Starman # 14

I think the reason I started reading Kurt Busiek's Astro City was because reminded me of how James Robinson had brought Opal City - The Opal - to life as a unique character itself in the pages of Starman. It really didn't have anything to do with the character designs and covers by Alex Ross or the interior art by Brent Anderson. It had more to do with Busiek's writing. If you've read Astro City, especially the one issue about the guy who remembers the wife or girlfriend he lost in the "Crisis"-like event, you know what I mean. Robinson and Busiek minimize the glitz and flash and color of super-hero comics in favor of good, solid stories about realistic characters. Look at just the few pages about Tony Florence in this issue of Starman. Opal is burning around him. (Nash is on a rampage and the men she has hired to add to the chaos have started a fire at a gas station that has spread.) A firefighter is going door to door in his building evacuating everyone. All Tony can think about is his late wife piano, which will eventually be lost to the fire. As he's evacuating, he sees his neighbor Mrs. Lowe. Rushing from her apartment, her pet parrot. The bane of Tony's existence. Tony becomes a hero, not just because he goes and rescues Mrs. Lowe's parrot. He's heroic because he makes the choice. He changes his mind.

This issue is like Starman 6, featuring a cavalcade of creative stars like Tommy Lee Edwards, Stuart Immonen, Chris Sprouse, Andrew Robinson, Gary Erskine and Amanda Conner assisting Tony Harris in giving a diverse flavor to The Opal.
 
The Tony Harris cover is a delight. Hope O'Dare is one red hot tomato - almost as hot as an Adam Hughes, Tom Nguyen or Frank Cho model.

In an issue that we lose a retired Police Commissioner from Ted Knight's days, Matt O'Dare comes face to face with himself - what he has become and who he really is. Robinson really has a sense for the DC Universe. The characters that he brings together here in Opal City is amazing.
 
Scalphunter!...Aw, yeah...