Kurt Busiek’s Astro City finally en route to getting a TV series
For folks looking for a new TV obsession, FremantleMedia North America has you covered. The studio announced it obtained the rights to Astro City.
Written as both a homage and advancement of classic Silver Age heroes like Superman, Batman & Robin, the Fantastic Four and others, Astro City has been one of the most consistently best comics since its debut in 1995. Kurt Busiek and artist Brent Anderson with cover art by Alex Ross have crafted a really amazing series and I’m thrilled this is going to provide a major spotlight on it.
Here’s FreemantleMedia’s synopsis:
Spanning 16 (and counting) collected, standalone yet loosely-connected story arcs containing more than 2,000 original characters, the fictional Astro City universe explores the lives of ordinary people and those of the all-too-human superhumans in their midst, and their collective, daily struggle to hold on to hope in the face of world-shaking, life-altering events beyond any single individual’s control.
[irp]
A mid-sized American city blessed with, and cursed by, the largest number of superheroes and supervillains in one place on Earth, Astro City is a unique brand of humanistic saga — part superhero epic, part intimate drama — in which the (mostly) good hearted, workaday residents of the eponymous locale come into daily contact with the worrisome, the weird and the wondrous.
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These days it seems like a lot of creators use comic books as a possible easy gateway to movies and TV. Astro City has been around for a long time and is long overdue for the TV treatment. If it has a decent enough budget this could really be a special and buzzworthy show, much like FremantleMedia’s other big hit American Gods.
Busiek will co-write the pilot episode with Rick Alexander, who are also executive producers along with Gregory Noveck.
‘It’s a thrill to be working with Rick, Gregory and FremantleMedia on this. Everyone, at every turn, is supportive, helpful and completely focused on capturing the feel of Astro City and bringing it to life as a TV show. I can’t wait to see it all take wing,’ Busiek said in a statement.
With Busiek on board, I’ve got a lot of faith that this show will be the next great phenom. He’s been one of the best writers for over a decade. You can check out more of his work including Arrowsmith, Shockrockets, Superstar: As Seen on TV, The Wizard’s Tale, Jonny Demon, The Liberty Project and Ransom and The Autumnlands.
I’ll be following this one very closely so stay tuned for future updates.
Photo Credit: Image Comics