Rating: 
Summary: Great TBP
Review: I just got this Trade Paperback of Astro City, intrigued greatly by the other reviews and general idea of the story. I have to say i am very impressed by both the artwork (difficult to find really good pencilers these days) and the storytelling (of course Busiek is going to write a great story). I can't really say more than that which has already been said, but i will say this was one of the best TPB quality i have seen. The material of the cover is very durable and nice feeling, and the pages are nice as well. Some great insider stuff on how the characters were designed and some of Alex Ross' input as well. It is weighty and feels like a comic should. Go for it.
Rating:
Summary: Great TBP
Review: I just got this Trade Paperback of Astro City, intrigued greatly by the other reviews and general idea of the story. I have to say i am very impressed by both the artwork (difficult to find really good pencilers these days) and the storytelling (of course Busiek is going to write a great story). I can't really say more than that which has already been said, but i will say this was one of the best TPB quality i have seen. The material of the cover is very durable and nice feeling, and the pages are nice as well. Some great insider stuff on how the characters were designed and some of Alex Ross' input as well. It is weighty and feels like a comic should. Go for it.
Rating:
Summary: A different kind of superhero book...
Review: I originally bought this more on a gamble than nothing else. I had never read a single issue of Astro City and after reading this book I wash hooked. There is a much deeper feeling to this book than normal comics, probably because you don't HAVE a main character. Each issue you meet a new superhero (at first at least) and see what they are like. The first book introduces you to some of the main characters and sets up for The Confessor story line.
Rating:
Summary: Busiek proves once again: He knows superheroes
Review: Kurt Busiek is one of the best comic writers in the field today. Why? This book is why. Busiek exhibits fantastic storytelling here, over and over again. You won't put this down until you're done with it. It's won several awards, and for good reason. This is the first title I've ever seen that takes a look deep inside heroes without depriving us of some much needed action. Buy this, you won't be dissapointed.
Rating:
Summary: Ever wondered what it would be like to be a superhero?
Review: Kurt Busiek manages to give us a peek behind the capes and spandex into what it might really be like to be a superhero. For instance.. imagine you can fly. It's great, it's one of the biggest pleasures of your life. But you can't just fly around for your own pleasure, sightseeing. There is always someone who needs you, someone only you can help in time...
Rating:
Summary: Busiek restores dignity and wonder to super-hero adventure
Review: Kurt Busiek's ASTRO CITY is one of the best comic series to come down the pike in years. Action-packed, funny, and genuinely moving, Busiek manages to restore a sense of dignity and wonder to the medium. Most people look down upon comics as reading material for kids and acne-ridden teenagers, and rightfully so. Most comics are shabbily written and drawn, slavishly following every trend. In recent years, everybody had tried to follow Alan Moore's WATCHMEN and Frank Miller's BATMAN: THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS into the realm of dark deconstructionism. Busiek refuses to give in and treats his heroes (and the peripheral characters, who really tell the story) as individuals and beings of wonder.
Rating:
Summary: Allow me to repeat what everyone else has said
Review: Look, this book is GOOD. The people who make comics, read comics, and just know their stuff - they all agree. This book is about as highly recommended as they come. I bought it based soley on recommendations, and a one-line summary. I was in no way disapointed.
Long and short of it: This is the original miniseries, collected in one volume. Each issue is pretty much a self-contained story set within the same universe. These stories do a fantastic job of approaching the superhero genre with a fresh breath of innovation. One chapter is from the point of view of a hero, the other of an average citizen, etc. Each gives a different view of what it's like to actually live in the world that superhero comics create. Is it annoying to live a double life? What's the daily routine of someone living in a city where superheroes are commonplace? This is as close as we can come to really knowing.
This is the first volume that was published, but any of the Astro City series are a good bet. A light read, but engaging and satisfying. Lovely cover art by the talented Alex Ross, fitting and consistent interior art, well paced and thought-out stories. Bottom line: Astro City contains a lot of what is at the heart of all comics.
Rating:
Summary: This is City of Heroes before City of Heroes
Review: My review basically agrees with all of the positive reviews already described here. Every story is written with a skill and love for comic storytelling that has been absent in most of the genre for years. Although kids will certainly love the action, the stories are written more for an audience that has grown up surrounded by Marvel and DC. Aside from the obvious comparisons of Astro City's heroes to the Marvel and DC classic good guys, there are a couple of hidden homages in the stories to both comic companies as well.
What I love most about these vignettes is how it focuses not on the superhero, and the latest evil plot by generic supervillain #44. These epic events are so normal, so expected, they are basically asides or background to the real drama. The life of the people living in Astro City, a place that is saved from armageddon on a daily basis, it is probably covered in the local news right after the horoscopes. The closest analogies to this atmosphere I can come up with are:
1. Living in New York, where the odd is a daily occurence.
2. Living in Tokyo, where Godzilla must defend the city from another monster, requiring the inhabitants to rebuild the city again...
3. The MMORPG City of Heroes. This excelent online game allows you to create and play as a superhero in Paragon City, a city filled with superheroes and villains. The similarity between Astro City and City of Heroes' Paragon City is so strong, there is little doubt that the comic must have had some influence over the creation of the online game setting (Heh, if anything Kurt Busiek, not Marvel, should be suing NCSoft, the makers of the game, for copyright infringement). Overall, though, if you enjoy the City of Heroes game as much as I do, then having a copy of Astro City nearby is required reading to fully immerse yourself in this realistic set of stories that outline what life would be like if the superheroic walked/flew/bound/teleported across the earth.
Rating: 
Summary: Welcome to Astro City. Please Don't Litter
Review: One of my fave graphic novels. The only things I like more are my Neon Genesis Evangelion and JLA: Year One comics. Still, you should buy this. One of the good things about AC: LitBC is that there is no main character: each issue focuses on something new, giving us a great view of every hero/villain (eventually) and then stops before that character becomes boring. Marvel at a journalist witnessing a cosmic threat, an alien spy who hates gossipy women and a petty thief discovering Jack-in-the-Box's secret ID! It's funny, it's fresh and it's a damn good read. And it's by Kurt Busiek! Nuff said!
Rating:
Summary: Back to the Future
Review: Remember when comics were fun? Back before the Dark Knights, the relentless violence, the angst? When people donned ludicrous outfits and fought for truth, justice, and the American way? Kurt Busiek does, and he's provided an all-expenses-paid trip to Astro City, where the superhero comics of yesteryear live anew. As with Alan Moore's "Watchmen", you won't recognize the heroes and villains, but you know them nonetheless---Samaritan, Winged Victory, Crackerjack, the Honor Guard. Simple, classic heroes who immediately bond to the imaginations of comic fans. The story here is simple, straightforward, and infused with a joy that would make Garth Ennis throw up. Whatever happened to the comics you didn't mind your kids reading? If you prefer your comics to be uplifting and life-affirming, as opposed to the relentless bleakness of the various X-titles, stop by "Astro City." You'll be glad you did.
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