Tomorrow Stories Book Two

Rating:
Summary: Tomorrow Stories looks back to go to forward.
Review: Fans of EC comics should warm to this collection right away. It serializes five different characters with the same writer/artist team on each. ALL of the writing is by Alan Moore, who seems to be having so much fun creating new universes and characters in his America's Best Comics line.

JACK B. QUICK (the inventor) is illustrated by Kevin Nowlan and concerns the adventures of a midwestern farmboy genius. The art resembles the EC fantasy/science fiction line of the 50's while the stories are just as inventive as Jack B. Quick!

GREYSHIRT is drawn by Rick Veitch in a style resembling early crime comics, but chameleon-like as ever, Veitch changes the style from issue to issue. These stories definitely hark back to the golden age of comics, especially the work of Will Eisner on The Spirit.

THE FIRST AMERICAN reminds me of Bill Gaines and Harvey Kurtzman's MAD magazine in that it is playful, satirical, and hilarious. This serial looks at the superhero genre. Alan Moore's writing is extremely funny in these stories especially. It is illustrated very well by Jim Baikie.

COBWEB is illustrated by Melinda Gebbie. It is about a female crimefighter who definitely resembles early female heroines. Interesting, compelling reading, with excellent art.

Finally, SPLASH BRANNIGAN is an inky superhero looking to blot out crime. There are many in-jokes about comic art in all of the serials, but Splash is himself an in joke. Illustrated by Hilary Barta.

I say it looks back to go forward, because Alan Moore evidently loves all comics, and is constantly looking for ways to reinvent the genre. By looking to the golden age of comics, he and his collaborators bridge the gap between past and present, and then move forward into tomorrow. This series did not win the Eisner and Harvey awards for nothing. You will not be disappointed.

Rating:
Summary: Tomorrow Stories looks back to go to forward.
Review: Fans of EC comics should warm to this collection right away. It serializes five different characters with the same writer/artist team on each. ALL of the writing is by Alan Moore, who seems to be having so much fun creating new universes and characters in his America's Best Comics line.

JACK B. QUICK (the inventor) is illustrated by Kevin Nowlan and concerns the adventures of a midwestern farmboy genius. The art resembles the EC fantasy/science fiction line of the 50's while the stories are just as inventive as Jack B. Quick!

GREYSHIRT is drawn by Rick Veitch in a style resembling early crime comics, but chameleon-like as ever, Veitch changes the style from issue to issue. These stories definitely hark back to the golden age of comics, especially the work of Will Eisner on The Spirit.

THE FIRST AMERICAN reminds me of Bill Gaines and Harvey Kurtzman's MAD magazine in that it is playful, satirical, and hilarious. This serial looks at the superhero genre. Alan Moore's writing is extremely funny in these stories especially. It is illustrated very well by Jim Baikie.

COBWEB is illustrated by Melinda Gebbie. It is about a female crimefighter who definitely resembles early female heroines. Interesting, compelling reading, with excellent art.

Finally, SPLASH BRANNIGAN is an inky superhero looking to blot out crime. There are many in-jokes about comic art in all of the serials, but Splash is himself an in joke. Illustrated by Hilary Barta.

I say it looks back to go forward, because Alan Moore evidently loves all comics, and is constantly looking for ways to reinvent the genre. By looking to the golden age of comics, he and his collaborators bridge the gap between past and present, and then move forward into tomorrow. This series did not win the Eisner and Harvey awards for nothing. You will not be disappointed.

Rating:
Summary: Tomorrow Stories: A refreshing new anthology by Alan Moore
Review: If you ask most people who read Alan Moore's America's Best Comics line, they'd probably tell you that "Tomorrow Stories" is at the very bottom of their list of favorites. For myself, however, I'd place it pretty near to the top. (Other titles under the ABC banner include "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen", "Promethea", Tom Strong" and "Top Ten".) The thing is that "Tomorrow Stories" is an anthology, and, typically speaking, readers (American readers especially) don't like anthologies as much as they would a comic that contains just a single ongoing story with characters and plot that flow in the traditional way that most comics do.
Reading "Tomorrow Stories", I get a nice blend of Alan Moore's different writing styles every month: "Greyshirt" and "The Cobweb" fall under the category of basic superhero/crimefighter, "Jack B. Quick" is a science fiction tale about a boy inventor experimenting with the most bizarre laws of science. "Splash Brannigan" is a funny little strip to do with making comic books, and my personal favorite and possibly the funniest, "First American", a hilarious superhuman satire mixed with just a little good old American patriotism.
I've read almost everything that Moore has written for comics in the past two decades, and I've found him to be very, very versatile as a writer. The genres he explores in his work are vast. For mystery, there was "Watchmen", obviously, historical fiction: "From Hell", for horror, you have his incredible run on "Swamp Thing", "V For Vendetta" is a frightening political thriller, in Sci-Fi there's "The Ballad of Halo Jones", if you prefer superheroes, you can't forget his revision of "Marvelman" and later "Supreme", philosophy and fantasy with "Promethea", insane humor with "D.R. & Quinch" and "The Bojeffries Saga", his lyrics and poetry in "Songbook" and "Magic Words", the autobiographical "The Birth Caul", and even "Lost Girls", which falls in the category of erotic fiction. He writes everything! And with very few exceptions, he does it all amazingly well. I have yet to find something of his that I would consider just out-and-out terrible.
That's why I believe that "Tomorrow Stories" is majorly overlooked, especially among members of his fanbase. To my knowledge, its the only ABC title besides "Promethea" to win an Eisner. It showcases his many unique writing talents, but particularly his humor. If you'd seen a picture of the guy, you probably wouldn't think he have much of a sense of it. But,as the cliche goes: "You can't judge a book by its cover."