Do You Remember When We Were Boys? (Tom Strong #6)

Cover by Dave Gibbons and Todd Klein

This issue focuses on Tom Strong's archenemy Paul Saveen. This is the part where a writer starts listing legendary enemies like Holmes and Moriarty, Dracula and Van Helsing, Lawler and Dundee, etc.

The whole archenemy thing is one of those tropes that is so easy to fuck up, with many of them just being completely contrived. I was kind of over the Batman/Joker relationship when I was a kid but from what I hear it's even more heavy handed these days. I try to be patient with the people who find out I like comics and then want to do nothing but talk about Batman. When those same folks start talking about the "depth" of his relationship with the Joker they are making it even more difficult for me.

I suppose classic archenemies are appropriate material for a comic like Tom Strong to mine. We've been hearing about Saveen since the first issue so it was obvious he'd show up, even if he's been thought dead for years. Tom spends most of the issue wandering through Saveen's museum-like lair. Saveen, for now, appears to be a frail old man clinging to the souvenirs of his past, juts like the Nazis and Pangaea in the last few issues.

This issue's Untold Tale depicts an earlier meeting between Tom and Paul. Dave Gibbons renders it in a straight forward fashion as you might expect from him. It looks nice but it's a bit on the unremarkable side. In general this story arc is not holding up the way I remember it.

The rest of the issue consists of Saveen trying to convince Tom how important they are to each other. Tom Strong isn't impressed and neither am I. Tom's reaction is probably supposed to subvert the trope of fated enemies but it rings hollow. Saveen is going for the hard sell and even if his voice is not the author's voice, it's still very loud.

It's tempting to say that this is forced because the history of these characters didn't exist until they told us it did. That said, Batman and the Joker developed naturally and I still can't stand them. Joker became THE villain thanks to a long history, visibility in other media, and fan consensus. Perhaps it's the harping on how they define each other that bothers me. Tom Strong and Paul Saveen don't have a toxic fanbase but this issue echoes the tedium of Batfans.

Tom Strong #6 (February 2000) was written by Alan Moore with art by Chris Sprouse, Al Gordon, and Mike Garcia as well as lettering by Todd Klein. The Untold Tale of Tom Strong contains additional art by Dave Gibbons

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