Busiek’s ‘Astro City’ is a glimpse into the lives of superheroes in the ‘real’ world

Ever since he started writing comics in the early ’80s, Kurt Busiek has been writing stories with a sense of humanity that is unique to his work.
This is no more evident than in his work on the Marvel Comic series “Marvels.” This series, with phenomenal artwork that brought attention to now-famous artist Alex Ross, told various stories about citizens who inhabit a fictional New York City where the Marvel superheroes co-exist with regular people.
In “Marvels,” Busiek examined the life of a newspaper photographer who kept busy by snapping pictures of the local superhero population. Busiek was skillful in his examinations of the heroes, and Ross’ lifelike art work helped the “Marvels” series to win numerous awards.
But, this series, originally printed in 1994, lasted just four issues, and in writing his stories from a different point of view, Busiek had unearthed an interesting idea. So, he continued this tradition in his personal series, “Astro City.”
In “Astro City,” Busiek created a new city and an entirely new roster of heroes with which Busiek could play with in any way he wanted.
It is in this series that Busiek is able to pose interesting storylines featuring characters similar to known superheroes. For example, Busiek examines what a date between DC Comics’ Superman and Wonder Woman would look like when he sends his heroes The Samaritan and Winged Glory on a date together. The Samaritan, a man from the future who gains powers similar to those of Superman after he is sent backwards through time, takes Winged Victory, who is, like Wonder Woman, a warrior female and the last of her race, out on a date at a fast-food joint. The two heroes quickly realize that, although they are interested in each other, the date will not work out. The Samaritan has the ability to hear the cries of those in danger, causing him to be distracted at times throughout the meal, and Winged Victory has fought alone for so long that she has a hard time opening up a conversation, and she sees his attempts to be a gentleman (like offering to get the door for her) as insults to her pride.
Busiek even turns his inquisitive eye on Marvel Comics’ Spider-man and the character’s motto “With great power comes great responsibility,” by creating a character named Jack-in-the-box, who, just like Spidey, taunts villains and shoots a confettilike string that ties up his enemies (like Spidey’s web). Here, Busiek decided to see what responsibility means to his hero when he gives Jack-in-the-box a young son. What is the more responsible action, protecting the city and risking your life or staying alive to ensure that your child has a father?
Since 1996, Busiek has been addressing ideas such as these in “Astro City” and, as with “Marvels,” Busiek’s work has received a number of awards.
Currently, Busiek is taking on racial tensions during the ’70s in the book “Astro City: The Dark Age Book 2.” Here, not only race relations, but civilian/superhero relations are strained after one hero, The Silver Agent (a character similar to Marvel’s Captain America), is found guilty of a crime and is put to death. All of Astro City mourns the hero especially once the citizens learn that their rush to judgment might have killed not only an innocent man, but one who had been a noble superhero.
Also, in “The Dark Age” books, Busiek pits law and crime directly against each other in the form of two brothers, one of whom is a cop and the other, a criminal.
I don’t want to give too much away. This book is currently available in comic book shops and collected stories of “Astro City” are available at all bookstores. The only problem with this series is, unfortunately, due to heath issues, Busiek’s books have has been stalled a few times. But, the latest books seem to be back on track and are as good a read as ever.

Spider-man 3 for Xbox 360 is a decent, but lame boss fights ruin the adventure

This review is going to be slightly biased, I’m sorry. I need to apologize for it up front because in all truth, the recently released “Spider-man 3” video game is not a great game, but I had a blast playing it.
Let me qualify my experience with the game. I am a devout “web-head.” I regularly look in the skies around the city for signs of the friendly neighborhood hero’s presence. Okay, that is an exaggeration, but there is a pretty sweet Spider-man statue on my desk as I write this column.
Anyway, I’m a fan of the guy in the red and blue, so I was very excited when the video game, based heavily on events from the recent movie, was released last week.
The problem that this game has is the same problem that most movie-based games have, the developers try to appease fans of the movie and fans of the comic, making the whole game a relatively enjoyable compromise, instead of an exciting home run.
Most movie-based games have to walk a fine line. They need to allow gamers to “play” the movie, but it would upset movie studios if the game simply retold the movie. So, they compromise. Some scenes of the movie make it into the game, and the storyline is intentionally left vague to keep gamers — who might have not seen the movie yet — guessing.
Also, with a game like “Spider-man 3,” developers might want to include all the different villains or stories from the comic books, but since certain things haven’t happened in the movies, certain villains can’t appear. For example, a villain named Carnage is a man who wears a suit that was spawned from the symbiote (the black goo that gets on Spider-man’s suit in the movie) that Venom wears. But, since the movie just introduced Venom, the game can’t introduce this other character, just in case the movie studios want to bring Carnage into a later movie.
Okay, I’m starting to talk semantics. Let me get back to the game. First of all, the developer, Treyarch, decided to stick with what works by basing this game’s mechanics on those of the older “Spider-man 2” game. That game was the first to give players the chance to swing through a realistic Manhattan as the web-slinger.
It was great. It was liberating. It was fun. But it was two years ago. So, why did the web-swinging get worse and more clunky this time around?
In the new game, Spider-man has fewer movement options, like tricks, than he had before, so that freedom is restrained. Also, the game is very buggy, and not in a “spider” sense, pun intended.
There were quite a few times that I was crawling up the side of a building, and as the camera turned, Spider-man ended up with his back to the wall and his feet pressing against thin air. He still kept climbing but on his back.
The entire experience feels hollow. You’re allowed the freedom of roaming the city, fighting generic gangs, finding some races or moving to the mission markers where you’ll square off with the movie villains, and some comic villains as well. Here my favorite inclusion is easily Kraven because, as in the comic book, Spider-man was wearing his black suit during the showdown. The fight gave me fond memories of the comic book.
But that was probably my favorite thing about the fight — the symbolism, because the mechanics are all wrong.
Throughout the game, Spider-man felt like a weak-armed wuss when fighting. Even when he fought a gang of punk fashion models, it took him a long time to knock one of these girls out, but then, not five minutes later, the game showed Spidey ripping a door off of a bank vault. How strong is he supposed to be?
When all is said and done, this game is very random. There are a lot of graphical errors, and the sound in the city is oddly muted. The boss fights are overly complicated and frustrating. Then, when you unlock the black suit, you’ll feel like you lost a lot of the fighting moves you just learned. But, you get to play as Spider-man in a new video game. It’s a trade off, I guess.
If you liked the older “Spider-man 2,” you’ll probably like this game, but if you’re looking for the best next-generation superhero game, get a game like “Crackdown,” instead.

Spider-man 3 kicks off a huge summer for geek movies (awesome!)

Summer is almost here, but as far as moviegoers are concerned, summer started on May 4. That was the first day of a summer that promises to be chock full of blockbuster movies. That was the day “Spider-man 3” was released.
Now, if you’re a regular reader of this paper, and I hope many of you are, maybe you have noticed that, on occasion I write a column focused on comic books or video games. I’m a nerd, what can I say?
But, I mention this because I believe it puts this newspaper in a unique position. Few publications comment on comics or video games, and I believe as this generation grows older, the entertainment that we remember from our childhood will grow with us and commentary on topics like video games or comic books will stay relevant. Just take a look at some of the movies coming out this summer:
-Spider-man 3, comic book (of course)
The web-swinger has also had his share of video games, and right now he’s a marketing machine. Unfortunately, his creator, Stan Lee, doesn’t see much of the profits from the films because when he created Spidey back in 1962 in the pages of “Amazing Fantasy” issue 15, no one expected the character to become the cultural icon that he has grown to be. It’s a shame because Lee created another super hero team that will be at the movies this year as well.
-Fantastic Four 2, comic book, also created by Lee.
The Fantastic Four came to life in 1961 under Lee’s masterful pen, and the team of heroes has been fighting villains like Doctor Doom ever since. It’s a shame a creator like Lee doesn’t seem to get the kudos he so rightly deserves for creating these heroes. But, I believe this proves a point.
Comic books, which were often thought of as something for nerds or bookworms, have become mainstream, and audiences all over the world are starting to meet characters and learn stories that us faithful comic fans have known for years.
You know the villains in the new movie? I’ve known them since I was a little kid. I can tell you Venom’s motivations, alter-ego, strengths and weaknesses without ever stepping foot into the movie theatre, because, as a child, my parents believed in keeping me reading often. It’s interesting to see characters you have known your whole life be brought to the screen and introduced to your friends and family who aren't comic readers. I hope the trend continues.
-Transformers, toys/comic book/ cartoon/ video game, to be released on July 4.
When most people hear the word “transformer,” they think of an electrical box that converts electrical current, but not people in my generation. My mind envisions the great war on Cybertron between the Autobots, led by the powerful Optimus Prime and the Decepticons, and their leader, the devious Megatron. I’m not sure if all of the Transformers that I remember from my youth will make it into the movie. (One of my favorites, Grimlock, a robot who transforms into a Tyrannosaurus Rex, probably will not make the jump to the silver screen.) But, once again, it is a shining example of a property that 20 years ago was looked at as childish or nerdy and now, the rest of America is jumping on the bandwagon — a bandwagon that will transform into a giant robot at that.
-Simpsons, cartoon, to be released as a feature film at the end of July.
This one was aching to be made into a movie for years, and it has been so popular for so long I’m sure that everyone knows these characters by now. But, I believe this falls into the category of the other films on this list. It started as a cartoon that many people thought of as juvenile, but over the years it has proved its ability to stay relevant and topical.
As for the “Spider-man” movie that just came out, if you have seen the first two, I’m sure you have seen how director Sam Raimi handled the characters with such reverence and respect that they burst off the screen. I have yet to see the most recent movie, but if it is anything like the comics (and the first two movies have been very similar to the books), well, I already know how the movie is going to go. But, that doesn’t mean I’m not excited to see it.
So, get out and enjoy this summer’s blockbuster films. And just stop for a moment and ask your kids about the characters in the films first. Chances are they have read the heroes’ exploits or played with toys of the characters long before these movies were ever conceived.

‘Super Paper Mario’ is a decent title with a plot as flat as its paper-thin mustached hero

Contrary to what far too many other reviewers have been saying, “Super Paper Mario” is not a great game. No, it’s more like a surreal, vivid state of dream. It is like the sort of dream you have just before you wake up. You know the ones I mean — the dreams where you are aware of what is happening, so much so that you can control some events in the dream, but it still turns out weird anyway, no matter what you do. Well, I’m advocating calling that phenomenon “Super Paper Mario” syndrome.
While playing this game, I thought about the character’s in L. Frank Baum’s “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz” as they wandered into the patch of poppies.
In the book, Dorothy and her colorful friends sit amongst the poppies, and as the pollen fills their noses, they tire and and drift off into a sleep. They know that they need to get up and run from the field, but the pollen comforts them, and they submit.
That is almost exactly what sitting down to play a session of “Super Paper Mario” is like. Once I sat down to play, I saw problems with the game, yet in my desire to play a new Mario game, I drifted into a state of Zen-like calm while playing.
First of all, the story is ridiculous. It makes little sense and the characters are prone to over-explanation, so you’ll get to read a lot of the lame plot throughout the game. Other people would walk into the living room and watch me playing, and they would ask what was going on or why I had been playing this same game for three hours. I honestly couldn't give them an answer. The game’s story is convoluted and hard to explain, as is the strange sense of comfort you will get from completing each of the chapters in the game.
The game is similar to previous “Paper Mario” tiles. In the title, the word “paper” refers to a “pen and paper” game, which is also called a “role playing game.” (RPG)
How can “Super Mario” and his mushroom-eating, turtle-stomping ways get transformed into a RPG, you ask?
It is simple. The game is still very much like the original two-dimensional “Super Mario” titles, only now Mario picks up items that he can carry and use for health or to strengthen his attacks. He will also earn experience points for every enemy he dispatches and those points will eventually upgrade his level, allowing him to attack harder or to absorb more punishment from enemies.
Also, like “Super Mario Brothers 2,” Mario is not alone on this journey. Throughout the title, there are three other playable characters, a helpful sprite named Tippi and a bunch of floating characters called “Pixls,” all of whom you will need to use to progress through the game.
The “Pixls” add a neat aspect to the game. They each have a specialized talent. Some help open pathways, some blow up and one even shrinks Mario to a size so small that all the enemies forget about him.
The “Pixls” are great, but their talents are no match for what each hero can do. Obviously, you will be playing as Mario for most of this game. His talent is that, as the protagonist of both two- and three-dimensional games, he has learned the ability to switch dimensions. This means that, at any time in the game, Mario can switch the world around, and instead of running through a two-dimensional world, fighting two-dimensional villains, one button press flips him to three-dimensions. This makes the two-dimensional enemies flat and harmless and often shows Mario new doors or secret areas to access.
However, this is extremely disorienting. After playing for a while and flipping through the dimensions, I had to pause the game for a moment to get my bearings.
Overall, I wouldn’t recommend this to most gamers. Even though it does feature a beloved character and it is a well made game, there are long stretches that aren’t fun, and you find yourself playing just to see what happens next. (There’s a whole section where Mario has to do repetitive chores in a prison factory to make money.) It is a good game, but “Super Paper Mario” takes forever to get an interesting plot going, and its charm doesn’t last after the game ends.