Brain Kinney is a young adult in a small town with big dreams. After the sadness and ingratitude he experienced at the death of his father, he decided to move to Astro City with the hopes of meeting -- and possibly even being -- a superhero.
One day he meets a mysterious figure, the Confessor, who saves him from a gang assault. He is grateful, and the courage he displayed makes the Confessor offer him a position as his personal sidekick, Altar Boy. Brian, after a bit of thinking, agrees, albeit with some uncertainty. His first few days as a hero go well -- girls find him cute, and the public looks up to him. He then learns that the life of a hero is not always like what he expected -- despite getting high praise and cheer early on, as strange events begin happening in Astro City, including a string of unsolved (and ongoing) murders, the abrupt change in personality (from good to bad) of some heroes, and the mayor's sudden and unusual irrationality and irritability -- the public's view of superheroes radically changes. Heroes are hastily treated as vigilantes and outlaws, jeered and mocked by the majority of the public, and pursued -- dead or alive -- by the local government.
Brian experiences, through both the Confessor's wisdom and personal experience, that being a hero is not all joy and praise -- it entails personal sacrifice, fighting for what's right, and accepting one's past and heritage. True heroes do not help people and do to receive personal fame, glory, money, attention, or proper recognition -- they do it because they can and because people need them. The true happiness of becoming a hero comes from knowing that you did what you did for the sake of doing good and because you helped others, whether they knew you helped or not.
Catherine Allingham is a highly respected freelance investigator who solves cases with a lighting quick mind and an uncanny knack for making accurate conclusions. Upon working on a case, she comes across James Doyle, a bouncer at the club she is investigating at. Noting his remarkable ability to observe and register subtle movements in a person and use this data to deduce key information regarding the said individual, she hires him to help her solve a case of great scientific magnitude.
The duo travels to Vienna, where they meet two brothers, Karl and Ludo Faderbauer, who recently had an item of immense value stolen from them. The case quickly strays far from reasonableness as the circumstances of the theft become stranger and stranger. Catherine then comes to the conclusion that the object, an item used to detect the presence and weight (and therefore existence) of the human soul, was purposely let go by Karl for some reason. The trail of events and clues eventually leads them to a cult-like group of individuals who supposedly guard the gates of the afterlife by preventing the detection of the human soul. Karl sold the device to the supposed guardian, Father Kerberos, for a large sum of money to be burned in a furnace and never used, thus keeping the existence of the human soul a mystery.
Catherine, determined to find the truth, escapes the furnace room and goes underground, finding the gates to the afterlife. A terminally ill Catherine, with only six months left to live, is willing to sacrifice all to know the truth. Opening the gates, they see a part of it. They are locked in, however, with no way out. There is another gate further in the distance, with a man who Catherine thinks is James, at the door. They rush to the door, and Catherine, arriving first, realizes that it's not James. They then meet a mysterious man, who has appeared to both of them numerous times in "hallucinations," a tall, wrinkled, gray figure. He opens the gates to the afterlife and everyone is sucked in, including Father Kerberos, who chased them down and locked them in the hall. Kerberos is sucked in and engulfed, but Catherine and James are able to hold on to the hands of one of the deceased. They survive and leave the area safely.
Both of them end up enlightened by the experience, and, Catherine, satisfied by her experience, calls on James to come with her on another adventure.
Pride of Baghdad tells the story of a group of four lions who escaped Baghdad Zoo when it was hit by an American bombing run. The four lions are all very diverse in terms of personality: Zill, the alpha male, is pessimistic and instinct-driven, but very passionate for the lions under his mane. Safa, the sagest of the group, is an old female lioness with a lot of experience; her negative experiences from the wild make her contented with living in the zoo, but she remains cynical and mistrusting. Noor, a vibrant, young lioness with little experience outside of the zoo, is eager to experience the wild. She loathes being under the zookeepers and longs for freedom from the confines of the zoo. Ali, the youngest lion, is an optimistic, if immature, cub. He has a curious mind and is ardent in wanting to try out new things. His innocence and vivaciousness as a youngster show through his bright personality and hopeful attitude.
Throughout their journey, the lions meet different creatures and experience many new things, such as how life is outside the zoo and keeping up values like honor, courage, and sacrifice. As the lions go deeper and deeper into man's world, they begin learning the often differing nature of freedom, experience the harsh and cold horrors of war, the cruel realities of life, and witness the power of cooperation and teamwork.
The Unknown City of Baghdad
A Literary Wiki made by the joint effort of RJ Huang, Matthew Tan, and Jerome Lim
Astro City
Main article: Astro CitySummary (No major spoilers)
One day he meets a mysterious figure, the Confessor, who saves him from a gang assault. He is grateful, and the courage he displayed makes the Confessor offer him a position as his personal sidekick, Altar Boy. Brian, after a bit of thinking, agrees, albeit with some uncertainty. His first few days as a hero go well -- girls find him cute, and the public looks up to him. He then learns that the life of a hero is not always like what he expected -- despite getting high praise and cheer early on, as strange events begin happening in Astro City, including a string of unsolved (and ongoing) murders, the abrupt change in personality (from good to bad) of some heroes, and the mayor's sudden and unusual irrationality and irritability -- the public's view of superheroes radically changes. Heroes are hastily treated as vigilantes and outlaws, jeered and mocked by the majority of the public, and pursued -- dead or alive -- by the local government.
Brian experiences, through both the Confessor's wisdom and personal experience, that being a hero is not all joy and praise -- it entails personal sacrifice, fighting for what's right, and accepting one's past and heritage. True heroes do not help people and do to receive personal fame, glory, money, attention, or proper recognition -- they do it because they can and because people need them. The true happiness of becoming a hero comes from knowing that you did what you did for the sake of doing good and because you helped others, whether they knew you helped or not.
The Unknown
Main article: The UnknownSummary (Some spoilers)
The duo travels to Vienna, where they meet two brothers, Karl and Ludo Faderbauer, who recently had an item of immense value stolen from them. The case quickly strays far from reasonableness as the circumstances of the theft become stranger and stranger. Catherine then comes to the conclusion that the object, an item used to detect the presence and weight (and therefore existence) of the human soul, was purposely let go by Karl for some reason. The trail of events and clues eventually leads them to a cult-like group of individuals who supposedly guard the gates of the afterlife by preventing the detection of the human soul. Karl sold the device to the supposed guardian, Father Kerberos, for a large sum of money to be burned in a furnace and never used, thus keeping the existence of the human soul a mystery.
Catherine, determined to find the truth, escapes the furnace room and goes underground, finding the gates to the afterlife. A terminally ill Catherine, with only six months left to live, is willing to sacrifice all to know the truth. Opening the gates, they see a part of it. They are locked in, however, with no way out. There is another gate further in the distance, with a man who Catherine thinks is James, at the door. They rush to the door, and Catherine, arriving first, realizes that it's not James. They then meet a mysterious man, who has appeared to both of them numerous times in "hallucinations," a tall, wrinkled, gray figure. He opens the gates to the afterlife and everyone is sucked in, including Father Kerberos, who chased them down and locked them in the hall. Kerberos is sucked in and engulfed, but Catherine and James are able to hold on to the hands of one of the deceased. They survive and leave the area safely.
Both of them end up enlightened by the experience, and, Catherine, satisfied by her experience, calls on James to come with her on another adventure.
Pride of Baghdad
Main article: Pride of BaghdadSummary (No spoilers at all)
Throughout their journey, the lions meet different creatures and experience many new things, such as how life is outside the zoo and keeping up values like honor, courage, and sacrifice. As the lions go deeper and deeper into man's world, they begin learning the often differing nature of freedom, experience the harsh and cold horrors of war, the cruel realities of life, and witness the power of cooperation and teamwork.