.

2017 Comic Challenge 299 Doom Patrol Vol 02 #62

TITLE-Doom Patrol volume 02 #62
PUBLISHER-DC

Pretty sure this is the second to last issue of Morrison's run on Doom Patrol. The Chief has left behind a back up plan. Nanotech that will reshape the world. Cliff of course doesn't trust the Chief so goes off to stop this newest world wide threat.

Knowing what happens in the next issue,then how the next writer on the series would change most things,this issue now reads completely differently than it did when I first read it in my teens decades ago.

Once again with this series it is best to just go buy or borrow the trades. I grab the issues cause I enjoy reading the letter pages and stuff.

Doom Patrol volume 02 #62 gets a borrow.

2017 Comic Challenge 298 Doom Patrol vol 2 #59

TITLE-Doom Patrol volume 02 #59
PUBLISHER-DC

We are near the end of Grant Morrision's long run on Doom Patrol. So he is wrapping up all the loose threads before handing the title over to Rachel Pollock.

After 3 pages of rigidly done 6 panel pages,all showing us how the world is ending,we see what is left of the team. The Candlemaker is killing the soul of the world. And of course only the Doom Patrol can prevent this from happening.

Thankfully years ago I read all of Morrison's Doom Patrol run,cause if not this issue wouldn't have made a lick of sense. The reason I read this was I just recently got another copy. Sure I got Morrison run in TPBs. But those are missing the letter pages,which were sometimes really good. And every cheap bin in every LCS I visit has piles of issues of Doom Patrol sitting there unloved and forgotten by the modern fanboys. Plus look at that cover. It caught my eye while flipping through piles of copies of mid 90s glut Marvel stuff.

Really with this series if you want to read it just buy the trades or see if your local library has them. Sure you can spend a few years and manage to get the entire run for under a buck an issue out of the cheap bins. But that is time spent you could use to read this great series much faster.

Doom Patrol vol 02 #59 gets a borrow.

2017 Comic Challenge 297 Astro City volume 01 #03

TITLE-Astro City Volume 01 #03
PUBLISHER-Image

Yep back to Busick's Astro City. I have no clue as of the quality of this series after the Tarnished Angel story in Vol 02,but at least up till then it is an amazing series that more people should read.

In this issue a low level crook,he robs stores to live,manages to not only escape Jack in the Box but also sees Jack unmasking. And so now this nobody in the criminal world knows the secret identity of Astro City's version of say Spidey,Blue Beetle or The Creeper.Information like this is valuable but also dangerous. So what will he do with this info?

So Busick takes another old comic book cliche/trope and tries to add some realism to it.While stuff like Watchmen,Miracleman,DKR and Squadron Supreme get referred to as grim and gritty deconstructions of the superhero genre,Astro City is a more optimistic and realistic deconstruction of the superhero genre.

Honestly folks Astro City is one of those series that was popular as fuck when it was coming out in the late 90s,but to me it feels like people have forgotten about it. Go grab some back issues or a trade and check it out. If you like superheroes odds are good you will enjoy this series.

Astro City vol 01 #03 gets a buy.