ALTERNATE REALITY, serving Chicago comic fandom since 1978  That's over 40 years of service!                                                                                                    We started at the Comicbook Emporium in February of 1978, Five & Dime Comics from 1983 to 1994 and Alternate Reality ever since, thats over 40 years of serving Chicago South Side Comic Fandom                                                                   SAVINGS! SERVICE! SELECTION! HISTORY! We have it all!

LINKS
MARVEL     DC     INDY     MEDIA     BOOK OF THE...    ARCHIVES     E-POP HOME

RECOMMENDED (*** stars)
TOM STRONG #20,
 a DC/ABC Comics ongoing series

CREDITS: Written by Alan Moore. Art by Jerry Ordway.
SYNOPSIS: As rumors of his retirement from mainstream comics persist Alan Moore shows us another version of Tom Strong in the hopes others will find him interesting enough to keep reading the irregularly scheduled book.
RELEASED: 04/23/03

COVER PRICE (USA): $2.95
YOUR ALTERNATE REALITY PRICE: $2.51
 "...Moore tries to give his readers interesting stories"
Review by Lawrence Evans

Supposedly after Alan Moore celebrates his 50th birthday he will shut down the ABC line and work exclusively for Avatar and Top Shelf. This would normally be shrugged off as junk but Moore has a tendency to do what he says and he said it so I believe it. Chances are he'll leave a bunch of scripts on Jim Lee's steps and let him worry about producing the books but when those run out that'll be it.
 
The story here begins with an injured woman in Tom's lab telling him a story that he has to believe is true. It involves his mother and a man she almost married, Foster Parallax. In the time the woman is from Tom's mother went on a journey that ended in a shipwreck. As she and the captain tried to survive she fell in love with him and the two married to produce a son that wasn't our Tom.
 
Moore's story sweeps us up in it as he tweaks the history we know into another man. This Tom (last name Stone) develops as our version does. There are glimpses of something devastating early but the story moves ahead with the introduction of Tom to the big city. We meet the mysterious Paul Saveen, he of the flying car and progress along to the birth of Tesla and the introduction of the creation that caused the time differential. Moore jumps us back to the present where we discover why the woman has come to Tom Strong's lab-she needs Tom to help him do something he can't possibly do.
 
Jerry Ordway steps in to pencil this three-issue arc so Chris Sprouse can get the next issues done early enough to avoid the shipping delays that keep this book from developing any sales momentum. I get the feeling that here Moore tries to give his readers interesting stories but when it comes to Promethea I feel he's just jerking himself off to keep himself interested. The Strong stories harken back to the pulp days. Our hero is stronger than everyone and has access to all these cool gadgets. Tom Strong isn't really a superhero just a brilliant man who wants to keep us safe.

TOM STRONG ™ and © 2003 AMERICA'S BEST COMICS, L.L.C.
All Rights Reserved.

Review © 2003 Alternate Reality, Inc. 

 

RETURN TO TOP