ASTRO CITY: THE DARK AGE, BOOK 1 [Hardcover]

Kurt Busiek (Author), Brent Anderson (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 29, 2008

Today Astro City is a shining metropolis on a hill where super-heroes patrol the skies. However, things were not always as bright as they are today. In the early 1970's, in the wake of a global catastrophe, two brothers, one good and one evil must deal with family secrets and social upheaval, involving heroes from Jack-In-the-Box to the Blue Knight and the unsettling events leading to the final fate of the mysterious Silver Agent. Find out why this era was so troubled through the eyes of two men who survived the depths of it!

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: WildStorm (July 29, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1401218687
• ISBN-13: 978-1401218683
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 0.7 x 11.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,050,847 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Dark Mirror; the Promise of Light, July 27, 2009

By 

L. Roth (Ravena, NY USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Astro City: The Dark Age Book One SC (Kurt Busiek's Astro City) (Paperback)

Kurt Busiek's stepping back in time to look at the earlier history of Astro City, the 1970's and a glimpse of the 60's, is to look at today through a dark mirror. The collapse of the moral authority of the times, the blurring of the lines between good & evil is something that can only be fully appreciated by those who have lived through those times in this universe. And if there's a sense of vertigo, that something is not quite right - that feeling only resonates even more effectively today when we're finding ourselves in a 21st Century where there is a very real battle between Hope and the World as it Is.

Massive budget deficits; more torture revelations; the collapse of the banking system now propped like a zombie on the taxpayers dime, rising unemployment, accelerating climate change - if this isn't a comparable Dark Age, it's a pretty good facsimile. A story with politicians replaced by robot drones, corrupt authorities, waking nightmares, freakish crime lords battling for turf, conflicted heros battling their own demons - sometimes literally - well maybe it's not so strange and outrageous a territory as it might seem. Of late our own evening news programs feature stories and characters as grotesque as any found in this book.

Choosing to tell the story in loose fashion around the lives of two brothers, bonded by a shared tragedy, divided by their response to it, this offering is a bit rougher than previous entries in the Astro City universe. In a way it's a memoir told from two different viewpoints and as such it tends to skip through time from event to event. A clichéd way to view the two protagonists is that one is the 'good' brother on the side of law and order, while the other has chosen to turn to crime and is 'bad'. It would be as true to say both men are trying to live their lives by their own moral codes based on not so very different perceptions of the troubled world around them. Neither is getting much reward from their choices. 'Normal' humans both, they're doing their best to cope with a world in which it seems even those with special powers are overmatched.

If there is something frustrating about this book, it is that there are so many story threads, glimpses of a larger tapestry of which we can only see fragments. Busiek and artist Bret Anderson introduce a number of Super Heros and Villains, enough to fill an entire stable of comic books. We have to take what we can get for now, and at least some things hinted at in other Astro City books are finally getting revealed.

This is only part one, and however disjointed it may seem at times, the overall story arc builds to a satisfactory cliff hanger at its conclusion. The brothers are left at a key turning point; a major villain has emerged into view; a doomsday weapon is nearing the time when it must be used, and great powers together with great dangers are racing to an appointment with destiny.

Above and beyond all of this is the fate of the martyred Silver Agent. Wrongfully executed for a crime he was powerless to prevent, the unfolding of his story looks to be the culmination of the story arc in the sequel to this collection. Facing a certain doom, he appears again and again at critical moments to make a difference, then vanishes into Time with the parting promise to those encountering him that "things will get better."

What is the price he has agreed to pay, and to whom, are questions that will have to wait. The parallax view of our own world gained by venturing into this one is worth the price of admission.

Recommended.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars An Ambitious and Interesting Failure, March 13, 2011

By 

C. Dobson "laz0rbeak" (Houston, TX) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Astro City: The Dark Age Book One SC (Kurt Busiek's Astro City) (Paperback)

I was a big fan of the first couple volumes of Astro City: I loved the concept, iconic characters free to have big or little stories without worrying about the status quo, and plenty of "slice of life" stories that show what it's like to live in any world with super heroes running around. That said, Dark Age really doesn't work for me. There's two big problems that bring it down. The first is that too often it gets as didactic as a bad history lesson: "then the First Family did this, then the Silver Agent did this, then the country all thought this..." it just goes on as it compresses and flattens the story of the universe. The story of the Silver Agent's final days gets a bunch of narration but we barely ever see him so there's sort of an expectation that we care about him just because he's a super hero. I think the project just gets too ambitious and starts reading less like a comic of the time and more like somebody talking about what comics were like back then. As much as comics of the 70's started dealing with mature themes like death, corruption, etc., it still featured a lot of fun that doesn't show up here.

The other problem is that the leads and the other characters are not particularly interesting or compelling, and they spend the majority of the story narrating to no one. There's a couple of moments with some gravitas but for the most part they're dull talking heads who mostly explain what happened in the 70's as if they were talking to somebody that hadn't lived through it. I don't know if it's intentional, but references to Nixon and public backlash about super heroes reminds me of Watchmen, which did something similar but in a way that made dozens of characters come to life in addition to telling an interesting story that's informed but not dependent on the past. Dark Age lacks that narrative hook that took something like Watchmen and made it approachable.

That said, the art's very good, there are some scenes that work, and I thought the action sequences were well done. It's not bad, but it's a little disappointing and not for everyone.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Fine Addition to the Series, September 1, 2008

By 

Michael E. Hill "Major Rassendyll" (Baltimore, MD) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: ASTRO CITY: THE DARK AGE, BOOK 1 (Hardcover)

The Busiek series Astro City is a masterpiece in the comics genre. The latest addition to the series "Dark Age" is a worthy addition.

Kurt Busiek's series tackles the superhero mythos from a consistently different perspective. These stories are not about heroes versus villains as much as they are about the personal aspect of living in a world with superheroes. In Dark Age, the two main characters are not superheroes. On the contrary they are two normal brothers who do not even care for costumed villains or their heroic adversaries.

Charles and Royal Williams live in Bakerville. One day they tragically lose their parents who have been caught in the middle of battle between costumed super heroes and their equally flamboyant opponents. This trauma affects them in diametrically opposite ways. One, Royal, becomes a cynic only interested making a quick buck on the street. Charles becomes a dedicated police officer.

This era of the Astro City takes place during the Vietnam War. Traditional values are being challenged and Royal's cynicism and Charles' frustration are symptomatic of society. An event central to this era is the arrest and murder trail of Alan Craig, the Silver Agent. This character has been mentioned peripherally in other Astro City storie. Until now all we have known is this hero's treatment was it is the very public shame of Astro City. His story is fleshed out more in this graphic novel.

Meanwhile these two brothers find themselves caught in the middle of these very public battles of costumed adversaries. Royal, a petty criminal, finds himself the target of costumed vigilante who believes death is the only option for criminals. At the same time we see the rise of the Deacon, the Astro City crime overlord.

Rather than ruin it for potential readers I won't tell you more. 'Busiek' is a mark of quality. This is a very strong character-driven series. You should be able to enjoy this graphic novel even though you have not read any of the other Astro City graphic novels.