So, here's what I'm thinking for a modern take on a Tommy Tomorrow feature:
Basically it's set a couple of hundred years in the future, after the solar system has been colonized and humanity is first beginning to explore the galaxy outside the solar system. So, it's basically similar in tone to the original Star Trek. The twist is, however, that it's set in the DCU, so it can draw upon all the various space mythology as a resource. So, we get to see Tommy make first contact with a planet in the Polaris system, which turns out to be Thanagar, and we see him come to the aid of the Braal colony who are struggling against the giant metallic monsters who inhabit their world!
Love this thread! In an alternate universe (maybe EDE’s dreams), the LSH never happened and only 4-5 of us formed the Planeteers Message Board Posters. We also found a way to create 20,000 threads about Tommy.
I just re-read the first four appearances of Tommy Tomorrow in Real Fact Comics. They're pretty much all over the place continuity-wise.
#5, above, has him attending rocket college in 1954 and then becoming the first man on Mars in 1960.
#8 is set in 1967, and has him commanding a mining team headed to the Moon to replenish Earth's uranium supplies, and having to deal with meteor showers and the moon plague.
#13 is set a "half-century into the future", and has him leading the first expedition to Venus and being endangered by dinosaurs and giant spiders and such.
#16 takes place in 1988, where he has lives in Greater Gotham, "capital of the nine planets", and has to save Earth from a comet that is headed towards the sun, which apparently would destroy the entire solar system. He is also apparently married with children!
#16 also gives us the character of Larry Winters, who is basically the Ferro Lad of the Planeteers!
Moving on to Tommy's run in Action, #127 see him graduating from Space Port, "West Point of the future", in 1988, and beginning his career as a Planeteer!
His first mission is to travel the solar system to bring specimens of marine life for the new Interplanetary Aquarium! One big hitch: he has to take along a radio news reporter on his assignment, and it turns about to be... *gasp*... a girl! That's no problem because women do all the same jobs as men these days, so as long as she remembers that Tommy is in charge, it'll be okay! So they travel to Venus, to the Jovian moon of Ganymede where they are attacked by a squid-like creature, to the mercury seas of Titan, and to Umbriel, where they find a race of intelligent sea creatures and save the life of an exiled member of this species, who of course is happy to go back to the zoo as the "prize specimen"! And since nothing says "You deserve a Planeteer medal" like putting an intelligent alien in a zoo, Tommy is awarded one!
Elsewhere in the issue: Superman appears on the Truth or Consequences radio show, Congo Bill tracks down a jewel thief whose luck comes from the fact that he always tells the truth, Zatara thwarts a music publishing racket, and Vigilante fights a bola-weilding bandit in Argentina!
The fact that there isn?t a Future State Tommy Tomorrow series on the publishing schedule is outrageous. I can only assume this oversight led to all those mass firings.
It?s also the perfect time to launch the long awaited Larry Winters spin-off series!
As long as none of the shenanigans of Chris KL-99, Jero, and Halk are revealed! Poor Loopy the chameleon dog would turn all sorts of colors from embarrassment!
The fact there isn?t a 12 issue Black Label maxiseries about Chris KL-99 by Tom King that exists to help King get over his feelings of self-loathing and inadequacy is a travesty!
Meanwhile, Chaykins X-Rated Space Cabbie Confessions is long overdue. You?d think they don?t wear that much fishnet stockings 200 years from now, though...
Rockhopper Lad: The Rookery Holiday party is in progress! Pop by!
Ann Hebistand: I am so going to attend! Thanks, Rocky!
Nightcrawler: Updated us to version 8.0 of the software. Everything resets to the default settings. I'll be restoring things back to normal as I have time.
Nightcrawler: Sorry. Didn't realize the solution I had for the old PHP would screw up the new board.