#astro city

[chernobog13]

Samaritan getting in a morning workout, by Alex Ross.

[artbyblastweave]

A thing I find interesting about The Samaritan from Astro City is that as the setting's resident Superman analogue he's synthesizing the classic-paragon tropes with the grimdark tropes that were in the groundwater at the time of his in-universe debut in the 1980s. Rather than coming from a dying world as an infant, he was a time traveler- a Kyle Reese/Cable sort of guy who was sent back in time from an apocalyptic future in a last ditch attempt to butterfly away the end of the world, only to unexpected gain superpowers in transit. His family was alive when he left but (as expected) got Back-to-the-futured out of existence once he'd stopped the bad future from coming to be, so he just stuck around in the present since he no longer knows anyone back home. And despite this being an intensely Dark Age superhero origin (see cable, Bishop, Days of Future Past, Rock of Ages, etc.) his arrival is, in-universe, what finally shut down the edgelord 1990s period for superheroes by finally introducing a head-and-shoulders top-dog Paragon into a setting that had never had his level of integrity and maturity married to his overwhelming level of power.

[polygon1993]

[the-unspeakable-tsar]

Superhero Timeline.

10th Millennium

First appearance of humans. Some super powered. 

Proto Avengers (heavily altered humans, primordial gods, and mutant). Celestial tampering happens on countless planets. (Tamaranians, Skrulls, Kree, Eternals, etc) causing multiple humanoid aliens to exist.

Myths concerning “Elders of The Universe” and proto-tangible beings are formed by early life.

Vandal Savage, Immortal Man, Anthro, King Kull, Kyra Arg, Gnarrk. Hippolyta (first life).

Grak (neanderthal politician)

Cotati, Kree, and Skrulls discover eachother.

Atlantis forms.

“Ulysses” Bloodstone

50,000 B.C.E (Thurian Age)

Inhumans created by Kree scientists. 

King of Atlantis, Kull.

Doctor Mist.

Darkhold creates some of the first vampires.

Atlantis and Lemuria Sink.

Amazon Race born.

Selene Born.

Hyperborian Age.

Conan

Kulan Gath

Red Sonja

753, 785- BEC

Ancient Greece

Ancient Rome

Golden Gladiator

Alpha Centurion.

Rome forms a colony in South America. Nova Roma.

Rama Tut

En Sabbah Nur was born.

Wizard Shazam empowers Teth Adam.

Mad Pharaoh discovers an alien Scarab and claims to have created it.

6th Century

One of the Camelots (for there are many and they are nebulous)

Etrigan

Merlin (Merlyn)

Arthur

Shining Knight

Silent Knight

Black Knight (Sir Percy of Scandia)

Mordred the Mystic (not arthur’s mordred)

Earth was briefly invaded by Klyntar. 

New Genesis and Apokolips forms, set in a higher plane of dimension.

7th Century

Tang Dynasty was contacted by aliens the likes of Fin Fang Foom. They take advantage of their advanced technology

Jong Li Green Lantern

Viking Prince

8th Century

Brotherhood of the Shield was formed in 750.

9th Century

Diablo (Estaban De Ablo).

12th century

Crusades, the mutant Bennet Du Paris meets Eobar Garrington and clan akkaba.

Belasco born at the tail end of the century.

14th Century

Mutants immune to the black page die in the sea.

X’Hal ascends to godhood.

15th Century

Intelligent gorillas form Gorilla City.

Manhunters deviate from original programming.

Zemo barony formed

16th Century

The Black Pirate

Andrew Bennet becomes a vampire.

17th Century

Gotham City founded

Romeyn Falls founded

Metropolis founded.

1700s-1800s

Tomahawk

Uncle Sam

Frankenstein Monsters

Jonah Hex

Atlas City formed.

Hellfire Club formed

Trigger Twins

Rawhide Kid

Carter Slade

Red Wolf

“Firehair”

Irene Adler and Raven Darkholme

Sherlock Frankenstein

1859 Nathaniel Essex begins experimenting on Mutants.

1882 Wolverine Born

1900-1920s

Morpheus Imprisoned.

Tom Strong born

Balloon Buster

Mister Cakewalk

Jazzbaby

Enemy Ace

Freedom’s Five

Cult of Blood formed in Zandia

Krypton destroyed

Kal El Lands in Kansas

Doc Steele, Tazara, The Crimson Fist

Ghost Hunter, Baron Von Fang

1930s - World War 2 

Batman appears

Superman first appears

Wonder Woman appears

Captain Marvel (Billy Batson) appears.

Invaders. Captain America 1-3

Based on Project Rebirth, Vought develops Compound V, empowering Soldier Boy. Germany empowers Stormfront using a duplicate.

Justice Society of America was formed.

Seven Soldiers of Victory

Freedom Fighters

Liberty Squadron

Black Hammer Squadron

Doctor Star

Abraham Slam

Sgt Rock

Sgt Fury and the Howling Commandos

Haunted Tank

GI Robot

The Losers

Albrecht Strong born.

Magneto

Charles Xavier

Golden Gail (spawn of a shazam protege)

1950s (Silver Age Beginning)

Billionaire Oliver Queen is stranded on an island.

Hal Jordan inducted into the Green Lantern Corps

Astro-Naut dies and Astro City is named after him.

William Burnside and Jack Monroe become Captain America and Bucky.

Hero Licensing Agencies were formed in Japan, one of the first being formed by Dragon King. “Former” villain of the JSA and Acrobat.

J’onn Jonnz teleported to Earth.

Barbalien, a contemporary of J’onn’s arrives on Earth.

Colonel Weird.

1960s

Peter Parker was Bitten by a radioactive spider

Blue Beetle (Ted Kord)

The Confessor

The Midnight Mink and Chippy (Short lived Batman inspired criminal)

Jessica Jones falls into a coma.

The Question

Fantastic Four

Challengers of the Unknown

First Family

Max O'Millions

Suicide Squad.

The Flash (Barry Allen)

Black Canary II

JLA formed

Teen Titans formed

X-Men founded

Captain Marve (Mar-Vell)

John Stewart Green Lantern

Avengers Formed

SHIELD

Black Rapier

1970s

Luke Cage.

Iron Fist (Danny Rand)

Shang Chi

Silver Agent framed and is executed

Outsiders

Glamorax

Putrid Punk

Black Lightning

Black Hammer I

JLI formed.

Aaron Aikman becomes a doctor and is murdered by Morlun.

Doom Patrol

Winged Victor

Original Batman Dies

Mister Unknown, inspired by Batman becomes a vigilante crimefighter in Japan.

1980s

Suicide Squad II

Checkmate

Spiral City is almost consumed by eldritch Anti-God.

Gangbuster

Daredevil

Nightingale and Songbird

All Might receives his Quirk.

The Samaritan prevents The Challenger Disaster.

Tesla Strong born.

1990s

Vought America begins to push its corporate superhumans. Their minds are twisted by Compound V. Vought refuses to seek alternatives.

Jon Kent, Cir-El Kent born. 

Christopher Kent adopted

Superman Dies.

Unteens (not super long-lived)

Hal Jordan goes evil and dies.

Kyle Rayner.

Spider-Girl

A-Next

Stormwatch

X-People

Skulldigger

First superhuman reality TV show, Youngblood.

They’re immediately met a year later by Vought’s onslaught of Superhuman reality TV shows.

2001-2019

Black Hammer II

The superhuman civil war in america.

Japanse Military creates Big Hero 6 in response to Hero Agencies.

The Super Young Team forms an act of social rebellion by the children of Japanese superheroes who reject the Hero Agency route while despising government work like Big Hero.

Little do they know, they are integral to humanity's further evolution into the super-world.

Peter Parker dies. Mantle was taken up by Miles Morales.

Skrulls invade earth.

Black Hammer II

Black Rapier retires

Jiro Osamu, the replacement for Mister Unknown becomes "The Batman of Japan"

Young Avengers Form

The Authority was formed after Skywatch and IO were exposed to the world

 Izuku Midorya receives the One-For-All quirk

The hero agency system in Japan has cracks forming and they’re big.

Green Door Opens.

Miss Marvel (Kamala Khan)

Multiverse opened up.

China formed the Justice League of China, followed by its very own Lantern Corps.

2020s

Izuku becomes a superhero once again.

Black Hammer II becomes a mother.

Miles Morales becomes a vampire.

Team Titans

First Krakoan age. Mutants who have been dead for decades return.

Hulkling unites Skrull and Kree to form a new galaxy-spanning empire.

2030s

JLA Beyond

Bishop Born (Good Timeline).

The Future State. Corporations begin to create private security to crack down on superhuman threats. Especially in light of corporate superhero projects repeatedly failing.

Superman’s dynasty ascends to the stars. 

2099

Corporations Dominate the World.

Age of Heroes is Over.

Spider-Man 2099

Avengers 2099

Franklin Richards ascends.

Superman’s Dynasty returns to Earth. It’s an ancestral land. It is in ruin.

Compound V-descended humans begin to activate their powers en masse but after 100 years of development, their minds can handle it.

30th Century

Legion of Superheroes

Centuries of Mutants, Compound V Descendants, Inhumans, Metahumans, and alien-influenced humans have fundamentally changed the definition of a baseline human.

Humanity is almost there. The rest of the universe is inching toward it too.

Golden Lantern

853rd Century

It’s a superhuman universe. 

The Justice Legion, influenced by their literal and metaphorical ancestors patrol all sections of the known universe. 

[theimaginauts]

THE TARNISHED ANGEL

Art by ALEX ROSS

[nightblood]

I've been reading Irredeemable and Astro City. It's really interesting to compare the Plutonian and Samaritan.

The Plutonian, from what I've read so far, is driven by a need to be loved. Which means he can't let it go when there are people who don't love him, or when he feels they demand too much.

Meanwhile Samaritan is driven by fear that one incident could cause a tragic future, much like the one he came from. He devotes himself to saving people, despite it making his life miserable.

It's interesting because both of these guys have let the superhero life have a negative impact on their mental health. But the Plutonian was showing signs of snapping before he went full villain, while Samaritan seems to have just accepted that his life is what it is.

The Plutonian needed so badly for people to love him that when he can't get it he decides that people are ungrateful and deserve his wrath, while Samaritan just never wants to let a terrible future occur again, especially because he traded all his friends and family for that.

Samaritan does accept awards to mollify people, but I think he does it because 1) he genuinely cares about people and 2) it helps make his life easier too keep people happy. But I don't think he's the kind of person to care if some people don't love him because he's not a superhero to be loved. He just wants to help.

[ultrameganicolaokay]

Astro City #4 ‘Safeguards’ (1995) by Kurt Busiek, Brent Anderson, Steve Buccellato and Electric Crayon. Edited by Ann Busiek. Cover by Alex Ross.

[ungoliantschilde]

some Prelim Pencils by Alex Ross.

[coolcomicbookcovers]

[taylor-mccue]

I made a tiny arcade for my anime figure for #pride

[chernobog13]

Samaritan from Kurt Busiek's Astro City by Steve Rude.

[artbyblastweave]

I will say that Astro City does pretty comprehensively thread the needle that's been under discussion thus far about the risk of being being so aware of the mechanics of genre that you destroy your ability to just enjoy the thing. Admittedly it's still pretty inherently lost in the genre-awareness sauce but not in a way that feeds my rapidly metastasizing conviction that the world is a grim abattoir for the human soul. It can be done. It can be done

[thebibliomancer]

11 Days of Comics! 12/11: Image Firsts: Astro City #1 (2022) “In Dreams”

Twelve out of eleven? Did I miscount again?

No. And how dare you doubt me. So rude. Having one more comic than expected is basically a tradition for these X Days of Comics, isn’t it? So I threw this comic on the bottom of the stack.

Let’s end stronger than Ford Fairlane, y’know?

Astro City is a comic I’ve always wanted to get into but trades have a tenuous relationship with being in print. The comic shop where I bought this reprint issue said they’d let me know if they get the omnibuses in stock and I haven’t heard back in months.

Some day, though. I like Kurt Busiek as a writer. 

The issue starts with Samaritan, sort of a Superman type guy, having a glorious dream about flying that gets rudely interrupted by an emergency alarm about a tidal wave threatening Manila.

Weird that a Superman type guy would be so annoyed that a flying dream was interrupted when he can just fly around whenever he wants. Except, the issue takes us through his day and he can’t. Fly around. Whenever he wants.

He goes from one crisis to another and he’s so fast that to Manila and back only got him seventeen seconds of flight time. At the end of the issue he tallies up the total amount of time in the air and thinks that 56 seconds is the best he’s had in months.

Between various crises, he also has to show his face at his civilian job - proofreader for the Astro City Rocket. Where he does his proofreading behind a locked office door because he actually sneaks out to deal with more crises while an alien computer does his job for him AND tells him where all the crises are.

He stops in to meet with the Honor Guard - the Justice League-ish team to his Superman-ish guy - to talk shop and compare notes and go fight a bank robbery. 

He has to attend an awards ceremony with the Firefighter’s Association, to accept an award for being just a great guy. Samaritan would love to skip the award ceremony but snubbing these kinds of events just offended people so he makes the time because it just makes it easier to superhero if people don’t think you think you’re better than them. (And he still sneaks out during the ceremony twice to deal with more crises).

You get the idea. From one thing to another all day. Seconds or fractions of seconds of flight time from place to place.

After everything, he just collapses into bed and instantly passes out. And off into another flying dream he goes.

The comic is a deconstruction and reconstruction of superhero tropes, using expies of popular characters to examine those tropes. This one, obviously, looks at how harried someone with Superman’s abilities and desire to protect as many lives as possible would be.

The Superman comics have played with him try to be this active in saving people but without being able to live his civilian life even a little, I think he burned out pretty quickly.

Anyway, teal deer, this issue of Astro City is good, what I’ve heard about other parts of the series are fascinating, and I’d like to read more.

With that, another X Days of Comics has come to an end. I hope someone enjoyed this all.

[magical-grrrl-mavis]

Thinking about the queer ally living doll superhero from Astro City

[maswartz]

I love these kinds of characters, the ones who have the powers but don't want to be a hero or villain. They just want to live their lives.

[arcadephile]

Whoa!! Check out this restoration!