Glam rock and androgyny go hand-in-hand like politics and corruption. And Astro City #45 is set in the 1970s, prime time for glitter and disco balls. Glamorax is a super-hero, male or female in undetermined and unimportant. But he/she is partnered up with Tom O’Brien, a Thomas Wolfe type of author who shares his insight into Glamorax’s backstory. “There are a lot of superheroes in this town,” O’Brien explains. “So one’s born of music, of poetry, of whatever’s new and moving young people to feel, to move, to act…”

With the help of people who once knew super-beings the Halcyon Hippie, the Beatnik, and ZootSuit, Glamorax discovers he/she is an ever-changing entity comprised of art, poetry and music. And Glamorax can feel a change coming, much like a regenerating Time Lord. But in the late 1970s, what musical movement was right around the corner?

I am always impressed with Astro City’s ability to generate new and fresh super-heroes, one that seem very well thought out, rather than a pre-planned one-off. It makes me wonder if/when such characters will be incorporated into the mainstream DC Universe. But really, I hope they never do. It’s like seeing a TV show version of a movie you like, all watered down and creatively neutered.

Brent Anderson is back at the drawing board, still channeling his inner Neal Adams (not that that’s a bad thing), but he seems to have added a layer of José Luis Garcia Lopez. But above it all is a style that makes Anderson’s work stand on its own merits.

Rating: 9/10