Astro City: Confession

Another graphic novel today. I'm not sure why I picked this one up, other than that it had somehow ended up on my mental list of 'good comics I should buy'.

The setting of Astro City is pretty standard superhero stuff. Busiek (the writer) has made a kind of stand in for DC's Metropolis, or the alternate New York of the Marvel series, in order to look at the superhero genre from unusual angles. The art is nice, but pretty typical of the genre. In this particular collection he tells the story of a young boy who moves to Astro City from out in the sticks, and ends up becoming a sidekick to a superhero, The Confessor.

In some ways this reminds me of Alan Moore's Top 10, even though that series is a mocking satire of superhero comics, and Astro City treats it's subject matter seriously. It tells a very character focused story with a touching ending. I'd rate it as easily one of the best comics I've read recently, in terms of good old fashioned story telling at least. I'll definitely be getting the rest of the series at some stage.