I think part of the love for this team is that, a), they were first; and, b) they had two relatively coherent stories that were the most involving and had a central narrative.

I still have to read the later League stuff; but, I felt that from Black Dossier onward, the narrative was subordinate to introducing more characters and weird stuff, from beyond, than an actual mystery of adventure.  That's fine; but I prefer the mystery and adventure.  I tend to prefer other metafictions to Moore' like Kim Newman's Anno Dracula and Diogenes Club works, or Xavier Maumejean's The League of Heroes or the Tales of the Shadowmen anthologies.  They stick to the bread and butter of things.

I think Moore and O'Neil got more caught up introducing more easter eggs and literary elements and needed bigger set pieces to bring it together.

Tom Strong's Terrific Tales #4



Schoolhouse Rock comes to mind....



Creative Team: Alan & Steve Moore (no relation)-writers, Paul Rivoche, Art Adams & Alan Weiss-art, Todd Klein-letters, Dave Stewart, Artful Dodger and Giulia Brusco-colors, Scott Dunbier-editor

Synopsis: Tom Strong-
Tom is up on a high rise structure, where one of the workmen is sitting on the edge of a girder, contemplating his death. Tom is there to try to talk him out of it.



The man is Pete Draat and he believes himself to be a loser, with nothing to live for. he is unimportant and doesn't matter to the world. Tom tries to make him see otherwise, but Pete rebuffs him, saying Tom saves worlds; what does he know of Pete's life. Before he can stop him, Pete jumps and Tom having no other option, leaps after him. Under the laws of physics, Tom knows they will fall at the same rate and he cannot catch up to Pete, without an outside force. He pulls out his grappling gun and snares a flagpole and then hits the rewind button on the cable reel, which pulls him at a faster rate, accelerating his fall until he can reach Pete. He hangs on and they swing back upward, in an arc, but they have no place to land. Tom tells Pete that he has to let go or they will swing back and crash into something. He tells Pete to work with him and Tom arches his body back to try to alter their trajectory towards the cable car line, where Tom is able to gram hold of the car and stop their fall. However, he only has use of the hand grasping a rail on the car and is holding Pete with the other arm. He tells Pete the situation....



Their only chance is to work together, with Pete climbing up Tom's body, onto the cable car, then Pete pulling Tom up. Otherwise, Tom will lose strength and they will both fall to their deaths. Pete does as asked ad the pair survive. The car comes into the Chaland Street Platform, where reporters are waiting for a statement. Tom tells them Pete was just sitting up there, thinking, when he lost his footing. He tells them that if Pete hadn't pulled them onto the car, Tom would have plunged to his death and he names Pete a hero, for saving his life. The reporter asks Pete his name and he gives it, smiling. Tom quietly slips away, looking back, also smiling.

Jonni Future-in 1692, Puritan riders Samuel Tompkins, Abraham Roberts, and Thomas chase down a woman, Susanna Morris, branded a witch by Tompkins. Abrahama's remark to Thomas to not look upon her lacivious body causes her to call back to him and bare her breasts, accusing him of lust. The men charge at the defenseless woman. Susanna gestures and bids them to call upon their master....



They pass through a portal and emerge in a world of orange skies and floating rocks. Thomas asks if they are in Hell, but Samuel says no, that the Apocalypse has come, as they crossed the stream, trying to ride down Susanna. They see a city and head towards it, but find statues of women, with little clothing and strange attire, which they see as graven idols, feeling they are in Babylon or some other "godless place." Jonni and Jermaal come across them and try to calm them down, but the fact that she is flying and has a talking cat-man with her convinces the trio that she is a witch and they flee. She follows, trying to talk sense into them,. Shhe sees them headed towards a highway, with unmanned vehicles and she acts to stop them, calling down the Coelacanth. They believe it is a demonic device and ride faster towards the danger. He uses a tractor beam to lift them over the highway, which they see as more witchcraft. Jermaal returns and they spur their horses into the Blazing Lands. Now they tuly believe they are in Hell. Jonni uses the Coelacanth's stun ray to bring them to a halt, then takes them to the Brothers of the Declining Stars. They are able to talk to them, after a fashion, and convince them to stay, praising their lord, at the End of Time....



Young Tom Strong-

Tom walks the beaches of Attaba Teru, when he comes across a woman, from the sea, like a selkie of Celtic myth, or a mermaid.



Chief Omotu had warned Tom that sea-demons ruled the coast and to beware, but she doesn't look like a "demon." When she sees Tom, the selkie dives back into the water, staying under for some time, before breaching and teasing Tom, from the ocean. Tom decides to follow and fashions an airline out of hollow gourds and tubular vines (Totally tubular, dude!) he swims down after her. He tries to communicate, via sign language and she draws him deeper. They come across more adult looking members of her people and they see Tom and react in anger. The selkie tries to stop them; but, is held back as one of the two males cuts Tom's air line. Tom swims as hard as he can towards the surface and finally bursts through the surface, sucking in air. he swims to shore and goes back to the Ozu village and tells the chief what happened, minus a few details. The chief tells him the story of a sea demon coming to Makaaza the Fisher, bringing her curse upon him, as a storm destroys his house. He moves inland, to rebuild and she stays with him, not realizing her life will be short, away from the ocean. She dies for love, but her people do not thank the Ozu for this and bring hatred and the people avoid the coast.

Tom goes back to find the selkie again and runs into the adult males, who hurl spears at him. He runs from them and finds the selkie, caught in an old mantrap, from the slaving vessel which lies derelict onthe shore. Tom frees her and carries her to the water, to rehydrate her....



He is able to save her and the males come by and the selkie explains to them and they leave Tom alone and they return to the sea. the selkie kisses him and slides into the ocean, as Tom smiles and contemplates the feelings the kiss has stirred in him.

Thoughts: The opening tale finds Tom trying to talk down a suicide; but, his reputation precedes him and just urges the man on, as he feels he has no value in the world, despite helping to build the city. Tom has to act to save him and risks his own life to do it, placing himself into Pete's hands, so that he must save Tom, or they both die. Pete respects what Tom does, that he is important and he does as asked, saving Tom and himself. Tom steers the reporters to him to encourage that feeling of worth.

It's a nice little Eisner-esque tale of humanity. as Tom tries to prevent Pete from throwing away his life. Tom's adventures have taught him that life is interconnected and he demonstrates this by plunging after Pete and forcing him into a situation where he has to act to save another. Rivoche worked with Dean Motter on Mister X and is highly adept at depicting the retro-futuristic architecture of Millennium City, with its skyscrapers and cable cars, airships and elevated concourses, as well as the skeleton of a building, where Tom finds Pete.

This was a whole 7 years before Grant Morrison wrote a similar scene in All-Star Superman, where Superman sits down with a young woman and talks her out of suicide. Paul Chadwick did a similar story, in 1988, where Superman comes across a stranded motorist, in a blizzard, who is about to kill himself, as his battery is dead, since his generator isn't charging it. He has a painful condition that is made worse by cold. Superman sits with him in the car and warms him up and just talks to him, listening to him unfold his troubles. Superman tells him that they are poor excuse for throwing away his life. he manually turns the generator and charges the battery and gives him directions to a nearby farm, where there are kind friends who will put him up for the night and a phone, for him to call his estranged daughter and try to reconcile. of course, the farm belongs to the Kents. It is a quiet tale of humanity, one person helping another through their troubles, seeing that even in desperation, there is hope and hope can bring a better tomorrow.

Jonni Future features a sci-fi tale of the witch-hunting hysteria of the 17th Century, as some pious Puritans, pursuing a lone woman out of fear, hatred, and likely lust and find that she is more than she seems, but not what they thought and find themselves transported to Jonni's future world, where the Earth has broken apart into an archipelago in space, and they believe the Apocalypse has come and see everything in strict biblical terms, refusing to see reason, as that is their only point of reference for what they are witnessing. Finally, Jonni must subdue them and take them to someone who can give them peace: the Brotherhood of the Declining Stars. There, they can be within a quasi-religious environment, contemplating the end and praising their god, which brings them happiness. It is a better end for them and eliminates a threat to others, in the past. It is a thinking solution, rather than brute force, which is part of why I enjoy Moore''s tales, in the ABC books. They are as much about using reason to solve problems, rather than brute strength. Given the events of the time and in subsequent decades, its a message that has remained timely, yet seems to be ignored in the Halls of Power.

Adams gets to be all kinds of Kirby, with the environment, as well as go nuts with the details. He does a fine Puritan and it makes me wish he had done a Solomon Kane story.

Young Tom Strong is basically a reworking of mermaid tales of sea-faring people. Tom finds a selkie/mermaid, finds himself feared and hated by her kind, but again uses reason to try to relieve the situation and at least brings a truce, if not a complete peace. he also finds that puberty is upon him. It's a cute little tale, from Steve Moore and Alan Weiss, if not a terribly deep one. Weiss makes bot the land and the sea environments look inviting and doesn't overdo it, with the selkie, giving her a more fragile form, rather than making her look like DD-cup stripper in a seashell bikini.

This continues to be a light, entertaining book, which showcases the talent of those involved. Both Moores have experience in shorter stories, in anthologies and bring that to this series, which is tied into Tom Strong's world.

Tom Strong #18



Music!



Creative Team: Alan Moore-writer, Chris Sprouse & Karl Story-art, Todd Klein-letters, Dave Stewart-colors, Scott Dunbier-editor

Synopsis: When last we left them, Tom and his Space Possee were barreling towards the space anthill, when the Junior Strongmen of America went and got themselves capture by the ants. Tom has to hold off having Val fry them, with a solar flare. Now, he has to effect a rescue. Coleman Grey, aka The Weird Rider, suggests that they act as a distraction and Tom & Svetlana X move in from the rear and free the kids. Tom likes the plan and he and Svetlana take a drop ship to the anthill. The ants see them coming and fire up a tractor beam....



The riders let the beam pull them in, while Tom and Svetlana dock and use molecular agitators to move inside the walls of the ship. Once inside the ship, Weird Rider and his team open fire and the Weird Rider teaches them fear....



One of the riders, Jeb, is killed by the ants, who decapitate him. The others fight on and Crucifyin' Williams lives up to his name, impaling ants with his nails.

Tom and Svetlana follow the signal to the kids, killing ants along the way, but discover that the ants have swarmed over the kids....



Svetlana dives right in and starts "kicking thorax," and Tom is forced to join the "crazy cossack," as he calls her. Tom uses a scent bomb to draw the ants away and get to the kids, who are still behind the forcefield of the space horse. They deactivate and Tom tells them they are in trouble and Timmy Turbo may be facing court martial.

Holy Socks!

They get the kids loaded and alert the Weird Rider to get his people out and Coleman covers the rest as they withdraw. Tomalerts Dhalua to prepare the solar flare. Once they are clear, he gives the word and Dhalua gives Val the command and he activates the solar flare....



However, the ants release three city-size ships before the flare hits. They are the same type that took the settlement off of The Devil's Toadstool. Dhalue activates the hypersaucer's cannons, targets one and destroys it. They spread out to try to keep themselves between the remaining two and the Earth. They get passed, but as they near Venus.....



The Modular Man reaches out and destroys one of them, but the other slips past. Tom tells the rest to try to herd it towards the Moon and they do and Tom reveals another surprise ally....



...the space creature from issue #9, which was trapped on earth, below a Mayan temple, until Tom Freed it. It then moves on to find its people, somewhere in outer space. The rest return home and Tom thanks Coleman Grey and the rest, who return to the Devil's Toadstool, while Svetlana heads back to Russia. Tom tells Timmy that he was kidding about the court martial, that he was just trying to scare him and Dhalua reminds him that the kid and his friends were surrounded by killer ants, at the time. Ya big jerk!

Tom tells Val he did good and apologizes for how he treated him, passing it off as Victorian influences. he bids the kids good night, but Val ruins the moment....



Thoughts: So, we wrap up the epic battle between Tom Strong and his team and the space ants. You could kind of calls this Tom Strong vs Aliens. The ants allow for wanton killing without emotional sentiment or moralizing, as the ants aren't capable of independent thought. So, like in Starship troopers, we can kill and kill again and still be the good guys, no matter how fascist we may look. No Buddhists here!

Plenty of fun moments, as Moore keeps this mostly light, though there are good dramatic moments, like the death of Jeb and Crucfyin' Williams spiking an ant. The Weird Rider continues to be one of the coolest characters, mixing a bit of the Lone Ranger and a bit of CL Moore, and a touch or two of George Lucas. I would have loved a spin-off mini-series with the Rider and his friends; but, the deal with Wildstorm had already gone sour and Moore was finishing up commitments and wrapping up his work on the books, more and more. Just be glad that the 49ers graphic novel and Smax mini-series, as well as Terra Obscura, were already in the pipeline.

Moore brings back more old friends, which is part of why I loved this storyline, apart from the awesomeness of the Weird Rider and Svetlana X (another character crying out for a spin-off). Temple Baldry, aka the Modular man appears again, after debuting in the second issue. We also get the return of the space creature from issue #9.

The next issue will serve as a stand-alone palate cleanser, before Moore pulls off his last major storyline, which is a doozy!

League of Extraordinary Gentlemen Vol 2, #4



Pretty powerful decorative lamps those Martians have!

Creative Team: Alan Moore-writer, Kevin O'Neil-art, Bill Oakley-letters, Benedict Dimagmaliw-colors, Scott Dunbier-editor

Synopsis:We open with a family boarding a train, to flee the Martians, as another capsule has come down (last issue). In the distance, we see a Tripod approach . It destroys the rail bridge and the train plummets into the river below. The young boy is the only survivor of his family, as both parents lie dead. He looks on and sees the Tripod and fears for his life, but help comes from below.....



The Nautilus rises out of the Thames and hits a point blank shot at the Tripod, with its deck cannon. As debris falls, the Tripod fires its energy weapon at the Thames, boiling the water. Broad Arrow Jack pulls the child inside the hatch and the submarine submerges. The boy asks about his parents and Jack tells him they are dead and he must be a man. The child sees Hyde and is stunned. Hyde "compliments" (with racial sluts) Captain Nemo on the shot and Nemo thanks him. He remarks of reports that British artillery have brought down another, but the companion Tripod carried off the wreckage. Hyde remarks that the Martians must be sentimental, but Nemo says they don't what their machines studied. He orders the wreckage of their target be secured and Jack uses the ships tentacles to snare it.

Meanwhile, Mina and Quatermain are in the South Downs, crossing hills. Quatermain struggles to keep up and vents his frustration at his mission, wishing to be there to fight the Martians. Mina says they are hunting for someone. Their quarry has a mobile base, somewhere in the forest. Mina tells hi to enjoy nature, then they hear a voice, quoting Tennyson.

The Nautilus docks in Wapping and offloads the young boy, to the care of two police constables, to be delivered to his relatives. The boy says his name is Jimmy Grey and says the Nautilus is grand and he hopes soomeday to build something like it (*see Thoughts). Hyde wants to be off killing Martians, and Griffin, should they locate him. Nemo says Miss Murray would like to see that. Hyde rebukes the idea...



Mina and Allan meet Teddy Pendrick, who is happy that the fat government man listened to him and sent the pair. Allan asks who or what they are supposed to find and he remarks, "the devil doctor," and that everyone thought him dead, on his island. (see Thoughts) He rants about men with the eyes of hunting dogs and feline forms. He runs off, saying not to follow, as he has set traps. Allan calls him peculiar, then asks if "devil doctor" meant Fu Manchu. Mina doesn't think so; someone else, with an island. She says the fat man must be Campion Bond. The doctor must be their goal. The move deeper into the woods and Allan remarks that it is like Africa, that he can smell large game, on the wind....tigers and bears. Mina says there might be rabbits, but not much else. She is stirred by his talk of hunting. They press on, oblivious to eyes watching them....



In London, Tripods devastate the outer city and Nemo orders Ishmael to be prepared to put a round into one of it approaches Blackfriars, or to collapse the bridge. Hyde mocks him and he replies that the Thames is London's moat, now.

Allan and Mina have returned to the inn, where they are staying, having failed to locate the doctor. The say their goodnights to Mis Mopp, the maid/hostess and retire early to their room. Mina is acting strangely, like a giddy young woman and Allan is puzzled, and she says they are supposed to be a happily married couple and ust maintain the appearance. They share a room and Allan is even more uncomfortable. He gets angry and says he is not sleeping on the floor, again, while she is comfortable. She replies that he may sleep where he likes and begins undressing. Allan is shocked and Mina tells him he can't be a stranger to the sight. She asks him to undo her corset. Mina tells Allan that she has worshipped him since she was 16, with tales of his exploits. He feels uneasy and makes excuses and she replies that he is officially "dead," and she is divorced, so there is nothing wrong. She tells him to undress and come to bed. Allan is self conscious about his old ad scarred body, but Mina displays her own and says she has scars, too. She leaves the scarf around her neck, as they make love.

In London, the Martians continue their destruction and the Nautilus rings of metallic clangs, as Hyde punches the captured wreckage. Outside, Griffin explains to the Martians that the Nautilus is what stands in their way and they must destroy it.

Mina and Allan continue and she tells him to bite her shoulder. She moans in pleasure as he does. Eventually, they are sated and rest. Mina has a blissful expression and Allan looks at her, but her scarf has fallen aside and he sees the scars on her neck.



In the Traveler's Almanac, Mina and Allan travel across Africa, which Nemo noted, in his logs, was surrounded by hidden mysteries in its coasts and islands. There is talk of the voyages of Gulliver and the Arabian mariner, Sinbad. They run across kingdom's of Apes, performing the "Dum-Dum" ritual, a land of intelligent elephants and their wise king, and the land of Ayesha. Allan seems to perish, though Mina makes little note of it, in her journal.

Thoughts: Our story continues to unfold, as Mina and Allan are in Sussex, looking for the mysterious doctor, while Nemo and Hyde and the Nautilus, fight to hold the Martians at bay. The boy, Jimmy Grey, will grow up to be Professor Gray, who creates two submarines, captained by his children, in the Beano strip, The Iron Fish. Nemo's crewman, Broad Arrow Jack, is the lead character in a Victorian penny dreadful, a sailor fallen on hard times, in Australia, who becomes an outlaw, but goes on to marry a wealthy aristocrat. Ishmael is the mate from the Pequod, in Moby Dick. Miss Mop, at the Inn, is a reference to the character Mrs Mopp, from the BBC radio series, "It's That Man Again." Teddy Pendrick is from The Island of Dr Moreau, the man who becomes shipwrecked on Moreau's island, where he conducts his experiments, creating beast-men. Moreau is the "devil doctor" they seek.

Hyde's comments about Griffin suggest that he intends to meet out justice to him, for assaulting Mina, furthering his attachment to her. It is clear from his comments and his violent assault on the Martian machine that it will be a terrible vengeance. Nemo also makes a comment, at one point, that expresses his disdain for the British. We are reminded that he is the Indian Prince Dakkar, who was part of a rebellion against British rule. originally, Verne intended Nemo to be a Polish revolutionary, but his publisher pressured him to change that, due to sales of his books in that region. Nemo was made more mysterious, though his name and background were revealed, in the sequel, Mysterious Island. As such, he has little love of the British Empire or its people. His working with the League is a matter of convenience, not ideology.

Mina eventually seduces Allan, finally revealing her devotion to him, dating from childhood. It informs her disappointment and disgust when she first found him, a wrecth, addicted to opium. He was reborn and has become the man he once was. She thrills to his talk of hunting, in Africa, as it speaks to her reading of his exploits. Mina shocks the very Victorian Allan with her boldness, but he admits that he has desired her. They engage in sex and Mina's request that he bite her, and her reaction, suggests the sexually intimate nature of her dealings with Dracula. Dracula and similar stories have used vampires as metaphors for seduction and unrestrained sex and biting is a a very common erotic element to foreplay and intercourse, among many people. In the afterglow, Mina's scars are revealed and Allan is horrified that they are a rings of scratches and lacerations, not a pair of puncture wounds, as Stoker would suggest. This was by design, as Moore intended them to reflect the actual saw-like teeth of vampire bats, not fangs of a serpent. We now understand why Mina keeps them covered by her scarf and why Jonathan Harker divorced her, after the battle to destroy Dracula. In his Victorian eyes, she is marked with a brand worse than Hawthorne's Scarlet Letter, a memento of her infidelity, even if it was induced by Dracula, though Mina's action suggests it might not have been entirely against her will. That is one of the sexual fantasies surrounding the Dracula mythos, of a handsome, charismatic aristocrat, who as much seduces with his charm, as mesmerizes with his eyes. Is it mental domination or charisma? Frank Langella played this aspect in his interpretation of Dracula, in 1979. The film was noted for its more erotic take on the story, as well as mixing the characters of Mina and Lucy, exchanging their roles. That same year, the NBC tv series, Cliffhangers!, featured a segment, called The Curse of Dracula (Dracula 1979, when edited into movie form), which also played up the seductive side of Dracula, having the modern Kurt Van Helsing hunting him, along with female partner Mary Gibbons, who discovers he is masquerading as a professor of Eastern European History, in San Francisco. She soon starts succumbing to his charms.

The Traveler's Almanac continues to highlight lost worlds, from literature and other sources, including Ayesha's kingdom, from H Rider Haggard's She. Haggard later had his two character's meet, in She and Allan, in 1921. That was followed by Ayesha: The Return of She. Ayesha is immortal, due to a mysterious blue flame, and rules a hidden kingdom, descended from Greeks who came there.

The tripod-related material is mostly taken directly from The War of the Worlds, including the mention of an artillery unit bringing one down. It is one of the first instances of hope, found within the novel. If you know the ending of the novel (and film), then you can guess why Bond has them searching for Dr Moreau.

At Jess Nevins Annotations site, at the time, there was speculation that Moore was being cute, when Allan asked Mina if she knew how big the woods were, wondering of it encompassed a hundred acres. As we will see, it could easily be a Hundred Acre Wood. There was also speculation about the bear paw and red shirt, with some believing it was Winnie the Pooh, and others Rupert the Bear. We will find out, later.

From here, we start moving towards the climax, as Mina and Allan find a weapon to use against the Martians and Hyde has his revenge.

Tom Strong #19



Creative Team: Alan & Leah Moore-writers; Howard Chaykin, Shawn McManus & Steve Mitchell and Chris Sprouse & Karl Story-art; Todd Klein-letters, Dave Stewart-colors, Scott Dunbier-editor

Synopsis:

Tom Strong-August, 1973......Tom and Dhalua are enjoying a rare evening alone, returning from a night at the opera. Before they can engage in any further "alone time," their cable car is assaulted by an apologetic robot, who tells Strong that it has orders to take them away. However, it isn't Tmo Strong that it wants; it's Dhalua.....



Tom contacts Pneuman and orders him to track the robot and to prep a Jump Jet. Tom follows the radar trail to the Nevada desert, to the point they lost radar contact. He lands on the desert, to initiate a search of the area and the vertical thrust of his jet clears an area of sand, revealing a metal structure. he finds a maintenance hatch and goes inside, but soon learns that it is defended....by women! They try to knock him into electric "hair nets," set to stun him; but, he uses his grappling gun to maneuver away from the nets. They change tactics and apply a "group hug."



Tom is sprayed with some kind of aerosol, called Acquiesce, and falls unconscious. He is brought before MOM. He awakens to find Dhalua, who introduces him to Taylor Sullivan, MOM...Matriarch of Matriarchs. She explains that the facility is a sanctuary for a society of women, which is known alternatively as Suffragette City and Electric Ladyland. There are no men and none are "needed." They developed a "female weapon," called Androgon, which has a chemical imbalance that is causing a crisis and needs repair. Dhalua has explained to them that she doesn't have the scientific background to help. Tom offers his expertise, but Sullivan says that the gas changes a male into a female, so he cannot go into the chamber. Dhalua goes inside, instead, in a containment suit, with Tom guiding her by radio and they are able to repair a valve the prevented the stabilizing mixture to mix with the other elements. The crisis is averted and they are allowed to leave. As they stand under the desert sky, Tom is puzzled by why the Quilt computer, which ran the facility, didn't know that Dhalua didn't have the scientific background. Dhalua sugegsts it did and knew that he would follow, of his own accord, if Dhalua was grabbed. She says they could not ask directly, because of their firm belief that "men are not needed." Tom asks if Dhalua needs him and she bemusedly replies, for pickle jars and such." Dhalua sugegsts they take a walk, like on Attabar Teru and enjoy the stars....and the solitude. Tom replies that she hasn't answered his question and she responds, "Yes I did."

Tom Strong's Nemesis, Paul Saveen-April, 1992......we see the bones of the corpse of Paul Saveen, dead at the wheel of a jeep, somewhere in the sands of Morocco. The narration is Saveen, still alive, trying to piece together what happened. The jeep had smashed into a rock and the windshield shattered...the rest is due to time. We cut back to the living Paul, who came to Marrakech, seeking...something. He sees charts, with a location marked and a newspaper, with a phot and article. He was seeking a "fountain of youth," in a secret temple. A man named Omar provided him with the charts.....



Saveen came seeking the temple, in his 100th year, desperately seeking to hold off death. He met Omar who knew of the temple and could provide the charts. Saveen started out in darkness, racing against time, rather than waiting for daylight. He got caught in a storm and crashed into the rock, badly injuring him. He is in the middle of nowhere and there is no help. He sees the photo, which is from 1926, featuring Tom Strong subduing and arresting Saveen. A face in the crowd is Omar, looking all the same. He recalls shooting Omar and taking the charts. Saveen realizes he has been betrayed, by Omar, and his dying thoughts are of whether the temple ever actually existed......



Tom & Tesla Strong-Tom and daughter Tesla are at a comic convention, signing comics about their adventures. A fan places a copy of an annual, Secret Nemesis in front of him. Tom recognizes some of the heroes displayed on the cover, like Captain Eternity and Comet Chief. The fan opens the comic and Tom and Tesla find themselves pulled inside....



They are pulled into another dimension and find themselves surrounded by ads. There, they meet strongman Sam Continent, Specs and Brine-Chimp, a Sea Monkey father. They tell them the only way out is to climb up to the lead features and seek their help. They can get to the next level from the Sea Monkey castle. They get to the next level and meet Sid (of Sid's Solvent Snippets), Li'l Algebra, and Fanny Fashion. They are minor back-up features. Li'l Algebra actually created the machinery that controls the dimensional gateway, but the collector, Horatio Hogg, holds them prisoner and watches their every move. They take the Strongs to an elevator and up to the lead features. There, they meet Captain Eternity, Red Ray, Comet Chief and Miss Universe...all superheroes. Tom works out that there must be another way out, like the staples and Li'l Algebra sees the genius of it.....



Horatio Hogg hears a commotion and checks on the comic and is attacked by Brine-Chimp and Specs and then opens the comic, thinking the gateway is broken and is drawn inside. He is trapped there and Li'l Algebra disables the gateway. They all prefer to live in this dimension, away from the modern world and its stresses. Tom asks what they will do with Hogg and Captain Eternity reminds him that they are pre-Code features and will probably poke him in the eye, with a needle or gut him and use his entrails to line a baseball diamond.

Thoughts: The opening feature, set in the early 70s, is a satire of "feminist" stories and characters of the period, that tended to present simplistic viewpoints to the problems of gender equality. At the same time, it also criticizes real feminists who had such narrow views, that women had no use for men. It also kind of updates the idea of the Amazons and an all-female society. In some ways, the plot is similar to that of the Derek Flint spy spoof sequel, In Like Flint, where a group of women kidnap the President and replace him with a fake, as they seek to create a female dominated society. However, in that film, the women are being duped by an Army officer, who is using their discoveries for his own game and Flint has the women use their feminine charms to get past the officer's guards. In the end, that film remains somewhat sexist, because the women have to use their bodies and sexuality to defeat the enemy, rather than their considerable brains. Only Derek Flint is smart enough to see the flaws in their plans.

Moore isn't that simplistic. Here, Taylor Sullivan, MOM, knows she has to uphold their beliefs or their society will question its existence and fall apart; but, the best person for this job is Tom Strong. She finds a solution by kidnapping Dhalua, asking for her help, knowing that Tom will follow, if he believes his wife is in danger, while Dhalua will seek to help and convince Tom to aid the women of Suffragette City, aka Electric Ladyland. Dhalua does the actual work, because Tom would be transformed; thus, they can play it like Dhalua is their savior, not Tom, even though he provides the expertise to guide Dhalua. In the end, it is their co-operative effort that solves the problem. The ending illustrates how Tom and Dhalua operate as equals, one complimenting the other's strengths and compensating for their weaknesses. tom has the scientific expertise, but Dhalua has the emotional intuition and psychological understanding to see through Taylor Sullivan's ruse and explains it to Tom, who thinks more logically. Dhalua brings out the humanity in Dhalua, while Tom brings out Dhalua's adventurous spirit, making them a formidable team. The dialogue about the stars and solitude further emphasizes that Dhlaua has to sometimes lead Tom to the right conclusion, or he will stumble around blindly, because of the limitations of his youth.

Howard Chaykin is the perfect artist for this , as he fills the pages with the women of the enclave, in real 1970s pop fashions, with platform shoes and wedgies, bell bottoms, hot pants, go-go boots, wild prints and similar styles. Chaykin is a rare comic artist who pays attention to fashion within his stories, adding color and texture to his characters. he can do period pieces, while making them seem timeless.

The Paul Saveen story shows us how Saveen died, after a mention of his death, in issue 6, when he appears to be alive, aiding Ingrid Weiss. That turns out to be a phony, Denby Jilks, who can manipulate his face to impersonate others. Her, we see Paul Saveen, bones picked clean by the desert sands, in the jeep where he died, as a line of dialogue in issue #6. We hear his dying thoughts, as he struggles to comprehend what has happened and how he came to be injured and trapped in the desert, revealing the story of Omar providing the charts and his search for a Fountain of Youth, to hold off his impending death. Omar knows Saveen and says he has followed his career; but, we see that he knows because he was there, in 1926, looking exactly the same as he does in 1992. At the end, we see the irony of the trap, as Saveen dies from his injury, his jeep smashed into a rock, which turns out to be on the top tier of the ziggurat. There was a secret temple and a Fountain of Youth, but Omar found it, or protected it....all through the decades...maybe centuries. Saveen died at the site of the place that could save him.

Shawmn McManus gives it a nice moody touch and plenty of atmosphere. Leah Moore handles the story well, showing that she is a chip off the ol' block.

Tom and Tesla is a bit of meta fun that plays with the cliches of comic books and their collectors, biting the hand that feeds Alan Moore, but also providing a loving tribute to those old features and even ads. Sam Continent is Charles Atlas, while Specs is the face in the X-ray Specs ads. Brine-Chimp is the figure from the old sea monkey ads, which sold packets of brine shrimp, which were nothing like the illustrations in the ads. Moore has a running gag about Brine-Chimp complaining that Hogg watches his wife undress. The back-up features represent the little puzzle pages and single page gags and tertiary features, with Sid's Solvent Snippets suggesting a craft page, with tips on model making (his dialogue speaks of painting pieces before gluing them) and Li'l Algebra is both a juvenile feature and a puzzle feature. fanny Fashion represents sections with costume designs or paper doll fashions, as seen in romance and other "girl" comics. The lead features are all superheroes, lampooning the takeover of comics by superheroes. In the end, the secondary features turn out to be of more help. They are aided by the issues super villain, Dr Huge, whose growth ray allows the microscopic people to grow in size and trick Horatio Hogg into his own prison.

All of the features talk about how much better it is in their comic book dimension than the outside world, with its clarity and lack of real danger and stress. The superheroes speak of hero codes coming along and destroying their adventures and that factors into the very EC ending, complete with severed, bloody head.

Along the way, Moore pokes fun at the collector mentality, the desire to own and preserve forever, but not actually read the stories and enjoy the art. The bit where the little kid, at the convention, is shocked that Horation rolls up the comic made me snort in laughter, the first time I read this and still makes me smile. It compliments well the Simpson's Treehouse of Horrors, with Stretch Dude and Clobber Girl, as they battle The Collector.



One of my favorite issues.

ps For you youngins or anyone oblivious to rock music history, Suffragette City is a David Bowie song, while Electric Ladyland is the title of Jimi Hendrix's third and final album, which features the song, "Have You Eve Been (To Electric Ladyland)". The UK album sleeve feature a picture of a group of naked women, lounging in front of a black background, while one holds a picture of Hendrix. Chaykin doesn't go that far (surprisingly) but it is clear that it is the 70s.

Tom Strong's Terrific Tales #6



Creative Team: Alan Moore and Steve Moore (no relation)-writers, Jerry Ordway, Art Adams and Alan Weiss-artists, Todd Klein-letters, Jeromy Cox-colors, Scott Dunbier-editor

Synopsis: Tom Strong- In 1927, Tom Strong mainlines some Goloka and starts tripping about the universe.....



He sees the expanse of the cosmos and clusters of galaxies, then is drawn to the Milky Way and the Sol System, and eventually back to Earth and himself, then travels inside his body and down to the subatomic level. Eventually, he is awakened from his stupor by Greta Gabriel, who had Pneuman inject an anti-toxin. They then got to bed.

Sounds like a Grateful Dead concert!

Jonni Future-Jonni is on an Eden-like planetoid, in a garden, tasting the fruit and smelling the flowers. A satyr takes her helmet, then a water nymph rises out of a pool and then the boom-wakka-wakka-waa kicks in.....



Suddenly, it starts turning into a group affair and she ends up topless and runs away, only to be chased down and tackled by nude nymphs and then........



It was all a dream. They were on the planetoid to investigate a weed that had invaded other worlds, stripping them bare. It turns out that its pollen was nanites, terraforming the planet, which subdued any life, leaving it in a dream world, while it devoured the living matter, leaving behind a desert, for a fresh start. They are able to stop it with a massive EMP blast, from the Coelacanth, which leaves them powerless, while their energy cells recharge, but they can drift down to the planetoid. Jonni seems a bit melancholy, possibly wishing that the dream had been real.

Young Tom Strong-Tom feels compelled to visit the graves of his parents and the helmsman, Tomas, who protected them from the ship's mutiny. He decides to go exploring near the volcano, where his father built his lab. He xamines a lava flow remnant, then determines that they were actually houses that had been covered by the lava. He nearly falls into a collapsed hole, but then gets a rope and ties it to Pneuman and drops down to explore, keeping the rope around his waste as a trail back to Pneuman. He finds a lost buried civilization, then learns that living creatures are there, possibly a Mayan offshoot....



Tom tries to make friends, but they attack him and he is forced to defend himself. When he hits them, they seem to die. They swarm him and he is forced to run, but loses his way. He is lassoed by a rope and lifted off his feet, then dropped into a fiery chamber and.....



He wakes up, outside, lying under the sun. He realizes that Pneuman must have pulled him out of there and assumes it was a hallucination, possibly caused by gas vapors in the chambers below.

Thoughts: Well, someone has been partaking of the herbs....or fungi. Three stories about drug-induced trips: one self injected, as an experiment, one technological and ingested from a hostile source, and one chemical, naturally occurring. It leads to rather slight tales, though it lets the artist run wild, with the visuals. Jerry Ordway gets to play with figures tumbling through the outer and inner cosmos.....



and then Tom is awakened by Greta, and has the revelation that the cosmos is a living thing, at the macro and micro level, with everything interconnected. He is overwhelmed with godlike visions.

Jonni Future has an erotic dream, where she is engulfed by love and Art Adams draws lots of nubile women, with big gazongas. Alan Weiss gets to indulge in Mayan warriors and cities. Steve Moore writes Jonni Future and Young Tom Strong, but, I believe he was working from Alan Moore's plots or outlines. Whether or not Alan talked to the artists to see what they wanted to draw and tailored the dreams to that, or he just sent them a script, then let them interpret the ideas their own way, I don't know. Visually, it's a nice issue; but, the story is pretty thin. It makes for a nice diversion; but, I wouldn't want a steady diet of this. As it is, it takes a few minutes to read the entire issue, which doesn't seem to justify the $2.95 price tag.