Busiek opens this profile book, which serves as an introduction to the world of Astro City, with a short story that's in keeping with the usual style of the property. It's grounded and enjoyable, and it's easy to see oneself in the main character. Unfortunately, the art and script don't allow the plot to unfold as clearly as it could. Still, it's a light and entertaining short story, and the level of the talent providing the profile page art demonstrates just how well respected Astro City is within the industry. The format is cute and reinforces the strengths of Busiek's approach to super-hero storytelling in the series. I really liked this book... but I didn't care for the hefty price tag.
A woman visiting Astro City does what just about every tourist does, and that's some super-hero-centred sight-seeing around the city. Visits to memorials, sites of legendary battles and wondrous landmarks pale in comparison to her final destination, though: the former headquarters of a notorious villain. A guided tour of the once nefarious facility unleashes an evil long thought eradicated, and it takes the woman into the world of defenders and demons in a way she never thought possible.
Anderson's style is all but lost in the main story. At first, I thought the story was illustrated by Stuart Immonen, but the credits revealed otherwise. There's a sort of painted look to the art that's interesting, but it brings an airy quality to the action that's not in keeping with the more grounded plot elements. It's also difficult to tell from whose perspective the story is being told. The script doesn't help in that regard either, but after a couple of pages, things clear up a bit.
Packaging this book as a tourism brochure was a stroke of genius. That motif sort of hides the fact that this is a typical Who's Who sort of handbook for the world Busiek has created, and it reinforces the notion that this is what things might be like if super-heroes were real, how it might feel to those of us looking up at them from the street. The history and geography segments really give one a sense of place; Astro City feels more real, and in the process, so do the characters.
It was fun seeing the world of Astro City from so many different artistic perspectives. It's basically been Alex Ross and Brent Anderson from the start, so these other interpretations were a nice change of pace. I was surprised at the lack of involvement Ross had in this book. In the original series, Ross's design sketches were often included in each issue, and I miss those behind-the-scenes elements.
DC is asking far too high a price for a non-prestige format book that's low on actual story content. This could have served as a great marketing tool to get new readers to check out the property, but at this price, only Astro City completists will bother picking it up. 6/10
