Book of Doom: Astro City: The Dark Age Book 2 #1

I just woke up earlier this afternoon, surrounded by empty bottles of beer, ashtrays full of cigarettes, and an assortment of strangers passed out in various places around my apartment. Seems I’ve been on a bender, of sorts, for the better part of the past week. I guess that’s what quitting your job does to a guy. After I pieced together the various happenings of the past week and a half over breakfast (two shots of whiskey and a Denver Omelette), I rememered that I was supposed to post a review of the Book of Doom last Saturday. Unfortunately, I had been completely hammered and forgot all about it. Luckily, I am able to bring it to you now.

We reviewed “Astro City: The Dark Age Book 2 #1,” and, apparently, we all liked it. I don’t remember much of it, obviously, but, from what I do remember, I thought it was fairly decent. Kurt Busiek, the writer, is very competent, and I thoroughly enjoyed his work on “Up, Up, and Away,” the Superman One Year Later story arc. I thought the interplay between the two brothers in this book was rather solid, and I’m interested in what will happen next. My only problem is that, up to this point, I’ve never heard of “Astro City” before in my life. That’s an over exaggeration. I’ve never read any of it. So, frankly, I’ve no idea what’s going on. I guess I shouldn’t come down hard either way because of this fact. Let’s hear from my friends, who apparently know what’s up.

First, Jean-Claude Van Doome has this to say:

Kurt Busiek just flat out knows how to write comics. Whatever secret there is, he has it down. Or maybe it’s just that he’s written in the industry for a good long time now. Point is, when he actually cares about a project (not always a given, it seems) he churns out some entertaining/interesting/engagin/thought-provoking work. And there’s nothing he cares about more than Astro City, it’s probably safe to say.

What I find absolutely most fascinating about all the Astro City books is how by the concept alone, it’s obviously a parody/reimagining of the big-time superheroes like Superman and the Fantastic Four. But Busiek somehow writes it in a way that doesn’t treat the concept with a wink. It just exists, and he writes stories around it. He’s not making fun of superheroes, or making ironic statements. He’s just telling good stories.

Which is to say that all of the above is on display in this book. A lot of the success is in the chosen vantage point of the two brothers and their parallel narratives. But a lot more lies in Busiek’s ability.

Nice. Now let’s see what Fin Fang Doom thinks. He’s usually got an opinion:

A couple years ago, I went through a phase where I’d buy a new trade every week or so of something I’d never read before but had always heard good things about. Over the course of six months or so I’d read Preacher, Planetary, The Authority, Hellboy, Savage Dragon, Invincible, The Walking Dead, PvP, Fallen Angel, Captain Marvel, JLA, JSA, Ex Machina and probably a lot more I’ve forgotten by now. Sometimes I was really impressed by the first trade and got the rest of the series. Sometimes I was really underwhelmed and never bothered to give it a second chance. But a lot ofthe time, I’d be on the fence on a title and give it another trade or two before I’d give up on it. Astro City was one of those books I always meant to give a second chance but never got around to.

So when Doom DeLuise didn’t want to pick the book this week and asked me to do it, I jumped at an excuse to read Astro City again. Astro City had been circling in my brain recently with Kurt Busiek once again writing some of the best superhero books out there at DC. It was his run with George Perez on Avengers that was my gateway comic to a world outside of X-Men and Spider-Man, and I always felt that I was giving him and Astro City a bum rap.

Turns out, I was. The Dark Age Book Two # I was a great issue. I can’t really put my finger on what I enjoyed so much, but I liked it a lot and am eagerly anticipating the next issue. Maybe it’s the explanation for why a happy-go-lucky superhero would suddenly turn grim-and-gritty. Maybe it’s the apathetic “good” cop allowing the “bad” cops to get away with seedy things because if they were really bad “the heroes would do something about it.” Maybe it’s not even the content, but it’s just the creators work so well together that they’re better as a whole than as a sum of their parts. Whatever it is, I’m really looking forward to reading a lot more of it.

Jim Doom had this to say:

What?

There you have it. What’d you guys think? Interesting? Overrated? Gonna keep buying it?