Astro City, Vol. 4: The Tarnished Angel

Astro City #4

by Kurt Busiek, Brent Anderson (Illustrator), Will Blyberg (Illustrator)

Kurt Busiek's Astro Tarnished Angel tells a story that would be just as compelling even if its hapless hero weren't made of metal. It's a familiar old supervillain Carl Donewicz--or Steeljack--gets out of prison old and broken, and just wants to spend his last years out of sight. Events, as they will, conspire against him, and his journey through prejudice, mistrust, andbackstabbing ethics is deeply moving. Brent Eric Anderson's penciling is precise and perfectly balanced between '70s superheroes and '40s pulp; Will Blyberg's inks are unparalleled. Readers who are tired of the hero-recycling that's been standard operating procedure at the major comics companies should reward themselves with a visit to Astro City. --Rob Lightner

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Superheroes, Fiction, Graphic Novels Comics, Comic Book, Mystery

224 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2000

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 4 out of 5]

One of the best Astro City volumes of them all! Volume 4 of Kurt Busiek's innovative superhero chronicle about the world of Astro City, features the great 'Steel jack' arc where a newly paroled low-level super villain finally decides to sees if he can change his villainous ways, despite everything and everyone saying he can't.

What makes it special is Busiek's deep look at the lives of the petty criminal and villains for hire and how they probably spend and waste more money on their 'work' than they spend on their actually real lives. That their legacy is usually broken relationships and academically and emotionally failing children, looking to follow in their footsteps. The humanising of this community is a great piece of writing. And to top it all off we have Steeljacket trying to build a life; despite him serving his full 20 year sentence, no one, not one single person gives him a break or a chance. A stab at the most of the world's so called system of justice. 8 out of 12, Four Stars.

2019 read

You are now leaving Astro City.

[Dan · Rating 5 out of 5]

When Steeljack got paroled and tried to go legit, he couldn't find a job. Now he's trying to figure out who's killing the washed up criminals in Kiefer Square, his old Astro City neighborhood. Will Steeljack discover the killer before he becomes the next victim.

I knew this was going to be something when I saw Kurt Busiek dedicated it, in part, to Lawrence Block. Since I've read a few hundred detective books over the years, this one was right up my booze-soaked alley.

The Tarnished Angel is about Steekjack, a crook with metal skin fresh out of stir. With no employment prospects and nowhere to go, he heads back to his old neighborhood and gets caught up in a mystery that other people don't seem to care about. Who cares when criminals wind up dead?

The cover of the trade reminds me of one of the covers in the Hard Case Crime series, an homage to the pulpy Gold Medal and Fawcett paperbacks of yesteryear. Steeljack's Robert Mitchum-inspired Bassett hound looks really add to the feeling of being beaten down and defeated by life.

All that being said, it was a joy watching Steeljack plod his way toward the solution. Along the way, he meets The Mock Turtle, who has one of my favorite costume designs in the series so far. Also in the Mock Turtle's tale, the first reference to The King of Elfland's Daughter in a comic.

Steeljack's wanderings reveal more of Astro City's past. The Hombre and Bravo were great. It's a shame how things went down. When the killer was revealed, I wasn't sure how things would play out. It's a noir tale, after all. The ending was very satisfying.

Astro City tells human stories in a city of super heroes. This is the tale of a downtrodden, broken down man who needs one more chance. This is easily my favorite Astro City tale so far. Five out of five stars.

[mark monday · Rating 4 out of 5]

alas, poor dejected Tarnished Angel! Steeljack is an ex-con trying to hew to the straight & narrow, looking for work and a fresh start while staying right with the law... until circumstances intervene and he must fight for greater things - even if that means going against the law and straying onto more crooked paths. a classic post-war noir plot for a classic comic.

Astro City's fourth volume takes the tone of its story and the look of its imagery directly from all of those grey and ambiguous movies and paperbacks of the 40s. our down-on-his-luck hero is even purposely drawn to look like a fleshier Robert Mitchum. Astro City is a city of superheroes and supervillains with a magnificent history of those two camps that goes back generations - and this comic contains all of that. but this is more a story of sadness & obsession & redemption than it is one of colorful people battling each other in the air. this is not a shiny adventure. and there is more than just one tarnished angel in this book... there is the brooding disgraced hero El Hombre and there is the sweetly deluded villain The Mock Turtle, both standing out in interesting contrast to our melancholy protagonist. there is a destructive femme fatale and a couple hommes fatale as well. and there is plenty of tragedy and tarnish to go around, for those on the street and for those up in the air.

Busiek really did an excellent job with this one. the story is emotional in an adult sort of way, deeply-felt and resonant, and all about how people fail, and fail again, fail and keep trying, fail from betrayal, fail from betraying themselves, fail and then sometimes actually succeed. the writing is superb and the art is top-notch. I loved this one, it really moved me.

"He's not smart. He's not brave. And he doesn't want the job. But he has something the people of Kiefer Square desperately need.

He's hard to kill.

He'll have to be."

[Chad · Rating 4 out of 5]

Busiek and Anderson craft a noir set in Astro City. Steeljack is let out on parole after 2 decades in prison. While no one wants to hire an old man covered in steel who is trying to go straight, the people in his neighborhood trust him. They hire him to discover who is killing off old washed up career henchman and minor villains. Steeljack is out of his depth but plods on, discovering a much larger plot. I like the noir angle and longer form storytelling of this arc. I really like how Anderson and Ross gave Steeljack an old, worn Robert Mitchum look.

[James DeSantis · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like these stories, and love most f Kurt Busiek stuff, but these story feel VERY long.

So this is about Steeljack. After years of being in prison he is finally released and decides to try to do good. Try to live a normal life. He's done being a bad guy, or fully bad anyway, and wants to fix his life up. However, when small time villains begin to get picked off they hire him as some type of private eye to help them figure out what's happening. Will the villain turned hero be able to figure it out or make it worse?

Good: I liked the mystery behind it. All the people, superhero or not, feel like regular people which is great. I also like Steeljack and his views and the way he wanted to fix himself up. I also thought the idea of him fixing himself up and the way he was going on about it was pretty neat.

Bad: The mystery behind it all wasn't really that interesting or hard to guess. I also thought the pacing had some serious issues. I think these are written almost like novels where the pictures are hardly needed because it's so heavily narrated.

Overall this was a solid mystery with a cool main lead. It didn't blow me away, none of these volumes (except 2 was really interesting) blew me away. I think might take a break for a bit on this series and come back but this still solid, a 3 out of 5.

[Mitchell Friedman · Rating 4 out of 5]

A re-read. A single great big meaty story. Dark but not too dark. Sad but not too sad. Predictable but not too predictable. Not all that deep. But just damned good.

It's just a crime based superhero book told from the point of view of one of the villains. But a damn good one. Lots and lots and lots of text but a really fast read. Quite good enough art. Tons of characters but they don't distract. And always coming back to our main pov hero Steeljack. This book and this series is in such sharp contrast to Brian Michael Bendis' Powers. Astro City doesn't have the language or the tawdriness. Astro City has better and more writing and much much better art. It's kind of telling the same sort of story, just in a better way. 4.5 of 5.

[Shannon Appelcline · Rating 5 out of 5]

Steeljack is probably my favorite character in the Astro City universe, for his deep desire to be an angel, tied with his earthy reality. Unsurprisingly, this is also my favorite Astro City arc to date. The mystery is great and the many characters of the area are interesting, but it's Steeljack that really makes it all terrific. I've always wanted to see more of him, but of course this marked the end of the original Astro City run, followed by a five-year hiatus.

[Patrick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Possibly my favorite Astro City story. And that's saying something....

[Richard · Rating 4 out of 5]

"I just want to run. To run far and fast, and get away. But I been running' all my life now, and I'm still in the same place."

Astro City takes a break from the anthology format and returns to the extended arc structure with this great story focusing on one of the small-time, street-level criminals of Astro City instead of the grand heroes.

Our main character is Carl Donewicz, aka Steeljack, a recently paroled super-crook with metal skin and a new desire to go straight. He finds himself taking a job that no one else wants to do, investigating the recent serial murders of small-time hoods like himself. The story is a big homage to hard-boiled pulp fiction and movies about down-on-their-luck guys looking for redemption and it reads just as well. The main hero is even illustrated to look like Robert Mitchum! It's pretty cool seeing a story like this taking place in a world of classic-age heroes.

I love the sense of history that the Astro City series has and the passion that the creators seem to put on the page. Good stuff.

"The people of Kiefer Square need a hero for once.

But all they've got is me."

[Cale · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm not sure how I missed this volume when going through the Astro City volumes. Especially since it's got a noir focus, which adds to the appeal. We get the story of Steeljack, a low-level villain trying to make good after two decades in prison, but getting sucked back into the life. It's also an exploration of the second-tier villains, the ones who serve as chaff when the super-villains take the credit. Steeljack makes for a good noir hero, out of his depth but soldiering on. The story goes to some dark places, as befits noir, but also has some touching moments (the Mock Turtle issue is both sweet and sad). The lengths Steeljack goes to make good are impressive. The art is a little worse than most Astro City volumes - Steeljack's coloration varies a bit much from silver to almost skin-toned, and other characters do the opposite. But that's a minor niggle in an otherwise strong volume of the series.

[Carlex · Rating 5 out of 5]

Four and a half stars.

Another good story of the Astro City universe; about SteelJack (see the cover), a super human loser and about his redemption.

[Eric · Rating 5 out of 5]

4 1/2 stars

[[Name Redacted] · Rating 5 out of 5]

A genuinely moving tale of a super-villain trying to go straight, torn between the ideals with which his mother raised him, and nearly 50 decades of bad company and worse advice. This is a novel about second chances, bad choices, and the crippling fear that you can escape neither your origins nor the consequences of your actions.

[Robert · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Robert Mitchum lookalike coated in steel skin, doing hard time and then saving his neighbourhood? What's not to like!



Loved the backstories of "El Hombre" and "Mock Turtle", as well. Great volume.

[Sesana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another trade with a long story arc. Was Busiek making a habit of it? This story follows former villain Steeljack, out on parole. He wants to go straight, but it's hard when you're literally made of steel. He's highly visible, and there's a distinct limit to what a steel man is capable of. Adding to his troubles is his neighborhood, home to many of the other middle tier villains he used to hang out with. Except that they're now all turning up dead. The police don't care, and the heroes don't care. Why should they? But their families do care, and they hire Steeljack to solve the mystery, before more of their family, friends, and neighbors die.

This is a fairly long arc, especially for Astro City, and it showed. There were places where it felt like Busiek was dragging his feet. It's that mission of his, to make Astro City feel real and fully populated. He's good at that, but it can make stories like this feel too long. That said, I was left with a very solid feeling of Steeljack and his neighborhood, something that very few comics are able to do.

[Quentin Wallace · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow what a story. This was basically a noir using superpowered characters. Steeljacket is a life long loser, a supervillain who's been in and out of prison forever. Now that he's old and getting broken down, he tries to go straight. Of course, that's never easy.

On top of that, someone is murdering all the old villains from the neighborhood. They hire Steeljacket to get to the bottom of things. Many twists and turns later we find out there's much more to the story than what shows on the surface.

Add this great story to the great art, and you have a very good graphic novel. Astro City may be a little "wordy" for some, but overall comics don't get much better.

[Cathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is my favorite Astro City volume so far. It's remarkable that each volume is so different in style, yet they all work. Well, except Astro City, Vol. 2: Confession, that was a bit weak. Anyway, this was a full volume with a single plot, like Confession, but more focused and much more effective. The main character, a failed supervillain and all around failure, Steeljack/Carl, was very sympathetic and it was enjoyable to see how his story developed over the course of the entire book. The art was terrific, conveying the down and out neighborhood and people, and the noir style and superhero flair, without making it too cheesy, too hard on the people who were living in the poverty stricken area, keeping a level of respect that was critical to making the story work. Reader have to like 'Jack and care about the bad guys or we would want them to get caught, wouldn't care about the plot against them. It was a substantive book, it took a long time to read compared to most comic books. I would have been satisfied with each individual issue and have felt that I got my money's worth. Apparently when it was first published it was delayed quite a bit due to an illness that Busiak had at the time, causing some drama with fans and collaborators. I think it was worth the wait.

[Jiro Dreams of Suchy · Rating 4 out of 5]

The design of steel jack is top notch, he’s such a perfect design. The shiny skin mixed with the downtrodden and past his prime features. The covers to each issue are (as always) exceptional.

A jailbird gets out, tries to go straight, finds work solving a mystery, who’s killing these old villains?, figures it out and saves the day. His story ends with a moment of peace but he never becomes an angel, but he still saves the day for us regular folk. A really touching story- Astro city is really good.

[Aaron · Rating 4 out of 5]

Now see, THIS is what I like about Astro City. It seems that Busiek's stories only really set themselves apart in this universe when they're given some room to breath and subvert expectations. In this story, we meet Steeljack, a former "black mask" (AKA super villain) who's just been released from an extended prison sentence and wants to go straight. What follows is a story that starts familiar enough, but expands to really utilize the unique universe of Astro City to its advantage, crafting a noir detective story that could only exist in a world brimming with superheroes.

This acceptance and use of the world Busiek has created is what separates stories like this one from the run-of-the-mill stuff in volumes 1 and 3 of Astro City. Building out from the noir/criminal-changes-his-ways stuff in the story and trickling in superhero stuff gradually makes this one hell of a fun read. It doesn't quite live up to the monumental greatness of volume 2, but it's still got a lot to offer.

First of all, the character of Steeljack is impossible not to like. Normally I'm not a big fan of comics artists drawing characters to resemble real-life people, but it felt incredibly fitting to have Steeljack look like a silver Robert Mitchum. It's the perfect choice for this sad, heavy character, and made him far more emotive. Also, I couldn't think of the last time I'd seen a story about someone without any real detective skills being forced to solve a crime (besides the series Bored To Death, which is a comedic take on that idea, unlike Tarnished Angel, which is more realistic). I wanted Steeljack to win and to be appreciated. I wanted him to climb out of the dreck that he'd sunk into, and I was sad when the story ended.

The plot itself is a little all over the place at times, but in a way I found intriguing. Busiek doesn't stay hyper-focused on the mystery unraveling, but rather sticks with Steeljack (for the most part), examining this character as the mystery unfolds around him, sometimes completely without his interference. It kept the story personal, so that the couple of times that I got a little ahead of the mystery, I didn't care, because I was so interested in everything else that was happening.

All in all, this is a solid noir for superhero fans, and well worth a read. I hope more of Astro City uses this long-arc format, as this seems to be when the series really shines.

[Ensley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Busiek has had me since Marvels and he and Brent Eric Anderson (p), and Will Blyberg (i) don't disappoint with this edition to the Astro City universe. The Tarnished Angel is classic, hard-boiled noir centering on Steeljack, a minor-league super-villain who can no longer banish his love-handles and who's out on parole from another prison stretch.

Steeljack returns to his home turf, yet another fully realized neighborhood in Astro City: Kiefer Square. Not a great part of town, but a real neighborhood, kind of Yancey Street meets Five Points where common crooks and minor villains hang their hats and live their lives, raise families. Only no something is killing folks from the neighborhood off, and no one seems to care. Why would they, after all?

So it falls to Steeljack, an unheroic, average lug except for his steel-like flesh to figure out what's going on and to save his neighbors from whatever is killing them. Anderson modeled Steeljack's wonderfully expressive face on an older Robert Mitchum, and the world weary, cigarette smoking, aspect is perfect for the tale. Steeljack might not be a hero, but he has his own code that he does his best to follow, and he emerges as a anti-hero as classic and great as the Continental Op. himself.

Busiek's story is poignant, gritty, and emotionally very real, and the reaction of the great heroic paragons of Astro City to Steeljack's attempt to protect and serve in his own way is both bittersweet, and exactly right. Go read this book.

[Clint · Rating 5 out of 5]

Vol 4 swaps back to a single story, and it’s one of the series’s best yet! Steeljack is a recently paroled supervillain ex-con trying to make sense of the life he’s got left, with a fading hope that he might be able to redeem what he considers his failure of a life so far.

His difficulties adjusting to any sort of life outside Biro Island are compelling and feel similar to what many people must experience today, while still being noir-ishly stylized. Once the core mystery shows up, I had a blast following along with Steeljack parsing out what might be a lead and what was a red herring, with plenty of clever examples of each that fooled me. The two diversionary middle issues also kept the story unpredictable without veering too far off the main thread, and I loved Mock Turtle’s story in particular. Plenty of fascinating new characters get introduced then, plus more appearances in the margins for tons of familiar but not-yet-well-known characters. I can’t wait for many of them to get their own issues in the future.

Steeljack’s bedraggled, middle-aged take on Colossus is stunningly drawn throughout, all contoured chrome (steel) reflections, and this is the first volume that’s regularly impressed me with its interior art. Ross’s covers and assistance with refining character designs is amazing as always.

[B. P. Rinehart · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another interesting volume that shows Busiek was not afraid of who he would put as the protagonist in his books. This time he goes to an old c-list villain whose only crime was being perpetually in the wrong environment and having no guidance. After some lengthy jail time, he is out on parole and just trying to get back on his feet. Because he is an ex-con, jobs are not there. Because he is an ex-super-villain (his name is SteelJack), he is on the radar of all the superheroes in the city (oh and they let him know it, despite him not committing any crimes). Because he is an old ex-con-super-villain, the only-villain work an OG like him can get is grunt work which proves too difficult for him. He is on his last legs when he realizes someone is murdering old super-villains and no one in law enforcement is taking it seriously. He investigates it learns of a very sinister plot going on in Astro City.

This storyline, though long, was a very good pay-off and showed that if someone with a dirty past really tries to do the right thing, they can.

[Kathleen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Can an ex-con ever be anything else? Why do repeat offenders keep following the same patterns? This is the story of the Steel Jacketed Man, a career criminal who has faced off against the heroes of Astro City time and again. He's hired muscle mostly, in and out of jail until he's been in for so long he really does want to stay out. It's a much more nuanced view of crime and punishment than what's generally available in American fiction.

The noir tone of this book is well crafted and particularly appropriate for the subject matter. Steeljack has quite a bit of Sam Spade in him for all that he claims he isn't smart, or brave, or heroic. He knows his place, and it's the bottom of the barrel in his old neighborhood. But someone is killing other old muscle, guys just like him, and he's got to do something. It's a job, anyway. Very noir.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a good crime novel and won't be put off by a couple super powers thrown into the mix.

[Ryan Mishap · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sometimes the loser gets to be the anti-hero, despite all the super-heroes mucking about in the skies. See, they don't always understand that normal people got worth, that some of us just trying to get by, and any scrap we can get a hold of might make the difference. Sometimes we have dreams waylaid and fall into patterns etched for us, but that don't mean we can't do right by the people we come from, by the people we know, by the people who don't get no accolades or stories written about them.

Sometimes a super-hero comic is about more than saving the day--it's about living a life you can be proud of.

[Anne Langston · Rating 4 out of 5]

What makes a hero? What makes a villain? This noir-ish trade explores this question, introducing a narrator/main protagonist that has been a "super villain" as he attempts to live his lfe after being released from prison. The mystery that he gets involved in is intriguing, as are the characters that are introduced along the way. And the character of Steeljack, a genuinely good person that became a "black mask" is compelling to me. I couldn't give this five stars because a lengthy section in the middle of the book, dealing with a location and character seemingly unconnected to the plot, was way too jarring for me. But, on the strength of the main plot, I highly recommend this book.

[Melissa Koser · Rating 5 out of 5]

Update on 8/25/19: This is still the best Astro City book, and one of my favorite stories of all time!
............................
Love, love, love this story! While acknowledging the differences between right and wrong/good and evil, Busiek shows how the lines between them can blur. I loved that the main character Steeljack is not your average hero or villain. Fascinating story arc with a somewhat slow burn, including a not-so-random digression to a side story. In my opinion, it's the best Astro City book yet!

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked the extended stay in this particular head. Astro City at its best. The Alex Ross cover for this collection is probably my favorite in the series, and I love the sketchbook at the end where we see how Ross uses posed friends with exaggerated light sources to get the gorgeous lighting effects in his covers.

[Brian Koser · Rating 5 out of 5]

Melissa might be right in saying Steeljack is the best Astro City character. A lifelong criminal with no advantages other than the blessing/curse of metal skin, but one who is loyal, self-sacrificing, and refuses to give up. What mix of nature and nurture makes us who we are? What does it take to transcend both?

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love the art and the atmosphere of this series. The lead this time around was kind of a sad sack, but my heart went out to him.
Volume 2 remains my favorite, but I still look forward to reading more stories in this nostalgic, original series.

[Michael Underwood · Rating 5 out of 5]

D-grade supervillain turned local do-gooder, a powerful consideration of how participation in the supers world can irrevocably change someone's life.