Astro City #39 Discussion

[Expletive Deleted]

In which we revisit another old friend, in this case Marta Dobrescu from ASTRO CITY #4, twenty years ago. Back then, she was a young lawyer torn between her roots in the disquieting Shadow Hill neighborhood and the more glamorous life uptown. Now she's older and more experienced, running her own law practice in Shadow Hill, but still working to balance her life inside and outside her neighborhood. And, again, the Hanged Man is involved.

It's a fine issue. I'm not sure if getting into the Hanged Man's origin is really necessary (he works just fine as an enigma), but the connection to Marta's life in the present is a neat little piece of work. Of course, the ethereal agent of good needs a lawyer, occasionally. That said, Marta was the star. It was great to see her again, see where she went in life, and see her deal with the same sorts of problems from an older, more established perspective. Granted, that may be because I'm older and more established than I was when I read that issue back in 1996, but still.

Carmen Carnero does a credible job on art duties, but I do miss Brent Anderson's work. I don't think Carnero quite nailed the moody spookiness of Shadow Hill the way Anderson has in the past. The transition between Shadow Hill and the rest of Astro City isn't as pronounced, although the colorist makes it work.

All in all, solid and recommended.

[gwangung]

ASTRO CITY is ALWAYS recommended.

Continuity progresses in real time (showing how it CAN'T be done for the Big Two). Things that occur really matter for the protagonists. Kurt's stories always focus on the one or two biggest events in a person's life, whether they're super powered or not....

[HauntedCastle]

I was able to get the first 19 issues of Astro City (the current run) at about $0.20 each thanks to a closing retail store in the area. I've been intrigued by the covers for quite some time and debated over whether to start getting each issue or the graphic novels. Now that I have so many, I think I'll read and decide from there if I want to continue issue by issue or seek out the novels. I've heard lots of good things!