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Alan Moore's America's Best Comics
Presents the adventures of such superheroes as Tom Strong, Promethea, Jack B. Quick, Cobweb, and Greyshirt.
192 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2003
140 people want to read
About the author
Alan Moore
1,578 books21.7k followersAlan Moore is an English writer most famous for his influential work in comics, including the acclaimed graphic novels Watchmen, V for Vendetta and From Hell. He has also written a novel, Voice of the Fire, and performs "workings" (one-off performance art/spoken word pieces) with The Moon and Serpent Grand Egyptian Theatre of Marvels, some of which have been released on CD.
As a comics writer, Moore is notable for being one of the first writers to apply literary and formalist sensibilities to the mainstream of the medium. As well as including challenging subject matter and adult themes, he brings a wide range of influences to his work, from the literary–authors such as William S. Burroughs, Thomas Pynchon, Robert Anton Wilson and Iain Sinclair; New Wave science fiction writers such as Michael Moorcock; horror writers such as Clive Barker; to the cinematic–filmmakers such as Nicolas Roeg. Influences within comics include Will Eisner, Harvey Kurtzman, Jack Kirby and Bryan Talbot.
As a comics writer, Moore is notable for being one of the first writers to apply literary and formalist sensibilities to the mainstream of the medium. As well as including challenging subject matter and adult themes, he brings a wide range of influences to his work, from the literary–authors such as William S. Burroughs, Thomas Pynchon, Robert Anton Wilson and Iain Sinclair; New Wave science fiction writers such as Michael Moorcock; horror writers such as Clive Barker; to the cinematic–filmmakers such as Nicolas Roeg. Influences within comics include Will Eisner, Harvey Kurtzman, Jack Kirby and Bryan Talbot.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
June 2, 2022
For some reason, the ISBN associated with this book brings up both America's Best Comics, as well as the America's Best Comics Primer - Weird. Both are great and fun reads and if you're a fan of Moore, definitely worth your time.
August 8, 2007
a sampler of alan moore's Americas Best stuff, most of which im unfamiliar with, so this was a -blast- to read.. ive read so much of his stuff that is so dark, its nice to see his humor come to the forefront.
May 26, 2011
Alan Moore is amazing.
June 5, 2019
A fun if non-essential romp through the various America's Best Comics titles, largely not written by Alan Moore, collecting two specials and a sketchbook.
First up is the America's Best Comics 64-Page Giant, which features a bunch of short stories from (almost) all of the ABC series. Most of the shorts are pretty forgettable, dipping their toes into the worlds so briefly that it's impossible to get a real feel for any of them. Even having read most of these titles I was left wanting more from each of them. I mean, the Top 10 story doesn't even feature any characters from the series except in a very limited cameo.
The only standouts from this special are the Greyshirt story, told completely via fake advertisements, and, wildly, the Splash Brannigan story, drawn by the excellent Kyle Baker who's a perfect choice for making fun of 1930s cartoons. I say "wildly" because pretty much every Splash Brannigan tale from Tomorrow Stories is awful, so it was surprising to see it actually shine here.
Next up is the sprawling The Many Worlds of Tesla Strong, written by Peter Hogan, in which Tom Strong's daughter Tesla has to try to find her missing friend who gets lost in the multiverse. I should mention, her friend is a talking gorilla. It's a pretty light-hearted, plotless story that gives a bunch of ABC artists the chance to draw Tesla and her mirror-universe counterparts. It's very similar to a story Alan Moore previously wrote in the main Tom Strong comic, so it feels like a bit of a rehash. For the most part, though, it's a harmless, humorous journey.
Again, mostly harmless. There's an extremely weird two-page section where Tesla arrives in a world where no one wears clothes, and proceeds to be hit on by her mirror-universe father, who keeps trying to take her clothes off. It's... disgusting? I mean, even if you want to make the argument that it's not technically her actual father, she's still a teenager. It feels incredibly creepy, like a gross uncle wrote it, and the art style is very boob-heavy. I felt completely skeeved out for, thankfully, only two pages.
So, again, not really much of a point to this one, though it has its moments. If you're for some reason reading through the entire ABC library, like I am, then give it a read. Otherwise, skip it.
First up is the America's Best Comics 64-Page Giant, which features a bunch of short stories from (almost) all of the ABC series. Most of the shorts are pretty forgettable, dipping their toes into the worlds so briefly that it's impossible to get a real feel for any of them. Even having read most of these titles I was left wanting more from each of them. I mean, the Top 10 story doesn't even feature any characters from the series except in a very limited cameo.
The only standouts from this special are the Greyshirt story, told completely via fake advertisements, and, wildly, the Splash Brannigan story, drawn by the excellent Kyle Baker who's a perfect choice for making fun of 1930s cartoons. I say "wildly" because pretty much every Splash Brannigan tale from Tomorrow Stories is awful, so it was surprising to see it actually shine here.
Next up is the sprawling The Many Worlds of Tesla Strong, written by Peter Hogan, in which Tom Strong's daughter Tesla has to try to find her missing friend who gets lost in the multiverse. I should mention, her friend is a talking gorilla. It's a pretty light-hearted, plotless story that gives a bunch of ABC artists the chance to draw Tesla and her mirror-universe counterparts. It's very similar to a story Alan Moore previously wrote in the main Tom Strong comic, so it feels like a bit of a rehash. For the most part, though, it's a harmless, humorous journey.
Again, mostly harmless. There's an extremely weird two-page section where Tesla arrives in a world where no one wears clothes, and proceeds to be hit on by her mirror-universe father, who keeps trying to take her clothes off. It's... disgusting? I mean, even if you want to make the argument that it's not technically her actual father, she's still a teenager. It feels incredibly creepy, like a gross uncle wrote it, and the art style is very boob-heavy. I felt completely skeeved out for, thankfully, only two pages.
So, again, not really much of a point to this one, though it has its moments. If you're for some reason reading through the entire ABC library, like I am, then give it a read. Otherwise, skip it.
September 12, 2019
This one was a bit weird for me. Essentially it's in a magazine format showcasing short stories with ABC heroes in them. The longest one was about Tom Strong's daughter Tesla, it's a full story and it succeeded in making me interested in this character and comics. I've especially liked the one from the Top 10 universe, about an accountant dealing with vampire mafia, had a good chuckle. There are sketches in the end, too, for the ones who like looking at good art. The art in the stories is wildly different because there was at least a dozen artists working on this but all is top notch. The best one for me is probably Chris Sprouse who drew the Tesla story. At 192 pages it's a steal in used comics section if you see it.
October 3, 2018
some of the stores were good.
October 14, 2020
Antología ABC.
December 22, 2025
A great sampling of what America's Best Comics had to offer at the time, and it collects several stories that would be out of place of the omnibus collections of its main titles. It also collects the sketchbook material that went into the original designs of the main ABC characters.
Fun stories and the artistic lineup are acclaimed artists in their own right, taking a couple of pages more to put their own spin in several Alan Moore characters. The cover itself is a well art directed jam piece.
This is not exactly essential reading but works as great side material. I would have given it 3.5 stars, but the Goodreads rating system still doesn't allow that after all these years.
Fun stories and the artistic lineup are acclaimed artists in their own right, taking a couple of pages more to put their own spin in several Alan Moore characters. The cover itself is a well art directed jam piece.
This is not exactly essential reading but works as great side material. I would have given it 3.5 stars, but the Goodreads rating system still doesn't allow that after all these years.
December 11, 2015
I stumbled onto this compilation at my local library. It looked only vaguely appealing, but I thought I'd give it a shot, especially since I saw Alan Moore's name listed for writing credits.
This book was so much fun! Alan Moore has a great talent for retro-future designs. It's a great break from the Marvel Super Hero stories that I grew up reading, and have now invaded mainstream film. In the right hands, any one of these stories would make for great tv or film.
Also worth noting: unlike the Watchmen or V for Vendetta, this book is full of humor. Lots of good clean fun .
This book was so much fun! Alan Moore has a great talent for retro-future designs. It's a great break from the Marvel Super Hero stories that I grew up reading, and have now invaded mainstream film. In the right hands, any one of these stories would make for great tv or film.
Also worth noting: unlike the Watchmen or V for Vendetta, this book is full of humor. Lots of good clean fun .
August 3, 2009
I'm not really a comic book reader, but I saw this in the local library, noticed the name on the top, and thought I'd give it a go.
I enjoyed reading 'The Many Worlds of Tesla Strong' as I'm a sucker for parallel worlds, but my lack of knowledge meant that I probably missed a lot of references. The other stories didn't really excite me, probably for the same reason.
I'll stick to reading self-contained 'graphic novels' for now.
I enjoyed reading 'The Many Worlds of Tesla Strong' as I'm a sucker for parallel worlds, but my lack of knowledge meant that I probably missed a lot of references. The other stories didn't really excite me, probably for the same reason.
I'll stick to reading self-contained 'graphic novels' for now.
November 24, 2012
Trade Paperback that collects the ABC 64-Page Special, The Many Worlds of Tesla Strong, and ABC Sketchbook.
A nice collection of material that wouldn't really fit in the other main tittles. Apart maybe, and this is where I have it stored in my shelves, The Terrific Tales of Tom Strange books.
A nice collection of material that wouldn't really fit in the other main tittles. Apart maybe, and this is where I have it stored in my shelves, The Terrific Tales of Tom Strange books.
March 8, 2010
Pensé que había leído todo este tomo, pero veo que incluye "A full-length novella" que no creo haber leído. Cuando corrobore los contenidos, actualizo.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews