Tom Strong (Book 2) [Paperback]

Alan Moore (Author), Chris Sprouse (Author), Todd Klein (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Tom Strong returns as the interplanetary, interdimensional "science-hero." Created by acclaimed comics writer Moore (The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen; From Hell), Tom follows in the tradition of the sci-fi pulp hero, with elements of modern-day realism. As a newer superhero, he has his own mythic origin: raised by scientist parents, he is cultivated as a human experiment on the remote island of Attabar Teru. After his parents are slain, he lives among the island's Ozu people, where he meets his wife, Dhulua. Tom travels with his interracial superhero family, including Dhulua and their daughter, Tesla, a gutsy heroine-in-training. The Strongs also receive help from their assistants, a steam-robot butler and a bespectacled, bow-tied, intelligent gorilla. While the main story is set in the surreal 1950s metropolis Millennium City, this volume includes a variety of delightful substories that take place across dimensions, featuring incarnations of Tom at different ages and in different universes. Notable stories include "Tom Strange," in which Tom's parallel universe twin seeks help for his besieged earthlike planet, and "Tom Strong and the Phantom Autogyro," where Tom takes hold of a dimension-penetrating vehicle and pays a fateful visit to the realm of the half-dead. Fledgling superhero Tesla Strong gets her own adventures, such as "Flip Attitude," in which she encounters the mischievous girl villain Tilt, whose antigravity boots turn the world 90 degrees askew. Gordon and Sprouse's art ranges from cartoony to noir, and together with the intelligent, imaginative story, makes this work a welcome addition to the superhero genre.
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Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: WildStorm (October 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1563898802
• ISBN-13: 978-1563898808
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 0.4 x 10.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #314,203 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Science-Heroism And You, August 19, 2006

By 

Kiran Kartha "Enjoyer of Things" (Buffalo, NY) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Tom Strong (Book 2) (Paperback)

Tom Strong is a hard-punching, quick-thinking man of action whose every escapade speaks of the progress of mankind as a whole. He's a superhero in a sense that predates the term itself; whether the man is creeping through deepest enchanted jungle or patrolling the cable-car skyways of Millenium City, he resonates the joy of not only the adventure at hand, but all those to come. His book reads with the freedom of a pulp novel and the authority of a modern masterpiece. He's Superman, Doc Savage and Tintin mixed together, with a bit of Phileas Fogg added for flavor.

Buy this book. If you enjoy comics, like the kind of story you can reasonably call a 'yarn,' or simply think of yourself as a bit of a hero in your own right, you'll certainly enjoy it.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Graphic SF Reader, September 3, 2007

By 

Blue Tyson "- Research Finished" (Legion clubhouse) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Tom Strong (Book 2) (Paperback)

More adventures of a Doc Savage type that does have some time for women. In this trade, we get the backstory to the excellent Terra Obscura spinoff. An desperate and exhausted Tom Strange has crossed 30 light years to get help for his planet, a near identical copy to Earth. A huge alien entity has strated remodelling it to turn it into a spaceship, and he has nowhere else to turn.

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars From Strength to Strength, December 17, 2008

By 

Kevin Killian (San Francisco, CA United States) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Tom Strong (Book 2) (Paperback)

Tesla meets Val Van Garm or whatever his name is close to the beginning of Book Two of Tom Strong, and the story seems to inch a bit closer to adult sexuality, though later on when Tesla is forced to put down the antics of the young Kid Tilt, she seems entirely childlike all over again. Even though, as she reminds Kid Tilt, she's sixty. What's the problem with Tom Strong? Well, oyu don't really care about any of the characters, perhaps because they're all incredibly old and so advanced medically it looks as though they will live forever.

That's why the Tom Strange epic story really makes a difference in Book Two, for you get the alternative emblem of a Tom Strong defeated by life's twists and turns, and visibly hurt and distraught. The amazing image of Tom Strange crossing the Milky Way by foot to get to his earth double is played just right, for once a moment that isn't super whimsical and postmodern. (Though afterwards I was thinking, this really doesn't make a whole lot of sense.) Not that the whimsical and postmodern touches don't have their charms--I like seeing Tom with his search-board tucked under his arm, and the repeating multiples of Tom and Tesla (in "Too Many Teslas"?") have a wacky, Lewis Carroll-like brio that threatens to overturn the master narrative of identification.

I'm hooked all right, even on those Western dopes with an extra eye in the middle of their foreheads, but why couldn't Tom Strong have been better? Too many Teslas, or too many cooks?