Astro City, Vol. 13: Honor Guard

Astro City #13

by Kurt Busiek, Jesús Merino (Illustrator), Joe Infurnari (Illustrator)

A monster's-eye-view of heroes, fear, battle and more, as the Living Nightmare--the embodiment of fear itself--goes up against the Honor Guard, and all its secrets come to light. A story that could change the team forever. And half of them just got new costumes, too.

Meanwhile, Starfighter has been enjoying a hero's reward for decades. But with dark forces stirring in the cosmos, will he be called back to action? Or are there other paths? A look into the past, present and future of Astro City's cosmic guardian, featuring guest artist Jesús Merino. Collects ASTRO CITY #17, #22, #25, #27-28, and #31

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Superheroes, Comic Book, Science Fiction, Fiction, Fantasy

176 pages, Hardcover

First published August 16, 2016

About the author

Kurt Busiek is an American comic book writer notable for his work on the Marvels limited series, his own title Astro City, and his four-year run on Avengers.

Busiek did not read comics as a youngster, as his parents disapproved of them. He began to read them regularly around the age of 14, when he picked up a copy of Daredevil #120. This was the first part of a continuity-heavy four-part story arc; Busiek was drawn to the copious history and cross-connections with other series. Throughout high school and college, he and future writer Scott McCloud practiced making comics. During this time, Busiek also had many letters published in comic book letter columns, and originated the theory that the Phoenix was a separate being who had impersonated Jean Grey, and that therefore Grey had not died—a premise which made its way from freelancer to freelancer, and which was eventually used in the comics.

During the last semester of his senior year, Busiek submitted some sample scripts to editor Dick Giordano at DC Comics. None of them sold, but they did get him invitations to pitch other material to DC editors, which led to his first professional work, a back-up story in Green Lantern #162 (Mar. 1983).

Busiek has worked on a number of different titles in his career, including Arrowsmith, The Avengers, Icon, Iron Man, The Liberty Project, Ninjak, The Power Company, Red Tornado, Shockrockets, Superman: Secret Identity, Thunderbolts, Untold Tales of Spider-Man, JLA, and the award-winning Marvels and the Homage Comics title Kurt Busiek's Astro City.

In 1997, Busiek began a stint as writer of Avengers alongside artist George Pérez. Pérez departed from the series in 2000, but Busiek continued as writer for two more years, collaborating with artists Alan Davis, Kieron Dwyer and others. Busiek's tenure culminated with the "Kang Dynasty" storyline. In 2003, Busiek re-teamed with Perez to create the JLA/Avengers limited series.

In 2003, Busiek began a new Conan series for Dark Horse Comics, which he wrote for four years.

In December 2005 Busiek signed a two-year exclusive contract with DC Comics. During DC's Infinite Crisis event, he teamed with Geoff Johns on a "One Year Later" eight-part story arc (called Up, Up and Away) that encompassed both Superman titles. In addition, he began writing the DC title Aquaman: Sword of Atlantis from issues 40-49. Busiek was the writer of Superman for two years, before followed by James Robinson starting from Superman #677. Busiek wrote a 52-issue weekly DC miniseries called Trinity, starring Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman. Each issue (except for issue #1) featured a 12-page main story by Busiek, with art by Mark Bagley, and a ten-page backup story co-written by Busiek and Fabian Nicieza, with art from various artists, including Tom Derenick, Mike Norton and Scott McDaniel.

Busiek's work has won him numerous awards in the comics industry, including the Harvey Award for Best Writer in 1998 and the Eisner Award for Best Writer in 1999. In 1994, with Marvels, he won Best Finite Series/Limited Series Eisner Award and the Best Continuing or Limited Series Harvey Award; as well as the Harvey Award for Best Single Issue or Story (for Marvels #4) in 1995. In 1996, with Astro City, Busiek won both the Eisner and Harvey awards for Best New Series. He won the Best Single Issue/Single Story Eisner three years in a row from 1996–1998, as well as in 2004. Busiek won the Best Continuing Series Eisner Award in 1997–1998, as well as the Best Serialized Story award in 1998. In addition, Astro City was awarded the 1996 Best Single Issue or Story Harvey Award, and the 1998 Harvey Award for Best Continuing or Limited Series.

Busiek was given the 1998 and 1999 Comics Buyer's Guide Awards for Favorite Writer, with additional nominations in 1997 and every year from 2000 to 2004. He has also received numerous Squiddy Awards, having been selected as favorite writer four years in a row from 1995 to 1998,

Reviews

[Baba · Rating 3 out of 5]

As the volume title suggest this book focuses past, current and or future members of the Honor Guard - Stormhawk, Starfighter, Hummingbird II, Wolfspider and the highly original character American Chibi, with aa additional surprise member in the last issue. As ever when Astro City focuses on the superheroes too much the book looses its lustre. 6.5 out of 12, Three Star read.

2019 and 2017 read


You are now Leaving Astro City, please drive carefully.

[Chad · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was shocked to crack this open and not see Brent Anderson's art anywhere. He's been almost the exclusive artist on the book to this point. But I guess DC was forcing them to meet a schedule. So we get Astro City with some more modern artwork. I honestly didn't like it as much as Anderson's. The book contains 6 solo stories focusing on some of the unsung members of Honor Guard. There seemed to be something missing from most of the stories. Maybe Anderson contributes more than just the art, but story ideas as well? Or maybe these artists just weren't as invested in the book?

[Rod Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

Yahoo! My new library has all the Astro City volumes my last library was lacking! Time for a week-long binge to catch up!

I don't think Kurt Busiek has ever been so blatant in his secret plan to use Astro City to lock down all the possible remaining superhero names so no one else can ever create a new comic book without having to cut him in for a royalty or a huge buyout. He's just like those internet domain speculators! Dozens of new heroes and villains are thrown into the mix with his dozens and dozens of existing characters, Many of the characters have k's in their name, and I can only manage Busiek is obsessed with that letter because it starts and ends his own name.

All those names crammed into a batch of single-chapter stories bog down the flow of the book, and usual artist Brent Anderson is absent, replaced by ten fill-in pencilers and inkers. (The American Chibi chapter looks dreadful, but the rest look fine.) The combination just screams filler. It's good filler, sure, but it just doesn't seem essential to the series.

[Mitchell Friedman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another re-read. And I definitely didn't like this as much on this read. I definitely prefer the longer stories rather than the more disconnected ones. Another old man superhero story. The hummingbird story might have been my favorite. And I appreciated the origin stories for American Chibi and Wolf Spider. I found the Nightmare story hard to read. 3.5 of 5.

Good solid book, with interesting stories and characters. But not great - which is kind of unusual for Astro City. The art on American Chibi was weird, but it made sense and at least it wasn't weird the whole way through. And Nightmare was a bit jarring, but it also made sense and had a good arc. But what it was missing were those stories that just were aimed right at me and caught me completely. Still better than most anything else.

[Cale · Rating 4 out of 5]

This collection is all one-off issues, most of which are very strong. Sorrowsday is touching as it explores unintended consequences; there's a story of an Adam Strange analog in retirement; a coming of age/finding one's parents story that is heartwarming; a video-game influenced story that doesn't completely mess up the concept (and features some adorable artwork as well as some not-very-good work); an 80's Australian superhero troupe story that is surprisingly effective, and the redemption of a villain in a very unique manner. All of these stories are good to very-good in quality, and aside from some art issues in one or two, they feature the complete package. Astro City isn't slacking off here, even if the stories are less tied to classic comic book eras.

[Blindzider · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 Stars

What can I say, but I enjoy this series. It's "old school", taking the time to develop characters and build a universe. This volume is unique in that each issue pretty much gives the origin story for the newer members of the Honor Guard. Sure some of them are variants of heroes from the Big 2 but there's always something personal to the story, the "human" side.

What is also unique about this volume is that none of the issues are drawn by series regular Brent Anderson. Each artist has it's own style and were chosen for each story based on that style.

While the HC is not oversized, it's really nicely done with thick glossy paper. I wish they would rerelease the original hardcovers with the new trade dress to match with the newer collections.

[Little Timmy · Rating 5 out of 5]

One thing I know about Astro City is that you will always get a amazing read from the story that is told. Even when an old and well used plot is the basis of the story, like the character/group has a dark secret that is revealed. It will be done better, newer, fresher and more awesome that it has ever been in the past. If you are a comic lover or just enjoy good writing you need to try out Astro city. My highly recommended

[Rick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kurt Busiek's Astro City is an extremely unique comic: every issue is inexcusably good. The first thing one needs to grok about Astro City, and thus understand it's appeal, is what it isn't. Since the 1960s comic book industry has been completely overrun by superheroes. While there has been many successful and critical acclaimed comics since then that are not superhero titles, the industry remains firmly in the grip of costumed vigilantes and adventurers. That's not inherently a bad thing. There are lots of really good superhero comics out there, many have endured for very long periods of time with high points and, more often than not, lots of low points. It's those low points that are the real problem. When a company, either Marvel or DC but it could be Valiant or Archie (yes even teen dramodies suffer from this as well) or any company with long running characters, switches creative teams on a book and continues to build on a sense of continuity without aging or changing their characters they inevitably run into the same problem: their copyrighted & trademarked character gets stale. With multiple writers the need to have a status quo for any given character is essential, after all everyone needs to know where a story begins and we can't have one writer giving Superman extra arms and then the next writer doesn't know this and ends up producing a story that the Man of Steel is just like had been before those extra arms showed up and before you know it you have legions of super-fans confused, angry and frustrated. The easy solution, and what's been done for decades, is to have that status quo become the point at both where a story begins and ends, thus the character can't really change: stagnation.
Busiek has been doing Astro City since 1995 and each is fresh, interesting and exciting. This comic routinely brings tears to my eyes with stories that are heart-felt, powerful, topical and poignant in ways that most other companies are repeated incapableof achieving. Why? Because they don't let their characters change. When Peter Parker gained his powers in the early 1960s he was about 15 years old, he should be pushing 70 instead of trying to ignore the fact that he might not be able to pass for someone in their late 20s anymore. This is the real reson that so many writers balked at Peter and Mary Jane's marriage, they couldn't write something interesting about a married couple without it being stale because they weren't allowed to let the characters grow.
In Astro City, Busiek has created a world of heroes that is rich, diverse and ever changing. Easy to do since he's the only writer? No, these stories are not merely good superhero stories, they are powerful tales on the human condition that are only dressed up like superheroes. And when Busiek's spotlight turns back to a character that we haven't seen in five years, that character is five years older and has likely had some life experiences that has changed them, much like we have. In this volume there are old favorites being revisited, new characters we've not seen before and some who have been seen before but never had their chance to step into the spotlight yet; there are even hints and teases about other characters and stories that we wish Busiek would get around to telling us about. The one thing that Astro City never achieves is stagnation. This comic is never stale and it only gets better and better the longer Busiek and crew keep at it.

[Trike · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was pretty disappointed with this collection. Astro City is generally fairly dependable, old school superheroing, but this one just fell short of the mark for me.

The stories were pretty basic and the art was inconsistent. Brent Anderson is nowhere to be seen for some reason, so each issue was by a guest artist. Some of it is good while some of it is... not. I've "eknown" Busiek for more than two decades now, so I'm aware he's been fighting various illnesses the past couple of years, which might explain the simpleness of these tales. Usually there's more insight, more cleverness, more zip to em. These felt ploddingly familiar to me.

Some of the character design was interesting, but some of it was bizarre. Occasionally they deliberately do silly designs, but this time it just seemed off somehow. Not just weird, but lazy. For instance, Doctor Dominax was a General Grievous-type robot wearing a lab coat with a giant 3-foot-long domino for a head. Too much cold medicine, maybe?





Well, not everything is great every time, so no biggie. I'm still in for the continuing adventures of the denizens of Astro City.

[Shannon Appelcline · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's great to at last get a whole volume (of standalone stories) dedicated to the Honor Guard. And, it's a pretty good excuse to go out to different artists, and thus keep the comic on time for the first time ever.

So what do we get here? A story of sacrifice, a story of retirement, a story of coming of age, an origin story, the nostalgia of youth, and another origin story. We've seen many of these themes before in Astro City, but they remain the sort of story that the serialized stories from the Big Two aren't good at telling, because they require change. Mainstream comics are often about avoiding change, while Astro City is entirely the opposite.

None of these stories are as amazing as some of Astro City's early tales, but they're all interesting. I think my favorite is the first story ("Sorrowsday"), because it really goes to the heart of what heroism is. I'm certain my least favorite is the last story ("Nightmare Life") because it tries to use an unusual narrative technique that turns out to be grating and annoying.

[Alex Sarll]

There are some books where it feels really weird to have guest artists, and this is very much one of them. Still, for all that the Astro City in my head simply is Brent Anderson's version, the stand-ins here all acquit themselves decently enough. And the stories...we're far enough down the barrel now that Busiek is riffing on some real obscurities at times (one of the issues centres on a guy who seems to be a hybrid of Quasar, Warlord and Adam Strange), yet each of them is also solid enough as a human (or say better, person) that it doesn't exactly matter. So long as the team keep up this standard of vignette, and resist the temptation of any more epics viewed full on such as The Dark Age (as against epics glimpsed from the margins, where they excel), then not even Anderson's holidays should preventing Astro City running just as nicely for another few decades yet.

[Melissa Koser · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good continuation of the series. The first story, about the subatomic regions, was quite fascinating with its worlds too tiny for comprehension. The next couple stories, though, I just couldn’t connect with. They were fine, just not the relatable fantasy-to-reality stories I’ve come to expect from Astro City. But the last half of the book really took off! American Chibi, a character I’d previously disliked, got an origin as well as a chance to shine, and the artwork was just so fun! Wolfspider’s story was also a good romp, but it was the last story that shined brightest. The story of the Living Nightmare was so perfectly handled, and I look forward to seeing his inclusion in future segments.

[Jiro Dreams of Suchy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I realized two things while reading this volume. One, this open play on comics allows the writers to really mess with all the different emotions comics create. From the silly 80s cartoon, the cutest chibi and, the multilevel galaxies and spacefaring adventures so common in the early canonized works (Kirby on FF is clearly a huge inspiration).

Secondly, I don’t love the bigger stories. Comics do allow you to float through time and space and fight monsters from other dimensions but I have always preferred the more street level and (somewhat) relatable heroes like Daredevil.

The art styles here get to bounce around and it’s really fun to look at all the different designs. I love the Australian morning cartoon brightness and cheer.

[Rockito · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some really Starline-esque stories in this one, that's always a plus.

[Daniel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Legacy.

It is important to Marvel right now. It has always been important to Astro City. IMO the former is struggling to be successful with it. Astro City almost always nails it. Why is this so?

Here are three reasons (off the top of my head - it is not a complete list).

1 - The Name. When I pick up an Astro City comic I don't need Winged Victory or Samaritan or who ever. The story is about Astro City and all its inhabitants. If someone picks up a comic called Spider Man or Hulk most people are going to expect Peter Parker or Bruce Banner.

2 - Timeline. Astro City's inhabitants age, they grow old. Busiek made a smart choice in the beginning by doing this. He is even clever enough to regularly go back and forward in time. So even if a character dies there is nothing stopping Busiek from writing a story in the past - and he does, regularly, we readers are conditioned to it. In the Marvel Universe time is static, the characters can't age. How can you leave a legacy if you are a perpetual young adult?

3 - Idealism. Astro City is predominantly an idealistic place, when characters leave a legacy it works soooo much better (IMO) when the characters are worthy, heroic. Too often the characters and stories in Marvel are cynical. Cynical characters don't make for leaving good legacies.

Unrelated but I also wan't to briefly mention decompression. This graphic novel has 6 solo stories in it. In a Marvel comic they would each be stretched out into there own graphic novel.

The six stories are -
Stormhawk - a tragic/heroic story
Starfighter - a great example of the legacy stuff I was talking about above (probably my favourite story).
Hummingbird - another good example of legacies working.
American Chibi - a nice twist on legacies (least favourite story).
Wolfspider - an Aussie hero - Yay.
The Living Nightmare - a Hulk/Venom/Something else hybrid. This story was a little different.

[Des Fox · Rating 3 out of 5]

Myabe it's time to talk about what's really happened to Astro City. Back in the day, Astro City was THE SHIT, and only people in the know knew where to pick up the best superhero comics available. It was an underdog book, built on the legacy of Busiek and Ross, with a distinct outlook on supeheroism, that left the reader with a whole new perspective. It gave every other superhero book new context, by grounding itself in the human elements, without ever shying away from the fantastic. Astro City WAS comic books.

Since the Vertigo reboot, things haven't been quite the same. Every once in a while, we would get a dramatic and punctual issue or plot that really stood out, but those big arcs, comfortably plodding and taking their time seem to have fallen aside in favor of a bunch of random superhero ideas in Kurt's head. Now a days, Astro City is one origin story or singular adventure at a time, and unlike the early years, or even as recent as some of the tales in Shining Stars, these stories don't honestly seem like they have much to say. Usually it's just some vaguely unique idea draped in faux Avengers fabric, written with some obvious expertise, then it's onto shelves. This volume was the epitome of that trend, without a single story that really stood out as genius.

Sure it was good, it's KURT BUSIEK we're talking about. And sure, it was FUN. But nothing took my breath away, and while that may be an impossibly high standard, I expect Astro City to take my breath away. I expect Astro City to take me to ASTRO CITY, and leave me with a new perspective on some trope I thought I already understood.

This is a volume without Brent Anderson, and as such, features rotating artists. Maybe these are one offs Kurt just needed to get on paper. Maybe these are just random stories, and the next big Astro City arc is just around the corner.

I sure as hell hope so.

[Nate]

A bit of a mixed bag, unfortunately. As the title suggests, the six stories here focus on the Honor Guard, whether individual members or as a team. Some are quite good, but others do little for me. My favorite is the Wolfspider one, for its commentary on nostalgia and for being a ton of fun. I also dig Starfighter’s retirement tale and the first issue about a alien atoning for his mistake. But the Hummingbird story is just okay, and the fragmented narrative of the Living Nightmare issue gets annoying fast. Worst for me is the American Chibi issue, which has some terrible art. I’m just not interested in the character either.

Brent Anderson sits out this book entirely. Except for the American Chibi issue, the guest artists do a nice job. The Starfighter one has some especially striking imagery.

[Brandt · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think I've made it abundantly clear in my earlier reviews of Astro City and The Legend of Wonder Woman that I am a pretty big of Kurt Busiek and his work, especially on Astro City, which I feel is his love letter to the history of comic books and superheroes in general. For the most part Astro City is groundbreaking, with Busiek's best work on the series when he makes the superheroes of the Astro City universe secondary to whatever story he's trying to put across. Phone answering service for Astro City's version of the JLA, the Honor Guard? Got it. What about a person with powers who doesn't want to be a hero or a villain? There's that too. Taking the focus off of superheroes in essentially a superhero book is refreshing, especially when there are so many of them out there.

This might explain why Honor Guard may be one of my least favorite Astro City collections to date. All of the issues concern the origins of members of the Honor Guard, which puts the onus back on the superheroes who populate the universe of Astro City. To me, this is Astro City at its most "meh" because Busiek isn't breaking any new ground here. I'm assuming since this collection contains issues that are outside of the way the issues were originally published from previous collections that Busiek has something brewing here. He always appears to be in it for the long game, and he's been working toward something , I'm just not sure what.

Also jarring is that this is the first collection I can remember where Brent Anderson does not do the art for the book. I'm assuming that he was off working on that "bigger thing" because I can't imagine this series drawing to a close without Anderson doing the art. There are capable subs here (Tom Grummett and Jesus Merino immediately spring to mind) but it's a bit disconcerting to not see Anderson at the controls here.

I'm pretty certain that this collection may improve with further reading, but I have to consider it through the covered lens of what's to come. And in that regard, this is probably the weakest Astro City collection yet. Maybe Busiek is getting tired, and even though I've discussed that recently from the point of view of Alan Moore and Ed Brubaker, if the denouement isn't satisfying, it will feel like Moore's end on Swamp Thing.

But I'm really hoping for some Brubaker heroics here.

[Clint · Rating 4 out of 5]

Vol 13 shifts back to an anthology of stories, illustrated entirely by guest artists for the first time. After my occasional earlier mentions of Brent Anderson’s internal art being fine but not amazing to me, I love getting to see a variety of other artists’ take on AC (mostly following the broad style Anderson has established). The stories are pretty good this time too, though there’s fewer of the quiet, lower-stakes stories that tend to be my favorite issues.

Nightmare Life is the first AC story told from a villain’s POV in a while, and probably my favorite issue here. It’s an enjoyably archetypal story about fear, and told in a way that proves that telling someone else about a dream you had can be interesting.

Yesterday’s Heroes is my second favorite, giving Wolfspider’s origin but also introducing a new superteam full of Aussie-specific references (the full extent of which I missed and enjoyed explanations of in the rear sketchbook section). The art for this one is exciting and distinct from the usual style too.

The remaining four stories are good, too. Sorrowsday offers an elegiacal recounting of a hero’s sacrifice, and simultaneously offers a neat quantum mechanics twist on cosmic realms. Hero’s Reward is another cosmic story, this one about a chosen hero learning to enjoy his peaceful later years and accepting a new generation taking up his responsibilities. Lucky Girl shows the rare fortune of growing up as a second generation Honor Guard member, with a particular focus on the women of the team. I loved seeing Quarrel and the others in the playful role of “fun aunts who spoil your kid.” Game Over is the first to diverge notably in art style, with a fun story that updates the Loony Leo “media made literal”-type origin and justifies its delightfully exaggerated cartoon style.

[Michael Emond · Rating 4 out of 5]

13 volumes in and Busiek is still finding new ways to entertain us with this alternative look at heroes. What is different about this volume is the regular artist takes a break and we get some alternative artists. Most of them do an amazing job. I like the regular artist BUT I am not a huge fan, it is really the writing that takes front and center stage for this book. Having some fill-in artists actually made this volume MORE fun. The best stories (IMO) in this volume were Sorrowsday with Busiek's take on Thanos, and Hummingbird's story a look at a girl growing into her powers. The other stories were also fun but a few felt incomplete - especially Starfighter's issue (Busiek's take on Captain Marvel the cosmic hero) which ended abruptly. Overall, still fun and still worth coming back to. In deconstructing the classic hero tropes Busiek has found a way to make them fresher than ever before.

[Jacob A. Mirallegro · Rating 5 out of 5]

Surprise surprise I loved another volume of Astro City. These were all stand alone stories about different heroes and each felt very unique and interesting. Brent Anderson not doing the art felt weird but Jesús Merino was the perfect substitute and the three issues he drew were easily the best. Although I also liked the first story about the "alien's", I thought that was a really cool shift in perspective. I've been looking forward to a Living Nightmare story and it more than delivered, the narrative was really intriguing and made that character so much more fascinating. All these characters and their worlds had such good designs and made it all feel so incredibly distinct and fun to read.
(Also the Hummingbird issue almost made me happy cry.)

[Fraser Sherman · Rating 5 out of 5]

For those who don't know, Astro City is the equivalent of Marvel's version of New York, the big city where all the cool heroes hang out. That gives Busiek a chance to play with all sorts of heroic tropes — Hummingbird's story, for example, reminds me of all the weird twists and turns most Silver Age characters have taken over the years (first she was an ordinary human, then she became the savior of a lost magical city, then her daughter took over the role, then daughter got magical powers ...). The standout was Wolf Spider's origin, mostly because QUEENSLAW — the fictitious Australian cartoon that inspires him to become a hero — so perfectly nails the syndicated US 'toons of the 1980s.

[tony dillard jr · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the collection Astro City fans have been asking for. The origin of Wolf Spider- revealed! The secrets of the American Chibi uncovered! Plus an epic battle between Samaritan and Nightmare and much more.

This was one of the best collections of Astro City. This announcment is pretty difficult to surmise considering that's rarely ever been a bad story ever in lengthy history of Astro City.

Featuring artwork by guest artist Jesus Merino, Merino has proven that he's got what it takes to be a member of the Astro City Architects. He could sub in for Brent Anderson and Alex Ross anytime in my opinion!

[Jerry · Rating 4 out of 5]

As is often the case, most of the action happens in backstory; these are stories of Astro City as much as stories of the individual heroes who star in each issue. The focus this time is on Honor Guard, it’s strange traditions (Red Cake Day) and its members. It includes an origin of sorts for the very strange American Chibi. The story also provides an excuse to turn the entire Honor Guard into anime characters. Similarly, an Australian hero provides an opportunity to take on 80s cheesy hero cartoons.

All-in-all, a nice collection, and some interesting changes in the Astro City hero lineup.

[Doctor Doom · Rating 4 out of 5]

These "Astro City" books have a "Marvel"ous quality to them... early Marvel [early to mid 1960s]. Really they have all the good elements from DC, Marvel, Gold Key, Charlton, etc. Something that has been missing from comics for a long time. The artwork is great, the writing is taut and the storylines range from good to great. Not a whole lot of politics filter in and even less profanity. Its comics done right. I will repeat this in every review and then try to make it fit that book.

[Jose Vidal · Rating 3 out of 5]

El ritmo al que se publican tomos de Astro City en castellano en este momento, y la alternancia de números antiguos y nuevos, hace un poco difícil seguir el ritmo a la colección y más cuando, para aumentar la confusión, se trata de tomos como este, que agrupa números aparecidos en distintos momentos (en este caso se trata de los números 17, 22, 25, 27-28 y 31 del volumen 3).

http://aventurasextraordinarias.blogs...

[Benjamin Jacobson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Astro City is always consistent. This is a typical volume. I wouldn't say that it transcends itself, but twenty-years into a one-author series you need to give some room for exploration and play around the edges of the story. That's what this is. If you want to be blown away start with the first three volumes, especially Confession, which is one of my favorite super-hero stories of all time.

[Quentin Wallace · Rating 4 out of 5]

This volume focused on members of the Honor Guard with several stories focuses on individual members. Some of the stories came across as an homage to Jim Starlin as you could see the hints of Thanos and other cosmic characters in the line up. Some of the stories were better than others but this was yet another good volume, and so far this has been excellent series overall.

[Rex Hurst · Rating 5 out of 5]

The latest trade in the long running series. this deals exclusively with the group of heroes called the Honor Guard. It is 6 stories, each centering around a different hero. As always with this series, the stories have an old school familiarity while at the same time manage to look at the material in a different light. And again as always, this book leaves you wanting more.

[Gary Fortuin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love Astro City so when I came across this at the library I jumped on it. This collects a series of vignettes, no real story thread ties them together. Vignettes are really what make Astro City sing- super hero short stories. This set is hit and miss. Hero’s Reward and Lucky Girl were the strongest. Nightmare Life was good too but the rest was kind of meh.