Tom Strong, Vol. 1

I really like Tom Strong. The Alan Moore creation is a combination of Superman, Doc Savage, Tarzan and Flash Gordon. I've previously read the 2 hardcover volumes that comprised the entire run of Tom Strong's Terrific Tales. While the series wasn't entirely filled with adventures starring Tom, there were enough of him to make me a fan; desiring to complete a run of his regular series.

I swear that I've read the first issue before. Maybe the premiere issue of Terrific Tales reprinted some of Tom Strong's origin story. Maybe I've committed that legend to memory just as I have with the debuts of Batman, Spider-Man and dozens of other superheroes. But I doubt it.

7 issues are reprinted in this volume. The first 4 issues are self-contained. I love that. You get a full compliment of 30 some pages of action, adventure and a smattering of sci-fi, set in the year 1999. Within is also a glimpse of Tom's past adventures, which are pretty extensive considering that he's nearly 100 years old. I think each flashback had had something to do with the current predicament, which often sees a long-thought vanquished for returning from the dead. You might think that Alan Moore is stuck on a comic book trope. But in reality, he's eviscerating how often publishers love to bring characters back from the dead instead of letting sleeping dogs lie.

The last 3 issues all involved cliffhangers. If I was buying Tom Strong, when it was new,on a monthly basis and the pacing went from one-and-done tales to cliffhangers with a 30-day wait for the conclusion, I would have been pissed. Chalk it up for collected trades and hardcovers!

The second half not only sees the return of a World War II era foe, it also introduces a new foe that while I knew what was coming, I was shocked that Moore managed to do it. Tom is essentially raped and his DNA is used to make an Über Tom who really hates dad. Add in that Tom's wife is a black African princess and their child is mixed, the conflicting superiority complex and family loyalty of Tom's son makes for a very intriguing look at Tom Strong's future.

The original series of Tom Strong ran for 33 issues. There's 5 more volumes out there. Out of print, but not exactly something that collectors are scrambling to add to their collections, I should not have very much trouble getting my hands on them. Unfortunately, I have so much stuff on my ever growing wish list, it might be a while before I find volume 2. But rest assured, if I found the concluding editions on an amazing deal, they'll definitely be coming home with me.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Tomorrow Stories, Book 2

I love Alan Moore. I know it's not possible, but I feel like he writes just for me. His work is fanciful, supernatural, twisted, naughty, biting and groundbreaking. And until now, I didn't know that Alan Moore could be funny. 

Alan Moore's Tomorrow Stories are comprised of a rotating group of 5 different subject styles of pulp and classic comic book archetypes. Johnny B. Quick is a boy genius who lives in a small rural town. The Cobweb is the femme fatale who fights a lot of crime while wearing very little. Greyshirt is the costume vigilante who has turned from a life of crime after surviving a near catastrophe. First American and his alluring sidekick U.S. Angel are the stereotypical patriotic superhero duo. Lastly, Splash is your bizarro hero; a living blob of ink that navigates a world that is not his own. Different artists tackles these 5 subjects with Moore as the author of them all.

Tomorrow Stories are in my mind Alan Moore's MAD Magazine. Each story is satirical with those hidden jokes in the background. One story might find the protagonist exploiting the world of fine art with the next one skewering the music industry. 

My favorite stories involve Johnny B. Quick. Johnny is really brilliant. But what he has in book smarts, he lacks in life experiences. The Quick family read like the ignorant family that Marty McFly encounters when he crashes into the barn way back in 1955. It's just a hilarious idea that I wish would have been expanded into a lengthy monthly solo series. 

The First American stories were really naughty. I'm surprised Alan Moore got away with many of his dirty jokes. But these tales were really consistent across the board. The Splash stories were very funny. Yet, not every joke or gag connected. Though the Splash story from issue #7 'a Bigger Splash' should be a required addition if there ever is an essential Alan Moore compendium. 

The Cobweb and Greyshirt segments were my least favorite. For the most part, Moore goes too experimental. The crossover between the two characters was great. As solo acts, not so enjoyable. One Cobweb story is done like a series of newspaper strips and the dialect spoken by some of the characters is just too annoying to attempt to decipher. With Greyshirt, Moore crafts a musical piece. I HATE comics where you have to imagine there's singing and music. I can't read music. I just don't get the tempo. So, maybe Alan Moore really doesn't write just for me...

Tomorrow Stories was limited to a 12-issue run with 2 over-sized specials. I'm just missing 3 issues and the specials for a complete collection of the tales. So I at least have more misadventures to look forward too. Plus, one of the issues I have is a Christmas extravaganza! (I really can't wait for that one!) 

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 7 out of 10 stars.

Star Wars: The Marvel UK Collection (2023 Comic Book & Graphic Novel Reading Challenge)

Marvel UK's Star Wars comics of the 1970s and 80s were quite a bit different than their American counterparts. For one thing, they were released on a weekly basis. Each issue only had about 8-10 pages of Star Wars story. So it might take 6-8 issues (2-3 months) for a storyline to resolve itself. Stories starring Star Lord, Alpha Flight and a segment called 'Tales of the Watcher' were comic segments that filled the rest of the weekly series.

More of a magazine than a traditional comic book, Star Wars Weekly would also include articles, interviews, contests and games, and activities for fans. Free gifts such as cut-out models of X-wings, attached sticker sheets and magic tricks meant that it's nearly impossible to find issues 100% intact. 

Most of the stories were reprints of the American Star Wars comic stories. But for one reason or another, the adventures often were released out of order. Often, shipping delays of the print plates were the result of the tales being published differently from that of the American run. However, the British version was also where rejected Star Wars tales got a second chance at life.

The frigid story 'The Kingdom of Ice' was originally slated to be published over a half dozen issues of the youth magazine Pizzazz. However, the publication's cancellation resulted in the story never reaching a conclusion, unless you happened to be a reader of Star Wars Weekly!

From early on, George Lucas put severe limits on Marvel's Star Wars titles. For one thing, none of the major characters could die (or if it appeared that they had died, it couldn't be permanent). There were a few other restrictions based on Lucas's plan for the sequels. The most important rule the publisher could not break was that Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader were forbidden from meeting each other in print!

Most of the rejected stories happened within the first year of the series. Once Marvel had a good idea what Lucas was looking for, the rejections ceased. Yet, it's not like these rejected tales never saw the light of day. Aside from appearing across the pond in Star Wars Weekly, the discarded tales were collected in a pair of Marvel Illustrated paperback books in the US. These collections now command a hefty price tag, generally with a current asking price of $40-100 each. 

Shipping delays from the American office would force Marvel UK to come up with some original material of their own. Alan Moore (Saga of the Swamp Thing) cut his teeth on no less than 3 shorts. They show flashes of Moore's genius as well as love for complex storylines that were very much not typical for a galaxy far, far away. Moore's 'Tilotny Throws A Shape' is a metaphysical piece where main character Princess Leia barely has anything to do with the plot. Yet the unexpected conclusion ranks up there with some of the greatest twists endings ever created by the staff of the legendary publisher EC Comics who made such finales an art form!

The Marvel UK Collection is over 750 pages and when it sold new in 2017, it retailed for $100. Ollie's would end up selling copies of this book for $29.99 in 2021. This anthology is massive, but as Star Wars Weekly (later going to monthly) ran for 171 issues plus and sister title Return of the Jedi Weekly squeaked out another 155 editions, it would be impossible to reprint all of the contests, articles and IQ quizzes that were included in these comics. That's probably a good thing as many of the pieces are repetitious to an ad nauseam degree. Plus a lot of this material has typos, erroneous facts and answers to solutions that are just plain wrong. 

At least fans can rest assured that all of the comics that ran as first run material in the UK are present in this gigantic tribute to Episodes IV-VI of the Star Wars trilogy!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 7 out of 10 stars.

Completing this review completes Task #31 (Book over 500 Pages) of the 2023 Comic Book and Graphic Novel Reading Challenge.

Superman Annual #11

Have you ever thought really hard that you own something and yet for the love of it all, you just can't find it? That's how I was with this comic book. For the longest time, I thought I owned this beautiful issue. But it turned out that I merely had a reprinted version of the tale in the pages of DC Universe: The Stories of Alan Moore.

Well, that all ended this weekend when I found this book at the Raleigh Flea Market. It's a grail find! And I only paid $2 for a Fine or better copy!

'For The Man Who Has Everything.' 

The story has been made into both an animated episode of Justice League Unlimited and an episode of the CW's Supergirl. While I've never seen the Supergirl episode, the cartoon version was a classic. If somebody wishes to go into animation or adaptation script-writing, this should be required viewing. 

Right before he created Watchmen, Alan Moore scripted this delightful double-sized story. It's Superman's birthday. Batman along with Jason Todd, and Wonder Woman have traveled to the Fortress of Solitude to bestow the Man of Steel with gifts. But it turns out that someone has beat them to it. 

In the middle of the fortress stands Superman, entranced. A mysterious flower is wrapped around his body and its thorns are penetrating his supposedly impenetrable body. Inside Superman's mind, Kal-El is on Krypton. It didn't explode. However things are far from paradise.

Jor-El lost face and his position with the Science Academy because his prediction of mass destruction never came to pass. Now Jor-El is embroiled with a group of militants that long to see the old days of Krypton restored. This extremism has caused fractures between the members of Kal-El's family and now the entire House of El is in peril.

I've been a fan of this story for a very, very long time. I love how Superman loses control against the villain who is behind this plot. Normally, the Man of Steel pulls his punches. But since the antagonist is almost as powerful as he is, Superman just beats the living snot of them! 

As this is a re-read, I noticed how much more powerful and terrifying the scenes on Krypton are. Alan Moore's chaotic look on the formerly doomed planet reminds me of how bad things are these days on planet Earth. Jor-El's fanatic cronies remind me of several key players that on really putting a spin on things. I'll make sure that I DON'T SAY anything further about it.

With illustrations by fellow future Watchmen artist Dave Gibbons, Superman Annual #11 is one of the greatest stories ever told and one of my personal favorites. So glad I got to finally add this book to my collection!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 10 out of 10 stars.

America's Best Comics Primer

I didn't need much of a reason to be convinced of the quality in Alan Moore's America's Best Comics imprint. But to find this collection of first issues for only $3 was a deal I could not pass up. 

I had read about half of the issues contained within at one point of another. But I didn't own them and they were so very good that I did not mind reading them at all. In fact, I am glad I did because I am now wanting to give Promethea another try. Plus, I have a near complete wish list in which I can look for the remainder of the other titles still in need of my consumption!

Alan Moore might be a rather odd fellow in person. But I am a big fan of a lot of his work. His Swamp Thing tenure was amazing. Top 10 is probably in my top ten indy titles of all-time. And Moore's Vigilante stories and the Superman epic 'For The Man Who Has Everything' are probably some of my favorite one-shot tales ever!

The ABC books are not that hard to find. But it's not the easiest of stuff to locate either. So when I can get my hands on something from that 1999-roughly 2008 line, I snatch it up without hesitation. I know that the stories from Moore are going to be excellent. Plus with a line-up of talented artists like Arthur Adams, Jerry Ordway, Yanick Paquette and Gene Ha, I know that I am in for a visual treat!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 10 out of 10 stars.

(Note: This book is also listed as the America's Best Comics Sampler.)

Tom Strong's Terrific Tales Book Two

  
 Alan Moore and friends bring to a close Tom Strong's Terrific Tales. 

   In the Old Tom stories, relive the golden age of cartoons when Tom and his daughter Tesla are challenged to a ghoulish drag race. Then a man dreams what it would be like to be Tom Strong and imagine what the Strong family would be like if they were the Osborne's. Lastly, take a tour of Tom's Millennium City with beautiful illustrations by Michael Kaluta.

    Then Young Tom Strong comes of age on the mystical island of Attabar Teru discovering his origins, being reunited with an old friend, and learning about the opposite sex. Things come full circle by the end of this story line and in a way I'm glad I read this series before Tom Strong as this is full of great backstory and origins. 

    The biggest disappointment are the Jonni Future stories. It's not that these sci-fi adventures  aren't of superior quality. They very much are. But these are literally the last stories of a dynamically titillating series unless co-creators Steve Moore and Arthur Adams craft so further episodes. It's been over a dozen years since the last Jonni Future adventure saw print, so her future isn't so bright. 

     A bittersweet end to a great series...

    Worth Consuming

     Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Tom Strong's Terrific Tales Book One

   Tom Strong is the ageless wonder from the 1920s. Like his name, he's as mighty as he is strong. He's a brilliant inventor and a fearless adventurer.

     Tesla Strong is Tom's beautiful daughter. She's fearless just like her father and warrior mother. But she's also a bit of a party girl.

      King Solomon is a super-intelligent gorilla. A loyal friend of Tom's, Solomon is also quite the ladies man and oh so dapper.

      Jonni Future. Her uncle was the original Johnny Future. His niece inherits the mantle after his dies. Tasked with saving the world in a time that's not her own, she's part historian, part futurist and 100% sexpot.

      Young Tom Strong- shipwrecked and orphaned on a mystical island, Tom Strong grows rapidly over a very short period of time. Since he looks older than he is, Tom is initiated into the tribes people who've become his new family through a serious of trails into manhood.

      Tom Strong's Terrific Tales was a fun journey back to the days of pulp heroes, lusty adventurers, and fantastical scientists. I found this and it's companion volume at my favorite comic book store, Books Do Furnish A Room. It was on steep discount. But the main reason I got these books were because of the head writer Alan Moore of whom I am a huge fan. Yet the main sell for this book I discover is the brilliant artwork and covers by Arthur Adams (Monkeyman and O'Brien.) He's quickly become one of my top 5 favorite artists of all-time and despite the fact that I am in serious need of shelf space, this volume as become a permanent fixture of my collection- thanks to Mr. Adams.

    A great series that has won my attention and desire to own more Tom Strong adventures.

    Worth Consuming

    Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.
     

1977: A Madman Turns 40: 2017- Day 49

 

First edition of 2000 AD

   Though the cover was dated for February 26th, today marks the 40th anniversary of the British sci-fi comic magazine 2000 AD. Growing up I was allowed to read any comic book I wanted except for this one, Heavy Metal, and anything listed in the adults only box at the local comics shop Tales Resold. But over the past decade, I've gotten my hands on some issues and I must say I enjoyed them. 

    2000 AD was where many great British comic book writers and artists got their start. Talents like Alan Moore, Neil Gaiman, Brian Bolland, and Grant Morrison gained international fame working on the publication. But if 2000 AD is known for anything, it's this- Judge Dredd.

Alan Moore- Acclaimed Writer
of Rasputin cosplayer... you decide.

    Judge Dredd appeared in the title's second issue or Prog (which is short for Program.) The authoritarian look at life in an overcrowded metropolis won over fans, appalled critics, and soon became English slang for a police state. 

2000 AD's most famous character, Judge Joseph Dredd.

     2000 AD was edgy, violent, and just want the punk movement needed. Published weekly, it quickly became a sort of manifesto for the anti-establishment crowd which is ironic because Judge Dredd is the ESTABLISHMENT! But the die was cast as the alienated tone of punk rock was embraced by many of the writers of this series well into the late 80s, especially the work of Morrison and Moore. 
  

My favorite 2000 AD alum, Neil Gaiman.

     When 2000 AD was first published it was owned by IPC Magazines. Over the next two decades, the title was purchased by Robert Maxwell and Edmont UK. When the book first came out, it was in black and white and published like an over-sized tabloid magazine. Nowadays, the book is a mere shell of itself. Published in stark color and reduced to the size of a general comic book to save cost and appeal to readers. Fans liken these changes to when National Lampoon stopped publishing nude women and foul language in their pages after being bought out by a subsidiary in the late 80s. It was like a neutered dog- still feisty but missing a real passion to it's bite. 

A 2016 issue of 2000 AD.
It doesn't seem quite so grim and gritty anymore...

    Time (and sales) will only tell if 2000 AD will make it another 40 years or become another classic sci-fi comic title relegated to bargain bins worldwide and otherwise forgotten. 

    Until tomorrow...

     

The L.A.W. (Living Assault Weapons) #1 of 6

 

    When an ancient Hindu god banishes the JLA into another dimension and then uses his demon hordes to wipe out the combined military forces and remaining superheroes of the world, there’s very little hope for planet earth. Thus begins a new mini-series epic from DC Comics 1999. The twist is that what little hope for planet earth is in the form of 6 c-listers from the old Charlton Comics super hero line. Blue Beetle, Judo-Master, Captain Atom, the Question, Peacemaker, and Nightshade.

 Does this list of super-heroes seem a little strangely familiar to you? Well, they should because essentially the L.A.W. is what Alan Moore’s legendary macro-series Watchmen could’ve become if DC allowed him to use the Charlton characters as he originally wanted. Owlman was based on Blue Beetle. Doctor Manhattan was to have been Captain Atom. Silk Spectre was based on Nightshade and the Question and Peacemaker were the respective templates for Rorschach and the Comedian. (I’m not sure who Judo-master was supposed to be as the character that inspired Ozymandias isn’t supposed to be in this mini-series.)

   I am excited about the prospects of this series. I love the old Charlton super heroes as I remember reading some of their exploits in my dad’s comic book collection as a kid. I also like the fact that some of the original artists and writers from those Charlton books, such as Dick Giordano and Bob Layton have been recruited for this mini-series. Already, the art is great and the introductions of the characters is very good. In fact, I am now interested in reading more about the character Fate, who is used in a minor role to introduce Nightshade. To make a minor character that much more interesting and they’re just there to move a certain aspect of the plot forward speaks volumes of the talent of this book’s writers and artists.

Worth Consuming.

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

"The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: The Black Dossier"

NOT WORTH CONSUMING

 You know how when you go to a Rolling Stone concert, you really love hearing the classic tunes, Like “Jumpin’ Jack Flash” or “Satisfaction”, but when they start playing the stuff from their new album, you make a beer run (hopefully in time before they play Sympathy for the Devil).

 Well, this book is the equivalent to an Alan Moore Concert.

 Give me the classic team stuff- Mina Harker, Allan Q, Nemo. But please keep that bloody “other” team crap away from me. Plus, I’m trying to read a graphic novel- so let’s stop with the novellas already.

  And this is not a book for kids under the age of 18! Lots of nudity, sex, and such. Sadly, there’s not enough action! Well, not the action I’m talking about, if you get my drift.

Rating: 3 out of 10 stars.

Watchmen

NOT WORTH CONSUMING

I love Alan Moore, This is not, by far, his best. I did not like the gritty, graphic universe in which Richard Nixon is still president by 1985. The ending was pretty smart, except that the “bad guy” does the all-time cliché of all comics- a monologue, a 20 page monologue!!!

And what’s with Hooded Justice? Who was he what was the big mystery to his identity. I understood he was gay- but was that the big mystery or who in fact was under the mask? I thought it was the later.

And the Pirate comic inside of the comic- I didn’t get it.

Too many mysteries- if I wanted mysteries, I would have played CLUE instead.

Sorry, no go for me.