Review: Tom Strong Deluxe Edition Book 1

13 October 2009

Gerard Wood

It's widely acknowledged that Alan Moore's Watchmen is responsible for introducing a gritty realism to comic books, in part through a more realistic depiction of violence and its consequences, but most importantly in terms of characterisation: Watchmen's characters are elevated from two to three dimensions through Moore's gift to them of an inner, emotional world. Unfortunately, it's the more lurid of these innovations that has been Watchmen's most enduring legacy, driven by the market's appetite for graphic violence and the failure of many writers to appreciate that gratuitous depictions of violence do not in themselves equate with realism.

Which is not a criticism of Watchmen, of course, but rather of the market for comic books in general.

If there is a valid criticism to be made of Watchmen, it's that for all it pushed the limits of the comic book medium into new realms of possibility, Watchmen does present us with a very cynical view of humanity: on the brink of self-destruction, our salvation only comes about through the murder of millions and our collective belief that the deaths were due to a non-human threat. In short, it's only through the illusion of a common enemy that we find it within ourselves to stop killing each other!

If an antidote were needed to Watchmen's cynicism and grim legacy, you couldn't do better than Tom Strong. Is it ironic that writer Alan Moore is also responsible for this comic book series? I don't think so. There's sufficient evidence to suggest that Moore was disturbed by Watchmen's influence. In a recent interview with Andrew Firestone at Salon.com he reiterated his disappointment that many modern comics continue to depict violence for "prurient reasons, not trying to show the emotional depth and complexity of the characters."

In this context, it's fair to say that Tom Strong is Alan Moore's response to the gratuitous violence and blood-lust that has come to dominate comic books arguably since Watchmen hit the stands in the 1980s. If this is the case, is it also true that Tom Strong is backward looking and reactionary? Yes and no. Yes, it hearkens back to a more innocent era in the history of comic books and pulp fiction, but it retains the forward-looking social criticism we've come to expect from Moore.

Written by Moore and illustrated by Chris Sprouse, along with artists Jerry Ordway, Gary Frank and Watchmen artist Dave Gibbons, Tom Strong first hit the stands in 1999 and ran for 36 issues through to 2006. The series' superhero, Tom Strong, is a genius / strong-man, near physically and mentally perfect. Unlike many of his peers however, Strong's "superpowers" are not a consequence of the supernatural or science gone-wrong, but the deliberate, if questionable, application of science by his parents to produce a child raised by pure reason.

As the 19th Century draws to a close, Tom's parents took ship for the uncharted West Indian island of Attabar Teru - the island guarded by Rainbows - where they planned to build an environment for their child away from society's influence. Tom's father, a scientist and inventor way ahead of the game, constructed an autonomous robot called Pneuman (later perfected by Tom) who assisted him to build an enclosed chamber pressurised to five gravities in the caldera of an extinct volcano. Until an earthquake kills his parents eight years later, Tom is raised in the chamber, developing unusual physical capabilities. He is also given an accelerated and highly advanced education, supplemented by consumption of the root of a local plant, the goloka, which promotes longevity and higher cognitive awareness. Though born at the turn of the 20th century, Tom appears to be little older than 40 at the turn of the 21st Century. The upshot of all of this conditioning is that Tom Strong is a super-strong, super-smart science hero: like his father he is a scientist and inventor and he designs and builds the tools of his crime-fighting trade.

While it's unclear what his parents' ultimate plans were for their son, Tom feels that he has a mission and in his 20s he leaves the island of Attabar Teru for Millennium City. Built as a utopian ideal on the eastern seaboard of the United States, Millennium City becomes Tom's adopted home and the focal point of his and his family's adventures. There he is joined by his wife Dahlua (a goloka consuming native of Attabar Teru), the new and improved automaton butler Pneuman and King Solomon, a well-spoken gentleman gorilla ("Hmm. Dashed bad show on my part. Message received, wot?"). The Strong family team is completed with the birth of daughter Tesla, who, like her parents, is endowed with enhanced physical and mental abilities and longevity.

Last month saw publication of Tom Strong Deluxe Edition Volume 1, collecting the first 12 issues of the series (published between April 1999 and April 2001). The first of three over-sized hard cover editions to collect all 36 issues, Volume 1 gives us the origin of Tom Strong, introduces his lifelong nemesis and Millennium City's bane, the evil-scientist Paul Saveen, as well as a host of other foes: a sentient primordial ooze, the self-replicating mega computer, aka Modular Man, Nazi Superwoman Ingrid Weiss and her twisted offspring, and the evil Aztech Empire which co-exists in multiple parallel universes. While it might not possess Watchmen's cynicism - which is arguably that publication's defining social comment - these stories are not without their own biting social commentary. The chief difference is that in Tom Strong the social criticism doesn't require that the main characters are suffering from a dark and conflicted angst. There is an innocence to Tom Strong and even, to some extent, to the world in which he exists, and yet neither are characterised by naivety. While there is plenty of violence, the style of its depiction pre-dates Watchmen. Moore knows that violence cannot be denied, and Tom does not hesitate to take the fight to the enemy, but Tom is a science-hero and more often than not the resolution of conflict is not death and destruction but a negotiated solution. Time and again, when the dust settles, Tom has applied reason, compassion and understanding to resolve an encounter.

In the end, however, the joy of these stories is Moore's humour, which is as dark as ever, and the storytelling itself. Moore's humour is heavy on irony, at its most effective in the juxtaposition of scenes: just before Tom's parents are killed by an earthquake, his father reassures his mother that their home is the safest place on earth...

Reading these first twelve issues in a single volume is perhaps the ideal way to appreciate Moore's storytelling virtuosity. Volume 1 contains multiple interweaving plot lines and points of view, flashbacks and forwards, with Moore and his team exploiting every storytelling device available to the comic book medium: so it is that Issue 1 of Tom Strong commences with a child in Millennium City reading Issue 1 of Tom Strong, learning about the origins of the hero at the same time that Tom Strong is actively saving the unwitting child from danger.

This is just an overture however and it's with Issues 4 through 6 that the Tom Strong symphony really gets underway with Moore orchestrating multiple flashbacks and forwards, unveiling the Tom Strong mythology in progressive waves. It's impressive stuff: the story commences in the present with an unexpected encounter with an enemy from the past. Flashback to 1945 and the closing days of World War II when Tom first encounters Ingrid Weiss, a twisted superwoman produced by the Nazi breeding program (who has some breeding of her own in mind with hapless Tom). Back to the present where Tom is captured by Ingrid and her bevy of evil Nazi handmaidens, who send him back through time to Pangea, the Earth' super-continent at the very dawn of time. It appears that Tom has been here before: flashback (sort of!) to a previous episode in which he travelled with Dahlua back in time and encountered a Pangean Slime Mold, Earth's first inhabitant, vast, intelligent and highly adaptive. We return to Tom's present in Pangea where the Slime Mold has evolved since its first encounter with Tom and it's not happy. Tom returns to the present where he discovers that his long-dead arch-enemy Paul Saveen is in league with the Nazis. Flashback to his last encounter with Saveen, where we learn about the evil scientist's death. And so on. Don't expect any simple linear storytelling. Moore and his team pull out all the stops to ensure a vivid and exciting comic book experience, and while listing the episodes in this way may be bewildering it's testimony to Moore's skill as a storyteller that the numerous interweaving plot lines do not become hopelessly entangled.

Tom Strong Deluxe Edition Volume 1 is a magnificent over-sized hardcover collection, showcasing the different graphic styles of the illustrators and doing justice to Moore's storytelling genius. It's definitely one for the fans, but also the ideal way for those new to the Tom Strong mythology to dive in to this fascinating and entertaining alternate reality.

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