TOM STRONG discussion

[grphxkindaguy]

I just finished reading today, the last of the Tom Strong series of comics. In total that was:

Tom Strong 1-36

Many Worlds of Tesla Strong, one-shot

Tom Stong's Terrific Tales 1-12

(spinoff/tie-in mini-series to TS)
Terra Obscura vol 1, 1-6
Terra Obscura vol 2, 1-6

and finally....

Tom Strong & the Robots of Doom 1-6

Whew!

Has anyone else read these?

The best issues IMO where the Alan Moore penned one's, of course. I really grew to love Chris Sprouse's artwork, he has a very clean style. I loved his assorted tech/spaceship designs!

Alan Moore wrote all the issues of the main title, from #s 1-23, but returned to close out the series w/#36. Many big-name writer's wrote the "fill-in" issues in that interim, like BKV, Brubaker and Johns.

TS Terrific Tales was an anthology book that was more miss then hit for me. They would feature a Tom Strong story written by Moore, a Young Tom Strong story written by Steve Moore (no relation to Alan) and Jonni Future by Art Adams. Alan's TS stories started getting more and more bizarre, to the point where I skimmed through them by the last several issues. Young TS were the best overall. Jonni Future had great artwork (of course) but lousy stories for the most part.

The Many Worlds of Tesla Strong was an all-star artwork jam issue by many big names. That was much better then I thought it would be! I prefer the Art Adams cover to the Bruce Timm one.

The Terra Obscura mini-series were all written by Steve Moore. I'm a sucker for the weirdo team books. The first mini was great, the second fell flat.

S.Moore also wrote the Robots of Doom mini, that came out last year. This was good too, but Steve is no Alan.

It said on the last page of the last issue of the mini that TS would be back in 2012. Well its the middle of August, Wildstorm is still kaput and I don't see it happening!!!

I always wish that Alan wrote a "team-up" mini featuring TS and Top Ten, my other favorite ABC title.

What are your thoughts on the Tom Strong books?!?

[Indigo Al]

Have you read the Tom Strong at the End of the World special, which ties in with Promethea?

[grphxkindaguy]

Have you read the Tom Strong at the End of the World special, which ties in with Promethea?

I did have Promethea #27 that guest starred TS, is that the comic you mean?

I read it and didn't like it one bit. Promethea was too "out there" for me.

[Jack-In-The-Box]

I have the first HC of the Tom Strong series and it's a favorite of mine. People discredit it as one of Moore's lesser works because of it's lightheartedness but I think that's one of it's strong points. It isn't easy to make a simple story seem interesting.

I enjoyed the Terrific Tales too. In an anthology such as those there's bound to be some misses. No big deal for me.

[grphxkindaguy]

I have the first HC of the Tom Strong series and it's a favorite of mine. People discredit it as one of Moore's lesser works because of it's lightheartedness but I think that's one of it's strong points. It isn't easy to make a simple story seem interesting.

Yep, that's why I like it too. Not everything has to so serious...

I like that TS is an explorer/adventurer and NOT a 'super-hero'. He doesn't go around fighting crime, he goes with the flow and see's where it takes him.

His supporting cast is great too, the rest of his family and even the recurring villians are a blast!

[Ramage]

I thought they were fantastic. Top 10 and Supreme get all this hype from that period, but for me Tom Strong was the best read. They definitely have a retro feel, but not so dedicated to a source material the way Supreme was.

I wish Alan Moore would do more of them.

[Eumenides]

Sadly he won't write more stories because he doesn't own the characters. And how that happened, after all the mistakes he made in the '80s, is what I'd like to know one day. Is Moore just a perpetual screw-up when it comes to signing contracts?

[Statham]

Sadly he won't write more stories because he doesn't own the characters. And how that happened, after all the mistakes he made in the '80s, is what I'd like to know one day. Is Moore just a perpetual screw-up when it comes to signing contracts?

Moore didn't screw up with ABC. He signed up with Wildstorm to produce the ABC line and was happy about it until DC Comics came in and bought out Wildstorm - Ostensibly to get at a talent like Lee, but also to get at the ABC line. Moore was pissed, but Lee assured him that DC couldn't interfere with ABC's output and the like.

Which, as we know, was quickly proved to be wrong, Marvel-brand douche and other things aside, especially the screwups with the Black Dossier. It's also unfair to state Moore screwed up in the 80's, when he was one of quite a few creators who got screwed over - As we're seeing today with the Kirby and Siegel estates. On the one hand, it's a case of not getting anything if you don't ask for it, but if you don't know that you can ask for it, or claim something in that sense, then you've been screwed over unfairly. It's not like Moore had knowledge of all that contractual stuff back then, and it's not like DC were about to tell him about it, just like no-one told Kirby or Siegel or whatever that 'hey, you're actually entitled to something here'.

And as a note, the 'Tom Strong at the End of the World' special *is* Issue 36, and is included in the sixth trade as the final story.

[Eumenides]

I wrote that Moore made mistakes in the '80s - he signed contracts that took his comics from him. He spent many years rightly complaining about this. And that's why I don't understand what kind of deal he made with Wildstorm.

I'm not talking about DC buying Wildstorm. I'm talking about Moore owning the Tom Strong and Top Ten. Now, when he signed with Wildstorm, did he or did he not sign a contract that allowed him to retain the rights of the characters? If he did, then DC buying Wildstorm should have made no difference. Moore could just pack up and leave and take the characters to other companies. But apparently, once again, he signed a contract that doesn't allow him to retain the rights of his own characters. And I find that baffling. I can understand he was naive in the '80s. But what's his excuse in the '90s?

Garth Ennis, when he stopped writing The Boys for Wildstorm, took the series to Dynamite Entertainment. He owned the series. So why doesn't Alan Moore own Tom Strong and Top Ten? You know the old saying: fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me. I love Alan Moore, which is why it's so disheartening to see him always make the same mistakes. Couldn't he seek some legal aid before signing anything?

[Iangould]

Sadly he won't write more stories because he doesn't own the characters. And how that happened, after all the mistakes he made in the '80s, is what I'd like to know one day. Is Moore just a perpetual screw-up when it comes to signing contracts?

As I understand it, what happened was that Awesome folded overnight with virtually no warning and stiffed all its creative talent.

It wasn't so much that Moore was a screw-up or that he was desperate for money himself as it was that all his regular collaborators had mortgages and bills to pay and needed work ASAP.

He was already in talks with Wildstorm over LoeG (or may have actually already signed with them to do LoeG) so when they offered a deal straight up that minimized the hardship for all his fellow creators, Moore went for it.

[havok1977]

I'm just catching on with Tom Strong thru backissues, which to my surprise being Moore's work are available and very reasonably priced.

Loving the pulpy feel of it with the somewhat lighter tone than his usual self (not that I'm against that), a kind of Doc Savage with more of a scifi feel to it... up to issue 5 so far and will be getting the next ones gradually.

We'll probably not get any new stories for a while with DCnU being the rage nowadays, so this is the best i can do for now.

[Eumenides]

As I understand it, what happened was that Awesome folded overnight with virtually no warning and stiffed all its creative talent.

It wasn't so much that Moore was a screw-up or that he was desperate for money himself as it was that all his regular collaborators had mortgages and bills to pay and needed work ASAP.

Well, you see, that's something I can understand and admire very much.

[inferno]

I've read a bunch of the stories, but not all, and in no particular order. I find them quite enjoyable; though some of the stories written by other than Alan Moore are rather weak.

[RawShark]

Would anyone know wether there are any plans to collect Tom Strong and the Robots of Doom in a hardcover edition?
I have all the Moore Hardcovers (of everything done for ABC) and I would like to complete the set.

[Eumenides]

I've been re-reading Tom Strong recently. It's still a great, fun comic book written and drawn in a timelessly charming style. The first 19 issues make a very tight multi-part saga. Alan Moore sows ideas that he reaps much later. As always it's obvious he had a master plan from the beginning. It was very thrilling to see the Modular Man and the alien temple return, and to have the mystery of the three-eyed alien abductees resolved.

And there were a few jokes I didn't notice the first time. In one of the later issues, Timmy Turbo comments that he's feeling more realistic. This is because in the first issues he was drawn in a cartoony way, whereas later he's drawn with more dteail this series was a pure joy.

I still have zero interest in the volumes after number 3, but I'd love to read Tom Strong's Terrific Tales, which contains more Moore material. Sadly one of the volumes is out of print I don't understand what company lets a Moore book go out of print. Isn't he like a gold mine for DC?