You ever heard the term “uncanny valley”? It’s generally used to describe animated computer renderings of humans that achieve an amount of realism that just falls short of believable, causing people to find it revolting. The arch example of this is probably Tom Hanks’ animated vehicle The Polar Express, but there are many others to be found. But not generally in comics*, which tend to conform to house styles or individual artist styles, and the 2-D probably helps prevent even the most realistically rendered art from approaching uncanny valley territory. But then Kurt Busiek and Brent Anderson, in the new iteration of their classic title Astro City #1, had to introduce their newest hero “American Chibi.” And we all say “yuck.” Because it works.

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