The Strange Talent of Luther Strode #1

The Strange Talent of Luther Strode
Story by Justin Jordan and Art by Tradd Moore

First off, I passed on this shit like I would a hooker if I was broke. The only reason I picked this up is because a friend of mine who works at Sky High Comics in San Diego implored me to do so. Not one to ignore a fellow geek’s recommendation, I picked it up and took it home. Like TMNT, this also went immediately into my well organized short boxes but this one I sat down and immediately read. A girl has to know if she needs to subscribe to it, right?

Luscious, beautiful scenes of gore greet you on the very first page. No, this isn’t torture porn so pay attention! Fully muscled Luther Strode introduces himself to you across panels decorated with blood splatters and limbs. It’s truly a sight to behold. The scene switches to a thin, geeky Peter Parker-esque Luther looking at a book he’s bought called The Hercules Method! much to the chagrin of his equally geeky friend. Luther is tired of being bullied so he feels some kind of action is necessary. He sits to begin applying the Hercules Method to his life (with stuff like “Focus your mind, body, and spirit towards one goal” and various exercises that will lead to “extraordinary change.”) and sighs at himself in the mirror.

I think we’ve all felt that way and Jordan’s writing definitely drives those feelings home. A ravenous Luther gulps down serving after serving of food and notices very heightened reflexes before heading out to school. There are hints of a crush on a girl named Petra and trouble with an unnamed person, intent on finding young Luther and his mother. The issue ends with a fed up Luther punching his bully in the face, with some unexpected consequences.

Tradd Moore is a goddamn genius. I absolutely love the way the characters are drawn and it seems like Moore is adept at capturing a whole slew of emotions in just one face. The colorist, Felipa Sobreiro is also a badass and the color scheme he uses for Luther’s violent intro makes it that much more intense. In this panel, Strode stops a ball thrown by his bully and Moore makes me feel like I’m in that gym, feeling the air of that ball as it zooms past.

Long and short of it, GO GET THIS COMIC RIGHT NOW. Stop what you’re doing, drive to your LCS and get it.