TOM STRONG'S TERRIFIC TALES #2

By: Tony Whitt
Date: Friday, February 15, 2002

I certainly don't need to tell you how incredible Alan Moore's work is-it's hardly a surprise to hear that he's one of the most talented and innovative writers around, et cetera, et cetera. It's more of a surprise when his work doesn't live up to that talent, and the only time I've experienced that sort of unpleasant surprise was upon reading his earlier anthology series, TOMORROW STORIES. In TOM STRONG'S TERRIFIC TALES, however, there's no such unpleasantness.

Part of that may come from Moore's sharing of the writing chores with Steve Moore, whose work shows some of the same genius. Steve Moore contributes two stories to this issue's triad: the latest installments of Jonni Future and Young Tom Strong. The former is the stronger of the two stories, as Moore plays with the conventions of old-time serialized science fiction and makes it far more exciting-and for some readers, no doubt, far more sexy-than BUCK ROGERS or FLASH GORDON ever were. Arthur Adams's stylish and busy artwork helps with both, appealing to both the hard science fiction fan contingent and the even harder T&A fan contingent. (Sorry, I just couldn't resist.) Seriously, though, this is quite possibly the best feature in the book, and as it's so far a true continuing series rather than a series of one-off stories, like the Tom Strong and Young Tom Strong features, it's likely to get even better as it goes.

I have my reservations about the Young Tom Strong feature, however, much as I did in the first issue. While watching Tom tame his first Thunderbird and make it his friend and mount is fun, it's not quite as enjoyable as the other two stories. Steve Moore might consider making this into the same sort of serialized adventure as Jonni Future-I can't help thinking that the stories would be stronger individually if they were part of some larger whole, even though such a structure would defeat the purpose of an anthology series like this.

Self-contained stories seem to be Alan Moore's forte as much as sustained series, however, if this month's Tom Strong feature is anything to go by. Much like Tom's adventure in the 1950s last issue, "Live Culture" fits into the mold of illustrated pulp sci-fi/horror story, complete with invading alien parasites and crystalline structures that produce multiple centers of gravity. It's a bit like reading an old John W. Campbell Jr. or E.E. "Doc" Smith story, except for its modern sensibility and shortened length.


In fact, that shortened length is the only real drawback for any of these stories-just as they're approaching full steam, they have to end. "Live Culture" in particular feels like it could have been a few pages longer, as does the Jonni Future feature. The only other lack in this issue is a Tesla Strong story, though I doubt even Jamie Hernandez could keep coming up with that same sort of hilarity every month. Or could he? Even with these minor deficiencies, though, this series is proving that its title is no more hyperbole than the name "America's Best Comics" is.

TOM STRONG'S TERRIFIC TALES

Grade: A-

Issue: No. 2

Author(s): Alan Moore, Steve Moore, Arthur Adams, Paul Rivoche, Alan Weiss, Todd Klein

Publisher: America's Best Comics

Price: $2.95