“Astro Hustle” #1 is a bright and fun throwback-style comic that raises an interesting question: how successful can pastiche really be when comic storytelling continues to evolve?
Written by Jai NitzCover by Tom Reilly
Illustrated by Tom Reilly
Colored by Ursula Decay
Lettered by Chris Crank Chen Andalou, the black sheep of a prominent activist family, returns after being accidentally put in cryo-stasis for sixty years. Chen, a cosmic criminal, wakes up to find his younger brother is now the President of the Galaxy. Chen does what he knows best: he steals stuff and causes a problem. “Astro Hustle” is a slick and sexy romp through the stars evoking the sci-fi disco era of the late 70s.
The answer? Pretty successful. “Astro Hustle” #1 is a lot of fun, and its drawbacks come more from what’s left out of the story than what’s on the page. Nitz does a good job with characterization and a lot of humor, and there’s not much of what would’ve been considered wasted space in ‘70s comics in terms of side character development or subtle reactions to explosive plot happenings. Everything’s big, on the nose and laced with melodrama, almost exactly as it should be, with a nice and wry modern style to the humor. Nitz’s tongue remains firmly in cheek as we meet Chen Andalou (har, har) in a less than ideal situation and watch as it deteriorates from there. Action scenes are dramatic and smashed together a little too hard for modern sensibilities, and so “Astro Hustle” might be limiting its readership by creating too much of an homage to comics gone by. Nevertheless, the send-up mostly works, and the plotting in “Astro Hustle” #1 sets up enough of an intriguing plot to bait the reader into following along for the next issue.
Reilly’s character designs and backgrounds are great, with many nice nods to the swingin’ 1970s (and with some queerness thrown in to modernize just a touch) and a lot of fantastic, blocky ships, cityscapes and robots to lend “Astro Hustle” a hard sci-fi edge. Issue #1 boasts a very large cast to jam into a single issue, and Reilly keeps the story on track with unique designs and a lot of subtler genre touches that elevate the book’s surreal vibe. Even Carbon John’s pirate ship has gotten some fun space upgrades, complete with a 1950s alien-style blaster prow and sleek fins. Reilly’s hand-drawn sound effects are a lot of fun as well, integrated as they often are into the action lines. If anything, a few of them dilute the book’s style a little too much with some roundness that doesn’t quite match the often angular art, or the real stand-out effects in the latter half of issue #1. They’re still fun to look at, and Nitz and Reilly work well together to give them a lot of space on the page to really pop. Shout-out to the very subtle Kirby crackle in the first part of the book, too!
Decay’s colors are vibrant and a lot of fun to look at. With Reilly’s background detail and action lines, it makes sense to keep textures to a minimum wherever possible. The choice is also in line with the book’s classic vibe, and what’s normally a personal pet peeve is done really well here. Plus, when there are textures early on, they’re beautifully done and integrate nicely with the art. Decay goes with a rainbow of colors to start us off, then dials in the ominous mood with reds, oranges and blacks as Halberd spaces the station crew and communicates with the mysterious Papacy. Chen’s adventure resolves in a mint-washed, pastel madhouse that’s a bit harsh on the eyeballs at times but suits the story’s unpredictable turns. There are some nice contrast strips as the pirate ship tries to evade its pursuers and deals with some serious firepower, and I enjoy the sickly cast to Captain Roberts’s face every time he shows up to mess with Chen. Overall, very nicely done.
“Astro Hustle” has a few art drawbacks that don’t sink the book, but are worth mentioning all the same. There’s some overzealous shading in Chen’s introductory scene and in the prison sequence, and there’s also a lack of consistency in character facial details outside of close-ups. This might be intentional and in keeping with the splotchy, jagged weirdness we’re used to in comics gone by, but it happens a little too often to chalk it up to flavor and it doesn’t entirely work. In addition, there’s an occasional panel that uses bold white outlined with red or blue to highlight bullet blasts, as well as some mint green for contrast. These stark contrasts clash a little too much, and the white feels like empty space rather than an intentional choice.
Continued belowCrank’s lettering is pitch-perfect for the style in “Astro Hustle”#1, with nice italicization, good narrative boxes with unique styling and even some robot balloons with a nice crackle outline detail for visual variation. The font is bold and wide without dominating the page, which keeps the story ticking along nicely and helps the art shine through when there’s a touch too much dialogue on the page. The second half of issue #1 gets pretty wordy in an interlude or two, but the end of the comic’s appropriately action-packed and features some lovely, curly tails for added flavor.
Overall, “Astro Hustle” #1 achieves what it sets out to do: throw us back to our favorite cool, goofy and weird space operas we know and love. There’s enough here in terms of modern humor, creative art and good craft that signals a nice, if quick, jaunt through Chen’s world if the team keeps delivering on this same level.
Final Verdict: 7.0 – “Astro Hustle” #1 is off to a fine start, with enough grit and humor to help elevate what might turn out to be a very fun book.
