One comic book series I can always
reread with pleasure is Kurt Busiek’s Astro
City.
Debuting in August 1995, the title
benefits from art by Alex Ross and Brent Anderson that deftly splits the
difference between comic book romanticism and photo-realism.
It features variations on familiar
themes: a Superman from the future, a vampire Batman, a winged Wonder Woman, a
super-powered family with the initials “FF,” and others. Idiosyncratic comic
book conventions — secret identities, kid sidekicks, rogues’ galleries — are
also wryly explored.
But its uniqueness lies elsewhere,
in its dramatic structure. The
lives of ordinary people are placed in the dramatic foreground, played against a
background of superhero melodrama. That structure carries with it an implicit,
understated theme — that a meaningful life is not just for special people, but
should be available to all.
And amid the comedy and the
tragedy, the series has a running undercurrent about compassion and
responsibility. Unlike certain Hollywood directors, Busiek understands the
ethic that necessarily underpins superhero stories.
In Since the Fire, a former firefighter explains to a young boy why
someone must do the job that has cost him considerably.
“And better it’s someone trained,
skilled and equipped to have the best chance of getting kids like you out,” he
says. “Take a look around. All these people, they’re livin’ their lives, and
they do what they do, and they sleep a little easier because of guys like me
and the others back there.
“The superheroes flyin’ around,
they’re okay. But they can’t always be there. We gotta take care of ourselves…”
“I got 47 people out of burning
buildings the last eight months. Three that night.
“A leg’s nothing, not to that.
Nothing.”
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