comic anthology series created by Kurt Busiek,Brent Anderson
and Alex Ross.
"the other trinity"
An ObamaHope-poster style image of Alex Ross' artwork for Astro City
Vol. 10:Victory. The title derives from a similar image featuring DC comics'
iconic trio,Superman,Wonder Woman and Batman.
Probably not too much of a coincidence,since DC actually publishes these
stories,albeit through one of their other labels.
"radioactive men"
The Simpsons,as several of Astro City's heroes.
"unholy alliance"
...as in The Unholy Alliance,one of Astro City's most dangerous
supervillain groups. From the left: Their leader Demolitia, Slamburger,
Spice,Flamethrower and in the back,Glowworm.
"a summons to Samothrace"
An Andy Warhol-inspired image of Winged Victory.
"pitfalls with sidekicks"
Drawing inspiration from Neal Adams' iconic cover to
Green Lantern #85 (Aug./Sept. 1971),these are masked crimefighters
and sometimes-lovers Crackerjack and Quarrel;the sidekick is my
own creation.
"powerchord!!!"
From the pages of Astro City Vol. 12:Lover's Quarrel...it begins when Stekk,a member of
a race of intelligent talking gorillas hidden within the Antarctic,learns of the existance of rock
music.Teaching himself to play the drums,he rejects the militaristic life of his fellow simians
and escapes to Astro City;re-naming himself Sticks,he seeks out a drummer's position with a
local band,but before his first audition,he rescues people from a burning building,leading many
to believe he's a new superhero.He also attracts the attention of several terrorist organizations,
who attempt to capture him with the intention of selling him to the highest bidder...thus
potentially endangering any band he might perform with.
Wanting neither the life of a superhero or slave,Sticks begins to think he has no future as a
musician,until he hits upon an idea;donning bulletproof formal wear,he begins to fight crime
under the name Tuxedo Gorilla. Having established himself,he then puts out a call for any
other superhumans with musical abilities...and Powerchord is born!
"honor guard locker room"
Getting a little risque' here...four female members of Honor Guard,Astro City's
premiere supergroup...caught with their pants down.
From the left: Winged Victory (real name Lauren Freed),Quarrel (Jessica Taggart),
the second Cleopatra (Sarah Brandeis) and the BarbieDoll-esque android Beautie.
"confetti of justice"
The Steve Ditko-inspired hero Jack-In-The-Box,using his trademark
streamers to trap the hapless villain known as Glue-Gun.
"chibi crossbreed"
Done chibi-style,the Crossbreed,a sextet of heroes who believe their powers come
from God...in the front with the shepherd's crook is their leader Noah,who can summon
thunderstorms...to his right is the sonic-scream-wielding Joshua,to his left is the
geokinetic Peter and the lionesque Daniel.In the back is the giant David,while next to
him is the angel-winged Mary.
"saturday morning leo"
The featured character,Loony Leo,is a cartoon character that was
accidentally brought to life in 1946,an unexpected side effect of a
battle between the tuxedo-clad superhero the Gentlemen and his arch-
nemesis Prof. Borzoi,using a device that brought fictional characters to
life.His story,a fifty-year account that includes a short-lived career in
feature films,a scandal involving an underaged girl who dies of a drug
overdose,a brief stint as a lackey to an alien supervillain and eventually
becoming the owner of a successful restaurant in Astro City can be read
in Astro City Vol. 3:Family Album.
Although no such tale appears in the story,I'm imagining him here as the
star of a 1970's Saturday morning cartoon.
"the superteam that never was"
I'm imagining a group of heroes,circa the mid-1980s,that for various reasons concerning
each character,could not have come into existence;sort of a What If scenario.
Starting over on the far left,we have Carl Donewicz aka Steeljack,if he'd chosen to
become a hero rather than a villain.Moving clockwise,we next have Atomicus,a version
that chose not to leave Earth.Next is Charlie Provost,formerly the sidekick Quark who
did not have his powers removed by Starfighter,but eventually succeeded him as
Stargladiator. Below him is Mindmaster,a version of Martha Sullivan who found the
courage to use her telekinetic abilities to remain a heroine. Lastly,we have The Brethren,
brothers Charles and Royal Williams,who remained costumed heroes even after
avenging their parents' death.
"lawfully wedded"
Several members of the First Family,in a sort of middle-of-the-story
moment involving the supervillain Slamburger.
member of the Unholy Alliance (see above).
"the profane and the sacred"
The Silver Adept (Kimberly To),one of the most powerful practitioners
of magic,getting intimate with Mary of The Crossbreed.
"when ben met duncan"
A theoretical crossover team-up between Ben Grimm a.k.a. The Thing
of Marvel's Fantastic Four and Starfighter (Duncan Keller).
"roundhouse right of justice"
The 1940s-era masked hero the All-American.
"late night at Leo's"
"lovers in motion"
"two worlds in the balance"
"the dark age"
The longest Astro City story,done in a style
inspired by artist Jim Steranko.
"make mine astro!"
The seemingly immortal Old Soldier,in a format that pays homage to
Bronze age Marvel Comics and Jack Kirby.
"two tech-savvy evil old coots"
Specifically,the Junkman and Vivi Viktor.
"ten ventured out,eleven came back"
From the Dark Age miniseries,the Apollo Eleven...a group of astronauts
transformed into alien ambassadors....done in a style suggesting a
title card for a 1970s' animated TV series.
"no longer can he follow blindly"
"foes by any other name"
From left to right,the Majordomo,Lord Sovereign and the Otter.
"super happy meals"
"he passed on cuban-chinese"
"super cold war"
"malevolent master of the boreal realm"
"MORE serpent's teeth".
"dead and broken"
"the adventures of gus and jules"
"fiendish alliance"
My depiction of two of the First Family's enemies, briefly
mentioned but unseen in Astro City Vol. 3: Family Album
"power rings and enchanted staffs"
An imagined crossover with AC's Cleopatra and Green Lantern (Hal Jordan)
....with a twist.
"nightingale of two eras"
"his life for the entire world"
An interpretation of a pivotal event from
Astro City Vol. 3 : Confession.
"mister drama"
Frustrated by his constantly failing attempts to make it in his life's ambition, would-be
stage actor Frank Darman becomes a masked crime boss, primarily the nemesis
of Ditko-esque crimefighter Jack-In-The-Box.
"the gun's innocent, you're not"
It kinda helps if you've read Astro City: The Dark Age... specifically,
Book 3, Into The Abyss, Chapter 4, All The Way Down.
