Review: Astro City #44
By Philip Schweier
August 8, 2017 - 14:14
DC Comics
Writer(s): Kurt Busiek
Penciller(s): Rick Leonardi
Inker(s): Ande Parks
Colourist(s): Peter Pantazis
Letterer(s): John Roshell, Jimmy Betancourt
Cover Artist(s): Alex Ross
Sunshrike
and Nightingale are super-hero birds of a feather, much like Nightwing and
Flamebird, or ElectroWoman and DynaGirl. And they are on the trail of
Poppinjay, who has kidnapped a child to use as leverage against her scientist
father. But interfering with their investigation is s stray cat Nightingale has
named Kittyhawk, despite Sunshrike insisting she is NOT part of the team.
But there is more to this cat than meets the eye, as she displays some abilities that are every cat lover’s nightmare. Yet at the same time, she displays remarkable intelligence in tracking down Poppinjay’s lair and freeing the captive girl (with the assistance of Rocket Dog).
It’s a simple story that fans of the old Batman series will enjoy. It’s not high camp, like Batman or ElectroWoman, but it has that old-fashioned style of a hero and sidekick tracking down a criminal mastermind. Good old-fashioned crime fighting, without being all dark and gritty.
The art by Rick Leonardi and Ande Parks is terrific. I’m used to seeing Parks inking Phil Hester’s work. As much as his inks compliment Hester’s work, it’s clear here that he is not beholden to any one penciler. Park’s inks make anybody’s pencils look better, without obscuring what makes them unique.
Rating: 10/10
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