Astro City #26

   Has it really been 20 years since Astro City began?

   The series celebrates the milestone (which I still find hard to believe) by revisiting the first story in the series, which focused on the dreams of the hero Samaritan, who spends his day so filled with heroics that he has no time for recreation.

   Now, 20 years later, things have changed a bit - and his dreams have changed, too. He still dreams of flying, but there's a dark edge to his dreams that is starting to affect his daylight hours - and it's a problem his mighty powers seem unable to confront.

   Now he has a relationship with the lovely Winged Victory (she's in his dreams, too, as they fly naked - and give masterful artist Brent Anderson credit for managing to cleverly cover their, uh, naughty bits).

    Kurt Busiek (working with Anderson and cover artist Alex Ross) has built an amazing world of heroes with this series, managing to pay tribute to - and expand on - the mythology of comics, and the best the industry has to offer.

   Over the 20 years there have been terrific stories and, I suppose, a few average tales - but their batting average has been way above any other series out there.

   And when they're great - they're phenomenal!

   Here's to 20 more!

Grade: A

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