Rate this book

The Strange Talent Of Luther Strode, Vol. 1 (2012)

by Justin Jordan(Favorite Author)

3.88 of 5 Votes: 3

languge

English

genre

Horror

publisher

Image Comics

series

Luther Strode

review 1: The Strange Talent of Luther Strode is the most brutal superhero origin story I've ever read. Luther's abilities come laughably simply. No crazy science, no cosmic events, no alien abductions, no radioactive bug bites, it's all just sheer force of mind and practice that turns Luther Strode from a skinny twerp to a musclebound human meat grinder. It goes into standard superhero origin fare. The heroes awakening to his ability, his first test, donning the costume, and then meeting the nemesis, but even though it goes through everything in its standard order, how it delivers it is far more gory and unapologetic than anyone could've expected. What happens to Luther throughout is the systematic tearing down of a superhero, as if 30 years of Spider-Man comics were condensed into... more 1 graphic novel of horrific tragedy upon horrific tragedy. In the end, Strode has to decide how someone like him can even live on, not just because of what has happened to him, but because of what he has become. This book takes everything from our hero and makes no qualms about it. You have no idea where this story can go next because you would think there couldn't possibly be anything next. To talk about the characters, everyone was super believable, Luther's mother being about has sympathetic and loveable as you could get. My heart goes out to her. She didn't deserve any of what happens to her. The other supporting characters however are somewhat subpar, but I feel that they were written that way to lure us into believing that this was yet more standard comic book fare. The Strange Talent of Luther Strode is a great comic for those who are tired of the usual mask and cape heroics and want to see a story that really pulls no punches and gives another view to the untrained beginnings of a super powered teen.
review 2: Starts out as an interesting modern take on the "wimp gets buff and fights back" old tale. It's got a fast pace, good story structure and solidly believable (if a little glib - which is a pretty thin complaint about such entertaining writing) dialogue. Our man-in-the-making Luther apparently gets touched by some force that enables him to achieve his dreams of power, a girlfriend and self-determination. The only drawback is...There's some mysteriously sociopathic-yet-overly-polite dude who's definitely on the evil side of the chalk line, working his way towards Luther & friends/enemies in a hyper-violent fashion.Head nod towards the art, inspired by Chew & Rob Guillory. This is some pro-level acting, camera work and colouring - I'm impressed and appreciative they put the work in.The most amusing and endearing character is definitely Petra. Snarky, doesn't let the boy away with any shit, and lives her life by some mysterious but definitive set of rules. The in-story parody of the old Charles Atlas ads from comics was funny.Unfortunately, the climax of the story occupies a very humourless and unsympathetic space, our "hero" goes Rambo and kills nearly like a machine (because he can?), without any reward or redemption available to him or us.What's the point of this book then? Just to say, "Sometimes power turns you into The Plutonian from the get-go?" Surely there's something a little more subtle at work here, but I'll be damned if I can see it.Worse, the supervillain is just boring - all-seeing, all-knowing, ever glib, and tirelessly insufferable. Pretty much an invulnerable Bond villain, which works great if you're a teenage boy with no exposure to decently-crafted media, but otherwise...I don't see the appeal.The ultraviolence goes to Mortal Kombat levels, Jesus. Loses all oomph. At the end I just feel empty.So is this a good book or a terrible book? One half of it is enjoyable to read; the other half of it feels like every two-dimensional Schwarzenegger super-violent fantasy, with none of the quips to break the tension. Kinda glad it's over, and based on what I've heard of the second book, I have no plans to take this any further. less

Download links for: The Strange Talent of Luther Strode, Vol. 1

Advertising