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SMASH (comics)
Encyclopedia
The Society of Modern American Science Heroes, or SMASH, is a team of fictional superhero
es whose adventures are published by America's Best Comics and take place on the parallel world of Terra Obscura
.
#11 (January 2001). In 1968, Tom discovers an alternate version of his Earth located on the far side of the galaxy, which he dubs "Terra Obscura." Terra Obscura has the same cities as Earth, but different names for them. Most notably, the big East Coast city is New Lancaster. It also shares a similar history as Earth.
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
in the 1940s. With the original publisher's collapse, copyright
s on the characters were not renewed upon 28 years of creation and so lapsed into the public domain
. One of the 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 for them, covering the time periods during which they were not actually being published. The history of the characters (both from Nedor and ABC) follow the conventions established by DC Comics
and Marvel Comics
: the Golden Age of Comic Books
, Silver Age of Comic Books
, and Modern Age of Comic Books
.
titles, including America's Best Comics, the inspiration for reviving the characters. In the updated chronology, Tom Strong reveals that the Golden Age adventures of the Terra Obscura characters are portrayed in comic books on his world, in an echo of the old DC Multiverse
Earth-1/Earth-2 relationship.
-Batman
World's Finest
team. This is the time period when Tom Strong made his first journey to Terra Obscura. After Tom returned to his own solar system, Terra Obscura came under attack when the moon landing
s of 1969 awakened a deadly alien. The lunar invader's power was so great that several members of SMASH were killed (the first time Terra Obscura science-heroes had ever died in battle): The Black Terror
, Tom Strange's
side-kick Mike Ellis and The Ghost
. The rest of SMASH were encased in stasis fields orbiting the moon. Tom Strange was able to escape and ran through space for 30 years in order to reach his recent acquaintance and get help.
over the previous 30 years. Meanwhile Tim Roland, the Black Terror's side-kick, initialized a system which Benton had been working on prior to his death: "Terror 2000", a computer generated version of Benton, able to combat crime using his complete integration into the world's computer networks.
Also making a return from the grave was the Ghost. Using his supreme yogic powers he was able to stay in a state of limbo, between this world and the next, and appears when he can as "The Green Ghost".
Together they fought and defeated the alien menace, which had been trying to turn the entire planet into a spaceship, with Terror 2000 delivering the final blow. But this final fight was not without its losses; Bruce Carter, the Fighting Yank
, was killed in the melee.
With the alien menace destroyed, the members of SMASH find it difficult adjusting to life in the 21st century, and decide to disband. But three years later, a new menace arises that draws the former teammates together. A mysterious "technology plague" sweeps through the nation, rendering technology useless and threatens to return Terra Incognita to the Stone Age.
The source is traced to the Grand Canyon
, where former SMASH member Mystico is using his mystical powers to fight the megalomanical Terror 2003, the computer intelligence based on the mind of the dead Black Terror. Mystico's plague also nullifies the science-based powers of the superheroes; only the Liberator and the Scarab, with their magic-based powers, are unaffected.
Mystico is at first able to overpower the Liberator and Tom Strange, and reveals that he is possessed by the spirit of the Egyptian god Set
. Meanwhile, Fighting Yank II (who has regained her mystical powers) and Ms. Masque are able to find the source of Mystico's powers and de-activate it. The Scarab asks the goddess Maat
for help, and is bonded to the god Thoth
in order to act as a guardian over Mystico/Set. The Grand Canyon is given over to Mystico/Set as the domain of "New Egypt", while the Terror 2003 program is confined to Invertica City. Tom Strange convinces his friends to join him in reforming SMASH.
Several years later, SMASH is faced with a new challenge when former SMASH member Captain Future returns. His ship, the Thunderbolt, had been thrown through time after a battle with Dr. X in 1959, and is now causing the timelines to overlap. The Terror 2003, now upgraded to the Terror 2004, tries to use these timeslips as a way of taking over Terra Incognita. In the end, a time-traveling Black Terror from the past arrives and destroys the Terror 2004.
Collections:
Special issues:
Superhero
A superhero is a type of stock character, possessing "extraordinary or superhuman powers", dedicated to protecting the public. Since the debut of the prototypical superhero Superman in 1938, stories of superheroes — ranging from brief episodic adventures to continuing years-long sagas —...
es whose adventures are published by America's Best Comics and take place on the parallel world of Terra Obscura
Terra Obscura
Terra Obscura is a 2003 comic book miniseries spun off from Alan Moore's Tom Strong series. The stories are written by Peter Hogan, and drawn by Yanick Paquette and Karl Story with additional flashback sequences drawn by Eric Theriault. Each story is co-plotted by Alan Moore and Peter Hogan...
.
History
SMASH first appeared in Tom StrongTom 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.-Background:Tom Strong, the title character, is a "science hero"...
#11 (January 2001). In 1968, Tom discovers an alternate version of his Earth located on the far side of the galaxy, which he dubs "Terra Obscura." Terra Obscura has the same cities as Earth, but different names for them. Most notably, the big East Coast city is New Lancaster. It also shares a similar history as Earth.
On his visit to Terra Obscura, Tom meets his counterpart Tom "Doc" Strange
Doc Strange
Doc Strange is a fictional character, a comic book superhero who originally appeared in Thrilling Comics #1...
, and the team of science-heroes
Science hero
Science hero is a term coined by Alan Moore in his work for America's Best Comics to describe fantastic heroes. This includes those that have a science fiction explanation for their powers, as well as magical and non-powered characters. The term is used extensively throughout the ABC titles,...
known as the Society of Major American Science Heroes (SMASH). All the members of SMASH are based on characters previously published by Nedor Comics
Nedor Comics
Nedor Publishing was a comic book imprint of publisher Ned Pines, who also published pulp magazines under a variety of company names that he also used for the comics...
in the 1940s. With the original publisher's collapse, copyright
Copyright
Copyright is a legal concept, enacted by most governments, giving the creator of an original work exclusive rights to it, usually for a limited time...
s on the characters were not renewed upon 28 years of creation and so lapsed into the public domain
Public domain
Works are in the public domain if the intellectual property rights have expired, if the intellectual property rights are forfeited, or if they are not covered by intellectual property rights at all...
. One of the 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 for them, covering the time periods during which they were not actually being published. The history of the characters (both from Nedor and ABC) follow the conventions established by DC Comics
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
and Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics
Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
: the Golden Age of Comic Books
Golden Age of Comic Books
The Golden Age of Comic Books was a period in the history of American comic books, generally thought of as lasting from the late 1930s until the late 1940s or early 1950s...
, Silver Age of Comic Books
Silver Age of Comic Books
The Silver Age of Comic Books was a period of artistic advancement and commercial success in mainstream American comic books, predominantly those in the superhero genre. Following the Golden Age of Comic Books and an interregnum in the early to mid-1950s, the Silver Age is considered to cover the...
, and Modern Age of Comic Books
Modern Age of Comic Books
The Modern Age of Comic Books is an informal name for the period in the history of mainstream American comic books generally considered to last from the mid-1980s until present day...
.
Golden Age (Nedor Comics era)
The Golden Age heroes were published in various Nedor ComicsNedor Comics
Nedor Publishing was a comic book imprint of publisher Ned Pines, who also published pulp magazines under a variety of company names that he also used for the comics...
titles, including America's Best Comics, the inspiration for reviving the characters. In the updated chronology, Tom Strong reveals that the Golden Age adventures of the Terra Obscura characters are portrayed in comic books on his world, in an echo of the old DC Multiverse
Multiverse (DC Comics)
The DC Multiverse is a fictional continuity construct that exists in stories published by comic book company DC Comics. The DC Multiverse consists of numerous worlds, most of them outside DC's main continuity, allowing writers the creative freedom to explore alternative versions of characters and...
Earth-1/Earth-2 relationship.
Silver Age (Moore's Backstory)
In reality, the Nedor characters were not in print during the Silver Age, but flashback sequences in Terra Obscura reference the era. This includes sequences establishing Tom Strange and the Black Terror as the parallel of the SupermanSuperman
Superman is a fictional comic book superhero appearing in publications by DC Comics, widely considered to be an American cultural icon. Created by American writer Jerry Siegel and Canadian-born American artist Joe Shuster in 1932 while both were living in Cleveland, Ohio, and sold to Detective...
-Batman
Batman
Batman is a fictional character created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger. A comic book superhero, Batman first appeared in Detective Comics #27 , and since then has appeared primarily in publications by DC Comics...
World's Finest
World's Finest Comics
World's Finest Comics was an American comic book series published by DC Comics from 1941 to 1986. The series was initially titled World's Best Comics for its first issue; issue #2 switched to the more familiar name...
team. This is the time period when Tom Strong made his first journey to Terra Obscura. After Tom returned to his own solar system, Terra Obscura came under attack when the moon landing
Moon landing
A moon landing is the arrival of a spacecraft on the surface of the Moon. This includes both manned and unmanned missions. The first human-made object to reach the surface of the Moon was the Soviet Union's Luna 2 mission on 13 September 1959. The United States's Apollo 11 was the first manned...
s of 1969 awakened a deadly alien. The lunar invader's power was so great that several members of SMASH were killed (the first time Terra Obscura science-heroes had ever died in battle): The Black Terror
Black Terror
The Black Terror is a fictional comic book superhero who originally appeared in Exciting Comics #9, published by Nedor Comics in January 1941. Some Black Terror stories were written by Patricia Highsmith before she became an acclaimed novelist...
, Tom Strange's
Doc Strange
Doc Strange is a fictional character, a comic book superhero who originally appeared in Thrilling Comics #1...
side-kick Mike Ellis and The Ghost
The Ghost (Nedor)
The Ghost is a fictional character, a superhero that appeared in comic books published by Nedor Comics. His first appearance was in Thrilling Comics #3...
. The rest of SMASH were encased in stasis fields orbiting the moon. Tom Strange was able to escape and ran through space for 30 years in order to reach his recent acquaintance and get help.
Modern Age (Terra Obscura)
The "Modern Age" stories begin when the two Toms return and free the remaining members of SMASH. After they had been freed, the remaining members of SMASH pooled their efforts for a final attack on the lunar alien, which had been building a giant construct in the AntarcticAntarctic
The Antarctic is the region around the Earth's South Pole, opposite the Arctic region around the North Pole. The Antarctic comprises the continent of Antarctica and the ice shelves, waters and island territories in the Southern Ocean situated south of the Antarctic Convergence...
over the previous 30 years. Meanwhile Tim Roland, the Black Terror's side-kick, initialized a system which Benton had been working on prior to his death: "Terror 2000", a computer generated version of Benton, able to combat crime using his complete integration into the world's computer networks.
Also making a return from the grave was the Ghost. Using his supreme yogic powers he was able to stay in a state of limbo, between this world and the next, and appears when he can as "The Green Ghost".
Together they fought and defeated the alien menace, which had been trying to turn the entire planet into a spaceship, with Terror 2000 delivering the final blow. But this final fight was not without its losses; Bruce Carter, the Fighting Yank
Fighting Yank
-Publication history:The initial comic-book character called Fighting Yank first appeared in Nedor Comics' Startling Comics #10 , during the period fans and historians call the Golden Age of comic books. He was created by writer Richard E. Hughes and artist Jon L. Blummer...
, was killed in the melee.
With the alien menace destroyed, the members of SMASH find it difficult adjusting to life in the 21st century, and decide to disband. But three years later, a new menace arises that draws the former teammates together. A mysterious "technology plague" sweeps through the nation, rendering technology useless and threatens to return Terra Incognita to the Stone Age.
The source is traced to the Grand Canyon
Grand Canyon
The Grand Canyon is a steep-sided canyon carved by the Colorado River in the United States in the state of Arizona. It is largely contained within the Grand Canyon National Park, the 15th national park in the United States...
, where former SMASH member Mystico is using his mystical powers to fight the megalomanical Terror 2003, the computer intelligence based on the mind of the dead Black Terror. Mystico's plague also nullifies the science-based powers of the superheroes; only the Liberator and the Scarab, with their magic-based powers, are unaffected.
Mystico is at first able to overpower the Liberator and Tom Strange, and reveals that he is possessed by the spirit of the Egyptian god Set
Set (mythology)
Set was in Ancient Egyptian religion, a god of the desert, storms, and foreigners. In later myths he was also the god of darkness, and chaos...
. Meanwhile, Fighting Yank II (who has regained her mystical powers) and Ms. Masque are able to find the source of Mystico's powers and de-activate it. The Scarab asks the goddess Maat
Maat
Maat is a naval rank of the German navy equivalent to the army rank of Unteroffizier. A Maat is considered the equivalent of a junior Petty Officer in the navies of many other nations....
for help, and is bonded to the god Thoth
Thoth
Thoth was considered one of the more important deities of the Egyptian pantheon. In art, he was often depicted as a man with the head of an ibis or a baboon, animals sacred to him. His feminine counterpart was Seshat...
in order to act as a guardian over Mystico/Set. The Grand Canyon is given over to Mystico/Set as the domain of "New Egypt", while the Terror 2003 program is confined to Invertica City. Tom Strange convinces his friends to join him in reforming SMASH.
Several years later, SMASH is faced with a new challenge when former SMASH member Captain Future returns. His ship, the Thunderbolt, had been thrown through time after a battle with Dr. X in 1959, and is now causing the timelines to overlap. The Terror 2003, now upgraded to the Terror 2004, tries to use these timeslips as a way of taking over Terra Incognita. In the end, a time-traveling Black Terror from the past arrives and destroys the Terror 2004.
Publishing history
After the Nedor Comics characters appeared in Tom Strong, Moore and Peter Hogan co-plotted a spin-off series that Hogan penned himself. As of 2007 two 6-issue series entitled Terra Obscura have been published by ABC, with a third possibly in the works. They take place five years after the end of Tom Strong #12.Collections:
- Tom Strong (Book Two) (ISBN 1-5638-9880-2): Contains issues #11 and 12, introducing SMASH.
- Terra Obscura v1 (ISBN 1-4012-0286-1): Collection of issues #1-6. Takes place five years after end of Tom Strong #12. Battle with Mystico and Terror 2003, reformation of SMASH.
- Terra Obscura v2 (ISBN 1-4012-0622-0): Collection of issues #7-12. Return of Captain Future.
Special issues:
- ABC A-Z: Terra Obscura and Splash Brannigan (published January 2006): Background on SMASH and the superheroes of Terra Obscura.