REVIEW: Astro City, #23

[CBR News]

Meet ticks, a talking gorilla who wants nothing more than to play drums. Unfortunately, Kurt Busiek and Brent Anderson house him in superhero-centric Astro City, where no one can see past his strength.


Full review here.

[Tula's boyfriend]

This series is such pure joy and well done. I cannot believe that more people are not picking it up. Come on people!

[gwangung]

This series is such pure joy and well done. I cannot believe that more people are not picking it up. Come on people!

It is the distillation of what every online fan say they want: smart storytelling, good art, tight continuity, lots of heart, and an enveloping feeling of hope.

[FanboyStranger]

The thing that really gets me is that it's not really like trying something new and different. It's a venerable title that's been around for 20 years, and it's every bit as good now as when it started, which is very rare in comics. I don't get why sales aren't better. I try to bring it into every conversation about great superhero titles, but other than the former readers that didn't realize that it's coming out monthly from Vertigo, no one seems particularly interested. Such a shame. Oh, well... the cool kids still read it.

[Pat Thomas]

The thing that really gets me is that it's not really like trying something new and different. It's a venerable title that's been around for 20 years, and it's every bit as good now as when it started, which is very rare in comics. I don't get why sales aren't better. I try to bring it into every conversation about great superhero titles, but other than the former readers that didn't realize that it's coming out monthly from Vertigo, no one seems particularly interested. Such a shame. Oh, well... the cool kids still read it.

I think it just possesses the stigma of an independent book. For many readers, the only comic universe they care about and want to read about is the one they are already
keeping up with. I don't think it would even make a difference if it was in the main DC line, no matter how good it is. This is a group of people who don't generally flock to
new and different things, and Astro City is it's own universe. It's too bad, because I think anybody who takes the time to read an issue will come back. But how do you
convince people who are resistant to anything out of their regular reading routine to try it?

[gwangung]

I think it just possesses the stigma of an independent book. For many readers, the only comic universe they care about and want to read about is the one they are already
keeping up with. I don't think it would even make a difference if it was in the main DC line, no matter how good it is. This is a group of people who don't generally flock to
new and different things, and Astro City is it's own universe. It's too bad, because I think anybody who takes the time to read an issue will come back. But how do you
convince people who are resistant to anything out of their regular reading routine to try it?

I think it's proof positive that the majority of people aren't interest in quality. They want characters done their way in stories they want their way and woe to any writer or company who varies one iota from that.

[Astrozac]

I think it just possesses the stigma of an independent book. For many readers, the only comic universe they care about and want to read about is the one they are already
keeping up with. I don't think it would even make a difference if it was in the main DC line, no matter how good it is. This is a group of people who don't generally flock to
new and different things, and Astro City is it's own universe. It's too bad, because I think anybody who takes the time to read an issue will come back. But how do you
convince people who are resistant to anything out of their regular reading routine to try it?

Could it also be a generational thing too? The book was never a mega seller, but as it went on through the late 90s, it became a buzz book, winning awards and acclaim and getting new readers on board, plus the collected editions sold really well. I know there were people with the same attitude in the 1990s about the book. I became a fan of the book at age 12, with a perfect jumping on point of the start of the Confession storyline and have loved the stories and book ever since. My cousin, who's around 10 years older than me, thoughts were, "I have Confession, its a good story, but he's a Batman knockoff." That seems a to be a common theme, in most people can't get past superhero archetypes or anything not from the Big Two.

If there hadn't been the two close to three year hiatuses, I think the book would have stayed in the forefront of peoples minds a lot more. The last one hurt more, being out of the comic shop consciousness and the fact the Kurt hasn't had any major other comics work being put out at the big two.

My LCS was already out of #23 on the shelves, only four days later. I can remember even before I had a pull, during Local Heroes and the Dark Age storyline, I'd get the last one off of the shelf if they weren't already sold out. You can take that as a good and bad sign, but I've always looked at it as good. And they always reordered if you requested it.
The only wonder I have is how many trade wait for the book?

[FanboyStranger]

Could it also be a generational thing too? The book was never a mega seller, but as it went on through the late 90s, it became a buzz book, winning awards and acclaim and getting new readers on board, plus the collected editions sold really well. I know there were people with the same attitude in the 1990s about the book. I became a fan of the book at age 12, with a perfect jumping on point of the start of the Confession storyline and have loved the stories and book ever since. My cousin, who's around 10 years older than me, thoughts were, "I have Confession, its a good story, but he's a Batman knockoff." That seems a to be a common theme, in most people can't get past superhero archetypes or anything not from the Big Two.

If there hadn't been the two close to three year hiatuses, I think the book would have stayed in the forefront of peoples minds a lot more. The last one hurt more, being out of the comic shop consciousness and the fact the Kurt hasn't had any major other comics work being put out at the big two.

My LCS was already out of #23 on the shelves, only four days later. I can remember even before I had a pull, during Local Heroes and the Dark Age storyline, I'd get the last one off of the shelf if they weren't already sold out. You can take that as a good and bad sign, but I've always looked at it as good. And they always reordered if you requested it.
The only wonder I have is how many trade wait for the book?

It does perform much better in collections, like most Vertigo books.

I started reading AC in my 20s with the Confessions tpb and the ongoing issues during the "Tarnished Hero" arc. My reaction was the polar opposite of your cousin's-- I wished more Batman stories could be as good as Confession. Despite liking many corporate superhero books at the time, the creator-owned aspect of the series actually drew me to AC-- there weren't many creator-owned superhero series at the time, and other than Moore's Supreme, Ellis' Stormwatch, and the occaisional Hellboy mini, there weren't a lot of independent superhero series I really felt were worth reading.

[manduck37]

It is the distillation of what every online fan say they want: smart storytelling, good art, tight continuity, lots of heart, and an enveloping feeling of hope.

Absolutely! Whenever someone asks for a good comic recommendation, I always say Astro City. It's a book that really has it all. If you love comics, you'll love Astro City.