Astro City #2 – Review

By: Kurt Busiek (story), Brent Eric Anderson (art), Alex Sinclair (colors)

The Story: Technical support—do you have super-crime to report?  Please hold.

The Review: The idea of technical support for superheroes is nothing new.  As characters like Snapper Carr or Oracle prove, plenty of other writers have arrived at the conclusion that any modern vision of superheroism requires some attention to administration.  It’s asking too much of readers to accept anymore that the only time a hero will leap into action is if he happens to be in the right place and right time.

It’s particularly interesting to compare Busiek’s idea of the Honor Guard call center to Kieron Gillen’s depiction of the emergency call line Prodigy operated in Young Avengers #6.  Gillen uses the concept to poke fun at the clichés of the superhero genre, coming up with ridiculously elaborate emergencies and allowing Prodigy to respond with advice equally as ridiculous and elaborate.  In contrast, there’s not a trace of irony in the way Marella or any of her fellow H.G. responders conduct their business.  Unlike Prodigy, they are driven in their work, despite how much more banal their own phone calls are.