World Famous Comics: ASTRO CITY: THE DARK AGES, BOOK 1
ASTRO CITY: THE DARK AGES, BOOK 1
By: Kurt Busiek Publisher: WildStorm Average Rating: Binding: Hardcover Label: WildStorm Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 256 Publication Date: July 29, 2008 Reading Level: Ages 4-8 Release Date: July 29, 2008
The best superhero series around keeps getting better Astro City creator Kurt Busiek gets it. He realizes that superheroes are a well-established genre and just like crime dramas or westerns he does not need to waste time covering old ground.
So in AC we have new characters swiftly introduced with some quick shorthand, and then Busiek starts telling the interesting part of their story. In superhero land aliens and lab accidents are a dime a dozen. Busiek tells new stories with these familiar staples.
So in Dark Age he enters the 70s a time when life in America was going through tremendous social upheavals. He uses superheroes to tell the story of that time and capture the chaos in society.
Brent Anderson's art and Alex Ross' designs are just as beautiful as ever. Astro City books belong on every comic fan's bookshelf.
Heroes for the real world Kurt Busiek's Astro City series are modern classics - sometimes told in similar vein as older stories but with fresh perspectives and depth of characterization seldom seen. His stories are more often told from the viewpoint of the man on the street rather than an invulnerable superhero.
The Dark Ages continues this trend, but as the title indicates, these are not happy times for the citizens of Astro City. This is where their trust and belief in their heroes gets washed aside, where they fail not only those heroes but themselves.
Busiek presents this story set in the 1970's primarily through two brothers - Charles and Royal Williams - whose parents die in the crossfire between heroes and villians while they are still children. They take decidedly different paths in life - Charles becomes a policeman, Royal a thief - yet remain in contact. Their lives are affected on a daily basis by the super-powered community, in good and in bad ways, and through their eyes you get a feeling for how you might react yourself in those situations.
Busiek is at his best when showing how the common man is impacted by the super human, and this story line shows that off very well. Fans of Astro City know this is the big reveal of how the statue of the Silver Agent marking the city's "Greatest Shame" came to be, and this collection (which is the first half of the story) continues to have shadows around the circumstances but does give enough to explain the situation. With Watergate and Vietnam serving as backdrops, it is easy to understand how the citizens came to mistrust even the heroes. I guess they wouldn't be heroes if they didn't accept that from the people and do their jobs anyway.
If the second half is as well composed and illustrated as this volume, this will be a story that could be used in a history class to explain the disillusionment that hit the United States in the 1970's.
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