Kurt Busiek's Astro City: The Annotations
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KURT BUSIEK'S ASTRO CITY VOL. 1, #3
A Little Knowledge
collected as part of the LIFE IN THE BIG CITY trade paperback
Narrator: Andrew "Eyes" Eisenstein
Date: September/October? 1995
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Cover: This is Jack-In-The-Box II in extreme close-up.
1/1: The flying figure is difficult to identify, but it seems
to be Samaritan.
/2: Harry A. Chesler was a comics publisher.
/3: "Goodman-Donenfeld": Martin Goodman was the original
publisher of Marvel Comics, Irwin Donenfeld his DC
counterpart.
2/2: Note Jack-In-The-Box's shadow behind Eyes.
3/1: This is Jack-In-The-Box II, first mentioned in Vol.1 #1,
7/2.
6-7/1: The first mentions of the Brass Monkey and the Human
Weasel.
(Note that in the following transcriptions, only those
articles the majority of which are visible have been
transcribed. In these cases, hidden words are indicated
by a [ ] except where their content is obvious.)
The paper on the left, dated 1964, reads:
'BIZARRE CLOWN' SAVES HOSTAGES
by Elliot Mills
Special to the Astro City Rocket
ASTRO CITY -- A hostage situation at Binderbeck
Plaza late last night was broken up by the arrival
of a colorful and bizarre individual who onlookers
assume is the newest of Astro City's superheroes.
"He looked like some kind of goofy clown," said
Frank Avruch, 39, of Goldwater Heights. "He dressed
up like a clown, and he did clown stuff -- bouncin'
around like a jack-in-the-box, puttin' rubber noses
on people, tossin' confetti at 'em. He even told us
to call him Jack-In-The-Box, which sounds pretty
screwy to me. I mean, if you're gonna be a
superhero, why call yourself somethin' goofy? Some
guys, they can't avoid it -- they get named by the
papers, an' it sticks, like that guy last year, The
Fat Maniac? I bet he stopped showin' up because he
was embarrassed -- who wants people lookin' up at
you and screamin', 'It's the Fat Maniac! Run! Run!'
An' that was just the innocent bystanders, from
what I hear..."
Others concurred. "He could have called himself The
Crimson Clown or Circusman, or something
respectable," said Jennifer Davies, an onlooker.
"But Jack-In-The-Box? Who's he [going] to have for
a sidekick? [ ] Alphabet [ ]e?
[ ] Jack-In-The-Box was effective. "He came busting
in here like a whole herd of cavalry, said Pete
Javerts, an insurance salesman who'd been taken
hostage. "The Silver Agent couldn't have done it
better! Wham! Bam! Boing! Boom! It was like, in
seconds, all those bums were unconscious on the
floor, wearing stupid rubber noses! Believe you me,
if I'm ever in trouble like that again, he's
welcome to help out no matter what he calls
himself. I'll buy him a beer and sandwich after, if
he wants!"
At approximately 5 P.M. masked gunman burst into
Binderbeck
First mention of Jack-In-The-Box I and the Fat Maniac.
The photo caption reads: "Astro City's newest hero,
departing from the site of his violent and goofy debut."
Elliot Mills is the same journalist introduced in Vol.1
#2. "Binderbeck Plaza" is an homage to Golden Age writer
Otto Binder (1911-1974) and C.C. (Charles Clarence) Beck
(1910- ), the creator of the Fawcett/DC Comics Captain
Marvel. The second headline on the page reads "Dr. Furst
Battles 'Space Spiders'", the other "[ ] Rights Bill
Nears Final Vote".
The lead story on the second paper from the left, dated
April 8th, 1968, reads:
JACK-IN-THE-BOX EXPOSES WHAMCO CORRUPTION
By Elliot Mills
Special to the Astro City Rocket
ASTRO CITY -- WhamCo, the giant toy manufacturing
company, has been running a secret paramilitary
wing, supplying both advanced hardware and trained
criminal operatives to both supervillains and
foreign despots, according to papers liberated from
WhamCo by clown superhero Jack-In-The-Box late last
night.
WhamCo president Reginald Smyth-Davies denied the
allegations, saying, "This is all a crock. Ever
since we fired that Johnson kid four years ago,
Jack-In-The-Box has been trying to frame us. It's
all so ludicrous -- we're a toy company, for Pete's
sake! Johnson claimed we stole some engineering
plans of his and used them to build weapons, and
somehow, Jack-In-The-Box got a hold of this crazy
idea and has been trying to use it against us. I've
been saying for years that he's a menace, out to
line his own pockets while directing attention from
his nefarious activities while pretending to be a
hero, but does anyone listen? No!"
Police indicate the documents appear to be
completely legitimate, and Smythe-Davies is
implicated multiple times, both in the documents
and in the interrogation reports gleaned from the
Chessmen, the elite super-villain force that has
battled Jack-In-The-Box on numerous occasions. The
Chessmen were captured by Jack-In-The-Box late last
week and after the harlequin hero unmasked The Pawn
as Denton Kent, 34, of Derbyville, sought for
several grisly murders finally admitted that I was
done an injustice four years ago. We have
negotiated the return of the rights their previous
management confiscated illegally, as well as a
sizable settlement for their treatment of me."
Asked if he would accept the position of president,
Johnson
Note that there appears to be a serious printing error in
the third paragraph, skipping from the middle of one
paragraph to the middle of another. Derbyville is an
homage to Derby, CT, where Charlton Comics was
headquartered. First mention of the Chessmen, and the
story refers to the father of Zachary Johnson's. The
second story reads:
SILVER AGENT QUELLS RIOT IN BAKERVILLE
DISTRICT
ASTRO CITY -- The Silver Agent restored relative
calm to the city's Bakerville District, following
three days of sporadic burning, looting and
firebombing that started after the slaying of Rev.
Martin Luther King Jr. Thursday night.
"It's calm and quiet," police said at 10 P.M.,
although there were scattered reports of looting in
several other sections of the city. "Thanks to The
Silver Agent, it looks like it's going to be okay."
The Silver Agent appeared on the rooftops of
Bakerville's tenement homes in [ ] catching [ ]
area residents [ ] impossi[ ] said Clara Jefferson,
45, of Holloway Street, "with the sun gleaming on
that armor of his. Everybody scared who saw him,
they breathed a sigh of relief, but everybody who
was [ ] a white [ ] Bakerville [ ]
[ ] ung over [ ] The Silver Agent was followed by
angry rioters, several of whom shot at him as [he?]
coalesced into an angry mob in Floyd Square [ ]
crowd's attention [on?] The Silver Agent, [ ] the
Norman [ ] should've seen [ ] Avery, 24, of [ ]
"Bakerville" refers to Matt Baker, artist on the Phantom
Lady and the first major black comic book artist. Martin
Luther King Jr. (1929-1968) was one of the leaders in the
fight for black civil rights in the Fifties and Sixties.
He was assassinated on April 4th by James Earl Ray.
The lead story on the third paper, dated September 10th,
1976 reads
MOB WAR BECOMES SURPRISE PARTY
Jack-In-The-Box Captures Seven Crime Leaders
By CADY CASWELL
Special to the Astro City Rocket
ASTRO CITY -- A spectacular battle last night
between Jack-In-The-Box and the armored criminal
known as Morningstar ended in the capture of seven
organized crime leaders early this morning.
The battle culminated in Morningstar's armor
batteries overloading and exploding with a
concussive shock that shattered windows for blocks
around. By this time, the two were battling on the
34th floor of the PanWest building, in the midst of
the criminal alliance that had been formed to wipe
out the harlequin hero.
The explosion of Morningstar's armor left him
stunned, and [ ]
First mention of Morningstar. The second column is mostly
unreadable, but does contain the first references to The
Headstone and The Crime-King. The story on the bottom
left concerns the death of Mao Tse-Tung (1893-1976),
leader of the Chinese communist revolution and the
country's chairman from 1949 to 1959. The story on the
bottom right has the headline "Experimentals Revive After
Doc Toxic Clash". It makes the first reference to Doc
Toxic and reveals that the Experimentals are "artificial
heroes created in 1968 by Dr. Miles Tremont" (indicating
that they are an homage to the Metal Men). There is also
mention here of Fox-Broome University, which was
previously referred to as "FBU" in Vol.1 #1, 8/6. There
is also a reference to the Gaines River, named after Max
Gaines (?-1947), who worked for DC and EC Comics and is
credited as originating the modern form of the comic
book, and his son Bill Gaines (1922-1992), publisher of
EC and Mad Comics.
The lead headline on the second paper from the right,
dated October 14th, 1983, is "Jack-In-The-Box Trapped In
Fiery Explosion; Is Harlequin Hero Dead?"; it refers to
Torres Island. The story on the bottom left concerns
Ronald Reagan (1911- ), fortieth president of the United
States, and the upcoming 1984 presidential election. The
story on the bottom right reads
BLUE KNIGHT IMPLICATED IN SLAYINGS
By MARGARET BOCANNON
Special to the Astro City Rocket
ASTRO CITY -- Several dead bodies were found early
this morning in an alley in the Chesler
neighborhood by an Astro City police patrol car
answering a silent alarm in the area.
Witnesses to the incident claim to have identified
[ ] The Blue Knight. [ ] He looked right at me [and
I?] could see his skull [ ] helmet and everything,"
said Lou Richland, a [ ] abandoned warehouse next
to the alley.
Mr. Richland's story was corroborated [ ]
First mention of the Blue Knight; a "blue knight" is
slang for a policeman.
Finally, the paper on the far right, dated May 5th, 1989,
reads
JACK'S BACK
MIA Hero Returns [ ] Veidt St. Shootout
By EDWARD NG
Special to the Astro City Rocket
ASTRO CITY -- Jack-In-The-Box, missing for six
years, returned to action last night as he
interceded in an apparent gangland slaying on Veidt
Street, capturing members of the Tantorelli and
Kajosz crime families and delivering them [ ]
[ ] Experts say that this could well be him, but
that it could also be a successor or an impostor
[ ] the description of him given by the [ ] is
accurate," said FBU [ ] Leonard Grant. [ ]
Thereafter, Jack-In-The-Box was [ ] accepted by the
public, but he never became the kind of icon heroes
like Samaritan seemingly became in their first
public appearances, until his supposed death. Never
a member of a superhero team, Jack-In-The-Box
remained a hero in the shadows for a decade and a
half, hounding both human and superhuman criminals,
but never completely trusted by the public. [ ]
under suspicion, always suspected of being in the
pay of one or another [ ] criminal, [ ]
Veidt St. refers to actor Conrad Veidt (1893-1943), who
appeared in "Casablanca" amongst many other films. This
story indicates that Jack disappeared after the explosion
referred to in the previous (1983) paper. The other
headlines are "Venus Probe Launched" and "Two Dead In
Shadow Hill S[tunt?]". The Shadow Hill story hints at the
supernatural nature of that area of town.
9/1: "Craig Avenue Bar & Grill": Johnny Craig (1926- ) was an
artist for EC Comics. "Everett Pier": Bill Everett (1917-
1973) created the Sub-Mariner for Marvel.
/2: First mention of the Confessor.
/3: First mention of the Boilermaker.
13/4: Ingels Street is named after EC artist "Ghastly" Graham
Ingels (1915- ).
/5: "Davis Grocers" is a reference to EC and Mad artist Jack
Davis (1926- ), "Kamen's Deli" to EC artist Jack Kamen.
14/1: "Elder's Gym" is an homage to EC artist Bill Elder
(1922- ).
17/1: This is likely a reference to Samaritan's battle with the
Pyramid Assassins mention in Vol.1 #1, 7/1. Hence, since
it's cool enough for everyone to bearing long-sleeved
shirts and jackets, but the trees are still leafy (see
13/2, for instance), it's probably September or October
1995.
18/1: First mention of the Disastroids.
23/2: This is Quarrel II.
Release History:
Version 1.1 released 11th July 1998
Version 1.0 released 14th March 1998
Notes:
Citation format is page/panel. For instance, 18/1 refers to page
18, panel 1. Two-page spreads are treated as a single "page" for
the purpose of panel enumeration; for example, 6-7/3 refers to the
third panel on a spread covering pages 6 and 7. Issue number is
included if different from the issue being annotated, with issues
from Volume 1 specified as such.
KURT BUSIEK'S ASTRO CITY, its prominent characters and their
likenesses are trademarks of Juke Box Productions. All quoted text
is copyright Juke Box Productions.
Additions, corrections and comments should be sent to the editor.
Reproduction of these annotations, in whole or in part, without the
permission of the editor is forbidden.
Sources:
"Comic Art & Graffix Gallery Virtual Museum & Encyclopedia"
(http://www.comic-art.com/enter.htm)
"Who's Who In Astro City" (http://www.bonner.rice.edu/morrow/kbac/
kbacww.html)
Contributors:
Shannon Patrick Sullivan, shannon@morgan.ucs.mun.ca (editor)
Tom Kenning, tjkenning@juno.com
Jess Nevins, jjnevins@ix.netcom.com
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