Tom Strong Book One Hardcover Review

Tom Strong Vol. 1
DC Comics - America's Best Comics
208 pages
$24.95 (2000) Hardcover
$14.95 (2001) Trade Paperback
$39.99 (2009) Deluxe Hardcover Vol. 1
ISBN 761941222646

Contributors: Alan Moore, Chris Sprouse, Al Gordon, Art Adams, Gary Frank, Dave Gibbons, and Jerry Ordway

Reprints: Tom Strong #1-7

Synopsis: Tom Strong is the science-hero champion of Millennium City and has been for the past 100 years.  His life is filled with constant daring adventures and the bold tales chronicled in this collection include:

• "How Tom Strong Got Started" - introduces us to Tom Strong and his cast of characters along with revealing his startling origin.  Born in 1900 on the remote island of Attabar Teru to parents Sinclair and Susan Strong.  They raised him in a gravity chamber with the help of their fully-sensible Pneumatic Man (Pneuman for short).  The gravity chamber imbued him with fantastic strength and durability until an earthquake claimed the lives of his parents in 1908.  Tom grew up with the island tribe and eventually left for Millennium City at 20 years old.  He met his arch-nemesis Paul Saveen soon afterwards, but returned to marry his childhood sweetheart Dhalua.  They have a daughter Tesla and enjoy extended lifespans thanks to the magical Goloka Root native to the island.  We are also introduced to Timmy Turbo who joins the Strongmen of America.  King Solomon, Tom's talking gorilla sidekick is shown in cameo
• "Return of the Modular Man" - one of Tom's old foes returns and threatens the city.  Tesla faces the creature while Tom is off-planet.  He returns just in time to save the day and ends the conflict with a smart bit of negotiation
• "Aztech Nights" - a pan-dimensional empire derived from the ancient Aztec culture invades our reality with Millennium City its beachhead.  Tom investigates and is taken prisoner.  The Aztechs worship a super-intelligent computer god, but can Tom overcome impossible odds to thwart the invasion?
• Four-part story
• "Swastika Girls" - an attack on the Stronghold by an old foe thought dead -- flashback and introduction to Ingrid Weiss, a Nazi super-woman Tom battled in WWII.  She sends Tom back into the prehistoric past!
• "Memories of Pangaea" - in prehistory Tom realizes he is on Pangaea -- the first landmass on Earth before the continents formed. Flashback and introduction to the Pangaean, a highly evolved slime mold culture which mimics other lifeforms and gains sentience.  Tom battles the Pangaean and manages to regain his proper place in time
• "Dead Man's Hand" - the mastermind behind the plot is revealed to be the long-thought-dead Paul Saveen! Tom recalls one of his first capers saving Greta Gabriel from Saveen.  In the present Tom is confronted by a Weiss and Saveen, they reveal a shocking secret that will change Tom's life forever (and it does)!
• "Sons and Heirs" - Tom reels from the shocking revelation of last issue and we get a glimpse into his future through Fingel Parallax's Time Viewer.  Dhalua enters the fray and faces off against Weiss, but can a regular woman defeat a super-woman?  What final shock is left regarding Paul Saveen's ultimate fate?

Pros: Good writing and series introduction by Moore, quality art by top rated artists, interesting concept/format, nice twist at end of first multi-part storyline, sketchbook from Sprouse, Tom's past in flashback is a chance to see a progressive development over his 100-year life

Cons: A few corny bits - blimp bandits, Timmy Turbo and pretty much the entire Strongmen of America, stories are a bit simple and mostly PG-rated adventures

Mike Tells It Straight: Moore and Sprouse co-created a surprisingly endearing cast of characters and the reader is completely immersed in Tom Strong's world.  The stories have an obvious formula with guest artists filling in on each flashback episode.  Despite a shaky start to this first book it ended with an interesting final story and possessed enough plot twists to keep my attention. Tom himself is a mix of old pulp heroes archetypes - Doc Savage, Tarzan, Superman.  He uses his brain to solve problems, but always after a good brawl.  His stories are straightforward, relatively simple and the good guys always win in the end. On Top Chef, contestants often get advice to keep their food simple, but make it really good.  Tom Strong reminds me of some well-prepared chicken.

TO BUY and Recommendations:
   

X-Men: God Loves, Man Kills Premiere Hardcover Review

X-Men: God Loves, Man Kills
Marvel Comics
Premiere Hardcover
120 pages
$19.99
ISBN 9780785127611

Contributors: Chris Claremont, Brent Anderson, Steve Oliff, and Tom Orzechowski

Reprints: Marvel Graphic Novel #5: X-Men - God Loves, Man Kills

Synopsis: A new evangelical anti-mutant fervor is gripping the country spear-headed by Reverend William Stryker.  Across the nation mutants are hated, feared, and turning up dead.  Magneto investigates the brutal slaying of two young mutants, while Professor Xavier faces Stryker in a television debate on the mutant problem.  After the broadcast Xavier is kidnapped by a clandestine group of armored individuals, springing the X-Men into action.  They form an uneasy alliance with Magneto when it becomes clear Stryker is behind the abduction and the mutant slayings, but Stryker has a secret weapon which could potentially defeat even the mightiest mutants. 

Pros: Beautiful hardcover edition, classic story/art, introduction by Claremont (from 2003), unused Neal Adams pages, covers from previous reprinted editions, and interviews with Chris Claremont, Brent Anderson, and Neal Adams

Cons: Smaller than original graphic novel size dimensions

Mike Tells It Straight: The X-Men boiled down to their most pure message of outcasts facing bigotry and oppression. This story was originally published in 1982 as one of the over-sized and less strictly regulated Marvel graphic novel editions.  It garnered critical acclaim and remains to this day one of the best, most well-executed X-Men stories of all time.  Claremont redefined the X-Men with his emotionally mature writing on the 'All-New, All-Different' relaunched team in the '70s and was allowed greater creative freedom (no comics code authority) in the graphic novel format.  Neal Adams was the original artist and drew six pages before being pulled onto another project. Replacement Brent Anderson was lesser-known, but allowed Claremont more influence over the visual storytelling where Adams' greater name and strong artistic style would likely have drastically changed the finished product (as one can see from his pages).  This story truly defines the X-Men as written by Claremont and explains their tremendous appeal across the decades.

TO BUY and Recommendations:
   

Jenny Sparks: The Secret History of the Authority Review

Jenny Sparks: The Secret History of the Authority
DC Comics - Wildstorm
Softcover Trade Paperback
128 pages
$14.95
ISBN 9781563897696

Contributors: Mark Millar, John McCrea, James Hodgkins, Ian Hannin, and introduction by Warren Ellis

Reprints: Jenny Sparks: The Secret History of the Authority #1-5 (of 5)

Synopsis: Jenny Sparks, spirit of the 20th century, is dead after sacrificing her life to save earth and mankind from utter destruction.  Now take a ride through her 100-year life as written in her private journal.  Get a glimpse into the secret origins of the original members of the Authority as Jenny's path crosses theirs throughout history. 

• Between the demise of Stormwatch and the formation of the Authority, Jenny convinces the Doctor to stop shooting heroin, playing video games, to get off his couch, and become a super-bloke! 
• While they were still underground, Apollo and the Midnighter get their bacon saved by Jenny when she comes out of retirement
• We get to see the origin of Jack Hawksmoor as he is continually abducted and operated on by aliens to prepare for an invasion from the future.  Jenny leads a superhero army into battle with absurdly high casualties
• Back in the 1940s Jenny battles Nazi's to secure a mystical egg thought to contain an amazing creature (Shen)
• We get to see the origin of the Engineer as she helps Jenny in the past to stop an invasion from Sliding Albion

Pros: Millar adds in some funny historical references like Jenny being friends with Adolf Hitler when he was a starving artist, Einstein and Hemingway regularly going on science adventures with her, it's nice to get glimpses into the origins of various Authority members, Shen and Jenny have a lesbian tryst (word!), includes variant cover by Hitch

Cons: McCrea's art isn't particularly dramatic or as widescreen as Bryan Hitch from the regular series

Mike Tells It Straight: Millar was the worthy successor of original creator Ellis and pens a nice final tale for Jenny encompassing her storied past.  This one-off mini-series is enjoyable for Authority fans and I consider it an extended #0 issue.  You must have a rudimentary knowledge of the team to fully understand the book and I recommend reading it after Jenny's death in issue #12.  In true Jenny fashion you better be knackered and smoking a ciggie the whole time.

TO BUY and Recommendations:
   

The Great and Secret Show - Clive Barker Review

The Complete Clive Barker's The Great and Secret Show

IDW Publishing
Softcover Trade Paperback

300 pages
$35.00
ISBN 9781600101212

Contributors: Chris Ryall, Gabriel Rodriguez, Jay Fotos, and introduction/original novel by Clive Barker

Reprints: Clive Barker's The Great and Secret Show #1-12 (of 12)

Synopsis: Randolph Jaffe is a forgettable little man working for the United States Postal Service and given the mundane task of working the dead letter room in Omaha, Nebraska - where all the undeliverable mail for the entire country is stored. Sifting through the random articles of mail Jaffe slowly discovers an amazing secret world behind our normal one. He learns of The Art after finding a strange medallion and pieces together the existence of the Shoal - a secret society with some connection to The Art.

Soon his journey begins to discover and master The Art by finding the last remaining Shoal...which happens pretty quickly. Jaffe meets Kissoon and learns of the true secret of Quiddity -- the Dream-Sea which humans only experience three times in their lives. Kissoon attempts to trick Jaffe who escapes and renews his search in earnest for The Art -- a way to open the door to Quiddity. Jaffe enlists an academic drug-addict named Richard Fletcher to help him search and isolates the Nuncio -- a magical elixir bringing reality from consciousness. Realizing Jaffe is evil Fletcher exposes himself to the Nuncio, but too late. Jaffe too is exposed and the two gods-from-men battle through the skies before crashing down in Palomo Grove, California. The two grapple beneath the earth for years.

Now the true story begins! Four teenage girls take a dip in a runoff lake formed after a summer storm. They are mysteriously accosted by a strange force beneath the water. Sound familiar? The girls vow never to speak of their violation, but soon begin exhibiting strange behavior -- yes, they turn into super-freaks and end up pregnant (or crazy). Sixteen years later the offspring of Jaffe and Fletcher come home to Palomo Grove as a supernatural war threatens to explode. Will Quiddity remain unspoiled or will the monstrous giants living beyond it's shores invade the real world?

Pros: An epic story with lots of twists and turns, Rodriguez's art is immersive and creative, mature themes with nothing held back (I wouldn't expect less from Clive Barker) and thankfully no censorship, nudity, lots of extras including sketches (some by Barker himself), covers, and some director's commentary

Cons: Rodriguez's character art has some proportional inconsistencies (although I stopped noticing once I got into the story) with too-large heads on small bodies, a lot of information from the novel is condensed into this book and character backgrounds were left out when they could have been interesting, we have to wait for the sequel Everville to be adapted into graphic novel format!

Mike Tells It Straight: Let me start by saying I've never read the original novel The Great and Secret Show by Clive Barker. Based solely on this graphic novel and without any foreknowledge of the series I can say it was rather enjoyable and filled with interesting concepts compared to a lot of other graphic novels on the shelves today. Any adaptation of a book into another media will fall short of the original whether it be film or graphic novel. Our imaginations are far more powerful than any physical tools after all. I will say Ryall and Rodriguez had a daunting job to accomplish in this adaptation based on the detail contained in Barker's novels, but they did a fine job (as Barker himself extols in his introduction). Despite feeling a bit rushed the story takes the reader on a wicked ride and compels them onward to the finish (which is really just the beginning).

TO BUY and Recommendations: