Astro City (DC Comics) has hit its hundredth issue this month, a milestone for any comic book. But it’s especially important here, as the creative team of Kurt Busiek, Brent Anderson, and Alex Ross have spent twenty-two years dealing with everything the comics industry can throw at them. So it’s apt that the 100th issue is a capstone to the book’s mission of bringing the warmth and optimism of Golden and Silver Age comics forward to the modern day, without setting aside the very real concerns of the modern world.
The issue follows the Flash Gordon-esque Astronaut, for whom Astro City is named. He’s a two-fisted ’30s hero at first, but we quickly learn the Astronaut is a complex man struggling with a deep moral question. Faced with his encounters with a warlike race that got technology far more advanced than their society can handle, he has a choice at the eve of World War II: Is humanity able to control its worst impulses?
The issue is a perfect summary of Astro City as a comic, full of bright, fun action, and yet also deeply thoughtful and even introspective while asking the reader to come up with their own answers to the questions it poses. Anderson’s sheer joy as he riffs on everything from Milton Caniff to the work of Rocketeer creator Dave Stevens fills the art, and the end result is a superb issue that shows once again what comics can be.
Hulk #3, Marvel
Mariko Tamaki and Nico Leon continue their slow-burn look at how we cope, or don’t, with emotional trauma. Jen, who is barely keeping it together and has to force herself out of the house, is contrasted with her client, who withdraws completely after she’s violently attacked. So far, we’ve gone three issues without the Hulk and quite frankly, the book wouldn’t need it. Marvel’s delivered some thoughtful comics in the last few years, and this stands out among them.
Curse Words #2, Image Comics
Charles Soule and Ryan Browne continue their story of an evil wizard turned not-quite-perfect hero who decides to protect Earth from an evil squad of magic users. One problem: He’s still, at root, a deeply flawed human being, the kind of person who’d freeze and shrink an entire baseball stadium and everybody on TV watching it and send them all to an alternate reality rather than accept the consequences of his actions. Oh, and his ex-girlfriend is coming for his ass, so you know that’s not going to end well.
Supergirl: Being Super #2, DC Comics
Mariko Tamaki (yes, she’s got two books on the top ten this week) and Joelle Jones return with the second issue retelling Supergirl’s origin story. This issue takes a surprising turn: Every superhero has to learn they can’t save everyone, but this issue does so in a particularly harsh way that tempers, somewhat, the impulse to make Kara a character for whom everything’s sunny all the time always. Jones in particular shows off her ability not just with bodies but with faces; some of the book’s most intense moments are simple, sad conversations. This is shaping up to be an unmissable miniseries any superhero fan should pick up.
Sun Bakery #1, Image Comics
Image’s latest anthology series is a hilarious collection of indie strips that linger on, or make fun of, the tropes of video games. They’re all gold, but one in particular, about how video game characters can beat the crap out of each other with swords yet not bleed, is not only funny in its own right, but it’d make for a pretty good video game in of itself.
Elektra #1, Marvel: The assassin returns and has an unexpected problem in Las Vegas: People hunting the most dangerous game. It’s a stock plot, but one with polished, fun writing and art from Matt Owens and Alec Morgan.
The Black Hood #3, Dark Circle: The Black Hood is forced to return to Philly after meeting his nemesis, the Nobody, who’s going back and killing all the people he saved, in the welcome return of this vigilante noir story.
Old Guard #1, Image Comics: Greg Rucka and Leandro Fernandez riff on a fun concept: Immortal warriors getting outed to militaries around the world. And boy are they not happy about it.
Harbinger Renegade #4, Valiant: This book finally fills in the past of its villain, making for a fascinating idea: Are you a bad guy in the present, if your actions are meant to derail a worse future?
Slam! #4, BOOM! Studios: This look at friendship and juggling the travails of modern life through the lens of roller derby continues to be a joyful, kinetic surprise, and a sweet and thoughtful book.
This Week’s Best Collections
Shaft: Imitation Of Life, Dynamite (Softcover, $16): David Walker and Diedrich Smith’s take on Shaft is far more than just the bad mutha we all know from the movie, and this book, where Shaft has to find a young man missing in the New York gay underground, is a perfect illustration of why.
Lake Of Fire, Image Comics (Softcover, $17): Nathan Fairbairn asks what would happen if Crusaders fought aliens in a book that balances gory alien-killing with some historical context.
Britannia, Valiant (Softcover, $10): Peter Milligan and Juan Jose Ryp mix Roman history, police procedurals, HP Lovecraft, and political intrigue into a potent brew of horror and mystery.