History Heartwarming / AstroCity

--->'''The Hanged Man:''' [[AC:No one forgets. No one. Good night, Michael Teniceck. Sleep well.]]

* Caplinville. ''Everyone'' knows the local superhero's identity. And there's a large reward out for him as a fugitive from justice. their reaction? Faced with a CoverBlowingSuperPower use, they blandly tell the most improbable stories to explain it away. And they come to his aid when he's overwhelmed by a ZergRush of enemies.
* The "Tarnished Angel" arc had Steeljack meet Quarrel, and accidentally piss her off trying to tell her that her father, the first Quarrel, would be proud of the life she's made. Flash-forward to the Vertigo series, and Steeljack mentions she helped him start up his private detective agency.

* In "Reflections" Steeljack is hired by his old ally, Cutlass to find out who's framing her after she's gotten out of the business. Long story short, he ends up on trial for the death of the VillainWithGoodPublicity. Despite his certainty that Cutlass was in the wind, since she had no reason to stick around and every reason to stay away, she not only turns up in the courtroom, but hires a big-shot lawyer with a history of defending superheroes to represent him. And on top of that, she brings in pretty much everyone from Steeljack's home neighborhood as character witnesses.

** Andy stops stealing completely afterwards, thanks to Hanks influence. Even the idea of using the G-Dog form to scout out locations to burgle himself later isn't acceptable, simply because he knows it would upset Hank.

* Vertigo issue 16. Especially the part where Starbright manages to convince his main enemy, Simon Says, into reforming, by sheer dint of who he was: the richest kid in town and high-school quarterback, the sort of person Simon hated, was in fact the super-hero who never stopped believing Simon could have been so much more. And then, when he dies in a HeroicSacrifice, it's enough to convince Simon not only to give up super-villainy, but become the next Starbright [[spoiler:herself]].

** Much later, in issues 50-52, it turns out that the same man has started up a support group for people who have been affected/harmed by superpowered events, trying to support them while still keeping the memory of his retconned wife fresh in his mind. He later talks to the Hanged Man for the first time in decades, who reveals to him that not only do many of the supers know of what he's doing, but that they've subtly guided people to him that needed his groups. And that despite leaving his job to found the group, a foundation created by the Black Rapier not only gives him sizeable deposits in his accounts routinely, but all of his bills are paid of gratis. Because they know that Michael is doing a job that needs doing, and that they're grateful.

** Much later, in issue 50, it turns out that the same man has started up a support group for people who have been affected/harmed by superpowered events, trying to support them while still keeping the memory of his retconned wife fresh in his mind. He later talks to the Hanged Man for the first time in decades, who reveals to him that not only do many of the supers know of what he's doing, but that they've subtly guided people to him that needed his groups. And that despite leaving his job to found the group, a foundation created by the Black Rapier not only gives him sizeable deposits in his accounts routinely, but all of his bills are paid of gratis. Because they know that Michael is doing a job that needs doing, and that they're grateful.

** Much later, in issue 50, it turns out that the same man has started up a support group for people who have been affected/harmed by superpowered events, trying to support them while still keeping the memory of his retconned wife fresh in his mind.

* From ''The Nearness of You'', a story about a man who's haunted by memories of a woman he's never met. It turns out that woman is his wife, but she was one of many casualties in some CrisisCrossover event that {{RetCon}}ed her from existence. The Hanged Man offers to erase the memories for him, but he declines. Before The Hanged Man leaves he asks if anyone else chose to forget:

* From ''The Nearness of You'', a story about a man who's haunted by memories of a woman he's never met. It turns out that woman is his wife, but she was one of many casualties in some CrisisCrossover event that {{RetCon}}ed her from existence. The Hanged Man offers to erase the memories for him, but he refuses. Before The Hanged Man leaves he asks if anyone else chose to forget:

** [[spoiler: As a result of his actions, Samaritans takes on its first male student, unnamed but heavily implied to be Joey.]]

** [[spoiler: As a result of his actions, Samaritans takes on its first make student, unnamed but heavily implied to be Joey.]]

-->'''The Hanged Man:''' [[AC:No one forgets. No one. Good night, Michael Teniceck. Sleep well.]]

* Caplinville. ''Everyone'' knows the local superhero's identity. And there's a large reward out for him as a fugitive from justice. their reaction? Faced with a CoverBreakingSuperPower use, they blandly tell the most improbable stories to explain it away. And they come to his aid when he's overwhelmed by a ZergRush of enemies.

* This, from ''The Nearness of You'':

** It's worth noticing that "The Nearness of You" is Kurt Busiek's own favorite, because [[WordOfGod it's the one story idea that looked just as good as a finished comic as it did in his head]].

* Issue 16. Especially the part where Starbright manages to convince his main enemy, Simon Says, into reforming, by sheer dint of who he was: richest kid in town and the high-school quarterback, the sort of person Simon hated, was in fact the super-hero who never stopped believing Simon could have been so much more. And then, when he dies in a HeroicSacrifice, it's enough to convince Simon not only to give up super-villainly, but become the next Starbright [[spoiler:herself]].

* Issue 16. Especially the part where Starbright manages to convince his main enemy, Simon Says, into reforming, by sheer dint of who he was: richest kid in town and the high-school quarterback, the sort of person Simon hated, was in fact the super-hero who never stopped believing Simon could have been so much more. And then, when he dies in a HeroicSacrifice, it's enough to convince Simon not only to give up super-villainly, but become the next Starbight [[spoiler:herself]].

* At the conclusion of Winged Victory's arc in issue 10 of the ''Creator/VertigoComics'' series, W.V., Samaritan, and the Confessor were able to locate [[spoiler: Karnazon, the villain behind her FrameUp]] through Joey Lacroix. Joey was a young boy who ran away from an abusive home and sought refuge in Samothrace, the main headquarters for Winged Victory's school, after hearing from his aunt (one of W.V.'s first students) about how wonderful it was. Throughout the whole arc Joey was told that Winged Victory couldn't take him on as a student because he was a boy and her schools are for women only. Despite this and still being badly bruised from what is implied to have been a beating from his father, Joey somehow worked up the nerve to [[spoiler: follow after Karnazon's Iron Legion and activate his aunt's old signal device (Winged Victory gives those to all former students) to contact Winged Victory. When all was said and done, Winged Victory stopped and asked Joey why he went to so much trouble for someone he never met before, and he explained that, on the night he arrived to Samothrace he overheard Winged Victory discussing with her ally Delphi about her doubts and fears over this current situation. Joey said that she looked the way that he felt inside, and no one should ''ever'' have to feel that way, so he just did what he could to help her.]]

* At the conclusion of Winged Victory's arc in issue 10 of the current series being published under the ''VertigoComics'' banner, W.V., Samaritan, and the Confessor were able to locate [[spoiler: Karnazon, the villain behind her FrameUp]] through Joey Lacroix. Joey was a young boy who ran away from an abusive home and sought refuge in Samothrace, the main headquarters for Winged Victory's school, after hearing from his aunt (one of W.V.'s first students) about how wonderful it was. Throughout the whole arc Joey was told that Winged Victory couldn't take him on as a student because he was a boy and her schools are for women only. Despite this and still being badly bruised from what is implied to have been a beating from his father, Joey somehow worked up the nerve to [[spoiler: follow after Karnazon's Iron Legion and activated his aunt's old signal device (Winged Victory gives those to all former students) to contact Winged Victory. When all is said and done, Winged Victory stopped and asked Joey why he went to so much trouble for someone he never met before, and he explained that, on the night he arrived to Samothrace he overheard Winged Victory discussing with her ally Delphi about her doubts and fears over this current situation. Joey said that she looked the way that he felt inside, and no one should ''ever'' have to feel that way, so he just did what he could to help her.]]