Quick Rating: A swing and a hit
Title: The Day Tom Strong Renegotiated the Friendly Skies

Writer: Mark Schultz
Artist: Pascal Ferry
Colors: Wendy and Carrie of WS FX
Letters: Todd Klein
Editor: Scott Dunbier

The entire world’s aircraft crash to the ground and Tom Strong must find out the reason. Packed into a neat environmental lesson, this tale also considers the early history of manned flight in Tom’s world.

I have not been thrilled by every tale told in Tom Strong, mostly because they felt just a little too… something or other—I only wish that I could put my finger on it. Top 10 and Tomorrow Stories (other seemingly defunct titles put out by America’s Best) always seemed to display that mastery of color and tone that defines most of Moore’s work. Promethea constantly walks the tightrope of comprehensibility over the net of entertainment. And then there has been Tom Strong, which gives all the appearance of being a pile of good ideas that was exhausted after a year.

Mark Schultz steps up to the plate to take his swing at the meandering life of Tom Strong. I loved Cadillacs and Dinosaurs. I even liked the cartoon show. The whole concept was an amalgamation of so many disparate elements and yet it worked somehow. I believe that was due to Mark Schultz’s talents as a storyteller more than the fact that the dinosaurs looked incredibly cool. Somehow he gets Tom Strong just right.

And the art is just right. Did I mention that there are sky creatures? And they look lovely. Here the story combined with the art raises my rating for both, which has not happened before. That’s an accomplishment that we don’t see often enough.

May, 2004