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TOM STRONG'S TERRIFIC TALES #1
Mildly Recommended (6/10)
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DC Comics/America's Best Comics
"The Dark Inside"
Writer: Alan Moore
Artist: Paul Rivoche
Colors: Matt Hollingsworth
"Tesla Time"
Writer: Alan Moore
Artist: Jaime Hernandez
Colors: Matt Hollingsworth
"Young Tom Strong and the Field of the Forgotten Shore"
Writer: Steve Moore
Artist: Alan Weiss
Colors: Giulia Brusco
"The Halfway House"
Writer: Steve Moore
Artist: Arthur Adams
Colors: David Baron
Letters: Todd Klein
Editor: Steve Dunbier
Price: $3.50 US/$5.75 CAN |
Dark Inside: Alan Moore offers up another fun, imaginative Tom Strong adventure, set in the 1950s. Strong and two scientists investigate a gaping hole in the Arctic tundra, believed to be left by Nazi leaders and scientists after the war. Strong and his colleagues do find Nazis, but not in a state they expected. No, it seems there is something far more nefarious lurking below.
Moore's ability to tie his science-fiction stories into ancient Earth myth and elements of history is impressive, as are the clever ideas around which he builds his plots. The problem is that we really haven't learned much about the title character in quite some time. Adventure is great, but it lacks a human heart.
Rivoche's art captures the iconic nature of the protagonist, and while the look of the story is in keeping with the tone established by co-creator Chris Sprouse, the artist here still manages to maintain his own unique style. Hollingsworth achieves a nice balance in the colors between a light, innocent tone and a more foreboding one.
Tesla Time: The shining light of this first issue. Moore and Hernandez capture the fun, adventure -- and most importantly -- youth of Tom Strong's daughter wonderfully. They introduce us to a different side of the young heroine. This is a Tesla Strong I'd love to read more about.
In Tom Strong, we've come to know Tesla as an impulsive young woman, but otherwise a girl of remarkable character and ability. Here, Moore treats her more like a teenager... just one with access to interstellar travel. This is a much raunchier side of the character, and a more believable one, even with the spaceships and alien ravers.
Hernandez's art conveys both Tesla's sexuality and youth quitely clearly. There's an odd mix of innocence and sin in the visuals, mirroring the tone of the silent story.
Young Tom Strong: Apparently, my confusion over the title character's origins led my astray. At first, I thought the forbidden area the curious young Tom Strong was exploring was the wreck of his parents' ship, but such was not the case, it turns out. That tripped me up, and I don't think I got as much out of the story as a result.
Initially, I was disappointed that Matt Hollingsworth wasn't handling the coloring chores on all four stories in this anthology, but Giulia Brusco does an excellent job on this segment. The muted palette, along with the glowing greens, puts one in mind of a ghost story, and that bolsters the effect of the story.
Steve Moore obviously has a solid grasp of Alan Moore's science hero. He conveys the unusual nature of his background and the culture in which he grew up nicely. It's too bad Tom Strong's voice is normally a distant one, as it works against the more impetuous, youthful tone of the character in his story.
Halfway House: This is the only story to introduce a new character to the America's Best Comics line: Jonni Future. Steve Moore crafts a character that's in keeping with John Carter Warlord of Mars, Buck Rogers and Adam Strange, but the new spin is that the out-of-place hero is a woman this time.
Jonni Ray inherits a spooky old house from her eccentric uncle, who wrote pulp stories about a hero named Johnny Future. Deciding to stay in the house to help with her writing, Jonni discovers something lurking about... a strange half-leopard/half-man who leads her to discover secret other-dimensional sections of the house, the contents of which reveal that Johnny Future was no mere work of fiction.
Adams's detailed artwork is as much fun today as it was in the 1980s, and my only real qualm with the art is how the Jonni Future costume seems specifically designed to show off the character's breastst. The script, on the other hand, while light and fun, is rather predictable.
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