Alan Moore is an inconsistent comics writer as far as I’m concerned, but I really like a lot of his work. TOM STRONG falls into that category. I’ve recently read the first two collections from the comic book series written by Moore and drawn mostly by Chris Sprouse (with numerous guest artists). Book 1 reprints issues 1 – 7, Book 2 reprints issues 8 – 14, and in that run there’s a good mixture of continued stories, single-issue stories, and even some issues that feature two or three stand-alone stories.
The character of Tom Strong owes a lot to both Doc Savage (raised from a baby by scientist parents to be a physical and mental marvel) and Tarzan (the family marooned on a jungle island, Tom befriending the natives who live there, and a longevity formula), with a little bit of Superman thrown in (Tom becoming the resident superhero of Millennium Ci
ty). At the time of these stories, set around the year 2000, Tom Strong has been having adventures for nearly 80 years, although thanks to the longevity formula given to him by the natives on the island where he was raised, he looks less than half his real age. The same is true of his wife and apparently teenage daughter, both of whom are much older than they look.There are a few instances of post-modern irony in the stories, but it’s affectionate and for the most part they can be read as straight adventure yarns strongly influenced by both Marvel and DC at their Silver Age height. Tom Strong travels in time, visits alternate universes, deals with malevolent super-villains, and even encounters a funny animal version of himself. I thoroughly enjoyed both volumes that I read and will be on the lookout for more collections. If you grew up reading comics in the Sixties like I did, I think there’s a good chance you’d like them, too.
5 comments:
And theres a little of Tom Swift thrown in for good measure... I actually find Moore to be one of the more consistent writers with Watchmen, V for Vendetta and From Hell to name a few. Tom Strong is entertaining and reminds me a little of the forgotten Dig Allen Space Explorer Adventures.
I agree that Moore is usually a pretty good writer. I loved some of the Superman stories he did in the Eighties, just before the John Byrne reboot of the character. Believe it or not, I've never read WATCHMEN, but I have a copy of it and plan to get to it soon.
Never read Watchmen, whaaaaaaaaaaat! Do yourself a favor James read it asap. To me that is Moore's high point. I keep meaning to pick up a replacement copy since I lost mine years ago.
My copy of WATCHMEN is right here on the shelf beside me. Maybe I'll get around to it later this week.
I am a fan of these as well and you are right on concering Moore's writing. Some stuff just doesn't connect with me, nor does his strange behavior regarding his works being turned into films. But he is certainly talented and when he is one he is one of the most amazing comic book writers working today.
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