Luther Strode: The Complete Series

Luther Strode #1-3

by Justin Jordan, Tradd Moore (Artist), Felipe Sobreiro (Artist)

Luther Strode is an average teenage nerd until he sends away for The Hercules Method, a bodybuilding course that promises to give him the body of his dreams. But the powers he unleashes make him a target for a murder cult as old as mankind, cost him almost everything, and take him across the world in the fight to take back his life. The complete series collected for the first time in one edition. Collects THE STRANGE TALENT OF LUTHER STRODE #1-6, THE LEGEND OF LUTHER STRODE #1-6, and THE LEGACY OF LUTHER STRODE #1-6.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Comic Book, Fantasy, Horror, Fiction, Martial Arts

512 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 4, 2017

About the author

Justin Jordan is an American comic book writer. He is known for writing and co-creating The Strange Talent of Luther Strode, Spread, Dead Body Road, Deep State, Dark Gods and Savage Things. He has also written Green Lantern: New Guardians, Superboy, Deathstroke and Team 7 for DC Comics and the relaunch of Shadowman for Valiant Entertainment.

In 2012, he was nominated for the Harvey Award for Most Promising New Talent.

Reviews

[Donovan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Accidental villainy, hyper-violence, B dialog and romance, with a sprinkle of feel-good mysticism. It draws from that classic mid-century idea of “weakling becomes a hero” seen in stories like Captain America and Flex Mentallo. And the most brilliant action and graphic violence sequences ever illustrated.

[Chad · Rating 1 out of 5]

One of the most juvenile comics I've read in a while. All three books are basically just one incredibly long hyper violent fight scene. The book alludes to a bigger story but never really gets into it. Basically, there are these killers that live forever like Cain and Jack the Ripper and they want Luther to come to their side and kill lots of people. Luther becomes like them by reading a book about becoming a Hercules strongman, kind of like you used to see advertised in comic books. Thatis pretty much the entire plot. It looks and feels like a comic written and drawn by a 12 year old boy. It's terrible.

[James DeSantis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well you take a little bit of dbz, and you put a lot of gore and violence, and a ton shit of cursing and you get Luther Strode.

One day a boy decides he has had enough. No more being a puny little punk who can't pick up a chick or fight worth shit. He reads a book, and he becomes...A SUPER SAIYAN WARRIOR. No really, he becomes jacked as fuck and is able to take bullets in the chest and walk away. This series of stories is basically 3 parts. First being his origin of Luther Strode, next the middle adventure of him deciding who he is the myth or the man, and the final one being his journey to peace. By the end of this bloody adventure will Luther be a new man or will he be the killing machine the magical book has made him?

Good: The art is pretty solid. Sometimes the faces and such look really bad but the fight scenes have some excellent scale. Showing off whole city blocks or buildings getting destroyed is a real treat. Some of the dialog while bad (I'll get to that) is mostly fun and easy to read through. Also the themes of moving on and becoming one with yourself is solid enough.

Bad: Some of the dialog is awful. Mostly coming from Luther's girlfriend. Little to try-hard on the funnies. Also the story is just simple. Kill, kill, and...oh yeah kill more. Luther I never felt was in any danger after volume 1. He just simply became so strong it was kind of like "Cool fightscene" but no stakes. Also the ending was kind of rushed and didn't feel the greatest conclusion to a over 300+ page story.

Overall this isn't bad. It's fun, bloody, and insane fight scenes. I'd probably rate the first story around a 3.5 with part 2 being 3, and part 3 being 2.5. So overall a 3 for the whole story.

[L. McCoy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ah! I loved this entire thing! One of the best superhero comics I’ve ever read!

What’s it about?
There’s a nerdy highschooler named Luther Strode, he is tired by getting his a** kicked by a bully so he tries The Hercules Method which he got a book about. Surprisingly, it actually works... perhaps a little too well. He becomes super strong, super fast, nearly (though not quite) indestructible and becomes a teenaged superhero... but with more realistic (though maybe a smidge exaggerated) and f***ed up results.

Why it gets 5 stars:
The story is very interesting, a unique take on young superhero characters.
The characters are very interesting and well written. Luther Strode is pretty relatable, especially since he’s a nerdy teen who wants to do good, that’s a lot of the comic book demographic (including myself) so I definitely think they have a good protagonist. The other characters are interesting. The villains are pretty good villains.
All of them are well written which pleasantly surprised me. A lot of times (with few exceptions) teenaged characters are so poorly written. Maybe my friends and I are just weird but we’re not 100% squeaky clean meme machines who don’t know s*** about the world and never have problems, only caring about grades and fidget spinners (whatever the f*** those stupid things are for). You want teen characters that are actually realistic and don’t sound like an old man trying to be “cool and hip like kids these days”? Read this, possibly the best writing of teen characters I’ve ever seen (though Paper Girls, Wayward, Harbinger and Stranger Things did it well too).
The art is fantastic, especially the ultra-violent action scenes. These are some of the best action scenes I’ve seen in more recent superhero comics (except Bloodshot. Nothing beats Bloodshot). It’s like Superman with the brutality of Berserk and it’s almost nonstop, I loved every bit of it!
This is a very funny comic. I laughed a lot.
There’s lots of good twists and it’s unpredictable.
The ending is awesome.
Not so much in the second and third miniseries but the first one has all kinds of great easter eggs!

Overall:
If you like gore and superheroes, read this, it’s the perfect comic for you. Everything about it is so well done and I can’t recommend it enough. It’s one of the best superhero stories ever. If you don’t mind gore (seriously, there’s a lot) you need to read this ASAP.

5/5

[Alex Fernández · Rating 3 out of 5]

5 estrellas al arte de Tradd Moore y a los colores de Felipe Sobreiro, 3 estrellas a la historia de Luther Strode, un adolescente que encuentra un libro misterioso que lo convierte en superhéroe. Y vaya que es misterioso, porque nunca nos cuentan mucho al respecto. Pero los madrazos no faltan. De hecho es de lo único que hay así que si estás en busca de híper violencia sin sentido, este libro es para ti. Rumbo al final se vuelve repetitivo y así como el protagonista siente que debe de haber una mejor manera de hacer las cosas y no recurrir a la violencia (a la que recurre), debe de haber una mejor manera de contar esta historia.

Eso sí, lo lees en chinga y te diviertes. Sólo que me quedé con ganas de que el lore se expandiera, explicara y profundizara.

[Rod Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is good in that dumb way that schlocky old b-movie action flicks can suck you in when you stumble across one late at night while channel surfing. It's a crazy, ultraviolent mishmash of Charles Atlas comic book ads, the Bible, Fist of the North Star, Tank Girl and Kick-Ass, with a huge, cheesy mythology that dates back to the start of mankind and incorporates many major historical figures.

Honestly, if I hadn't known who actually wrote this, I would have guessed that it was another of the many Mark Millar film pitches graphic novels that Image publishes. Jordan can take that as a compliment or a wake-up call; it works both ways.

[Chris Lemmerman · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book that put Justin Jordan and Tradd Moore on the map, Luther Strode is the story of the titular teenager who sends away for a Charles Atlas-esque workout manual, only to discover that his newly found strength comes with ton of baggage that wants to murder him.

The opening mini-series, Strange Talent, lays the groundwork well enough. We get to learn all about Luther's life and the major players in it, like his best friend Pete, his crush Petra, and his mom. This is so Jordan can methodically take them all away from Luther as the serenely murderous Librarian enters Luther's life and tries to convince him to fall in line. If this was the only story, I'd probably have felt a bit miffed since there are a lot of hints to something larger that aren't quite fulfilled other than some inference here and there. It's also quite depressing as a hero origin, and while Luther Strode never pretends to be a happy book, I'd have liked a better ending than the one we got here.

Legend is the follow-up, picking up five years later as Luther deals with the aftermath of the first series and finds himself up to his eyeballs in blood yet again. These six issues are mostly one long fight scene, so it gets a tad repetitive. It's like that anime trope where everything escalates over and over again, but it never seems to end. The addition of new killers from the murder cult keeps things a little more interesting, but this definitely started to drag in the middle.

And then we end with Legacy, which again jumps forward five years as Luther tries to take down the head of the snake and finish his murderous rampage once and for all. This one is again mostly fight scenes, but it does go a long way towards explaining a little bit about why the series is the way it is. The end's...fine, I suppose. It does the job, and leaves the door open to revisit the series if the creators ever want to, but it definitely wasn't as satisfying as I'd have liked.

All eighteen issues are drawn by Tradd Moore, whose hyper-extended and rubbery visuals work strangely well. There are few people who do visceral like he does, but even though the book is gory, it never feels like it's doing it just to gross you out - it's a by-product of the story itself, and not the point of it all like some gross books will try and make you believe. While Moore's characters can sometimes have some Reed Richards-like limbs, there's a heaviness to his lines that makes all of the battle scenes feel weighty and impactful, even the ones that don't automatically come with blood red curtains all over the proceedings.

I think my main problem with all three books is the disparity between the characterisations of Luther. The first book establishes itself as a really human story, with characters with real human problems, but by the time we get to the third one all trace of that is gone and it's basically people murdering each other for the fun of it. The transitions from scared nerdy kid to mass murderer to repentant saviour all happen in the two five year time jumps between the three series, so it's hard to recognise the original Luther in either of the two subsequent series since he changes so much and so quickly.

Maybe if I'd read these when they came out and not all in one go, I'd have had a different reaction, but for now I think they're just fine. There's glimmers of really good ideas, but a lot of the time they're pushed aside for more fighting (which does look glorious, don't get me wrong), and even that gets repetitive after 18 issues in a row despite some of the more innovative set-ups, especially in the final mini-series. The first mini-series really set the bar high, but the following two then don't even attempt to reach it, and instead head dangerously into style-vs-substance territory, and that makes Luther Strode an imperfect experiment.

[Vojtěch Rabyniuk · Rating 5 out of 5]

With Luther Strode it was instant falling in love. Action-based brutal and raw but still playful art by Moore is the main reason I like it since the script has some holes. Justin Jordan is trying but in the end, he is using some shortcuts and the time jump between 2nd and 3rd part should be better ( maybe one more issue?) .On the other hand, Jordan has great feeling for ending it in time and not trying to prolong the series too much to fall in the stereotype of violence, blood, death, guts, ripped hearts and crazy love.

My rating for the books is
1 - 5*
2 - 5*
3 - 4*
But 5* in overall and I am writing this review after the second complete read of this comics book so give it a try it ages well.

[Remxo · Rating 3 out of 5]

The non-stop aestheticized ultra-violence borders on the abhorrent, but every single page certainly looks stunning. Unfortunately, the amazing art can't make up for a paper-thin storyline built on recycled old comic tropes and a script laced with cringe-worthy 'snappy' dialogues.

Story: 2/5
Art: 5/5

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sat down and read the whole collection in one go, very good book! The first storyline had me hooked and although it may of dropped off in quality after that, it didn’t disappoint me I just wasn’t in love with what the book was going with by the end. Some really great fun action in here with a good story and good art, can’t go wrong with reading this in my opinion.

[Przemysław Skoczyński · Rating 2 out of 5]

Problem z tą serią jest taki, że wizualnie daje nadzieję na przegiętą, ale przemyślaną rozrywkę w klimacie "The Invincibles". No i faktycznie trup ściele się gęsto, a flaki fruwają w powietrzu. Niestety towarzyszy temu scenariusz na poziomie pięciolatka (by nie napisać, że go w ogóle nie ma), więc lektura dla masochistów. Po prostu słabe

[Jessika · Rating 3 out of 5]

Flat writing, some dynamic hyper stylized art though.

[RG · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5*

This was pretty meh. I thought I'd like it as I've pretty much enjoyed all of Jordans other works. A young boy reads a weird magazine becomes super buff and fights and kills people. Artwork is good at times but still a bit silly. The story is pretty meh and juvenile at times. The dialgoue is cheesy at times (the girlfriends especially). Maybe if I was in highschool I'd love it

[Bertazzo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Genuinely fun! It is amazing how much Moore and Sobreiro are influenced by manga.

[Jack Wieberdink · Rating 3 out of 5]

very pretty and fun to watch the viscera. didn’t care about much more than that

[Mohamed Ahmed · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gruesome and brutal with humor, yea that's a good mix.
If you like Manga Style Comics you Will Probably Like That one.

[Sandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

Auf 544 Seiten sind die Geschichte selbst und die Figuren überlebensgroß. Justin Jordans Schreibstil ist zwar recht einfach, was man zu schätzen wissen kann, aber die Welt, die er erschaffen hat, wirkt wie ein Spielplatz für übermäßig viel Blutvergießen, Gemetzel und Kampfszenen.
Die Einführung historischer Figuren im dritten Teil des Buches ist interessant, und eine Rückblende zum biblischen Samson und seiner Delilah ist die mit Abstand spannendste Erzählung.
Die Entwicklung im ersten Teil, die der Titelheld durch das Lesen eines Trainingsbuches durchmacht, vom schmächtigen Teenager zum Superhelden ergibt meines Erachtens nie wirklich Sinn. Auch das Ausmaß der Gewalt begeistert mich als inzwischen 49jährige Leserin nicht mehr so, wie es mich als Teenager vielleicht getan hätte. Hier wurde die Gelegenheit verpasst, das Zusammenspiel zwischen Luthers Pazifismus und der Vorstellung seiner Freundin Petra, erst zu schießen und dann zu fragen, in ein sinnvolles Narrativ zu verbinden. Keiner von beiden scheint voll und ganz von seinem eigenen Weg überzeugt zu sein, was die Charaktere fade wirken lässt, selbst wenn einem die Action ins Gesicht springt.

Tradd Moores Artwork hingegen ist einfach irre. Die Menge an Zeichnungen, die er auf jeder Seite bringt, ist bis ins Kleinste detailliert dargestellt; er zeichnet jeden Baum im Wald als klar ersichtliche Form. Der Kolorist Sobreiro scheint genau zu wissen, wie viel Farbe er verwenden muss, um die Geschichte und Zeichnungen zu intensivieren, ohne dabei zu sehr abzulenken, was bei dieser Art von sauberer, detailreicher Strichkunst keine leichte Sache ist.

Die Storyline ist zu dürftig, man fragt sich schon zwischendurch: um was gings nochmal? Und Strodes Freundin ist teilweise sehr nervig und manches, was sie so sagt, ist sinnbefreites Gebrabbel.
Es ist halt ein Comic und man muss solche Geschichten schon mögen und wenn man sich schlussendlich darauf einlässt und sich nicht an übertriebener Grausamkeit stört, ist dies eine Pflichtlektüre für jeden Fan des Action-Genres.
Als Bonus gibt es mehrere Variantcover, Poster und Skizzen.
Fünf Sterne für Moores Kunstwerk, zwei für Jordans Geschichte, insgesamt drei Sterne.

Minuspunkt: Warum hat Cross Cult diesen Comic in so einem kleinen Format rausgebracht? Die Panels und Sprechblasen sind vereinzelt so winzig, dass ich eine Lupe zum Lesen brauchte und ich bin beileibe nicht blind. Ein normales DIN A4 Format oder sogar Übergröße hätte die Zeichnungen noch besser hervorgehoben. Hat den Lesespaß sehr getrübt...

[Emilio · Rating 5 out of 5]

This bad boy gripped me from start to finish, serving up a cocktail of action, intrigue, and some of the most jaw-dropping artwork to grace a comic panel.

Let's start with our leading man, Luther Strode. Initially, he's your standard high school misfit - on the slight side, victim to bullies, and generally dismissed. However, a random encounter with a text known as 'The Hercules Method' triggers a dramatic transformation. The once scrappy Luther blossoms into a force of nature, boasting superhuman strength and an almost supernatural prowess in combat.

But power comes with a price. The Hercules Method, it transpires, is no ordinary book, but a siren call from a murderous cult seeking its next member. Luther finds himself ensnared in a web that includes some infamous historical figures like Jack the Ripper and Musashi Miyamoto.

Writer Jesse Jordan ensures that Luther isn't navigating alone. Petra , a schoolmate who morphs into a brave, loyal ally. Luther's mother and his friend Pete provide the heart of this tale, their fate fueling Luther's determination to eradicate the cult.

The narrative unfolds across three arcs - 'The Strange Talents', 'The Legend', and 'The Legacy of Luther Strode'. Each arc presents a fresh adversary that ups the stakes: The Librarian, a ruthless enforcer of the cult's codes; The Binder, also known as the 'Fat Man', a testament to the powers of the Hercules Method; and finally, the cult's progenitor himself, Cain, humanity's original murderer.

If there's a weak link in this powerhouse chain, it might be the dialogue. Despite the characters' journey from adolescence to adulthood, their speech never quite reflects the maturation you might expect.

Tradd Moore's artwork: Moore delivers some of the most incredible , kinetic combat scenes I've ever seen in a graphic novel. His ability to portray gruesome scenes with an almost surgical precision makes for a visually stunning (if occasionally stomach-churning) read. 'Luther Strode' is not for the faint-hearted, and obviously lands in the 'Mature' rating category.

In summary, 'Luther Strode' is a must-read for fans of hard-hitting, action-packed graphic novels. You won't regret it!

Overall score: 4.25/5

[Zack! Empire · Rating 3 out of 5]

Honestly the biggest draw here is the artwork. There is a story there somewhere, but they never really get too far into it. This could have easily been an ongoing and not three mini-series.
There is a vagueness to it that gives it some mystery, but also makes it fall flat. What are Luther's powers? Yeah, he is Super Strong, but what else? He seems to have the power to see all the possible moves you could make in a situation, but they leave that open as to how he KNOWS which of those moves you will do. There is also some inconsisty to how abilities work. All the characters who use the Hercules Method (the training regiment Luther uses to gain his power) can easily rip apart soild steel and smash through solid concrete, with very little damage to themselves, but they are still hurt by bullets and swords? That doesn't make sense.
The final series in the book, Legacy, is the most disappointing. It is mostly just Luther looking for Cain, the Main Bad Guy, but it goes about it poorly. Luther just goes from place to place fighting stogies until one gives him Cain's location. But every issue is just one long fight scene.
Like I said, the Main draw here is the art which is phenomenal. Although as you get towards the end, it was at times difficult to tell what was really happening.

[Guillermo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Puede que sea el cómic que más me ha hecho cambiar de opinión conforme avanzaba en él. De partida debes saber que si buscas una historia sesuda, profunda o compleja, aquí no lo vas a encontrar. Tal vez por eso los primeros números me dejaron tan apático. Porque, además, el arte no estaba mal pero tampoco era nada del otro mundo. Pero oh, todo cambia con el segundo arco. A partir de ahí Tradd Moore muestra una evolución BESTIAL y nos empieza a regalar unas páginas maravillosas de gore bonito y bien planificado. Un crescendo de peleas bestiales, con un dinamismo como nunca he visto. Unas composición de página fantásticas, originales, que se van superando por momentos. Un color impactante, chulísimo, acorde a los capítulos que viviremos. Un diseño de personajes genial. Un ritmo soberbio, tan alto que te hacen querer pausar para seguir deleitándote poco a poco con las viñetas.

En resumen, seguramente el mejor cómic de acción que he leído, en pugna con Invencible (de hecho, por momentos te acordarás de Ottley). Tendría que hacer la media aritmética entre las 5 estrellas del arte y las ¿3? del guion. Pero esto no funciona así: aquí el arte se zampa todo lo demás, y de qué manera. Puro espectáculo.

[Sohan Surag · Rating 3 out of 5]

Luther Strode is the graphic novel equivalent of a B-movie that you take the guilty pleasure of watching and, of course, enjoying. While the story is kind of okay, it still is one gory, action-packed ride from start to end. And yes both 'Gory' and 'Action packed' would be understatements here. Tradd Moore's art is dynamic and the way he stages the action is superfluid. And if you're a fan of gore, you're gonna love this. There was never a panel with a little less red and by the end of the book, I bet, you should be accustomed to comic-book violence. I have no qualms about the characters who're a little more than eccentric; I mean after all its a comic book but there were times when I questioned certain character's motives and sanity (I shouldn't but I just did). The ending felt a little abrupt and I don't think Image has any plans to continue the series. I would definitely pick it up if Luther Strode came for another run.

[Jae · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first arc of this is practically a checklist of the worst writing tics in 21st century indie comics, a hyper violent teenage dork power fantasy with “naturalistic” dialogue that sounds like the writer has only ever talked to other humans via comics forums, but the farther it gets from the insufferable start the more fun it gets. But the only real draw here is the art anyway, and getting to see Tradd Moore go from an extremely talented kid with a good eye to one of the most unique and exciting American comic book artists alive today in the span of just 18 issues is absolutely worth suffering through the writer making the cool hot goth girl caricature who immediately loves the loser protagonist for no reason say things like “bitchpants” and “cuntmuffin”

[Juju · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tradd Moore's unreal art made me pick up this ultraviolet Charles Atlas anime riff, that I'd never really wanted to pick up. The story is forgettable, but the detailed & kinetic art, particularly in the last part - The Legacy of Luther Strode- is insane. Seeing Tradd Moor's development here in the span of a few years is the real reason to pick this up. Interesting to see a slight parallel in the development of Petra and Luther with the two main creators - one a grown-adolescent relying on guns and snark, the other a superhuman beast capable of gracefully executing mind-blowing feats of movement and destruction.

[Paul Allard · Rating 3 out of 5]

This collection brings together all the Luther Strode volumes and I only gave it three stars because it’s all a bit samey. The basic idea is that Luther gains powers, strength, speed and invulnerability, and uses them to fight and defeat similarly-endowed beings in a variety of ways while preaching a more peaceful way. A few other characters are included, especially a girl called Petra.

With lots of bloodshed, this is clearly and well-illustrated and reasonably well-written. I just would have liked more variety.

[Julián "Mystletain" Rodríguez · Rating 3 out of 5]

Vine por el dibujo y me quedé por... el dibujo (bueno y el color).

Después de haber leido varios trabajos en marvel de Tradd Moore quise leer mas cosas suyas así que empecé por aquí sin saber ni esperar nada.

La historia es un tanto tipica y edgy con ciertos olores a rancio, pero Moore y Sobreiro consiguieron que no dejase el comic a las pocas páginas con esa combinacion de colores intensos y acción fluida, que conforme avanza el comic solo va in crescendo.

Si quereis desconectar el cerebro y disfrutar de peñetazos, gore y un dibujo que os dejará con la boca abierta dadle un tiento

[Kazi Cama · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was a fun read.

There isn't much I can't fault it for it almost feels like a light-hearted yet brutally depicted deconstruction of the male power fantasy. I'm not used to seeing that amount of gore in an action comic, but it made the fights that much more brutal. I wished the final antagonist said a little more at the very end however, as he went near silent after being very talkative for much of their entrance in the final arc.

9/10 Would gladly recommend.

[Fayzal · Rating 2 out of 5]

First volume is decent and the good kind of edgy
The other the 2 volumes consist of endless fighting and bad dialogue and you never feel like Luther is in trouble unlike Volume 1 where The Librarian feels like a credible threat. Great art by Tradd Moore though and if you enjoyed artwork from something like Invincible this is quite similar the Ryan Ottley's art but sadly it just lacks substance. If I was collecting this as it came out I probably would have dropped it somewhere during volume 2.

[Randy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read the individual tpb's, & this is one of my favorite Image series. I was blown away by Tradd Moore's art there was a frenetic energy to it that matched the story beats perfectly. Amazing cast of characters, Luther & Petra had a fun Bonnie & Clyde swagger to them. Story was engaging, & took me back to ads in the 70s & 80s for Xray glasses & such nonsense. I would like to hear more about the cult inception & members - could be an interesting revisit.

[Valéria. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Re-read of Luther Strode felt the same as before. Strong beggining, awesome characters, nice gory scenes, pretty good middle part, good character development and lots of action and not so good, quite repetitive, weak ending. Still, each time I read it I enjoy it very much, if not for the story, at least for those amounts of blood.

[Henry Watkins · Rating 4 out of 5]

Absolutely amazing. The Gore may be a turn off for some readers, but the story is compelling, the art is amazing and it even has a good message on the philosophy of violence. The layout of the panels gets better and better as you read, to truly create a visceral comic reading experience.