Existentialman's Profile

Astro City #50 is bittersweet on many levels. One is that it marks the beginning of the final arc of the regular Astro City comic. Astro City is a comic I've enjoyed for many years from several different publishers. Despite the fact that title has moved around a lot every issue was written by Kurt Busiek. Brent Anderson did the artwork for most of the issues and Alex Ross provided the covers for every issue. That kind of consistency is amazing, especially given the quality of the series throughout. I will miss this series when it's done. No other series portrays what ordinary people would go through in a Superhero universe. This issue is also bittersweet because we find out that a character I like, Michael Tenicek, never really got over the loss of his wife. He's a perfect symbol of what makes Astro City great, because you come to care about him, even though he never wore a costume, fought crime or had any kind of superpower. If you've never read Astro City before you can still fully appreciate this arc if you read the Astro City short story "The Nearness of You" first. It's only ten pages and it's available for FREE at Comixology. Read it and enjoy Astro City while you have chance.

Great read and a quick read, even though this is an oversized issue. That doesn't mean it's thin on story, it's not. This is a great introductory issue. We learn a lot about the main character along with plenty of action. This is one those comics that will have me counting the days till the next one comes out. Well done!

I'm a huge fan of the Black Hammer Universe that Jeff Lemire is creating, but even if you've never read a single Black Hammer related comic this is a great issue. Lots of comic say this, but in this case it's really true, Doctor Star is a great jumping on point for new readers. What I love about this comic and much of Jeff Lemire's work is that he's able to bring pathos to a superhero comic. Much as I'd love to have the powers that Doctor Star attains I spent most of the comic wanting Doctor Star/Jim Robinson to make different choices. I kept thinking: "You're missing the point, Jim Robinson. Your family is much more important than being a superhero." Which is, I'm sure, exactly what Jeff Lemire wanted me to feel. Well done!

As a hardcore lover of The Watchmen and Alan Moore I was skeptical when this series was announced. I'm also a huge fan of Geoff Johns and Gary Frank so my hope was that this series would knock it out of the park. After reading the first two issues I'm officially onboard. Johns and Frank have gotten almost everything right. They recognized that Watchmen was, more than anything else, a mood piece and they've carried that over into this series. The scene where Bruce Wayne takes a Rorschach test is priceless. The series takes me to places I never thought DC comics would have the guts to go. Just as I felt when I read the original Watchman series, each issue has me dying to know what happens next.

Great new comic series. It has a Black Hammer/Watchman vibe to it that I love, but it definitely has it's very own identity and sensibility. I already care about the main character and I'm interested in finding out more about all the secondary characters. I can wait to see where the story is heading

Finally we have a comic in the spirit of Keith Giffem & J.M.. DeMatteis' hilarious Justice League run. I love it!

Excellent Graphic Novel. The story is so compelling that I had to read it all in one sitting. Lots of great twists and turns, but it's not all about the plot. There's a lot of heart to this story. It had me rooting for the heroes and the villains, and sometimes they're the same characters. Well done!

A good opening chapter for a new comic, but like a lot of readers I'm questioning if this story really belongs in the Watchmen universe. Other than to sell the book there doesn't seem to be a reason why this story needs to be told in that universe. Couldn't it have worked equally well as a future story about the Question or someone dressed up as Batman. It might actually work better that way as a lot more people know who Batman is in the DC Universe than know who Rorschach was in the Watchmen universe. It's possible future chapters may justify it, so I'm withholding judgment on the longterm prospects for the book. I'm hoping future chapters improve my overall impression of the series.

If this comic is trying to be a kind of Rorschach test what I see is a writer who had nothing to say, but wrote about it anyway.

This book is a real page turner. Once I read the opening page I couldn't put it down. It's a familiar story, but told really well. Now I can't wait for the next issue to come out. I feel like Bendis had all these great stories he was dying to tell and was just waiting for the right place to tell them. I'm glad he's found a place for them at DC and Jinxworld