Astro City combines the talents of celebrated writer Kurt Busiek with renowned artist Brent Anderson and features the incredible hyper-realistic covers by none other than Alex Ross. Astro City #1 relaunches the Eisner Award-winning title as a new ongoing series from Vertigo giving its creators the room they need to explore this amazing world.
Astro City #1 weaves together the story of the mysterious Ambassador’s arrival on Earth with the tale of an ordinary man who finds himself swept up in a conflict of cosmic proportions. Kurt Busiek’s long awaited return to Astro City showcases old heroes like Smaritan and Honor Guard while introducing us to all new characters like The Broken Man.
“Astro City has always been viewed as a sophisticated series, a book aimed at older sensibilities that tells what are hopefully deeper, richer, more nuanced stories than the traditional superhero action-adventure,” said Busiek. “That’s where Vertigo started 20 years ago, a place where readers of the traditional mainstream comics would find the next thing, the material aimed at their changing tastes and sensibilities as they got older and looked for something different, something…more. Now we’re at Vertigo and I couldn’t be happier.“
“We actually try to make every single issue new reader friendly, so anyone who starts reading the book at any point has enough to go on to understand and enjoy what they’re reading,” Busiek added. “We don’t want people to feel lost. We’re going to do whatever it takes ton invite them in and make sure they can be absorbed by the story we’re telling.”
“I’m very much looking forward to having ‘Astro City’ as part of my regular schedule again,” Ross told CBR News. “It’s the thing I have the longest professional relationship with over all this time, and it hopefully proves a point that I can work with people,” he laughed. “Kurt has always had a very clear, linear vision of how to present this universe. In all the 18 years we’ve been working together on this stuff, there’s a lot of trust with where Kurt wants to go. So I was happy taking my marching orders. I have contributed to stories over the years, and there’s always a chance for me to pop in and design a new character. Like with this new series, I added a character that came to mind. But generally, the big picture direction I lay no claim to having. And this is a little removed from some of the bigger stories we were telling with ‘Dark Age’ and some of the prior stuff. It’s focused on trying to bring people in.“
Astro City #1 from Vertigo Comics is available now at your local comic book store. Pick it up and see what Busiek, Anderson and Ross have cooked up for the fans.
