VERY FINE/NEAR MINT Beautie, the life-size super-powered fashion-doll member of Honor Guard, doesn't know who she is, where she came from or where she belongs. In this extra-length, decades-spanning Special, she searches for answers — answers of history and answers of the heart.
"Astro City speedster MPH pretty much nails the bittersweet story lurking beneath that goofy title with this line: ‘She’s a Beautie doll, so she’s always cheerful, bright and full of fun? Not so much, really.’ Yeah, one of the craziest concepts Busiek created for Astro City, a life-sized doll who’s really a super-powered robot, gets the spotlight this time out, and it’s one of the best Astro City stories in years. Probably my second-favorite, after the heart-breaking #1/2. The thing that makes this work, that makes it classic Astro City, is taking a comic archetype (basically, The Vision, Red Tornado, etc.), giving it a visual twist (say, being a life-sized doll), and then digging for all the pathos you can unearth. And boy, does he. Really excellent work from the Astro City team."
THIS BOOK GETS 9 GRAHAMS OUT OF 10
