Tom Strong's Terrific Tales, Book 1

Tom Strong's Terrific Tales #1

by Alan Moore, Leah Moore, Steve Moore

Tom Strong welcomes you to an exciting series of previously untold adventures of his own, as well as the science-fantasy exploits of new heroine Jonni Future, and delving back into the past, the escapades of Young Tom Strong in his early days on the exotic island of Attabar Teru. Also featured are Tom's daughter Tesla Strong, and the intelligent ape King Solomon, as well as appearances by many of Tom's family, friends and deadly foes. Don't miss this chance to fill in the back story behind the stories, as well as visit the far future, in this well written and beautifully drawn collection that will give you hours of reading pleasure!

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

176 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2003

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

[Chad · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun anthology of pulpy sci-fi tales featuring Tom Strong with a 1950's science fiction vibe. Each issue featured a main Tom Strong story by Alan Moore that had some of the same vibes as his Tales of the Green Lantern Corp stories from the 80's at DC.

Then there's a Jonni Future story by Steve Moore (no relation) and Art Adams. Jonni's science fiction writer uncle leaves her a weird house that's actually a portal to another world. Turns out her uncle's cheesy sci-fi stories were all true and he wants her to take over. In typical Art Adams's fashion, the women are all very busty. The stories have a fun, retro vibe to them.

The final story each issue would be a Young Tom Strong issue by Steve Moore and Alan Weiss. He grew up stranded on a strange island and raised by the natives there. These were OK.

Some issues an additional story would get snuck into each issue.

[Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

When this series first came out, I bought it solely for the Jonni Future stories, which were drawn by Arthur Adams.



Jonni is a young woman who discovers her uncle was secretly some kind of cosmic defender. He intended for her to follow in his footsteps, and though she is dubious at first, she ends up loving the adventure.

But I did read all the features and they were good escapist fun. Apart from Jonni, I enjoyed the Tom Strong stories the most. Tom appears to be a throwback to a golden age when heroes were properly heroic, before the greyer modern era. (Even the series title has a quaint, nostalgic feel.) The Young Tom Strong stories, which chronicle Tom's adolescent years, were my least favorite but they weren't bad.

I'd recommend this if you feel bogged down by overly complex and "dark" modern comics.

[Diz · Rating 2 out of 5]

This collection of short science fiction stories is a mixed bag. The nice thing about the stories is that they all have a 1950's science fiction pulp feel to them, which is a nice change of pace from the stories we read these days. However, the stories themselves are not written well. There is an over reliance on dreams and hallucinations, which doesn't make for good stories. Also, there are a few things that feel off. First, the stories that feature young Tom Strong take place in an African village. The villagers warm him of some dangers and every time he disregards them and proves the villagers wrong. It smacks of colonialism that the white Tom Strong can teach the African villagers to handle their problems in a better way. The other problem is that the stories that feature Jonni Future seem to exploit women.

In the end, I would probably recommend giving this book a pass.

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

Well this certainly took me by surprise because I did not expect to love these issues as much as I have. There are some of the best Tom Strong stories in here and the anthology structure really compliments the flow of the Young Tom Strong and Jonni Future chapters. It's also nice to have the Alan Moore chapters be more free form and unrelated from each other, and with rotating artists I can really feel Moore taking advantage of their strong suits in interesting ways. Arthur Adams work for Jonni Future is great and eye pleasing as always and not just because him and Steve Moore were so extremely horny when they made this.

[Fugo Feedback · Rating 4 out of 5]

El 95% de las historias del tomo son muy entretenidas. El 5% restante, zafa.
Lo mejor: Jonni Future y algunas de las historias de Moore (Alan). Lo peor: Alan Weiss, el asesino serial que dibuja las aventuras juveniles de Tom Strong. Le doy un descanso a Tom Strong y seguro vuelva al ruedo dentro de poco con el #2 de Terrific Tales.

[Kurt Zisa · Rating 2 out of 5]

Fun set of tales that lack consistency. Some of the writing and panel layout seems a little disjointed. Regardless this is a joyful romp through fantasy / sci-fi shorts.

[Aquanaten · Rating 4 out of 5]

The second anthology series to come out of Alan Moore's ABC shared universe, Tom Strong's Terrific Tales consists of three major features and the occasional bonus, and is ironically at its best when Tom Strong himself isn't the main focus.

"Jonni Future", the big draw of this series for a lot of people, may be Arthur Adams' greatest work and on its own kind of deserves a 5-star rating for both the gorgeous artwork and how unrepentantly pulpy it is.
A female analogue to the John Carter/Flash Gordon type of starcrossed heroes, but with an even greater emphasis on buxom alien women that would give Frank Frazetta a run for his money.
Steve Moore, legendary Socrates to Alan Moore's Plato, understands Art Adams' strengths and shapes his writing accordingly to great effect.

The other main features of Terrific Tales (standard "Tom Strong" adventures and "Young Tom Strong" adventures) are a mixed bag, very much in tone with the similar anthology-style issues of the main series.

Seeing as how Alan Moore apparently thought he had enough Tom Strong stories in his backlog to justify a whole new series, one would expect his contributions here to all be winners that he really wanted to tell.
Unfortunately, it isn't so. Some of Moore's stories here are pretty good, but a lot of them are just boring.

Tom Strong stopping yet another alien menace in a story with deemphasized violence was already getting stale by the time of the space ants arc of the main series, now it's just going through the motions. I don't know why exactly Alan Moore chose to avoid depicting explicit fight scenes in Tom Strong (I guess it's part of his homage to Golden Age comics) but they would make a world of difference in my enjoyment of these one-off plots.
The main artist here is Paul Rivoche, who I think has a more interesting and eye-catching style than Chris Sprouse, but not enough to make up for the more boring plots. The other "main" artist in rotation for this feature is Jerry Ordway, to whom I would apply very much the same description; pretty good but not good enough to make a boring story less boring.

The third feature, "Young Tom Strong", also written by maestro of legends Steve Moore, is another case of "just OK". It's interesting to explore Attabar Teru and get to know more about how such an archetypal hero came to be, but Young Tom is not as likeable as his adult self, his supporting cast is much less engaging (Dhalua is just a baby) and the setting doesn't allow for the all-out adventures that the character excels at.
"Young Tom Strong" is stuck at an awkward place of not being fully an adventure strip nor fully a slice-of-life strip, and unfortunately its status as a prequel prevents it from being able to commit to either option. The artwork, by Alan Weiss, is pretty good but nothing particularly eye-catching, once again.

If there's another element of Terrific Tales besides Jonni Future that is really worth the attention, it's the one-off shorts by guest artists.
The opening issue features a Tesla Strong story drawn by indie legend Jaime Hernandez, and it's amazing. Fun, somewhat daring in just the right amount, exactly the kind of quality I wanted from this book.
Likewise, Sergio Aragonés gets to draw a Solomon story written by none other than Leah Moore, and the same description could perfectly apply.

If this book had more guest-artists having fun and less wide-eyed edgeless adventuring, I'd enjoy it even more.

[Aaron · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kudos to Alan Moore for continuing to find new and interesting ways to explore the Tom Strong-iverse. This volume, which is supplemental to the main series, features 3-4 short tales per issue that add to the mythos of the world while exploring the characters of Tom and his family. These stories tend to be a little more experimental than the main series, with Moore doing things like telling a full story solely on the back of Tom Strong trading cards.

There's a lot of fun stuff in this, though it tends to feel more like it's aimed only at current fans of Tom Strong (which I am). I love the extra details we get about Tom Strong's life as a young boy, which I'd always felt like could be their own comic, but I can't imagine they'd mean much to anyone new to Tom Strong.

Moore typically writes one of the stories each issue, while other writers like Steve Moore (no relation) contribute the others, so it can also feel a little inconsistent in tone. Also, while I very much appreciate the detail in Arthur Adams' art, the Jonni Future stories he co-created for this series are... weird. This is a book that is mostly about Tom Strong, then all of a sudden it will be about this totally unrelated character who is basically just drawn for horny teen boys to ogle. It's a very strange tonal shift from the rest of the book, and is one of my only real problems with an otherwise intelligent, romp-y series.

So, if you're a Tom Strong fan, definitely give this a read (and skip Jonni Future if you're so inclined). But if you're not, I'd say just go read the main series first and get to this later. Or do whatever you want! I don't know!

[Nick · Rating 3 out of 5]

With Tom Strong, Alan Moore created the most perfect anthology set up he is likely ever wont to. As such, Terrific Tales was a wonderful bit of wish fulfillment for me. Each issue here begins with one Alan Moore-penned story, followed by one side story, and is concluded with Steve Moore (no relation) filling in Young Tom's backstory on Attabar Teru. I was glad to find that not only is the title character in legendarily good hands here, but so also are his world and supporting characters. I especially enjoyed the slice of life provided by Aragones' take on King Solomon and J. Hernandez's Tesla tale -- they truly leave their own mark on the book for the better. And that's not to say Alan Moore takes the backseat by any means; one story told on bubblegum trading cards is among the most effectual world building he's ever done.
My only complaints are with Art Adams' recurring Jonni Future backups. Her setting, like Tom Strong's, draws clear inspiration from pulp convention. However, where Tom Strong draws from adventure novels and Golden Age comic books/ strips in just about equal measure, Jonni Future's formula is something closer to one part space opera to about three parts Tijuana Bible. There's a brilliant balance of common ground struck there in the Frazetta tradition, and one I'd argue would make master Frank reel. But it's the placement of those particular stories against against more, let's say, "wholesome", yarns, that I find jarring.

[J. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tom Strong is a brilliantly well-done series, but this set of side yarns just don't quite hold up. Most of the issues consist of, first, a Tom Strong story. These are almost all good, and done in an array of styles. Second, a "Jenni Future" story. These are well-done, but harken back to an over-sexualized period of comics that I'm not a fan of. Finally, they end with a "Young Tom Strong" feature, but I never really connected with those, either in terms of story or in terms of art. So overall, I disliked more than I liked in this series.

[Zachary King · Rating 4 out of 5]

A mixed bag of stories set in the ABC (America's Best Comics) universe. Alan Moore delivers some intriguing new Tom Strong stories, as he always does, and Steve Moore's "Young Tom Strong" tales add interesting backstory to a part of Tom's origin to which I confess I hadn't given much thought. The Jonni Future stories, though, are where the collection falls off the rails a bit, as the stories lose their plot and become an excuse for Arthur Adams to draw exceedingly buxom women.

[Philmore Olazo · Rating 4 out of 5]

What we have here is a compilation of stories that might as well have been part of the main series.

They are a deeper understanding of Tom Strong's character and his formative years among the Ozu. The additional adventures woven into the narrative contribute to the overall continuity and essence of the series.

The inclusion of a story featuring Jonni Future, while perhaps not essential to the main plot, adds an intriguing and imaginative layer to the book.

[Variaciones Enrojo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reseña para Cabronos:
http://cabronos.blogspot.com.ar/2010/...


El personaje del sello America´s Best Comics de Alan Moore que más ha dado de sí ha sido, sin ninguna duda, Tom Strong. El cientihéroe que tiene características comunes con otros famosos héroes del mundo del cómic y de la literatura ha dado lugar a un gran número de historias basadas en su persona. Al tratarse de una creación de Alan Moore, no está atado a una continuidad rígida, y el autor juega con él y con sus secundarios como le place.
La serie regular de Tom Strong constó de 36 números USA hasta marzo de 2008, pero el personaje no cayó en el olvido, sino que más bien lo fuimos viendo por las páginas de otra serie que se sacó Moore de la manga como fue Tomorrow Stories en la que se contaban tres o cuatro historias cortas sobre nuevos personajes creados por el propio Alan Moore. Pues bien, siguiendo la estela de esa Tomorrow Stories y aprovechando el subuniverso alrededor de Tom Strong, con todos los secundarios que conocimos en los seis tomos que se publicaron en nuestro país, Moore decide escribir Tom Strong´s Terrific Tales.
Esta nueva serie sigue, más o menos, el mismo esquema que Tomorrow Stories, pero con historias protagonizadas, en su mayoría, por el propio Tom Strong en diferentes épocas. Como ya he comentado, el hecho de ser un personaje creado por Moore, y además ser un héroe notoriamente longevo, da lugar a que se pueda sacar mucho partido de todo lo sucedido en torno a él en el pasado. Además, hay que tener en cuenta una cosa importante, y es que las historias se desarrollan en orden cronológico y van siguiendo una trama, de tal forma que, si en el capítulo anterior teníamos un jovencísimo Tom Strong enamorándose de un hada en la playa, en el siguiente, éste recordaría aquel suceso como algo reciente. Es una buena forma de no perder demasiado al lector entre tantos saltos de una situación a otra.
De todas las líneas, Moore se decanta especialmente por tres. En primer lugar tendremos a un Tom Strong adulto viviendo sus aventuras habituales contra extraterrestres, amenazas mágicas o cualquier suceso en Millennium City que necesite la intervención del cientihéoe local. Estas breves historias no ocurren en un marco de tiempo fijo, pues ya podemos estar ante el Tom Strong más veterano con sus canas viajando al espacio, o ante uno mucho más joven que aún vive con su primera esposa, Greta. Los guiones corren a cargo del mismo Alan Moore y siguen la tónica de la serie regular del personaje. Correcto y entretenido.

Luego están las historias Joven Tom, que no es otro que Tom Strong cuando tenía diez años y vivía en la isla donde naufragó junto a sus padres, Attaber Teru. La verdad es que es son las páginas más flojas de todo el tomo, pues Moore no está muy inspirado a la hora de mostrarnos al pre-adolescente rebelde que se supone que debe ser el Joven Tom y al final todo queda en un simple "quiero y no puedo". Sobre todo, cobra mayor importancia las pruebas que ha de pasar el chaval para ser un hombre adulto dentro de la tribu, y el creciente interés de éste por el sexo femenino. Muy poco interesante a mi juicio, tan sólo se salvan algunos detalles en forma de guiños de Alan Moore acerca del futuro que le depara a Tom.

Por último, están las aventuras de Jonni Future, una cientiheroína que recoge el manto de su tío, Johnny Future, que nos fue presentado en Tomorrow Stories. El guión, en este caso, no corre a cargo de Alan Moore, sino de Steve Moore (artista que sólo comparte el apellido con el creador de la línea ABC, y no existe ningún parentesco familiar). De todo, son las partes más interesantes. Jonni Future es una novata en el trabajo de defensora que tiene que realizar su trabajo en el futuro. La verdad es que es la única parte del cómic en la que se echa en falta un poco más de espacio para desarrollar ciertas tramas pues algunas tienen pinta de que podrían haber sido más extendidas y resultar más interesantes, quedándose en pequeños retazos.

Hay alguna pequeña historieta más, de Tesla Strong o de King Solomón (la cual está guionizada por Leah Moore, que sí es hija de Alan Moore), aunque son mucho más cortas que las anteriores. Además, la nómina de dibujantes, aunque no tan extensa como en el último tomo de Tomorrow Stories, también tiene demasiados nombres como para centrarse en ellos uno a uno. Destacan Arthur Adams, Paul Rivoche y Alan Weiss por ser los artistas con mayor número de páginas (el primero de las aventuras de Jonni Future, el segundo de las de Tom Strong y el tercero de las del Joven Tom), aunque también tenemos nombres importantes como el de Sergio Aragoneses o el veterano Jerry Ordway. Gráficamente es un tomo con un alto nivel, de eso no cabe la menor duda.

En definitiva, estamos ante uno de los típicos cómics que salen últimamente a la venta en nuestro país sobre el particular Universo ABC de Alan Moore. Es uan recopilación de historias que se puede leer bastante bien sin necesidad de tener idea del pasado de los personajes, aunque es muy recomendable si queremos disfrutarlo al cien por cien. Aunque, dicho sea de paso, la verdad es que no estamos ante un cómic nada fuera de lo normal y uno (o varios) peldaños por debajo de lo que le solemos exigir a Alan Moore.

[tony dillard jr · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tom Strong is the ageless wonder from the 1920s. Like his name, he's as mighty as he is strong. He's a brilliant inventor and a fearless adventurer.

Tesla Strong is Tom's beautiful daughter. She's fearless just like her father and warrior mother. But she's also a bit of a party girl.

King Solomon is a super-intelligent gorilla. A loyal friend of Tom's, Solomon is also quite the ladies man and oh so dapper.

Jonni Future. Her uncle was the original Johnny Future. His niece inherits the mantle after his dies. Tasked with saving the world in a time that's not her own, she's part historian, part futurist and 100% sexpot.

Young Tom Strong- shipwrecked and orphaned on a mystical island, Tom Strong grows rapidly over a very short period of time. Since he looks older than he is, Tom is initiated into the tribes people who've become his new family through a serious of trails into manhood.

Tom Strong's Terrific Tales was a fun journey back to the days of pulp heroes, lusty adventurers, and fantastical scientists. I found this and it's companion volume at my favorite comic book store, Books Do Furnish A Room. It was on steep discount. But the main reason I got these books were because of the head writer Alan Moore of whom I am a huge fan. Yet the main sell for this book I discover is the brilliant artwork and covers by Arthur Adams (Monkeyman and O'Brien.) He's quickly become one of my top 5 favorite artists of all-time and despite the fact that I am in serious need of shelf space, this volume as become a permanent fixture of my collection- thanks to Mr. Adams.

A great series that has won my attention and desire to own more Tom Strong adventures.

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars
A mixed bag, with various imaginative segments, including by Sergio Aragones, Jaime Hernandez and Jason Pearson, but whilst I love Arthur Adams detailed work I do find his contribution somewhat disconcerting; is it a satire of 1930s pulp sensibilities around women...? Maybe, but I'm not convinced...

[Randall Andrews · Rating 4 out of 5]

A few of the adventures could have been longer and more in depth. Over all though, excellent writing and great art.

[Travis · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great anthology that sets out to just tell some fun adventure stories.
The three stories are:
Tom Strong: Moore plays around with different experimental formats. Aside from that the stories are mostly okay. Tom Strong had his own series at the time, so Moore just uses this series to play around and try some funky ideas out. Interesting, but hit or miss.

Jonni Future: wild, surreal sci-fi adventure with beautiful art, funky technology, weird villains, a space ship that looks like a big fish and a hot chick heroine.

Young Tom Strong: reads like a mix of Young Doc Savage and Tarzan. Sort of Tom Strong's version of Smallville. Fun adventure with a nice 'all ages' vibe that never feels like it's dumbed down.

This series is in my top three favorites of all the stuff that came out of 'Americas Best Comics.

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

The stories were interesting and the artwork was gorgeous. One part of my feminist brain feels like I should be offended with all the images of scantily clad women in the book, but I thought most of them were really well drawn except for the ones that looked really anorexic (like the sea-demoness). I can't wait to read Book 2!

[Stephen Theaker · Rating 3 out of 5]

Highly enjoyable collection of 19 short stories, six each for Tom Strong and Young Tom Strong, five for the pneumatic Jonni Future, and one each for Tesla Strong and King Solomon. Fantastic writing, marvellous art, and bursting with ideas. They're called America's Best Comics for a reason!

[B · Rating 3 out of 5]

the tom strong sections were fine - a little uneven with low floors and low ceilings. the jonni future stories are a kind of trick. at first, they appear to be about empowering a young woman, but then it becomes clear that moore only wants to leer at her. that's pathetic.

[Will Cooper · Rating 3 out of 5]

The bulk of this book is made up of
Tom Strong stories-great! Cool ideas and playful formats.
Young Tom Strong-these are fine. Nothing too new. Mainly coming of age stuff.
Jonni Future-This seemed too sexual. The art alone is absurd and is overtly sexual, focusing on butts and breasts.

[Molly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Leah Moore's King Solomon story is about the cutest thing ever.

[matt · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is refreshing to see different artists work on these stories - but I'm not very impressed with the erotica angle of the Jonni Future stories - just seems sexist and unnecessary

[Adam Lewis Schroeder · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Tom Strong and Jonni Future features are really good throughout, but Young Tom Strong's rictus smile gets old fast.

[Dony Grayman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Primer antología derivada del mundo de Tom Strong con personajes originales como Jonni Future.

[Bosco Burns · Rating 3 out of 5]

Only really liked the Jonni Future stories.
They plastered Alan Moore's name all over it when he didn't write any of the stories.

[Keen Reader · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Tom Strong sections put me very much in mind of Jack Kirby, clearly a playful homage to his “Challengers of The Unknown” series. There is some truly outstanding use of colour and detail, particularly in the “Jonni Future” sections that really brought the action alive. Most of the stories are interesting enough but some fall a bit short, but the high standard of the art work remains constant throughout, ensuring this is a worthwhile read.