"The others were no different than he is--petty dreamers whose lives were marked by failure and missed opportunity. A failure brought on by their own inner flaws. Nothing special, nowhere to go, and no one to blame for it but himself."

Wow. And that was just the intro page. I wouldn't initially expect to relate to a character like newly paroled Steeljacket, the steel skinned man, but I do. I'm pretty sure if I ever had super powers, I'd end up just like him.

Artists Brent Anderson and Will Blyberg outdid themselves this issue with their best art so far. In fact, this was the first issue of Astro City where I didn't have a nagging voice in my head wishing that Alex Ross were drawing the interiors as well as covers. I don't know when these pages were drawn, but they may have borrowed a bit from their New Adventures of the Spirit story, because parts of the book seemed a bit Eisner-esque, particularly the spread of the city street (complete with Buscema's Deli!--I'll have the Conan Club Sandwich, please).

Busiek's pacing on Astro City continues to be impeccable. I get totally sucked in when I read this title and I begin to happily believe everything that is happening. This issue's contrast between the two-bit thug, Steeljacket, and the fallen hero, El Hombre, was well done. Especially when El Hombre gets mad because his action figures aren't selling. He got into the hero business for all the wrong reasons and maybe accomplished some good along the way, but eventually his vanity destroyed everything he'd done. The pity is that he'd probably make a decent hero now that he's screwed up and realized what's important. But the most chilling line in the comic comes when El Hombre says:

"The worst part was the knowledge that it could have worked. That if I had succeeded that would be all that mattered to myself and to the world. That the surface is all that matters."

Back to the plot. The mad scientist, Assemblyman, is such a damn great villain. For all the joy I get out of seeing the parts of superhero comics we never get to see in Astro City, I miss getting to learn more about characters like Assemblyman (yeah, yeah, I know--just read any villain and pretend--but Assemblyman is so darn awesome!)

I can imagine superheroes in the "real world" pulling dangerous publicity stunts like El Hombre does with a killer giant robot programmed for him to defeat--and I can imagine people suspecting heroes of doing such whether true or not. The public is far too trusting (or terrified) in Marvel and DC comics. In any case, the whole thing was a bit painful to read. It reminded me of all the stupid stunts I've pulled to try and "fix" things that backfired. Except, here, of course, people die and homes are destroyed and it makes the papers.

But back to Steeljacket. I can't help but think of actor Robert Mitchum when I see him, and I hear Mitchum's voice when I read Steeljacket's dialogue. He's an easy character to be drawn to. An "everyman" ne'er do well. Still, I can't help but think this story will eventually end well and be upbeat. I'm not sure if I want to see that happen. I don't know yet.

The aged hood, Ferguson (Burgess Meredith), remains the most intriguing character in the story. I'm sure there's much to be revealed about him. His dialogue at the end with Steeljacket was perfect: "...everyone just muddles along, dreaming their dreams and suffering their shame and their failures. It's not shame that makes a man a failure...it's giving in to it." You'd think that would be enough philosophy for one issue, but Kurt doesn't let it end there. He continues it to the last panel as Steeljacket speaks what I suppose is some sort of essence of every traditional superhero fan. The desperate belief that there must be perfect unsullied heroes, better than we are--and clinging to that belief because it's too scary not to.

Wow. What an ending.

I don't know if Kurt is deconstructing or reconstructing or just writing here, but whatever it is, it's working. Astro City remains the most satisfying superhero comic there is. It never stops being a surprise or reaching a higher plateau than you expect.