Customer Reviews

Astro City Family Album

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First, I'll talk about the collection in general; then I'll talk about this HC edition specifically. So, if you're looking for this-edition specifics, skip the first 3/4 of this review. 99% of the people who see the cover of Astro City Family Album think (like I did before I read the comics; I came to it all very late) that the clown on this cover is as evil a villain as Stephen King's It. But he's not; he's arguably Busiek's & Crew's greatest creation: Jack-in-the-Box. His story is the most memorable part of this collection. He's a man who's coming to terms with very scary elements of himself that have somehow preceded him into the future and come back now to visit, and they have a hateful vengeance in tow. At the end of this tale, he's dealing with the fact that what should be the happiest moment of his life -- celebrating his wife's pregnancy and the conception of his child -- may very well now be the scariest thing he's ever faced. And on top of that we get another great character, a villain called the Junkman, who is just as colorful and resourceful as our clownish hero; I mean, this guy pulls off the biggest heist in AC history with mechanically enhanced G. I. Joes, a cracked Etch-a-Sketch, and bouncy ball bombs! The first story in this collection, though, "Welcome to Astro City" serves as AC's main them in a nutshell; it's a story about how everyday people deal with living among superheroes and supervillains. The story asks, "Does anyone really want to?" (Of course, we do!) The next story takes that a step further and reverses the whole idea by having Astra Furst decide that she wants to live a day in the shoes of a typical non-super kid. While her Furst Family relatives are out kicking the rear end of every villain they suspect of kidnapping her, she's facing the greatest challenge of her life: beating foul-mouthed, bullying Martrice Lucey at hopscotch. You also get the story of down-and-out, all-too-world-weary and worldy-wise, Looney Leo. He was accidentally zapped off the celluloid screen and into the real world and has been everything from a movie superstar and a three-time loser bilked by a bad contract and a very unfortunate occurrence. This is one of my favorite of Astro City collections. It's fun, philosophically stimulating, and brilliant. Brent Eric Anderson truly comes into his own drawing Jack-in-the-Box, as does Alex Sinclair in coloring him. Where the collections Tarnished Angel and Confession were darkly captivating, moody, and wonderfully troubling, this collection allowed the artists to go all-out bright, brilliant, and visually-stimulating. Thankfully, this includes all the sketches that were in the back of the issues, and you also get the photos (actual photos) that Alex Ross used to use as models for his covers (which, of course, are unparalleled). This is a fascinating introduction into Astro City, and I would argue it's the very place to start. You can jump right into the middle of AC with this collection and understand everything that it's about. There's action here to keep you glued and plights both physical and metaphysical to keep you seating for a long while pondering these characters' fates. This is an absolute winner, and the pinnacle of current comics. This edition includes a very nice unique cover of the Furst Family on a picnic that's not found anywhere else. The hardcover boards are covered in very durable, high-quality cloth; this edition also includes end-papers (of the creators' biographies; they do something new and tongue-in-cheek in each edition) that you don't get in the tpb. You can often find a HC edition that is only a few dollars more expensive than the tpb. So why not get the HC? There is also a limited editon, triple-signed version of this. It includes a unique lithograph-quality page of Jack-in-the-Box, minus the costume, sitting with his wife on a hospital bed, smiling lovingly at their newborn.