Astro City #18 - "The Dimming of the Day"

[laughing_tree]

Quarrel thinks back to her childhood and her father...





Over the years, her father kept going in and out of jail.

Comments

[bradygirl_12]

I like it. Things WERE different back in the day. More style, less violence, same thieving and scheming and etcetera.

Must be tough to be an aging superhero!

[dcbanacek]

So this is a hero version of when (can't remember who offhand wrote it) the Riddler was wondering what the hell had happened to everyone... all the killing, things not being fun and all that.

[icon_uk]

Neil Gaiman wrote "When is a door?" for a "Secret Origins Special" back in the day....

Oh and there have been a few instances, usually in the Batverse, where Bruce or Dick comment ho how things were more straightforward back the early days, and how the Joker changed from his earlier less casually-homicidal style, to his completely murderous persona.

[randyripoff]

Alan Moore wrote a similar story for an anthology comic I've got around the house somewhere. I'll have a look when I have a chance and see about some scans.

[randyripoff]

I've identified the story. It was "In Pictopia" from Anything Goes #2. Hopefully I can hunt down the comic now.

[bradygirl_12]

*nods*

I understand the Riddler's confusion! :)

[beyondthefringe]

One thing I love about Astro City is that it allows for the passage of time and actual growth and change.

Jack-in-the-Box retired and passed his mantle along to a successor.
The Confessor died, and stayed dead, and passed along his mantle.
And here we see that superheroes age, and retired, or change, and things don't remain stagnant.

In the previous story, with the invasion from the Microverse (so to speak), we saw the various lineups of the Honor Guard over the years, and I did find myself wondering about heroes who remain active for decades. Lo and behold, here we actually see the Black Rapier finally deciding to step down... and we get to see Crackerjack and Quarrel facing middle age. We've seen them in their youth and prime in earlier stories, but Astro City apparently moves in something close to real time as far as Busiek is concerned.

So I love this story so far. Kind of poignant. But what -does- happen when non-powered heroes age and can no longer get by on acrobatics and youthful vigor? I just hope it's a relatively happy ending. :)

Astro City really is one of the best superhero series out there, but only because it has so much history on which to draw for inspiration, and the creative freedom to make changes. And because Busiek understands the heart of the genre.

[q99]

And Bulter's closed! The place Confessor recruited Choir Boy.

[shadur]

This is Astro City, BTF. The ending may or may not be flowers and parades and happy ever after, but there'll be closure and satisfaction... And quite possibly, a new beginning.

After all, there's always a new day.

[leoboiko]

Yeah. I want so hard that the Big Two would be like this regarding time, but there's no hope.

[sagrada]

Sorry if it's a bother, but would you mind laying out why? I've got my reasons for wanting that too, but I've always kind of liked the 'timeless' thing, how characters are never really tied to history or culture, rather taking inspiration from it.

[leoboiko]

First of all, to add closure, gravity, importance to their fights. As I get older, I'm finding it ever harder to care about all these megaevents and twists and deaths if the villains will just keep there doing the same things (I've said it before and I'll say it again: The Punisher and Kingpin can't exist in the same world, one of them has to go); if the victories and defeats are all equally irrelevant. Iron Man is evil now, who cares, he'll be back to normal in twenty issues and every villainy he does will be undone. In other words, the all-powerful status quo ruins my suspension of disbelief. I believe these worlds to be interesting and robust enough that they'd handle permanent change in interesting ways.

Second, because One More Day. I want my characters to age, mature, grow in personality, and to eventually die, be it peacefully, gloriously, or ignominiously. Like Odysseus, like Beowulf, like Arthur.
A truly aging, struggling, wizened Constantine would be so incredibly awesome, I weep at the thought that it will never happen. (Yes I'm aware of side stories where he and other characters are shown as aged. They just whet my appetite for a real continuity.)

Third, because Teen Titans, because teen X-men. Just like I want to see the adults age and deal with the things of old age and death, I want to see what would the youth come of age, and deal with being the main players. I mean, you've never wondered what Professor Hermione would be like? What will the Stepford Cuckoos do in adulthood? Perhaps an Inspector Amadeus Cho, Private Eye? The daily shenanigans of William Kaplan, Sorceror Supreme, with his husband and guardian Captain Dorreek the VIII, between fending off one cosmic horror and the other?

Fourth, because I love the idea of timelessness too, but I find it to work much better in the "passing the mantle" trope. I mean I'm not sure this is a real argument. I just love symbolic heroes passing the mantle, training their sidekicks, and being replaced by them. Without this last part I don't even see the point in having young sidekicks at all.

Fifth, because I think the world is full of good writers, and if the writers of the past could create great characters, those of the present can, too. To just cash in using formulas known to work feels lazy. I want new marvels, new wonders.

yeah... :(

[philippos42]

My pet peeve is when the adults aren't allowed to grow old and retire, so the kids die young to be replaced by new kids.

[big_daddy_d]

Anyone else confused Quarrel for a Green Lantern for a sec?

[glprime]

Ayup.

[halloweenjack]

I'm assuming that the title comes from this Richard & Linda Thompson song:

http://youtu.be/s6kjCd7QRbw

[philippos42]

I'm impressed that this is still the original Astro City creative team.