Pretty polished, actually...

Astro City by Kurt Busiek is quickly moving into the modern classic genre as one of the best semi-ongoing superhero series of the new millenium. This is the fourth collection of the tales of Astro City, Tarnished Angel, and it shows no signs of slowing down the excellent storytelling that Busiek is putting forth in his marvelous, original world.

The story opens as Steeljack - formerly the Steel Jacketed Man - is being released from prison and doing his level best to live the straight and narrow life but finding difficulty as an ex-convict with a world-renown and un-disguisable appearance. A couple of straight jobs fail, and Steeljack finds himself drawn into being a protector and private eye for the city's less savory characters who are being hunted and killed by an unknown assailant. In revealing Steeljack's attempts to reform himself, Busiek takes turns through a number of new histories of the characters in the volume, dabbling in the styles of modern comics as well as silver and even golden age adventures through Steeljack's rememberances.

It is this last part that makes the continuing stories of Astro City so rewarding. This volume lets Busiek add more characters to the already amazingly detailed and varied world that he has crafted - and lucky for us, still is crafting. The author's notes at the end of the collection provide a nice glimpse into the creative process as Busiek shows some of the sketches that lead to the development of the characters along with allowing a few comments about what he wanted each character to be like and to harken back to.

The story itself is a pretty good one, full of redemption and downfall, blurring the lines between some of the heros and villians of Astro City. It's a nice noir arc for Busiek and a welcome addition to the Astro City line. I'm eagerly awaiting the third graphic novel - Family Album - which is supposedly waiting for me at the library. If the snow stops, I'll grab it tomorrow afternoon.