Tomorrow Stories #2 is an issue of the series Tomorrow Stories (Volume 1) with a cover date of November, 1999.
Synopsis for "How Things Work Out"
In 1999, a thug named Moe was beating Greyshirt in the Katz Building, while "Spats" Katz ranted about a caretaker named Sonny. In 1979, after Sonny's father had died, Katz assigned him to be the new caretaker. In 1959, Sonny attempted to convince his father to relocate because of Katz. In 1939, Sonny and his father met Katz for the first time.
In 1999, Sonny arrived after Katz had called him. In 1979, Katz ordered Sonny to stop playing his saxophone. In 1959, Sonny and his father were arguing. In 1939, Katz declared that "little guys like Sonny and his father" would never be important to "big shots like him."
In 1999, Katz ordered Sonny to clean up Greyshirt's blood off of the rug. In 1979, Katz ordered Sonny to leave the saxophone in the upstairs closet and start caretaking. In 1959, while Sonny argued with his father, Katz had men dispose of a body. In 1939, Sonny and his father met Katz' lover.
In 1999, Sonny found his old saxophone in a closet while looking for cleaning utensils. In 1979, Katz ordered Sonny to dispose of his sheet music and declared that all his saxophone would ever do was "make crappy noise." In 1959, Sonny and his father witnessed Katz' men disposing of a body of a man who the gangster claimed was drunk. In 1939, Sonny's father told him that they wouldn't be there for very long.
In 1999, Sonny was cleaning Greyshirt's blood, while Katz called him a "career shmoe." In 1979, Sonny cried about having to put away his saxophone. In 1959, Sonny expressed his suspicions of Katz carrying a body to his father. In 1939, Katz told Sonny's father that his lover Mitzi had to "go see a man about a dog."
In 1999, out of anger, Sonny beat Moe with his saxophone, causing him to accidentally push Katz' wheelchair. In 1979, Sonny was disposing of his music sheets. In 1959, Sonny picked up the hat of the dead man and showed bullet holes in them to his father. In 1939, Katz was showing Sonny's father the boiler room.
In 1999, Katz was falling out of the window after Moe had pushed him. In 1979, Sonny threw his music sheets outside the window. In 1959, Sonny's father was disposing of the hat. In 1939, Katz, Sonny, and his father came upon a dead dog.
In 1999, Greyshirt claimed that Sonny had saved his life, but the latter claimed that he was only fulfilling a promise he made when he first met Katz. In 1979, Sonny looked outside the window declaring that he would abandon music. In 1959, after disposing of the hat, Sonny looked outside the window. In 1939, Sonny vowed to kill Katz after seeing the dead dog.
Appearing in "How Things Work Out"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- Sonny
- Sonny's father (Dies)
Antagonists:
- "Spats" Katz (Dies)
- Moe
- Candi
- Whitey
- Mitzi
Other Characters:
- Unnamed dog (Dies)
- Sonny's mother (Mentioned only)
- Sonny's ex-wife (Mentioned only)
Locations:
- Indigo City
- Katz Building
Items:
Vehicles:
Synopsis for "The Unbearableness of Being Light"
Jack stood by a police officer who clocked a photon going at 168,000 per second in a 30 mph zone and demanded that the photon walk in a straight line.
The previous Wednesday, at lunchtime in the Quick household, Jack refused to eat lunch, "preoccupied with the phenomenon of light", much to his parents' annoyance. After explaining his findings to his parents, he rushed outside, believing that photons could be outside. Jack notified Mayor Stuyvesant and Officer Pete of "photons rampaging through Queerwater Creek." He modified Officer Pete's motorcycle, claiming that he would be able to "overtake moonbeams" afterwards. Then, Jack went on patrol with Officer Pete and encountered a photon. Officer Pete brought the photon to the police station for questioning, although he could not understand it, so Jack used a light-squeezer he had recently patented in order to understand him.
In court, three photons stood trial for traveling at light-speed. Afterwards, they were all sentenced to 90 days in jail. As Jack attempted to leave and opened a door, there was nothing but complete darkness until the town limits. They deduced that the photons were boycotting the town, so in order to return light, Jack proposed giving them the freedom of the town, while subjecting them to regulations. However, a side effect was that they kept seeing after images.
Appearing in "The Unbearableness of Being Light"
Featured Characters:
- Jack B. Quick
Supporting Characters:
- Mr. and Mrs. Quick
- Officer Pete
- Unnamed photons
Antagonists:
Other Characters:
- Mayor Stuyvesant
- Job (Mentioned only)
Locations:
- Queerwater Creek
- New York (Mentioned only)
Items:
- Light-squeezer
Vehicles:
- Officer Pete's motorcycle
Synopsis for "Waltztime"
Cobweb was investigating an asteroid in space that was headed towards the sun and discovered ruins of a former civilization. She came upon dancing female aliens, leading to her believing that they wanted her to dance with them. She took off her shoes before attempting to dance, but floated away from the asteroid into space before being saved by Clarice in a spaceship. Clarice revealed that Cobweb merely hallucinated the dancers before the latter insisted on going home.
Appearing in "Waltztime"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- Clarice Lakeland
Antagonists:
Other Characters:
- Dancers (As an illusion only)
Locations:
- Earth-ABC
- The Tenth Planet
Items:
Vehicles:
Synopsis for "The Curse of the Reverse!"
The First American and U.S. Angel came upon Dozier D. Daze using his nostalgitator to "make American culture run backwards." After being blasted by the nostalgitator, their clothing had transformed into that of the 1980's, causing F.A. to be worried about his stock portfolio and U.S. Angel to poke Daze in the eye with an 80's style dance.
Daze blasted them again, changing their clothing to that of the 1970's.
After being blasted a third time, F.A.'s and U.S. Angel's attire resembled that of the 1960's and U.S. Angel had the urge to "experiment with pot and free love", while F.A. wanted to read Lord of the Rings again and end the war in Vietnam. In order to not give in to 60's nostalgia, F.A. tried to remember everything bad about the decade and beat Daze with a sign that read "MAKE MACRAME NOT WAR."
Daze blasted them again, giving them 1950's nostalgia.
Daze blasted the heroes one last time, giving them 1940's nostalgia. Daze insisted that they "must adore the Forties", but F.A. declared that "progress is the American Way!"
F.A. punched Daze, but did not stop him from giving them 1930's nostalgia. However, he dropped the nostalgitator, smashing it. F.A. realized that they weren't really in the 1930's after looking at signs from the 1990's. Daze told F.A. that he was unable to fix the nostalgitator.
Appearing in "The Curse of the Reverse!"
Featured Characters:
- The First American
- U.S. Angel
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
- Dozier D. Daze
Other Characters:
- Contras (Mentioned only)
- Karen Carpenter (Mentioned only)
- Herman's Hermits (Mentioned only)
- Shari Lewis (Mentioned only)
- Jack Paar (Mentioned only)
- Edd Byrnes (Mentioned only)
- Snooky Lanson (Mentioned only)
Locations:
- United States of America
- Iran (Mentioned only)
- Vietnam (Mentioned only)
Items:
- Nostalgitator
- Lord of the Rings (Mentioned only)
- "Payday" Candy bars (Mentioned only)
- Naugahyde (Mentioned only)
Vehicles:
- Chevy Impala (Mentioned only)
Trivia
- Mrs. Quick mentions the Book of Job in the second story.
- The First American's and U.S. Angel's 1940's outfits bear a resemblance to that of Captain America's and Bucky's.
- Daze revealed that he had acquired the nostalgitator from a catalog.
See Also
Recommended Reading
- Top 10 Recommended Reading
- America's Best Comics Recommended Reading
- League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (Volume 1)
- League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (Volume 2)
- Promethea (Volume 1)
- Smax (Volume 1)
- Terra Obscura (Volume 1)
- Terra Obscura (Volume 2)
- Tom Strong (Volume 1)
- Tom Strong's Terrific Tales (Volume 1)
- Tomorrow Stories (Volume 1)
- Top 10 (Volume 1)
- Top 10 Season Two (Volume 1)
- Top 10: Beyond the Farthest Precinct (Volume 1)