Who were The Jayhawks? And what is their legacy for present-day Astro City? Your Major Spoilers review of Astro City: That Was Then Special from Image Comics awaits!
ASTRO CITY: THAT WAS THEN… SPECIAL
Writer: Kurt Busiek
Artist: Brent Eric Anderson
Colorist: Alex Sinclair
Letterer: Comicraft’s Tyler Smith & Jimmy Betancourt
Editor: Kel Symons
Publisher: Image Comics
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: March 30, 2022
Previously in Astro City: That Was Then… Special: Who were the Jayhawks? How did they inspire five teen sidekicks looking for answers to hit the road in a rickety crime mobile in 1969?
And how will this affect Astro City in the present?
AND WE’RE OFF!
It is the summer of 1969, and five teenage superheroes have gone on what might be the ultimate road trip. Traveling across the country in a used Crime-Mobile that once belonged to a long-gone supervillain, Rally, Bugle Boy, The Majorette, Sunshrike, and Rivets the Robot Kid have been searching for ideas about what should come next in their lives. Their journey began several weeks earlier, at a memorial for Rally’s super-team, The Jayhawks, who were killed in combat with a powerful mystical foe. Each of the kids has their own ideas about what comes next, be it Sunshrike’s Samsara-like heroic cycle or Rivets’ ideas about the human race possibly needing extermination, but they’ve all been affected by the loss of their fellow heroes. Of course, it wouldn’t be Astro City if everything were explained upfront, and the appearance of Samaritan near the end of the issue bodes ill for Astro City.
A BRAND-NEW START
It is the summer of 1969, and five teenage superheroes have gone on what might be the ultimate road trip. Traveling across the country in a used Crime-Mobile that once belonged to a long-gone supervillain, Rally, Bugle Boy, The Majorette, Sunshrike, and Rivets the Robot Kid have been searching for ideas about what should come next in their lives. Their journey began several weeks earlier, at a memorial for Rally’s super-team, The Jayhawks, who were killed in combat with a powerful mystical foe. Each of the kids has their own ideas about what comes next, be it Sunshrike’s Samsara-like heroic cycle or Rivets’ ideas about the human race possibly needing extermination, but they’ve all been affected by the loss of their fellow heroes. Of course, it wouldn’t be Astro City if everything were explained upfront, and the appearance of Samaritan near the end of the issue bodes ill for Astro City.
A BRAND-NEW START
It’s been quite a while since Astro City went on hiatus with the expectation of going to an OGN format, but as Busiek explains in the issue’s backmatter, that was four years, a couple of global crises, and a publisher ago. This story sets up some new mysteries to carry us forth into the second Image Comics era, introducing a slew of new characters and throwing us fully into a well-conceived love letter to Bob Haney’s Teen Titans, among other coming-of-age sidekick tales past. Not every artist could pack so much drama and emotion into quiet scenes at a wake, but Brent Anderson is one of them, and the sight of a superhero funeral is unexpectedly moving under his pen. There are also interesting visual effects in this issue’s coloring/production, relating to the conceit of the Jayhawks’ demise that are both subtle and, once you notice them, excellent.
BOTTOM LINE: WORTH WAITING FOR
I expect to see complaints about this issue vis a vis the long wait, the introduction of new characters and situations when the Broken Man plotline is still open, or certain story elements reminding that might remind readers of The Dark Age arc, but Astro City: That Was Then… Special is another example of what this title does best, bringing life, emotion, and a new perspective to some of comics’ most well-trodden roads, earning a dead-solid 5 out of 5 stars overall. Perhaps the best testimonial I can give is that as both an Astro City regular and a very experienced consumer of superhero comics, this issue was not at all what I expected it would be.
And that makes it a rare delight.
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ASTRO CITY: THAT WAS THEN... SPECIAL
Busiek, Anderson, Ross and company have once again opened a new chapter in Astro City's history, touching on classic Silver Age themes and setting up a new run.
If only we could have gotten the N-Forcer's story first...
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Writing10
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Art10
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Coloring10
Once upon a time, there was a young nerd from the Midwest, who loved Matter-Eater Lad and the McKenzie Brothers... If pop culture were a maze, Matthew would be the Minotaur at its center. Were it a mall, he'd be the Food Court. Were it a parking lot, he’d be the distant Cart Corral where the weird kids gather to smoke, but that’s not important right now... Matthew enjoys body surfing (so long as the bodies are fresh), writing in the third person, and dark-eyed women. Amongst his weaponry are such diverse elements as: Fear! Surprise! Ruthless efficiency! An almost fanatical devotion to pop culture! And a nice red uniform.