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5.0 out of 5 stars
Great super-hero story, Feb 20 2004
Yet another triumph by the master of super-hero comics, the wonderful Mr. Kurt Busiek. While greats like Alan Moore and Frank Miller took the super-hero to disturbing new places and made them gritty and eerie, Busiek returned to the way super-heroes once were, and to what made them so inspiring and fascinating; on Tarnished Angel, though, he tackles the issue from the opposite direction, and takes the villain's side. The Steeljack character is one of the most interesting and complex characters in the Astro City universe, and his story is one of Busiek's greatest. Tarnished Angel takes on the character of a classic villain, and tells the tale from his point of view, building him into a character that is entirely human and entirely full. On the other hand we have the actual villain of the story, the Conquistador, and the comparison between his story and that of Steeljack makes for an interesting and provoking pairing.Also interesting is the story 'The Voice of the turtle', the tale of the British supervillain The Mock Turtle, which is both comic relief and an interesting look at the story from a different angle. One reviewer complained the British characters were too prototypical and not half as original as the Astro City heroes and villains, but I don't see that as a problem; these characters, other than being quite funny, give the reader the feeling that he's somewhere else. As Kurt explains in the intro, throughout the series, the further one travels from Astro City, the more accustomed to their location the characters get. As usual, special note should be given to Alex Ross's beautiful cover gallery (though I liked the ones in 'Family Portrait' better), as well as his fascinating pages of sketches and explanations about the various characters. Nobody can write a super-hero story like Kurt, and Tarnished Angel is, over all, one of the best super-hero stories you'll find. If you're a fan of the genre, consider it well worth your money.
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by Kurt Busiek
by Kurt Busiek
by Kurt Busiek
by Kurt Busiek
by Brent Anderson
