Astro City

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Comic
title Astro City
Original title Astro City (until 2003 Kurt Busiek's Astro City)
country United States
author Kurt Busiek
Illustrator Alex Ross , Brent Anderson , Will Blyberg
publishing company Image Comics , Homage Comics , WildStorm ( DC ), Vertigo
First publication August 1995 - ...

Astro City , originally Kurt Busiek's Astro City , is an award-winning American comic series with a superhero theme, which was launched in August 1995, initially at Image Comics , and later at Wildstorm Productions , an original part of Image and from DC at the turn of the year 1998/1999 Comics acquired studio, appeared. After DC discontinued the Wildstorm imprint , the series has been published under the Vertigo imprint since 2013 .

The series does not appear regularly, in the past there were more frequent breaks from publication, even within a multi-part storyline. The series does not follow a continuous numbering, but consists of several successive mini, maxi and consecutive series as well as individual special editions. However, the creative team has stayed the same since the series began. The series is written and invented by Kurt Busiek , who also holds the rights to the series. The cover images are by Alex Ross , while Brent Anderson (until 2000 together with Tuscher Will Blyberg) is responsible for the drawings of the magazine's contents. The designs of the individual figures are developed jointly by Ross and Anderson with the help of Busiek.

In Germany, the series was published from 1999 to 2001 by Speed ​​Comics, an imprint of the Thomas Tilsner Verlag; Panini Verlag has held the rights to the German version since 2007 , although publication has been suspended again due to poor sales figures.

Emergence

The spiritual forerunner of Astro City is the four-part miniseries Marvels from 1994, written by Kurt Busiek and drawn or painted by Alex Ross. Marvels recounts numerous well-known events from the "Golden Age" and "Silver Age" of Marvel Comics from an ordinary person's point of view . Astro City follows the same principle, but replaces the well-known Marvel characters such as Spider-Man , the Fantastic Four or the X-Men with independent characters and changes the perspective with each new story. The sixteenth-part Astro City: The Dark Age is based directly on an unrealized sequel to Marvels, making it the first story that Busiek had come up with for the series. However, since Busiek came to the conclusion at the time that the structure of the plot required a certain emotional connection on the part of the readers to the superhero stories that form the background, and this would not work as well with completely unknown heroes as with the well-known Marvel Characters and key events in publishing history, he initially put The Dark Age on the back burner, and over the next ten years concentrated on introducing the reader to some of the saga's key characters.

According to Busiek, Astro City sees it as a “challenge” to tell stories from an unusual perspective that would be difficult or even impossible in other series.

The official title of the series was extended to Kurt Busiek's Astro City on the advice of Wildstorm founder Jim Lee in order to use Busiek's well-known name since Marvel as a figurehead for the series, but the addition dropped with the start of the miniseries Astro City: Local Heroes in the year 2003 gone again. Busieks holds the rights to the series and he does not yet intend to leave these to other writers.

content

Narrative style

Astro City is told in the form of complete stories, which can be single stories or multi-part. There is no overarching framework for action. The main character changes with each new story, but the stories all take place in a coherent universe. It may well happen that the main character in one story appears as a minor character in another story or that the same minor characters appear in different stories. Occasionally, one story also refers to the events of another story. The sixteenth-part "The Dark Age", set in the 1970s, is the series' most ambitious story to date and takes up numerous hints from earlier stories about past events, which are now placed in an overall context.

The main characters of the individual stories are either superheroes , super villains , ordinary people or "ordinary" criminals without superpowers. Even a cartoon character come to life has been the focus of a story. In any case, the main characters are involved in confrontations between superheroes and super villains, and occasionally there are also invasions by aliens or similar threat scenarios.

The focus of each story is the characterization of the respective main character or characters as well as the maturation process that they go through through the events of the story. The battles between the superheroes and their opponents play a subordinate role and often only provide the background for the actual story. The comic book and screenwriter James Robinson maintains the similarity of the superheroes from Astro City to the well-known superheroes from big publishers such as Marvel or DC even for a basic prerequisite for this to be possible at all: because the reader knows the respective hero types and the battles and adventures that are “typical” for them well enough, he can imagine appropriate backgrounds for the stories from Astro City in his own imagination, so that a detailed explanation is no longer necessary and the respective story can concentrate on its actual focus. In some cases, a story is told almost exclusively in the form of flashbacks, with the present story getting by without any action scenes.

The comic book and screenwriter Marc Guggenheim states that other series would turn a confrontation between interdimensional civilizations into a twelve-part maxiserie including a publisher-wide crossover (such as Crisis on Infinite Earths by DC Comics) - Astro City would “maybe” one of the actual crisis Dedicate the panel and focus instead on a fourth-rate villain who wants to use the resulting chaos for personal gain, or on a heroine who tries to reconcile with her estranged former junior partner after the crisis is over. At the beginning of the series, Busiek himself explained his philosophy behind the series: "If I ever write an Astro-City story about who wins the fight, I'll throw it away and write a new one!" However, Busiek rejects it From the term "realistic", often used by professional critics, of the series: Although fantastic elements such as trolls, time travelers, futuristic technology and aliens have been part of everyday life in the world of Astro City for decades, this has not changed human society significantly since Busiek started is not interested in exploring such a hypothetical world.

The atmosphere of the series is very much based on the style of the stories of the "Silver Age" of American superhero comics, while the cynicism and the associated antiheroes of the 80s and 90s are largely left out. A permanently negative mood rarely occurs. This is underlined by Brent Anderson's realistic drawing style, which represents a clear contrast to the very strong effect-oriented drawings of American mainstream superhero comics since the 1990s.

The writer Harlan Ellison also highlights the background as a special feature of the series: Brent Anderson uses original images (e.g. from New York City ) to depict streets in Astro City, especially in earlier decades. The result, according to Ellison, is that the fictional city of Astro City appears far more real than the equally fictional Metropolis of Supermans , Batman's Gotham City or New York City from the Spider-Man comics. Ellison compares the sense of detail that is evident in Astro City with the painting The Roses of Heliogabalus by the painter Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema .

Theme of the series

Astro City takes place mostly within and in the vicinity of the fictional American city Astro City, which gives the series its name. Numerous costumed superheroes and supervillains live in the city, but also ordinary people such as police officers, firefighters, doctors, reporters and politicians as well as "ordinary" criminals, all of whom interact in one way or another with the superheroes and their opponents and are influenced by them .

The series takes place in a separate universe, guest appearances and crossovers with the heroes of other series have so far not been any. A majority of the superheroes and villains are based more or less strongly on well-known characters from other series, for example Superman, Batman or Spider-Man. The similarities are intentional, but these are not mere copies, rather Busiek uses a general archetype in each case in order to implement his very own idea of ​​the same and to tell stories with the characters that are not or only with the "originals" would be difficult to do. Apart from the superficial similarities, a lot has been changed in the characters, their appearance, their costumes, their résumés, etc., so that Busiek sees them as completely independent characters.

The whole series is intended to pay homage to the stories of the so-called "Silver Age" of American superhero comics. The Wildstorm imprint , on which Astro City appeared in the meantime, also bore the name Homage Comics . The names of some characters are allusions on a meta level , for example the superhero Silver Agent is named after the "Silver Age", and the period of his career as a superhero also corresponds to this time period. Furthermore, many places in Astro City are named after well-known comic authors and cartoonists, such as the mountain "Mount Kirby" (after Jack Kirby ), the district "Bakerville" (after the illustrator Matt Baker), the "Binderbeck Plaza" (after Otto Binder and CC Beck ) or the prison island "Biro Island" (after the illustrator Charles Biro).

In contrast to other superhero universes in which the main characters of numerous series interact with each other, Busiek in Astro City actually lets time pass "normally". While the main characters in the Marvel Universe or the DC Universe only seem to age, their origins are regularly shifted to more modern times and the total time that has passed in the various series is repeatedly adjusted, the years in Astro City are permanently valid, and the publication period of the The series actually corresponds to the time that passes within the series (with the exception of flashbacks and stories with expressly different times). This can be seen above all in Astra, the youngest member of the First Family: if she was ten years old at the beginning of the ongoing series in 1996, she graduated from high school in 2009 in the two-part miniseries Astro City: Astra .

Significant characters

Astro City has an almost unmanageable number of characters, some of whom have also been the focus of stories.

The Samaritan modeled after Superman is originally from the future and was sent back to 1985 to prevent the Challenger disaster , however, as a result of its time travel, it surprisingly received superpowers. In the maxi-series The Dark Age , Samaritan's public debut as a superhero marks the end of the eponymous “dark age”. This alludes at the same time to the modernized genesis of Superman's from the miniseries Man of Steel (1986) by author and draftsman John Byrne , which lets the title hero save an experimental “space plane” from crashing as the first public heroic deed. A space shuttle was originally planned for that story , but Byrne was forced to redraw the corresponding panels due to the Challenger disaster . Busiek took up this idea again ten years later in Astro City and even let the Samaritan thwart the actual Challenger catastrophe in the fictional world of the series.

The Samaritan is also a member of the traditional superhero team called Honor Guard (which is primarily based on DC's Justice League and Marvel's Avengers ), which was founded within the series in 1959 and has since existed in changing line-ups. The current leader of the team is the Zorro- like Black Rapier .

The only founding member of the Honor Guard that has been consistently active up to the present day is the N-Forcer , who is transformed from an armored, regularly modernized containment suit into an energy being. The containment suits come from the fictional company NR-Gistics (formerly Nicholls-Royce Electronics). Since the N-Forcer is sponsored by the company and its true identity is unknown, there is a very good chance that more than one person has impersonated the identity over the years. This alludes to Marvel's Iron Man , who was presented to the public for a long time by the wearer of the armor, Tony Stark, as a mere "employee" who could allegedly be replaced at any time if necessary.

The Jack-in-the-Box , disguised as a box devil , is based on Spider-Man and uses numerous joke articles in the fight against crime. In the course of a two-parter, the second wearer of the costume, who had taken over the identity of his late father, transfers it to a successor. The impetuous, cocky Crackerjack meanwhile has no direct comic model, but is primarily based on classic adventure heroes, as embodied by actors like Errol Flynn . His partner, Quarrel , a member of the Honor Guard, took her name and costume from her late father, a super villain. With her weapon, a crossbow, she is based on archers like Marvel's Hawkeye or DC's Green Arrow, who have no superpowers.

The Confessor is based on Batman and is in fact a vampire who fights using his superhuman powers against crime. In the course of the six-part “Confession” he trains a young person named Brian Kinney to become his junior partner Altar Boy . After the death of the original Confessor and several years of training, Brian now slips into his costume himself.

The role model for the gentleman is Captain Marvel , who has belonged to DC since 1972 , the super-fast MPH is based on the superhero archetype of the "Speedster", whose most famous representative is DC's Flash , the uncanny Hanged Man , who rarely intervenes directly in the action, is similar to DCs Specter on, Winged Victory is based on Wonder Woman , and the Crossbreed , named after Biblical characters, are similar to Marvel's X-Men .

The First Family is modeled on the Fantastic Four . The youngest member of the team, Astra, corresponds to the son of Mr. Fantastic and the Invisible Man, Franklin Richards, but unlike the latter, she has now reached adulthood.

In addition, a hero named Silver Agent usually appears in flashbacks , who is similar to Marvel's Captain America and whose name alludes to the "Silver Age" of American superhero comics. His first public appearance as a superhero is dated within the stories to the year 1956 (the US issue Showcase # 4 from 1956 with the appearance of the second Flash Barry Allen represents the beginning of the Silver Age among comic experts), his execution follows in 1973 (the death of Spider-Man's girlfriend Gwen Stacy in 1973's The Amazing Spider-Man # 121 is often viewed as the end of the Silver Age). Within the series, his execution is a prerequisite for the signing of the Paris Peace Agreement by the Soviet Union , which ended the Vietnam War . Only years later do people realize that the Silver Agent had repeatedly saved the world or the USA or even Astro City before his death by traveling back in time, so that his execution is now seen as a "shame".

The Old Soldier is a patriotic hero who is also based on Captain America and has been active since the 19th century. Although he has been thought dead several times, he reappears suddenly in times of crisis.

There are also many villains in Astro City, such as the incorrigible Junkman who, after a successful bank robbery, cannot come to terms with the fact that, due to a lack of evidence for his guilt, the associated "fame" is missing and therefore the act is repeated. or Steeljack (formerly known as Steel-Jacketed Man ), who has been released from prison after years of imprisonment and who, in search of honest work, ultimately uncovered a plot in which a disgraced former superhero wants to lure numerous unsuccessful super villains into a deadly trap.

Pyramid has been a criminal organization that has been active around the world for decades and resembles groups such as Marvel's "Hydra".

Deke MacManus, known as the Deacon , has been at the forefront of Astro City's organized crime since 1977 . His nickname "Deacon" (literally " Deacon ") comes from the fact that he dresses like a priest and his hairstyle resembles a tonsure . He gained his position by the assassination of his predecessor, Joey Platapopoulous called "Platypus" (literally " platypus "), which is similar to the penguin, an enemy of Batman.

The Enelsians are alien conquerors with the ability to change their appearance. One of them, in the guise of an old man named Bridwell, is gathering information about the superheroes of Astro City in preparation for an invasion. In the end, however, the superheroes of the earth manage to fight back the invasion with combined forces. The Enelsians and their spy Bridwell are named after the comic book author E. Nelson Bridwell .

Further, in the series also some figures that are based on other genres: Looney Leo is a reanimated anthropomorphic cartoon character in the style of classic Disney or Warner Bros. - cartoons that eventually involved in a scandal after a successful career as a child star and then even briefly became a super villain. In the present, Leo runs his own nightclub . Beautie , a member of the Honor Guard, is a "female" android in life size, which was created based on the model of a fashion doll of the same name, which in turn is based on the real Barbie doll brand from Mattel .

Release history

In the USA

Astro City was initially released from August 1995 to January 1996 as a six-part miniseries on a monthly basis by Image Comics . The series then switched to Homage Comics , an imprint of Wildstorm Productions , a studio that was still part of Image at the time.

In August 1996, issue 62 of the Wizard comic magazine was accompanied by a 16-page special issue of Astro City with the number ½, which contained a completely new story. The magazine was reissued in January 1998 as an independent publication and got a new cover for the occasion. The new edition also contained a short story written by Busiek that has nothing to do with Astro City and was originally published for the first time in 1991.

In September 1996 a continuous series followed, which began again with number 1 and appeared monthly until issue 9 in May 1997. After a break of several months, issue 10 continued in October 1997, but the method of publication has now become increasingly sporadic, with longer pauses between issues 14 and 15 and 15 and 16. Issue 1 of the ongoing series was reissued in December 1997 as a special 3D edition. Starting with issue 16, which was published in March 1999, the series was now published by DC Comics, which had bought the Wildstorm studio, instead of Image Comics.

The longest break until then was 14 months between issues 19 and 20. After a break of several months between issues 21 and 22, the ongoing series was put on hold. The main cause of the numerous delays was Kurt Busiek's poor health. It was not until 2001 that mercury poisoning could be identified as the cause. After the ongoing series was discontinued, the anthology issue 9-11: The World's Finest Comic Book Writers and Artists Tell Stories to Remember # 2 initially only appeared as a six-page story set in Astro City in February 2002 .

After Busiek's health had improved again, a new, five-part miniseries titled Astro City: Local Heroes continued from February 2003 , which was now released every two months without delay. There was also an Astro City / Arrowsmith Flip Book in April 2004 , each containing a new short story for Astro City (as a prologue to the Dark Age saga) and Arrowsmith , another series of Busieks. The special edition Astro City: Supersonic followed in August 2004, followed by the Astro City: A Visitor's Guide in October 2004 , which, in addition to a fictional city ​​guide and pin-ups by various illustrators, also contained a new short story. As part of a restructuring of the Wildstorm titles, from 2004 all Astro City publications no longer appeared under the Homage Comics imprint, but as part of the Wildstorm Signature Series .

In June 2005 a new maxi series began with the title Astro City: The Dark Age . The first four issues appeared under the title Book One until September 2005 at monthly intervals. With Book Two , the numbering began again at # 1, this time the four issues appeared at irregular intervals between November 2006 and September 2007. From May to August 2009, another four-part series with the title Book Three was published , the concluding four-part series The Dark Age: Book Four finally appeared from January to May 2010.

In addition, a special edition was published in July 2006 with the Samaritan in the lead role, followed in February 2008 by another special edition entitled Beautie . In September and October 2009 a two-part miniseries called Astra was released . From July to September 2010, a two-part miniseries called Silver Agent was released .

In June 2010, to mark the fifteenth anniversary of the series, a new edition of issue 1 of the original miniseries was published.

In the course of the discontinuation of the Wildstorm imprint by DC in 2010 and the restart of the entire DC superhero track in 2011, a new monthly Astro City series was decided, the numbering of which starts again at 1. However, since Astro City takes place in a separate universe, unlike the other DC series (also known as The New 52 ), it is not about a new start in terms of content. According to Kurt Busiek, the start date was postponed until enough material was ready to guarantee the monthly publication of the series. The original plan was to have the new series published directly by the parent company, but in the end it was decided to publish the series under the Vertigo imprint.

The first issue of the new series was published in June 2013, so far (as of January 15, 2014) eight issues have been published.

Anthologies

The entire series, including special editions, has so far been (almost) completely available in the form of anthologies:

  • The first volume, Astro City: Life in the Big City , published in 1997, contains the first six-part miniseries. After the takeover of Wildstorms by DC, the band was reissued in 1999. In 2011 another new edition appeared as hard and soft cover with a new cover image. Due to the dissolution of the Wildstorm imprint, this version was published directly by the parent publisher DC Comics.
  • The 1997 published second volume Astro City: Confession initially omitted the first three issues of the ongoing series and instead contained the numbers 4-9 and the ½ number of Wizard Magazine .
  • The 1998 released third volume, Astro City: Family Album , contained the numbers 1-3 and 10-13 of the ongoing series.
  • The fourth volume Astro City: The Tarnished Angel , published in 2001, reprinted issues 14-20 of the ongoing series.
  • The fifth volume followed in 2005, Astro City: Local Heroes , which contained issues 21-22 of the ongoing series, the five-part miniseries Local Heroes , the special edition Supersonic and the six-page story from 9-11 # 2.
  • In 2008 the hardcover anthology Astro City: The Dark Age 1: Brothers and Other Strangers was published , which contained the short story from the Astro City / Arrowsmith Flip Book and the two four-part miniseries The Dark Age Book One and The Dark Age Book Two . A softcover edition originally announced for 2008 was not published until 2009.
  • The hardcover anthology Astro City: The Dark Age 2: Brothers in Arms followed in 2010 , which contains the two four-part miniseries The Dark Age Book Three and The Dark Age Book Four . The softcover edition was published in 2011, in contrast to the hardcover edition, which was still published under the Wildstorm imprint, directly from the parent company DC Comics.
  • In 2011 the hardcover anthology Astro City: Shining Stars was published , which contains the two miniseries Astra and Silver Agent and the specials Samaritan and Beautie . The softcover edition originally announced for March 2012 has been postponed several times and is now due to appear on April 15, 2014.

Thus only the Astro City Visitors Guide is currently not intended for republication as part of an anthology.

In Germany

Astro City was published in German from June 1999 by Speed ​​Comics , an imprint of Thomas Tilsner Verlag. The booklets each contained two US editions, the order being based on the contents of the US anthologies. In addition to issues 1 and 7, special editions with variant covers were published, issue 7 on the occasion of the Erlangen Comic Salon in June 2000. The US ½ issue was available in October 1999 as a special edition on the occasion of the Comic Action . In addition, Speed ​​published the anthology Astro City: Leben in der große Stadt in November 1999 , which reprinted the German single issues 1-3 and is the counterpart to the US anthology Life in the Big City . In addition to the regular softcover edition, a limited hardcover version was also released.

After the first two issues of the regular Speed ​​series had been published every four weeks, the frequency of publication was changed to bimonthly, but from issue 6 onwards there were more and more delays. There were nine months between issues 7 and 8, and after issue 9 had reprinted the three US issues 11 to 13 in June 2001, Speed ​​did not publish any further issues in the series despite promises to the contrary.

After Tilsner Verlag went bankrupt in December 2005, Panini Verlag took over the rights to the German edition of Astro City . In May 2007, the anthology Astro City: The fallen angel appeared there , which contains the US issues 14-20 and is the counterpart to the US anthology The Tarnished Angel . In June 2008 the next volume was released with the title Astro City: Local Heroes , which is the counterpart to the US band of the same name and also issues 21 and 22 of the ongoing US series, the five-part miniseries Astro City: Local Heroes , and the special edition Astro City: Supersonic as well as the six-page story from 9-11: The World's Finest Comic Book Writers and Artists Tell Stories to Remember # 2.

Due to the poor sales figures for the two published volumes, Panini is not planning any further volumes.

Awards

Astro City has received numerous awards in the USA :

The series won the Eisner Award in 1996 in the categories “best new series” and “best single story”. In 1997 and 1998 the award was given in the categories “best single story” and “best continuous series”, and in 1998 also in the category “best multi-part story”. Kurt Busiek won the Eisner Award 1999 in the category “best author” for Astro City , Alex Ross in 1996, 1997, 1998 and 2000 in the category “best cover artist”, whereby in 1998 and 2000 his work for other series except Astro City were included in the rating.

The series won the Harvey Award in 1996 in the "best new series" and "best single story" categories, in 1997 in the "best comic book or reprint" category and in 1998 in the "best ongoing series or mini-series" category. Kurt Busiek also won the Harvey Award in 1998 in the “best author” category, although other works besides Astro City were also included in the evaluation . Alex Ross in turn won the Harvey Award in 1996, 1998 and 1999 in the "best cover artist" category, but only in 1996 for his work for Astro City (Ross also won the award in 1997, but not for Astro City ).

Astro City won the Comics Buyer's Fan Award from the Comics Buyer's Guide in 1996 and 1997 in the “best comic series” category, in 1996 in the “most popular anthology” category and in 1997 in the “most popular comic book story” category.

filming

In 2003 a film adaptation of Astro City came up . The independent film producer Ben Barenholtz should take over the production, while the script should come from Jonathan Alpers. At the beginning of 2004, Alpers was still confident that the film project would get underway, while in mid-2005 Busiek only spoke of people who were “interested” in such a project.

In July 2010 it was announced that Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner of the British production company Working Title Films had secured the rights to a film adaptation of Astro City . According to Busiek, it was Barenholtz who recommended the project to Working Title Films on the advice of the Coen brothers . As with the previous plans, Busiek is still to be closely involved in the making of the film and is considering merging several stories from the comic version. Busiek himself was commissioned to work out a treatment .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Matt Brady, "Exploring Astro City's Dark Age with Kurt Busiek," Newsarama.com, June 21, 2005. Mirrored at Forumopolis.org, accessed September 25, 2011.
  2. ^ Ed Brubaker : "Introduction", foreword to Astro City: The Dark Age 2: Brothers in Arms (anthology), DC Comics, 2011. ISBN 978-1-4012-2844-6 .
  3. ↑ a b c Ray Mescallado: "Trimmings: Kurt Busiek" The Comics Journal # 216, October 1999. Archived Version ( Memento of 17 August 2000 in the Internet Archive ), access on September 25 2011th
  4. ↑ Eric Teall: "SM: FBFW Kurt Busiek Q&A" ( Memento of the original from July 8, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Ericteall.blogspot.com, July 15, 2007. Accessed April 7, 2008. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / ericteall.blogspot.com
  5. ↑ a b Bill Baker: “Shockrockets and Superstars: Kurt Busiek Interview,” Comic Book Resources, May 16, 2000. Accessed April 6, 2008.
  6. ↑ James Robinson: "A City Tour with James Robinson", foreword to Astro City: Local Heroes (anthology), Panini Comics 2008.
  7. ^ Marc Guggenheim: "Introduction", foreword to Astro City: The Dark Age 1: Brothers and Other Strangers (anthology), WildStorm Productions, 2008. ISBN 978-1-4012-2077-8 .
  8. ↑ Thomas Digel, "Kurt Busiek's Astro City", Splash! 7/99, Paul & Paul think tank, 1999.
  9. ↑ Kurt Busiek: "Introduction", foreword to Astro City: Life in the Big City (anthology), WildStorm Productions, 199z. ISBN 1-887279-48-2 .
  10. ↑ Ian Brill, “Wondercon '08: Astro City Spotlight Panel,” Newsarama.com, February 23, 2008. Archived version ( October 21, 2009 memento on the Internet Archive ), accessed September 25, 2011.
  11. ↑ Harlan Ellison: "Introduction", foreword to Astro City: Family Album (anthology), WildStorm Productions, 1998. ISBN 1-56389-552-8 .
  12. ↑ Alex Ness: "Busiek enters the Land of Frost: The Kurt Busiek Interview" ( memento of the original from March 12, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Stl Comics, December 2, 2004. Accessed April 6, 2008. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / stlcomics.com
  13. ↑ Byrne Robotics FAQ: "Miscellaneous Questions" , official website of John Byrne. Accessed May 22, 2011.
  14. ^ "Clash of Titans (A New York Romance)" ( Memento of March 4, 2012 in the Internet Archive ), official site of Kurt Busiek, June 21, 2009. Accessed May 23, 2011.
  15. ^ Kurt Busiek, article at rec.arts.comics.marvel.universe, August 17, 2001. Accessed April 6, 2008.
  16. ↑ a b Rich Johnston: "DC Relaunch: Astro City # 1 - A Monthly Title," Bleeding Cool Comics, August 8, 2011. Accessed August 31, 2013.
  17. ^ "Through the Mail Slot" ( Memento of November 3, 2011 in the Internet Archive ), Kurt Busiek's official website, October 30, 2011. Accessed December 15, 2011.
  18. ↑ Kevin Melrose, "Astro City" to be published under Vertigo banner , Comic Book Resources, April 1, 2013. Accessed August 31, 2013.
  19. ↑ Advance notice for the softcover edition of the anthology Astro City: Shining Stars , Amazon.de. Accessed August 31, 2013.
  20. ↑ "Through the Mail Slot" ( Memento of the original from October 18, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Kurt Busiek's official website, August 7, 2010. Accessed August 10, 2010.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / busiek.com
  21. ^ Statement by Thomas Tilsner in the official Speed-Forum , Comicforum.de, on August 31, 2002. Accessed on April 7, 2008.
  22. ^ Statement by a Panini employee , Paniniforum.de, on April 20, 2009. Accessed on July 29, 2010.
  23. ↑ David Rooney, "Panama Leo shapes up 'Astro' pic" , Variety.com, November 19, 2003. Accessed April 6, 2008.
  24. ^ "Astro Trailer: Get the skinny on the upcoming live-action Astro City movie" ( Memento from April 19, 2004 in the Internet Archive ), Wizarduniverse.com, on January 28, 2004 (archived version). Accessed April 6, 2008.
  25. ^ Daniel Robert Epstein: "Kurt Busiek Interview"  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Ugo. com, July 2005. Accessed April 6, 2008.@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.ugo.com  
  26. ↑ Mike Fleming, “Working Title Plants Flag in Kurt Busiek's Graphic Novel 'Astro City',” Deadline.com, July 21, 2010. Accessed July 28, 2010.
  27. ↑ "Here at the beginning" ( Memento of the original dated August 6, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Kurt Busiek's official website, July 31, 2010. Accessed August 10, 2010.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / busiek.com
  28. ↑ Vaneta Rogers: "ASTRO CITY of the Future: Busiek Talks Film, Post-WildStorm" , Newsarama, November 10, 2010. Accessed April 16, 2011.