History ComicBook / AstroCity

** "Who's a Good Dog?" is a fun, upbeat adventure of Andy Merton and his pet corgi Hank after they've fused to become the [[AnimalSuperheroes superhero G-Dog]]. Then [[spoiler:the veterinarian reminds Andy that [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome Hank is in his old age.]]]]

* SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome:
** In the 1950s, a reporter sees a fantastic battle between the Honor Guard and a group of cultists. However, his editor keeps cutting down the story because he can't ''prove'' any of it actually happened, and Honor Guard isn't available to confirm any of it. Thus, the tale simply becomes a report on [[ItMakesSenseInContext a frozen shark derailing a train]]. When he becomes an editor himself, he admits that his boss was right on not printing what can't be backed up by facts.
** ''Astro City'' itself defies ComicBookTime by having characters age, often forcing heroes to retire. One story arc has Crackerjack and Quarrel, [[BadassNormal two regular, non-powered street fighters,]] forced to acknowledge that in their forties, they're not as physically capable as they once were.
** The man who would become Mister Drama tried robbing a theatre he'd failed an audition at, and made no attempt to hide who he was. The stick-up was successful, but the victims remembered his name and face and told the police, who quickly went to his house. Only the fact that he wasn't home prevented him from getting arrested.

* AlternateCompanyEquivalent: The backbone of the series. Every character is an entirely original creation, but they all draw on archetypes from other comics. Samaritan is basically Franchise/{{Superman}} but with a TimeTravel origin, the Silver Agent is ComicBook/CaptainAmerica as a metaphor for UsefulNotes/TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks, The First Family is basically [[TheFantasticFaux the Fantastic Four]] but multi-generational, Jack-in-the-Box is heavily inspired by Franchise/SpiderMan but with [[BadassNormal a variety of gadgets instead of powers]], and so on.

** As expys of [[Franchise/{{Batman}} Batman and Robin]], the teams of Leopardman[=/=]Kitkat and Nightingale[=/=]Sunbird wear animal-themed costumes, but don't otherwise appear to have any abilities related to their respective animals.

* CloneDegeneration: The acid-spitting, barely-intelligent pile of slime known as Gloo is apparently an imperfect clone of Jack-in-the-Box. Appropriate for a character heavily based on Franchise/SpiderMan: he gets a [[ComicBook/TheCloneSaga malformed clone]] and a [[ComicBook/{{Venom}} murderous slime-like imitator]] combined into one!

** Creator/KurtBusiek wrote and submitted a sample ''Comicbook/{{Superman}}'' [[https://busiek.com/site/2014/10/07/the-24-hour-truce-of-lex-luthor script]] about a young Lex Luthor offering Superboy a 24-hour truce in exchange for a favor. It didn't get published, but helped get his foot in the door. He later reworked the premise (using his own characters) into "Wish I May...".

** The Green Man, in addition to being a Swamp Thing CaptainErsatz, is also heavily inspired in appearance by Creator/AlanMoore, the best-known writer of ''Comicbook/SwampThing''.

* TerrorHero: The Confessor, a Franchise/{{Batman}} {{Expy}} who intimidates criminals with scary deep voices and persistent rumors of supernatural origins. During Astro City's equivalent of [[UsefulNotes/TheDarkAgeOfComicBooks the Dark Age]], other AntiHero characters of this vein appeared, including the Blue Knight, the Street Angel, Hellhound, Stone Cold, and the Pale Horseman.

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: During the "Lovers Quarrel" arc, Crackerjack wonders whatever became of the Crossbreed (from "Confession"). Apparently they broke up after Noah died.

** The Cloak of Night was an early example, being a silent gun-wielding vigilante who went after criminals and anti-prohibitionists.

* ClothesMakeTheLegend: Played straight, as most costumed super-beings in ''Astro City'' will wear the same outfit for decades, even in the case of generational {Legacy Character}}s. If a character does change their appearance, it's typically justified, such as the N-Forcer upgrading his armored suits.

* CurbStompBattle: Occurs in "Great Expectations," when Mitch Goodman's latest shot is interrupted by the Dark Centurion. Mitch leaps into battle, but the Centurion effortlessly beats him into submission. Mitch begs for his life, causing the Centurion to leave in disgust and Mitch's fans to abandon him. [[spoiler:Justified, as the attack was a FakeDangerGambit staged by Mitch and his friends to lower his appeal.]]

* ParentalAbandonment: Louisa Garneau loses her parents as a teenager; her father left home to work on advocacy for various progressive and liberal causes, while her mother died of cancer in a hospital.

** One of the scientists in "Resistor" is a blatant personification of [[Characters/TheMuppetShow Dr. Bunsen Honeydew]].

* AntiVillian: The Junkman was a brilliant inventor who was removed from his job only because of the company's mandatory retirement policy; they wanted him to relax and enjoy his twilight years, but he simply wanted to keep working. The only reason he turns to crime is to show society that discarded things can still have value, and builds his arsenal out of junk to prove his point. It's not hard to imagine that he could be a happy law-abiding citizen if someone would just give him another job.

** Another seventies gang boss was Dominic "Junior" Forgione.

** Rivits, the Robot Kid, is an android programmed to be a heroic teen superhero.

* MasterApprenticeChain: ''Astro City'' has an unnamed LegacyTeam that consists of two avian-themed super-heroines, a "bird of light" and a "bird of shadow". Members shown have included Nightflyer, Sunshrike, Nightingale, and Sunbird.

* RobotSuperhero: Beautie is a [[FlyingBrick super-strong flying robot]] that resembles an adult-sized Beautie fashion doll.

** Taken UpToEleven for the people in Shadow Hill, where the evening streets are filled with various vampires, {{Eldritch Horror}}s, bogeymen, and The Hanged Man. The residents deal with it by simply refreshing their wards, making sure the incense is lit, and having their charms conveniently nearby.

** The Toymaker repurposes children's toys into dangerous devices.
** The Junkman plays with this trope -- his gimmick is that he repurposes discarded junk into the equipment he uses. While much of his gear is based on toys (such as turning a broken Etch-a-sketch into a safecracking fluoroscope), he doesn't deal ''exclusively'' in toys.

* HumongousMecha: Doc Robotnik builds humongous mecha with a team of human operators inside.