Astro City

Astro City is a comic book series centered on a fictional American city by the same name written by Kurt Busiek. The first series debuted in August 1995, published by Image Comics, and since then has been published by Homage Comics, part of the Wildstorm Signature Series and staying with Wildstorm when it was bought by DC Comics.

The metro area of Astro City is a mecca for super-powered beings, largely because Air Ace, the first public superhero and a decorated veteran, established residency there shortly after World War I. Astro City has established a large cast of characters, from small cameo roles of a few panels to full center stage attention spanning several issues.

The series is an anthology that focuses on different characters living within Astro City, using a wide range of viewpoints. Some issues are told from the viewpoint of heroes, some from the more typical vantage point of average people, others from villains and shady criminals. Stories also vary greatly in length, from issue one to sixteen in the case of the story, Dark Age, whose main viewpoint of Charles and Royal Williams, two brothers in their early adult years living in Astro City. Another interesting twist, this story is set in the 1970s, when some superheroes were declining in popularity, due to general mistrust of authority figures, along with the more violent, gritty tactics that some superheroes were practicing.

The essential hook of Astro City is that it explores how people; ordinary people, heroes and villains react to living in their world. For example, in the first story, Samaritan reflects on his life during a typical day in which he spends almost all of his waking hours flying around the world to help people, and never has any time to enjoy the sheer physical sensation of flight. Other stories involve a date between two high-profile heroes, the initiation of a "kid sidekick" hero, the efforts of a reformed supervillian to find a life outside of prison, a superhero being driven away from Earth by his "love's" attempts to expose him, and the life of an innocent bystander in the days after having been held hostage by a supervillain.

While the focus has been on the heroes of Astro City itself, the series does mention, and at times occasionally shows, heroes from other cities such as Boston's Silversmith, Chicago's The Untouchable and New York City's Skyscraper.

The Back Story of Astro City goes back to at least the 19th century, with "The Old Soldier" (thought dead in 1863) and "Ironhorse, the Human Locomotive" (first seen since 1862). The last story arc in the series, The Dark Age, was set in the 1970s and 1980s and ran 16 issues. The citizens of Astro City ponder the functions and motivations of superpowered individuals, and their overall positions within the community. The Dark Age began publication in 2005 and ended in May 2010, with the final four issues published monthly.

It's tough enough to win an Eisner Award, comic's equivalent to the Oscars, for best continuing series. But Astro City did it three times in a row 1997, 1998 and 1999. And in 1996 it won best new series. Issue #10 also won the Eisner Award for best single issue; issues #4 to #9 won the award for best serialized story. Industry professionals, who vote for the winners have rarely lavished such praise on any series.

With only 28 issues in the 2 series, it's easy to collect and since it was published from 1996 to 2000, there are plenty of Near Mint issues available.

You May Also Enjoy These Comics

Free Shopping Cart

-->

Demon

The Demon is a fictional character named Etrigan, created by Jack Kirby and published by DC Comics. Etrigan, a superhero and antihero, is a demon from Hell who, despite his violent tendencies, usually finds himself allied to the forces of good, mainly because of the alliance between the heroic characters of the DC Universe and Jason Blood, a human to whom Etrigan is bound. While Jason Blood is a tall, thin man with dark hair and a lined face, Etrigan resembles a squat, muscular humanoid creature with orange (or yellow) skin, horns, red eyes, and ears resembling bat wings.

According to Kirby, Etrigan was inspired by a comic strip of Prince Valiant in which the character dressed as a demon. Kirby gave his creation the same appearance as Valiant's mask. Etrigan's origin is a vividly creative tale. He is bonded with Jason Blood, a knight in King Arthur's court. The bonding renders Jason immortal. And eventually he winds up in Batman's Gotham City, as a prominent demonologist.

Centuries later, Jason is called to the crypt of Merlin and discovers a poem that when recited, changes him into Etrigan. And yet, even as a demon, the series ongoing conflict is between good and evil. Etrigan both clashes with and occasionally aids Earth's heroes, guided by his own whims and Jason's attempts to turn his power to good use.

The conflicts between good and evil, and the motivations behind the behavior of Jason Blood and Etrigran are some of the greatest delights of this series. With only 16 issues in the 1972 series, Demon is an easy series to collect.

You May Also Enjoy These Comics

Free Shopping Cart

GI Combats was a long-running comic book series published first by Quality Comics and later by DC Comics, which was also DC's best war anthology comic from 1957 through 1987.

The focus was on stories about American soldiers and GI's initially. The stories involved Cold War adventures with strong anti-Communist themes, but over time the focus shifted to tales from World War II. After Quality Comics ceased publishing the title, most of the stories were set during this period. As with other media, the World War II setting was sometimes used to discuss themes pertinent to contemporary conflicts such as the Vietnam War.

The first issue of G.I. Combat was published in October 1952. When DC Comics acquired the rights to the Quality Comics characters and titles, they continued publishing the series starting with issue #44 (January 1957). Along with Blackhawk, G.I. Combat was one of very few war titles that continued to publish. Each issue of G.I. Combat was an anthology book composed of several short comic stories, a format that continued throughout its run. There were several recurring features in the DC Comics version of the title, including most notably "The Haunted Tank", which first appeared in issue #87 (May 1961) and ran until 1987. The Losers' first appearance as a group was with the Haunted Tank crew in issue #138 (Oct.-Nov. 1969), in a story titled "The Losers". Other recurring features included "The Bravos of Vietnam" (about U.S. Marines in the Vietnam War) and later in its run, a return to Cold War themes with a short-lived recurring feature about 1980's mercenaries. Beginning with issue #201 (April-May 1977), G.I. Combat was DC's only war comic to be upgraded to its "Dollar Comics" line, with additional pages of content beyond the then-standard 32-page format. The Dollar Comic format was used through issue #259 (November 1983). The series continued in a 52 page giant-sized format through issue #281 (January 1986) before returning to a standard 32 page size with #282 (March 1986). This first series ran for 288 issues.

The Monitor's first full appearance was in G.I. Combat #274 (February 1985). By the 1980s, war comics grew less marketable and Sgt. Rock, The Unknown Soldier, and Weird War Tales were discontinued. G.I. Combat's final issue was #288 (March 1987).

In May 2012, DC launched a new G.I. Combat ongoing series. Featured stories include "The War that Time Forgot" with back up stories starring the Unknown Soldier. The Haunted Tank feature began in issue #5. The new series will be canceled as of issue #7 on sale in December 2012.

It's a relief to pick up an anthology comic book where the only thing you need to concentrate on is the story that you are reading. That's the beauty of an anthology -- a self-contained story where you don't need to know anything about the characters except what the author is revealing as you read the issue.






You May Also Enjoy These Comics

Free Shopping Cart

Conan The Barbarian

Conan the Barbarian is a fictional sword and sorcery hero that originated in pulp fiction magazines and has since been adapted to books, comics, several films (including Conan the Barbarian and Conan the Destroyer), television programs (cartoon and live-action), video games, role-playing games and other media. The character was originally created in 1932 via a series of fantasy stories published in Weird Tales magazine. Hollywood is dusting Conan off for another cinematic comeback.

Conan the Barbarian (1970 series) is based on the pulp hero who doesn't have any invulnerabilities. He can't turn into a ball of flame and he can't communicate with fish. He's just a guy, a really strong, ferocious guy. If you were ever stranded alone in the New York City subway at 3 a.m. during the crime-riddled 1970's, he's the guy you'd want at your side.

Like other comics whose run started after 1967, the cost of the set is pretty reasonable. And, since Conan isn't a super-hero in the sense of Spider-Man and Superman, the cost of the books is a bit lower than a comparable set of super-hero issues.

When you get tired of super-heroes flying, stopping bullets with their teeth, or emitting death rays with their eyes, and you yearn for the days when men were men, then this is the comic for you.






Conan The Adventurer Videos





You May Enjoy These Comics

Free Shopping Cart

New Mutants

The New Mutants are a group of teen-aged mutant superheroes-in-training created by Marvel Comics. They are the main characters of three successive comic book series, which were spin-offs of the X-Men to attract the teenage reader. Twenty years after the successful launch of the X-Men, Marvel had aged the original X-Men from teenagers to young adults.

The first team of New Mutants characters first appeared in 1982's Marvel Graphic Novel #4 and were subsequently featured in their own title which lasted 100 issues from 1983 until 1991. The New Mutants highlighted interpersonal and group conflict as well as action and adventure, and featured a large ensemble cast. At the end of the first series, the characters were relaunched as X-Force in a new series which began 1991.

The second New Mutants series, launched in 2003, featured a new group of teenage mutants; but unlike the original New Mutants, they were only part of a huge cast of students at the Xavier Institute. In 2004, it was relaunched as the New X-Men: Academy X, after which the central group was formally dubbed the "New Mutants." In the aftermath of the "M-Day" crossover storyline in late 2005, the remaining students were merged into one junior team, the New X-Men.

The third New Mutants series, reuniting most of the original team, launched in May 2009.

Like most series from the 1980's, there are plenty of issues in great condition still floating around and at pretty low prices because of the large quantity available. The only issue that is not easy to find is #98, which features the first appearance of Deadpool.

If you're looking for a well-written super-hero series where you can pretty much get the entire series easily and at a low price, this is the one.






You May Also Enjoy These Comics

Free Shopping Cart

Challengers Of The Unknown

Challengers of the Unknown is a group of fictional characters created by DC Comics. This quartet of adventurers explored science fictional and paranormal occurrences and faced fantastic menaces. The stories had weird menaces, fistfights, wild vehicles and gadgets, spectacular terrain, daring escapes, and a sense of humor. Elements of this series were later used to create The Fantastic Four which helped establish Marvel Comics as a major competitor in the comic book medium.

Comic books had a strong need for content in 1957. Due to factors including Fredric Wertham's book Seduction of the Innocent and Congressional hearings on the subject, superhero comics had mostly vanished from 1949 to the mid-1950s. The revival of the Flash was seen as marking the return of the superheroes to popularity a few months prior. A team of larger-than-life adventurers with echoes of a World War II infantry squad were a natural fit.

The inspiration for the Challengers' adventures was the drive-in movie fodder about skin divers, test pilots, acrobats, mountain climbers, boxers, and other adventurers. The group's name may have also derived from a 1950 Ace Magazines horror title, Challenge of the Unknown.

The Roster was Ace Morgan, Professor Haley, Rocky Davis and Red Ryan originally. All were rugged, stereotypical adventurer names of the era. They did not have super powers, only super enthusiasm for adventurer. Sort of like a cross between Indiana Jones and Mission Impossible. Ryan was killed and briefly replaced by his kid brother Marty, a pop singer who used the anagram ID of Tino Manarry. Red Ryan returned from the dead, Tino was written out and towards the end of the original series a woman with an occult background named Corinna Stark acted like a fifth member of the team.

The group debuted in Showcase #6 (Feb. 1957). The series continued in Showcase for three more appearances (#7, 11, and 12) then moved to its own title. The title ran for 87 issues, ending in 1978. Three more series followed in 1991, 1997 and lastly 2004.

Reading the series is like traveling back to the golden age of 1950's action-adventure science fiction. The inspirations for the series were the action movies that attracted teenage audiences of the era -- stories about adventurers -- test pilots, mountain climbers, skin divers.

If you enjoy adventures in exotic locales, check out this under-appreciated title. And, since it is unfairly under-appreciated, the prices are less than the headliner hero comics (like Superman and Batman) of the era.







You May Also Enjoy These Comics

Free Shopping Cart

Alpha Flight

What do William Shatner, Jim Carrey and Alpha Flight have in common?
They're all from Canada!

Alpha Flight is a fictional superhero team published by Marvel Comics, noteworthy for being one of the few Canadian superhero teams and Canada's answer to the Avengers. The team first appeared in Uncanny X-Men #120 (April 1979).

Most of the team members have distinct Canadian attributes, such as Inuit or First Nations heritage. Throughout most of its history, the team has worked for Department H, a fictional branch of Canada's Department of National Defence that deals with super-powered villains. The Canadian mutants included Nothstar, Aurora, Sasquatch, Snowbird and Guardian.

The team was originally part of the backstory of the X-Men's Wolverine but, in 1983, Marvel launched a new series featuring the group, which continued until 1994. After the resurrection of the team in the one shot comic Chaos War: Alpha Flight which was published as part of the Chaos War event, they went on to star in an eight-issue limited series in 2011.

So, if you enjoy playing in the snow, this series for you. But even if you live in the Sahara desert and you're a fan of the X-Men, this is one of the more interesting supporting series in the X-Men family. After all, no bad comic lasts 130 issues.





You May Also Enjoy These Comics

Free Shopping Cart