. ▁ ▁Most ▁not ably , ▁the ▁big ▁East ▁Coast ▁city ▁is ▁New ▁Lanc aster . ▁ ▁It ▁also ▁shares ▁a ▁similar ▁history ▁as ▁Earth . ▁ ▁On ▁his ▁visit ▁to ▁Terra ▁Ob sc ura , ▁Tom ▁meets ▁his ▁counter part ▁Tom ▁" Doc " ▁Str ange , ▁and ▁the ▁team ▁of ▁science - h ero es ▁known ▁as ▁the ▁Society ▁of ▁Major ▁American ▁Science ▁Hero es ▁( S MA SH ). ▁ ▁All ▁the ▁members ▁of ▁S MA SH ▁are ▁based ▁on ▁characters ▁previously ▁published ▁by ▁N edor ▁Comics ▁in ▁the ▁ 1 9 4 0 s . ▁With ▁the ▁original ▁publish er ' s ▁collapse , ▁copy right s ▁on ▁the ▁characters ▁were ▁not ▁renew ed ▁upon ▁ 2 8 ▁years ▁of ▁creation ▁and ▁so ▁la ps ed ▁into ▁the ▁public ▁domain . ▁One ▁of ▁the ▁N edor ' s ▁many ▁titles ▁was ▁America ' s ▁Best ▁Comics , ▁and ▁when ▁the ▁coinc idence ▁of ▁this ▁was ▁pointed ▁out ▁to ▁Alan ▁Moore , ▁he ▁decided ▁to ▁incorpor ate ▁these ▁characters ▁into ▁his ▁Tom ▁Str ong ▁series . ▁ ▁For ▁their ▁ 2 0 0 0 ▁debut , ▁Moore ▁created ▁a ▁back story ▁for ▁them , ▁covering ▁the ▁time ▁periods ▁during ▁which ▁they ▁were ▁not ▁actually ▁being ▁published . ▁ ▁The ▁history ▁of ▁the ▁characters ▁( both ▁from ▁N edor ▁and ▁ABC ) ▁follow ▁the ▁convent ions ▁established ▁by ▁DC ▁Comics ▁and ▁Marvel ▁Comics : ▁the ▁Golden ▁Age ▁of ▁Com ic ▁Books , ▁Silver ▁Age ▁of ▁Com ic ▁Books , ▁and ▁Modern