Astro City: Difference between revisions

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Astro City is home to a great many [[Superhero|Super Heroes]]. The series does not have one [[Myth Arc|continuing arc]] or viewpoint character. The stories vary in length, from one to two issues up to a seven issue arc. Each story tends to focus on a different group or character, often taking the viewpoint of minor characters watching events unfold.

 

For a partial list:

* The Confessor: A mysterious vigilante, similar in style to [[Batman]], but with more religious elements. Active since the 1950s, he is the subject of the first of the longer story arcs, {{spoiler|where he stops aliens from taking over the world. He is also revealed to be a vampire. He dies at the end, but his sidekick Altar Boy takes up his mantle.}}

* Winged Victory: A [[Wonder Woman]] analogue and feminist. An early story has her and Samaritan going on an abortive date in their civilian identities.

* [[All Crimes Are Equal]]: The Pale Horseman

* [[Alternate Company Equivalent]]: Most of the cast, really.

* [[Alien Invasion]]: The Enelsians (a [[Shout-Out]] to E. Nelson Bridwell; the first Enelsian invader even uses the pseudonym "Mr. Bridwell.")

* [[All Musicals Are Adaptations]]: Crackerjack, in his civilian identity, mentions blowing an audition for the musical version of ''Inherit the Wind''.

* [[Cape Busters]]: E.A.G.L.E. became this during the "Confession" story arc.

* [[Captain Ersatz]]: And how!

** Las Vegas' big hero is the neon-themed Mirage.

** New York is defended by Skyscraper.

* [[Comic Books Are Real]]: "Where the Action Is" examines the common comic book subtrope of superheroes' lives being documented by comic publishers in-universe. And establishes that all real-life major publishers exist in the series' universe. Some superheroes even attend comic book conventions and sign autographs. Supervillains sometimes read their own comic books and take their displeasure out on the publisher. {{spoiler|At the end of the story, when one comic publisher switches to stories about extraterrestrial and "cosmic" characters to try to avoid further attacks from supervillains, their entire building is mysteriously annihilated. That's right, there is an [[Eldritch Abomination]] out there somewhere who ''reads comic books.''}}

* [[Comic Book Time]]: Averted; the Astro City characters age in real time. Notably, Astra, the First Family's daughter, is ten years old in a 1996 story and graduates from school in her own 2009 mini-series.

* [[Continuity Nod]]: Occurs fairly often, as befitting a series with a single writer. Most Continuity Nods appear as sidelong references to other characters and events in the chronological past/present, even if the subject hasn't had a published appearance yet.

** [[The Cape (trope)|Samaritan]] briefly mutters "3.2" when he arrives to visit Steeljack in "The Tarnished Angel." This is a reference to Samaritan's [[Day in the Life]] story, "In Dreams," where it's shown he keeps track of how many seconds he spends flying from one scene to another.

** Also from "Confession", Brian begins his super-hero career by working as a busboy in Bruiser's Bar & Grill, run by retired [[The Golden Age of Comic Books|Golden Age]] hero [[Old Superhero|The Black Badge]]. Both the Black Badge and Bruiser's play small but pivotal roles in the later "Dark Ages" story arc.

* [[The Cowl]]: Confessor, though unlike most of these he's not part of a larger team and doesn't associate with other heroes at all ''ever''. {{spoiler|Well, other than the club where he recruited Altar Boy. But he was off duty at the time and specifically looking for a partner.}}

* [[Crisis Crossover]]: In "The Nearness of You", a man becomes increasingly obsessed about a woman who keeps appearing in his dreams. It turns out it's because a minor villain caused a [[Temporal Paradox]] that threatened the universe and required all of the heroes to stop it -- and the woman is his wife who [[Ret-Gone|ceased to exist]] in the repaired timestream. Yes, the [[Crisis Crossover]] is relegated to a ''background reference.''

** Also appears in the ending of the "Confession" arc, which is basically a Crisis Crossover as seen from the sidelines.

* [[Cryptic Background Reference]]: Used liberally. Right from the first issue we're given all sorts of names and concepts that are not given direct exposition, it is simply expected that readers will fill in the gaps with their knowledge of comic book tropes.

* [[Cut His Heart Out with a Spoon]]: Professor Borzoi threatens the Gentleman that he'll mess up his hair and crumple the flower on his lapel. Admittedly, these might actually be threatening statements to a dapper fellow like the Gentleman.

** Also note that the encounter occurred during [[Astro City]]'s equivalent of [[The Golden Age of Comic Books]], and Borzoi is a [[Card-Carrying Villain]] of the idealistic school.

* [[Determinator]]: The Blue Knight, who once hunted Royal Williams over several months for the crime of ''unloading stolen merchandise.''

** In the "Dark Age" arc, Charles Williams becomes one when his brother Royal found the man who killed their parents.

* [[Dirty Cop]]: In the "Dark Ages" story arc, Charles' partner Lannie takes weekly bribes from the criminals to overlook their activities. Charles refuses to get involved, rejecting the bribes but refusing to report Lannie to Internal Affairs. {{spoiler|He gets shot [[In the Back]] as a result.}}

* [[Disposable Superhero Maker]]: Appears repeatedly, such as a superpower-making scientist's body being recovered after being killed by Back Velvet, Steeljack's superpowered vending machine wanting to keep to individual and unique results, Mock Turtle being the crazed mad scientist who finds out it'd be better to keep his work to himself...

** And Crackerjack, a vain hero who ''loves'' signing autographs.

* [[Glory Seeker]]: Altar Boy

* [[Go-Karting with Bowser]]: Samaritan and Infidel eventually realized the futility in continuing their feud when it became clear that there was no way either of them would ever be able to win, and thus set up a yearly meeting along these lines just to compare notes and talk.

** It's interesting to note that at this point they don't even seem to regard one another as enemies. There's a lot of mutual respect in that arrangement. {{spoiler|Though it should be noted they're still indulging in stratagems to wear the other down, psychologically and emotionally. And Infidel himself admits he isn't sure who will be the victor of ''that'' battle.}}

* [[Gold Digger]]: Charles' wife Darnice from the "Dark Ages" story arc. She flirts with anyone who has money, spends his earnings on personal luxuries, even encourages him to ''take bribes'' as a way to supplement their income, then leaves him when he refuses to be a [[Dirty Cop]].

* [[The Golden Age of Comic Books]]: Often referenced, especially in flashbacks and by older supers. One in particular, fighting an ultra-modern superbot, thinks about how "Back in the day, I'd probably whip up a sonic tornado, get him out into the atmosphere or something." Instead, he just punches the shit out of it. With a water heater. And lays waste to six city blocks.

* [[Good Is Not Dumb]]: The Gentleman is implied to be this -- he apparently was smart enough to avoid capture by the Enelsians, at any rate.

* [[Good Smoking, Evil Smoking]]: Augustus and Julius Furst smoke a pipe and cigars, respectively, as befits an [[Omnidisciplinary Scientist]] and a [[BFG]]-toting [[Badass Normal]].

* [[Heroic Bystander]]: Pete Donacek from "Newcomers", a former hockey player and a hotel doorman at The Classic. He once saved a little girl's life during a giant robot attack. He sees her every day walking home from school, but has never talked to her and doesn't even know her name -- yet knowing that he did that kind of thing for someone, that he went to Astro City and lived the dream of being a real hero...

{{quote|My name is Pete Donacek. I live in Astro City. I wear a uniform, too.}}

* [[Heroic Vow]]: Appears in flashback in "Old Times"; in his heyday, Supersonic pledged to himself to always use an original method against each of his opponents. {{spoiler|When he's called out of retirement to stop a rampaging robot, he feels shamed because his impending senility has reduced him to simply hitting it until it stops.}}

* [[He Who Fights Monsters]]: Charles Williams gets to wondering exactly how much difference there is between the current generation of "heroes" and the criminals they fight.

* [[I Resemble That Remark]]: Crackerjack laments that his on and off ladyfriend Quarrel is mad at him for flirting with other women, ''as he flirts with Nightingale''.

* [[It Tastes Like Feet]]: Astra Furst says her breakfast tastes "manganese-flavor" (after her mother tells her it is supposed grape-flavor). Still, if anyone is going to know what manganese tastes like, it's probably Astra.

* [[Jerkass]]: The Point Man, the obnoxious Guy Garner-like 1980s anti-hero.

* [[Kill Him Already|Kill Her Already]]: Mortally wounded and unlashing a [[Hate Plague]] across the city, Black Velvet begs the Silver Agent to stop it by killing her.

* [[Loads and Loads of Characters]]: Even excluding one-shots and background cameos, the lack of a single main character/team (along with the [[Cryptic Background Reference]]s and [[Continuity Nod]]s) causes ''[[Astro City]]'' to have several dozen characters with regular appearances scattered throughout the series' run. This is especially true in extended story arcs like "Tarnished Angel" and "The Dark Age", which often star characters who only get a brief appearance in other stories.

* [[Locked Into Strangeness]]: Samaritan has his hair turn blue after the [[Time Travel]] incident that gives him his powers. He can change it to white at will, but apparently not back to its original black. His archenemy Infidel's hair also changed color as a result of the same incident, going from black to green, though when not using his powers it's blonde.

* [[Loser Son of Loser Dad]]: In "Confession", Brian wants to be a superhero to avoid this trope.

** And in "The Tarnished Angel", Yolanda Costello -- daughter of the super-villain Golden Glove -- vows to avoid this by being a smarter crook than her dad was.

* [[Secret Identity]]

* [[Self-Made Orphan]]: Technically speaking, Samaritan qualifies.

* [[Shrouded in Myth]]: The Blue Knight is the subject of much rumor and speculation. An ex-cop with a holographic skull face, an actual avenging spirit, etc. Whether or not he's 8 feet tall or has a skull collection is also disputed.

** The Confessor originally existed as little more than a legend because no video footage or photos of him had ever been taken. {{spoiler|This is because he's a vampire. The fact that after Altar Boy succeeded him there ''were'' photos made criminals even more confused on the matter, thinking that he's somehow immune to traditional vampire weaknesses and that he'd come back from the dead rather than making the more obvious connection.}}

* [[Socially Awkward Hero]]: Samaritan suffers from this when his super-heroic peers maneuver him into a dinner date with Winged Victory.

* [[So Proud of You]]

* [[Stealth Pun]]: The supervillain Slamburger appears to be made of ground beef. ''Get it?''

** See also the Crossbreed: David (the giant), Daniel (the lion-man), Peter (rock-skinned stone manipulator), Mary (winged flyer), Joshua (sonic screams) and Noah (commands rain and lightning). Though in this case, the characters make it deliberately clear that these are religious references, not much stealth utilized.