Tom Strong, Book Five

Tom Strong #5

by Alan Moore, Brian K. Vaughan, Ed Brubaker

Whether investigating paranormal activities in the outermost atmosphere or entering a dream realm through a young girl who is also a living black hole, Tom Strong is the ever vigilant defender of Millennium City!

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Science Fiction, Superheroes, Comic Book, Pulp, Graphic Novels Comics

136 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2005

About the author

Alan Moore is an English writer most famous for his influential work in comics, including the acclaimed graphic novels Watchmen, V for Vendetta and From Hell. He has also written a novel, Voice of the Fire, and performs "workings" (one-off performance art/spoken word pieces) with The Moon and Serpent Grand Egyptian Theatre of Marvels, some of which have been released on CD.

As a comics writer, Moore is notable for being one of the first writers to apply literary and formalist sensibilities to the mainstream of the medium. As well as including challenging subject matter and adult themes, he brings a wide range of influences to his work, from the literary–authors such as William S. Burroughs, Thomas Pynchon, Robert Anton Wilson and Iain Sinclair; New Wave science fiction writers such as Michael Moorcock; horror writers such as Clive Barker; to the cinematic–filmmakers such as Nicolas Roeg. Influences within comics include Will Eisner, Harvey Kurtzman, Jack Kirby and Bryan Talbot.

Reviews

[Little Timmy · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I am huge comic fan I find that most can't seem to capture the feel of the old Pulp era heroes very well. Most seem to try and make the pulp heroes into some type of superhero character. The pulp heroes were different and Tom Strong captures that difference very well. Good SiFi stories with a pulp feel. Great read. Recommended

[Jacob A. Mirallegro · Rating 4 out of 5]

I expected there to be a much bigger drop in quality compared to the Alan Moore issues but these have all been pretty consistent. All the creative teams do an excellent job at embracing the imagination and fun that Moore made so necessary for the series. I really liked how the sky gods looked in issue 26. And the Brian K Vaughan issue about Pneuman was pretty emotional too.

[Zé Wellington · Rating 4 out of 5]

Um bom volume de Tom Strong sem Alan Moore, com destaque para a história do Ed Brubaker que encerra esta publicação.

[Nick · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ed Brubaker's story making fun of Alan Moore's Marvelman (or was it Miracleman..?) isn't the turn I expected in this volume of Tom Strong, but it's emblematic of why this title on the whole was the most anthology friendly and perhaps richly collaborative book Moore ever did. This is the only Tom Strong collection that doesn't actually bear a story credit from either Moore or Chris Sprouse, but I don't deduct from my score for that. Indeed, Brubaker's story is still definitely a Moore story. It's that, like The Terrifics, most of the stories told here aren't really suited to Tom Strong.

[Aaron · Rating 3 out of 5]

A valiant effort by some of comicdom's greatest writers and artists that just can't live up to the high bar set by the previous Moore-helmed entries in the series. I don't really blame any of the creators here. They all wrote very Tom Strong-y stories that feel like they tonally and ideologically fit within the world Moore built.

However, there's just really no momentum. No writer stays on longer than two issues, which means there's really no continuity to hold on to. One of the greatest things about early Tom Strong was Moore's ability to world-build gradually and then bring the story to a giant, satisfying climax by blending all of his ideas together at once. Without a single writer in charge here, there's just no way for this book to live up to that superior construction.

There are a few standout tales, though. Brubaker's two-issue story manages to be both a solid, pulp-y adventure and turn into a nice little mind-bender of a tale. Brian K. Vaughan's issue, while kind of nuts in regards to the character of Pneuman, features a fun romp with the entire Strong family that was a welcome change of pace from some of the other stories.

So, if you're a big Strong-head like me, this is worth reading just to get to spend a little more time in this world. Otherwise, though, this is an easy pass.

[Guido · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tomo de historias cortas a cargo de autores invitados.

[Brian Rogers · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the weakest of the editions, with some clunkers in it, but it's not hardly bad.

[Alexis Peixoto · Rating 2 out of 5]

No Moore, no party. Duas estrelas só pela história do Brubaker.

[Desmond Killian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reprinting the excellent two-parter "The Terrible True Life of Tom Strong" by Brubaker and Fegredo. And the hardcover comes with a little ribbon bookmark!

[Stephen Theaker · Rating 3 out of 5]

An all-star cast of writers fill in for Alan Moore in this one - Mark Schultz (of Xenozoic Tales), Brian K Vaughan (of Y: The Last Man and Lost), Ed Brubaker and Steve Aylett - and while the artwork and production values are up to the title's usual superb standard, the stories aren't quite as glittering as before. It's no fault of the writers - they obviously worked hard (I seem to remember reading that one of them would throw up due to the self-imposed pressure that came from working on an Alan Moore title) and they've produced highly readable entertainments. But one of Alan Moore's many incredible talents is to make the flimsiest of tales seem rich with significance. The stories in this volume remain whimsical, but lack a little magic. And there were things Alan Moore wanted to say and do with these characters - he had reasons for wanting to publish these comics - whereas the great talents working on this volume are reduced, if that's at all the right word, to simply writing good stories about interesting characters.

[Shannon Appelcline · Rating 3 out of 5]

Generally, a mediocre volume, thanks to the very scattered group of writers, not all of them particularly talented. The Vaughan story is actually good, with its focus on Pneuman, while the Brubaker story is OK, but its problem is that it’s too long and the premise has been done to death. Overall, though, not really worth rereading.

[B · Rating 3 out of 5]

The difference between this and other Tom Strong books is that it just didn't BUILD the same way the others do.

Then I saw that there were all these other (famous and awesome) comicbook authors and I thought it made sense. It would have been extremely impossible for them to collaborate the same kind of structure that Moore usually makes in Tom Strong books.

[Fugo Feedback · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tom Strong queda en manos de otros autores, todos de muy alto nivel, y cada uno narra el aspecto que le interesa del universo Strong. Eso sí, por lo general ninguno de los comics está al nivel de las obras propias de cada autor, pero igual casi todas están muy bien.

[Jamie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mr. Moore was nowhere to be found in this volume, but that didn't stop the enjoyment at all. Some of the overall feeling and characterization from previous volumes was missing, but these were all still good stories in their own right.

[Robert · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another strong collection of stories, including a moving P.K. Dick-ish conclusion.

[Juan Jose · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice comics

[Pedro · Rating 5 out of 5]

En esta entrega, mejoran las ilustraciones y mejoran las historias. En especial el arco final sobre la verdadera vida de Tom Strong/Tom Samson.

[Dony Grayman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quinto volumen, historias antológicas de Tom Strong y su familia.