Beautie
Encyclopedia
Beautie is a fictional character
in the comic book
series Astro City
. Created by writer Kurt Busiek
and artists Brent Anderson
and Alex Ross
, Beautie is a powerful android hero and a member of Astro City's premiere super-hero team, the Honor Guard.
. In imitation of her source material's popularized attitudes, she is preoccupied with all manner of clothing and accessories.
Beautie was built by a then 8-year-old Elaine Girbachs – daughter of criminal technologist "Dr. Gearbox" – to be a playmate, companion, and protector. Despite all of the intelligence and cleverness of this little girl, her father merely ridiculed and shunned her creation, evidently humiliated that such an advanced android had been built by his daughter single-handedly. Elaine ordered Beautie to leave and to forget about her, but her A.I.
developed and continued beating through the command, repeatedly leading Beautie back to her creator over the years.
Beautie arrived in Astro City in the fall of 1969, with no memory of her past. Her first heroic act was foiling the kidnapping of Joanie Wheaton, the heir to the Wheaton Investments fortune. Six months later, she assisted Honor Guard in defeating the Toymaker, who'd attempted to copy her design to build a robotic toy army. The Honor Guard brought her into their ranks, leading to legal action declaring her a free person, using the Loony Leo v. Fago's Funny Features decision as precedent. As part of the case settlement, Beautie acts as the corporate symbol and representative for Tip-Top Toys, making appearances nationwide.
In 1978, she broke up an attack on the Astro City Gay Freedom March, which has led the gay community to adopt her as their favorite hero. She currently resides in an apartment located over a gay bar
in Astro City. This results in isolation from male admirers with romantic notions, which is perfectly fine with her – she was not designed to be anatomically correct, plus her skin is rigid ferrostyrene on an omnitanium frame.
Over the course of her heroic career, she has been destroyed twice, once by the Living Nightmare, and once by The Silver Brain's sledgehamsters. Each time, she has been rebuilt.
She is a friend of The Tourist.
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
in the comic book
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
series Astro City
Astro City
Kurt Busiek's Astro City is a comic book series centered on a fictional American city of that name. Written by Kurt Busiek, the series is co-created and illustrated by Brent Anderson with character designs and painted covers by Alex Ross...
. Created by writer Kurt Busiek
Kurt Busiek
Kurt Busiek is an American comic book writer notable for his work on the Marvels limited series, his own title Astro City, and his four-year run on Avengers.-Early life:...
and artists Brent Anderson
Brent Anderson
Brent Anderson is an American comic book artist known for his work on X-Men: God Loves, Man Kills and the comic book series Astro City.- Early life :...
and Alex Ross
Alex Ross
Nelson Alexander "Alex" Ross is an American comic book painter, illustrator, and plotter. He is praised for his realistic, human depictions of classic comic book characters. Since the 1990s he has done work for Marvel Comics and DC Comics Nelson Alexander "Alex" Ross (born January 22, 1970) is an...
, Beautie is a powerful android hero and a member of Astro City's premiere super-hero team, the Honor Guard.
Fictional character biography
Beautie is a perfect life-size replica of the doll sold by Tip-Top Toys, based on the real-life fashion doll series BarbieBarbie
Barbie is a fashion doll manufactured by the American toy-company Mattel, Inc. and launched in March 1959. American businesswoman Ruth Handler is credited with the creation of the doll using a German doll called Bild Lilli as her inspiration....
. In imitation of her source material's popularized attitudes, she is preoccupied with all manner of clothing and accessories.
Beautie was built by a then 8-year-old Elaine Girbachs – daughter of criminal technologist "Dr. Gearbox" – to be a playmate, companion, and protector. Despite all of the intelligence and cleverness of this little girl, her father merely ridiculed and shunned her creation, evidently humiliated that such an advanced android had been built by his daughter single-handedly. Elaine ordered Beautie to leave and to forget about her, but her A.I.
A.i.
A.i. is a three-piece rock-electroclash band based from Los Angeles, California. The band consists of Nick Young , Zack Young , and Milen Kirov . In September 2007, A.i...
developed and continued beating through the command, repeatedly leading Beautie back to her creator over the years.
Beautie arrived in Astro City in the fall of 1969, with no memory of her past. Her first heroic act was foiling the kidnapping of Joanie Wheaton, the heir to the Wheaton Investments fortune. Six months later, she assisted Honor Guard in defeating the Toymaker, who'd attempted to copy her design to build a robotic toy army. The Honor Guard brought her into their ranks, leading to legal action declaring her a free person, using the Loony Leo v. Fago's Funny Features decision as precedent. As part of the case settlement, Beautie acts as the corporate symbol and representative for Tip-Top Toys, making appearances nationwide.
In 1978, she broke up an attack on the Astro City Gay Freedom March, which has led the gay community to adopt her as their favorite hero. She currently resides in an apartment located over a gay bar
Gay bar
A gay bar is a drinking establishment that caters to an exclusively or predominantly gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender clientele; the term gay is used as a broadly inclusive concept for LGBT and queer communities...
in Astro City. This results in isolation from male admirers with romantic notions, which is perfectly fine with her – she was not designed to be anatomically correct, plus her skin is rigid ferrostyrene on an omnitanium frame.
Over the course of her heroic career, she has been destroyed twice, once by the Living Nightmare, and once by The Silver Brain's sledgehamsters. Each time, she has been rebuilt.
She is a friend of The Tourist.