Originally, I had planned to review this two issue story one issue at a time at a time, but an emergency family trip came up and here we are. The three bullet rating you see is the composite average, which is a good thing for the first issue. It would have gotten no better than two, and that’s me giving respect to the creative team that always reminds me to drive carefully after reading each issue. Fortunately, the final nine pages of the second issue left me with a sense of relief.

Astra Furst is a member of this universe’s Fantastic Four, just imagine she’s Valeria Richards with Johnny Storm’s powers and you know all you need to. Part of the charm of this title is that despite the fact that Busiek uses many familiar character molds with different names, and the associated clichés, they manage to leave you with a sense of nostalgia. Instead of wishing you were reading the original Fantastic Four, you remember why you enjoyed those Silver Age comics in the first place.

My local shop owner refers to this title with industry phrase “character driven comics,” which I have always taken to mean, “the plot isn’t as important as the development of the characters along the way.” I’m sure Thom, Shawn and Paul (don’t forget Ringo) could help us explore the meaning more, but I’ll leave that to them.

In the first issue, Astra is celebrating her graduation from college. From the cover and inside cover artwork, both issues have the feel of a tabloid magazine, because that’s how the fiery blonde is portrayed: a tabloid queen. She celebrates with her classmates at a nightclub and cannot wait to have a little privacy with her boyfriend.

Speaking of Matt, let’s go ahead and get my biggest gripe about this story out of the way. Granted, it makes regular Joes such as myself feel good to read a story where the attractive female that can turn her body into fire and fly would want to go out with a guy like me, but we don’t buy it. There’s a reason that media stars end up with other media stars. There’s many reasons actually. The most obvious being that regardless of how interesting, clever or attractive the prospective suitor can be, he or she is still not a star. We don’t understand how the other half lives and sometimes it’s better that way.

I say that to say, I never bought them as a couple. In the first issue, Astra takes Matt on an exciting journey of collecting graduation presents and congratulations from creatures of all shapes and sizes (including her own family). After an awkward encounter with her Ben Grimm-esque father and a change into her “work” clothes, the issue ends with them entering another dimension. The entire time she’s parading him around, it just feels weird seeing them together. Furst has to explain everything going on and does her best to not sound annoyed by it, but I know what it looks like when a woman is being patronizing. I may still be young, but I’ve been married long enough to know a woman annoyed at her man when I see it.

In the second issue, we get to see a little more of Astra’s home away from home. More well-wishers come to visit our heroine and with that come more awkward exchanges with Matt. Knowing what I know now about how the story ends, I probably should have been more astute and read more into the way Matt questions his girlfriend. It’s almost as if he’s interviewing her as he goes, which is always how someone you’ve been dating for a few months likes to converse.

Regardless of how much I should have and shouldn’t have seen in the dialogue, the second issue still provides a few great character moments with Astra, although she doesn’t end the story as likeable as I’m sure the writer wanted her to be. Without knowing the writer’s mindset, I would imagine Astra was meant to come across as affable and understanding. Instead, she’s almost what the tabloids depict her as. She sends her regular Joe packing with an aloof attitude, brushing him aside as she’s about to start doing something more meaningful. She exclaims, “I know where I stand.”

Unfortunately, remarks such as those don’t really resonate with me as a reader. With constant access to everything that anyone of note does on a daily basis, we don’t like our stars to shoot their mouths off. Sure, it seems as if the weight of many worlds sits on young Astra’s shoulders (with the Knot a panel over, the saying becomes quite literal). I won’t begrudge the gal a chance to let off some frustration over a tool she used to date, I just point this out to demonstrate the fine line you have to walk if you want to “be somebody.”

I continue to be intrigued by the immense Astro City collection of characters. I wish I enjoyed the many mini-series as much as I enjoy the specials and trades, but the Dark Age isn’t quite yet complete. As I read every new issue, I can almost see Busiek, Anderson and Ross having this big long Skype call where they sit around discussing different aspects of this immense book of ideas I hope Kurt keeps.

As long as they keep cranking them out, I’ll keep buying. This team continues to tell stories that don’t just make my eyes move from left to right, but provoke thought.

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