The Compleat Terminal City

This collection brings together for the first time issues 1–9 of Terminal City and 1–5 of Terminal City: Aerial Graffiti, and pairs the exemplary storytelling of Motter (Mister X, Electropolis) with the brilliant artwork of Lark (Daredevil, Gotham Central). The story, set in and around the environs of Terminal City, is an example of retro-futurism at its visual narrative best—as though all of the ideas of the 1920s and ’30s about what the 1980s would be like have come to pass. At the center of the story is Cosmo Quinn, a human fly who hangs up his daredevil costume and becomes—fittingly enough—a window washer. Motter creates a cast of colorful characters who are eminently human, which perhaps explains why we are so drawn to their stories. Lark’s vision never flags through all the strange happenings. The series’ Harvey and Eisner award nominations were well earned. (Mar.)