''Terra Obscura'' is a 2003 comic book

miniseries A miniseries or mini-series is a television series that tells a story in a predetermined, limited number of episodes. "Limited series" is another more recent US term which is sometimes used interchangeably. , the popularity of miniseries format h ...

spin-off from

Alan Moore Alan Moore (born 18 November 1953) is an English author known primarily for his work in comic books including ''Watchmen'', ''V for Vendetta'', ''The Ballad of Halo Jones'', ''Swamp Thing'', ''Batman:'' ''The Killing Joke'', and ''From Hell' ...

's ''

Tom Strong ''Tom Strong'' is a comic book created by writer Alan Moore and artist Chris Sprouse, initially published bi-monthly by America's Best Comics, an imprint of DC Comics' Wildstorm division. Tom Strong, the title character, is a "science hero", wi ...

'' series. The stories are written by

Peter Hogan Peter Hogan is an English writer and comics writer, best known for ''Resident Alien'', which he co-created with artist Steve Parkhouse. Hogan began his comics career as editor of cult British comic ''Revolver'' in 1990–1991, before workin ...

, and drawn by

Yanick Paquette Yanick Paquette is a Canadian comic book artist. He has worked for Antarctic Press, Topps, Marvel, and DC Comics and since 1994. Career In 1996 Paquette drew two miniseries adapted from the TV series '' Space: Above and Beyond'', written by Ro ...

and

Karl Story Karl Story (born 1967) is an American comic book artist specializing in inking. He is one of the original members of Atlanta's Gaijin Studios. Over a career of almost two decades, he has worked on books such as ''Nightwing'', ''Batman'', ''Star ...

with additional flashback sequences drawn by

Eric Theriault The given name Eric, Erich, Erikk, Erik, Erick, or Eirik is derived from the Old Norse name ''Eiríkr'' (or ''Eríkr'' in Old East Norse due to monophthongization). The first element, ''ei-'' may be derived from the older Proto-Norse ''* ain ...

. Each story is co-plotted by

and

. It was published under Moore's

America's Best Comics America's Best Comics (ABC) is a comic book publishing brand. It was set up by Alan Moore in 1999 as an imprint of WildStorm, an idea proposed to Moore by WildStorm founder Jim Lee when it was still under Image Comics. History ''America's Best ...

imprint through

Wildstorm Comics Wildstorm Productions, (stylized as WildStorm), is an American comic book imprint. Originally founded as an independent company established by Jim Lee under the name "Aegis Entertainment" and expanded in subsequent years by other creators, Wildst ...

, which is owned by

DC Comics DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with thei ...

Origin and backstory

Terra Obscura first appeared in ''Tom Strong'' #11 (January 2001). Terra Obscura is an alternate version of Tom Strong's Earth located on the far side of the galaxy, discovered by Strong in 1968. On his visit to Terra Obscura, Tom meets his counterpart Tom "Doc" Strange, and the team of science-heroes known as the ''Society of Major American Science Heroes'' ( SMASH). All the members of SMASH are based on characters previously published by

Nedor Comics Standard Comics was a comic book imprint (trade name), imprint of United States, American publisher Ned Pines, who also published pulp magazines (under a Thrilling Publications, variety of company names that he also used for the comics) and pape ...

in the 1940s. With the original publisher's collapse,

copyright A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, education ...

s on the characters were not renewed upon 28 years of creation and so lapsed into the

public domain The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work A creative work is a manifestation of creative effort including fine artwork (sculpture, paintings, drawing, sketching, performance art), dance, writing (literature), filmmaking, ...

. One of Nedor's many titles was ''America's Best Comics'', and when the coincidence of this was pointed out to Alan Moore, he decided to incorporate these characters into his ''Tom Strong'' series. For their 2000 debut, Moore created a

backstory A backstory, background story, back-story, or background is a set of events invented for a plot, presented as preceding and leading up to that plot. It is a literary device of a narrative history all chronologically earlier than the narrative of p ...

for them, covering the time periods during which they were not actually being published. For the ''Terra Obscura'' spin-off, Moore worked out plots with Peter Hogan, who then wrote the scripts.

Publishing history

* Collections: ** ''Terra Obscura'' v1 (), collects issues #1–6, volume 1. ** ''Terra Obscura'' v2 (), collects issues #1–6, volume 2. *Special issue: ** ''ABC A–Z: Terra Obscura and Splash Brannigan'' (published in January 2006): Background on SMASH and the superheroes of Terra Obscura. * Trade Paper Back Collections: ** "Terra Obscura: S.M.A.S.H. of Two Worlds" () (published by Vertigo in 2014), collects: issues #1–6, volume 1; issues #1–6, volume 2, and "ABC A–Z: Terra Obscura and Splash Brannigan".

Characters

SMASH members

Doc Strange Doc Strange is a Golden Age comic book superhero who originally appeared in ''Thrilling Comics'' #1 (Better Publications, also called Nedor Comics) in February 1940. The character continued in ''Thrilling Comics'' until issue #64 (Feb 1948). He ...

* Mike Ellis (deceased): The young sidekick of Tom Strange. He was killed in 1969 when battling the invader from the moon. *

The Terror The Reign of Terror (french: link=no, la Terreur) was a period of the French Revolution when, following the creation of the First Republic, a series of massacres and numerous public executions took place in response to revolutionary fervour, ...

/ Terror 2000 (deceased/revived) * Tim Roland: The Terror's loyal side-kick. His reflexes and strength have been augmented by energy-enhancing vapors discovered by Bob Benton. *

Pyroman Pyroman is a fictional superhero that appeared in comic books published by Nedor Comics. His first appearance was in ''Startling Comics'' #18 (December 1942), with art by Jack Binder. This character was later revived by both AC Comics and Amer ...

Captain Future Captain Future is a pulp science fiction hero — a space-traveling scientist and adventurer —originally published in his namesake pulp magazine from 1940 to 1944. The character was created by editors Mort Weisinger and Leo Margulies. The maj ...

* The Fighting Yank (I) (deceased) * The Fighting Spirit. Now the Fighting Yank II. *

Miss Masque Miss Masque is a fictional masked crime-fighter. She originally appeared in comic books published by Nedor Comics, and was later revived by AC Comics, America's Best Comics, and Dynamite Entertainment. Nedor Comics Miss Masque is the secret ide ...

* The Ghost / The Green Ghost (deceased/revived) *

Princess Pantha Princess Pantha is a fictional jungle heroine that appeared in comic books published by Nedor Comics. The character was revived twice; first by AC Comics, and second by writer Alan Moore for his Tom Strong spin-off, ''Terra Obscura''. She first ap ...

American Crusader The American Crusader is a superhero who originally appeared in '' Thrilling Comics'' #19 (Better Publications, Aug 1941). He appeared in almost every issue until #41 (April 1944). The character was revived in the Modern Age in ''Femforce'' #59, ...

Lance Lewis, Space Detective Lance Lewis, Space Detective is a fictional superhero from the Golden Age of Comics. He first appeared in ''Mystery Comics'' #3 (1944), published by Nedor Comics. The character was revived by writer Alan Moore for America's Best Comics. Nedor Com ...

(deceased) *

The Magnet ''The Magnet'' was a British weekly boys' story paper published by Amalgamated Press. It ran from 1908 to 1940, publishing a total of 1,683 issues. Each issue cost a halfpenny and contained a long school story about the boys of Greyfriars Sch ...

* The Liberator * Adam the Ape: An enhanced ape. * The Woman in Red * Mystico: The mummy of the Egyptian pharaoh

Smenkhkare Smenkhkare (alternatively romanized ''Smenkhare'', ''Smenkare,'' or ''Smenkhkara''; meaning "'Vigorous is the Soul of Re") was an ancient Egyptian pharaoh of unknown background who lived and ruled during the Amarna Period of the 18th Dynasty. S ...

, restored to life by a

mad scientist The mad scientist (also mad doctor or mad professor) is a stock character of a scientist who is perceived as " mad, bad and dangerous to know" or "insane" owing to a combination of unusual or unsettling personality traits and the unabashedly amb ...

's vita-ray machine in 1940. His magical powers are seemingly without limit. * The Scarab *

The Grim Reaper Death is frequently imagined as a personified force. In some mythologies, a character known as the Grim Reaper (usually depicted as a berobed skeleton wielding a scythe) causes the victim's death by coming to collect that person's soul. Other b ...

(deceased): Killed by the Terror 2000 program.

The Four Comrades

A science-hero team based in New Lancaster who were forced to try to maintain control after SMASH were left frozen in space and time in 1969. By the time the members of SMASH had been released from their captivity in 2000, they had aged and an original member, Tip, had died and been replaced by his sister, Tipper. They encounter the revived heroes in the inverted city of 'Invertica': * Pudge * Buzz * Tommy * Tip (deceased) * Tipper

Miscellaneous characters

* Dr. X:

Occultist The occult, in the broadest sense, is a category of esoteric supernatural beliefs and practices which generally fall outside the scope of religion and science, encompassing phenomena involving otherworldly agency, such as magic and mysticism an ...

and

physicist A physicist is a scientist who specializes in the field of physics, which encompasses the interactions of matter and energy at all length and time scales in the physical universe. Physicists generally are interested in the root or ultimate caus ...

, apparently researching interdimensional travel at his base, Fort X, near the

Hoover Dam Hoover Dam is a concrete arch-gravity dam in the Black Canyon of the Colorado River, on the border between the U.S. states of Nevada and Arizona. It was constructed between 1931 and 1936 during the Great Depression and was dedicated on Se ...

. He is notoriously reclusive. * The

Oracle An oracle is a person or agency considered to provide wise and insightful counsel or prophetic predictions, most notably including precognition of the future, inspired by deities. As such, it is a form of divination. Description The word '' ...

: He can see the future in his dreams and has a special chamber beneath

the Pentagon The Pentagon is the headquarters building of the United States Department of Defense. It was constructed on an accelerated schedule during World War II. As a symbol of the U.S. military, the phrase ''The Pentagon'' is often used as a metony ...

where he is kept safe and his predictions are recorded. * Theseus: Not seen since the 1960s. * The Gremlin * Spectro * Black Satan * Dr. Voodoo

References

External links

Newsarama article on Nedor public domain charactersWildstorm message board
{{Alan Moore Comics by Alan Moore America's Best Comics titles Fictional planets