An artist who added an extra edge to the cult-fave series…
By PETER STONE
Larry Stroman had the X-factor.
One of the most intriguing aspects of comics is how various artists interpret these wonderful stories. As a writer, I have a vision of what my work should translate into. What a punch should look like. What a beautiful female character should look like. What an explosion should look like, etc.
The artist, however, has a different view and very often exceeds my ability to see the story. I’ve worked with Neal Adams, Michael Golden, Rudy Nebres, Mark Beachum, Trevor Von Eeden, Kevin Nowlan, Ron Wilson, Dave Hoover, Richard Bennett, and the incredible Ernesto Infante. Each one drew my stories differently, and I was always, always, always, happy with the results.
Then there was Larry Stroman. He drew two full issues of Continuity’s The Revengers (a name that existed way before Thor stumbled into it in the Ragnarok movie) and then 16 pages of a third. We (Neal and I) had found Larry in a late-’80s/early-’90s Epic Comics title from Marvel called Alien Legion, with Carl Potts and Chuck Dixon.
Altogether, Larry drew 28 issues of the series and really gave it a heart and soul. His style seemed simple but was absolutely unique and tremendously graphic. The aliens in Alien Legion were strange and mysterious, but had an accessibility that allowed the reader to quickly care about them.
The leader of the Legion was Captain Sarigar, a tough-as-nails commander who came from a race without legs — only a snake-like tail. He was mean and cruel, but deserved to lead this group of misfits in Nomad Squad. Tonk Or’Malloe was a fireplug of an alien, carrying a powerful rifle most humans couldn’t lift. Then there was Jugger Grimrod, a Wolverine-type of killer who could take on pretty much any being.
Tamara was a red-haired firecracker, and Torie Montroc III was the only one in Nomad who looked somewhat human. In a comic industry filled with war comics and even The ‘Nam, Alien Legion was an interesting series with absolutely no superheroes. I bought it like it was oxygen.
Co-creator Carl Potts, and later series writer Chuck Dixon, wrote stories that were tough, military, and full of hardcore action. The Nomad Squad encountered situations and aliens unlike anything ever seen in typical comics.
Where most artists would create extraterrestrials with two legs and maybe four arms, Stroman would make them look like giant slugs, or crabs, or robotic spiders, or creatures without a head. They were terrific, visual stories.
One of my favorite stories was in Issues #15-16, where Jugger Grimrod runs into his father on a mission. After a bloody, vicious fight, Jugger emerges victorious by trapping him in an airlock, throwing in a grenade, and opening the airlock into space. That’s what Alien Legion was at its best.
Seeing Stroman’s run, Neal wanted to work with him, show him how to become a real star. Sure enough, before Larry moved on to Marvel’s X-Factor, he made a few-month stop at Continuity. He did layouts and Neal showed him how to enhance them. Megalith, for example, was a tough guy to draw, but Larry did a great job of capturing the muscled, toned, and realistic youth.
Stroman was the first one to draw the Hybrids. Neal designed the characters, but Larry was the first one to draw them in a story, even going down to the United Nations to take reference photos for his art. Neal, as always, was the primary inker on the main characters, so the final product looked like something Neal had a heavy involvement in.
(As a side note, many people believe Neal did the layouts for all Continuity comics. That is absolutely not the case. Neal only did layouts for CyberRad and Shaman and any books he drew himself. Neal occasionally corrected panels, but never entire pages. He wanted people to learn, not copy.)
Larry’s work on The Revengers #6, #7, and #8 is pretty cool, as well — especially the very last page he drew. Graphic and stylized. You can actually see Larry getting better and better.
Larry never seemed to copy any working artists. Despite all the time we spent together, even commuting to Brooklyn on the F train, we never really talked about his artistic influences. If he has some (other than what lives in his head), I don’t recognize them. His pages are readable but unique.
He may be best known for X-Factor or Tribe, with Image, but Larry’s run on Alien Legion is a Buried Treasure. Carl Potts, Frank Cirocco and Alan Zelenetz created it, but Larry augmented the concept, showing the world his style and unique thought process.
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MORE
— BURIED TREASURE: Mike Grell’s JON SABLE, FREELANCE. Click here.
— BURIED TREASURE: The Bronze Age Lives of MACHINE MAN. Click here.
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Peter Stone is a writer and son-in-law of the late Neal Adams. Be sure to check out the family’s online Facebook auctions, as well as the NealAdamsStore.com.
