Strange Adventures #244

The publication date for this issue is November, 1973. But it's a dupe. Nothing in this book is new for that time period! It's all reprints from the 50s and 60s. 

Now look, it's not like I despise silver age DC Comics. I cut my teeth on Superman, Jimmy Olsen, and Justice League of America tales from the 1960s as a part of my dad's collection. So I have no qualms with the material inside. It's just that I bought this book with the intention of getting some DC sci-fi from the bronze age and instead got reprints; of which I already own the Adam Strange tale! 

See I paid $4.80 for the book. It's a weird price, I know. But blame the used book store I got this from. However, I am a bargain hunter and if I had known that I already had half of the material contained within this issue, I would have passed. Maybe if the book was $2 I might have bought it if I knew. This is what you get for not busting tags to check the insides. 

The cover story, 'The Prisoner of the Parakeets', was originally published in a 1955 issue of Strange Adventures. Written by John Broome, it tells the story of scientist Atomic scientist John Walden, who's experiments with nuclear weapons accidentally engulfs a flock of tropical parakeets with some of the fallout from a recent test of nukes. The radiation advances the development of the birds exponentially. They become gigantic and they turn into geniuses, even to the point of developing human speech! After centuries of being suppressed by the human race, the parakeets are ready to take over the earth!

The Adam Strange story comes from a 1963 issue of Mystery in Space. Gardner Fox pens a tale that sees Adam Strange rendered impotent by his old enemy Jakarta the Dust Devil. Everything the earthling fires at the terror from planet Rann, the Dust Devil takes and neutralizes it. Now Jakarta is free on planet Earth and unless Adam Strange can find a weapon to destroy his foe, the Dust Devil will become the conqueror of 2 worlds!

The story about the parakeets was very well thought out. It does end of extremely abruptly. But it's a good read. As for the Adam Strange episode, I have just one question: where in the heck is the Justice League? They must be off planet (or visiting Earth-2) because if Jakarta was really such a global menace, they would be called in for assistance. That's a plausible explanation that I could explain. Only why didn't Gardner Fox think to put that explanation for the JLA's absence?! It's a simple plot device that only takes a sentence to establish, that without its presence makes me wonder why Adam Strange goes it alone in this adventure!

This was a good issue. It just wasn't what I was expecting. Even the cover was taken from that 1955 issue. But somebody gave Murphy Anderson's pencils a modern day look to it. with some slick inking. I think I'm going have to find out when Strange Adventures becomes a reprint only title, because I would love to have more of this series (I've got a couple of Showcase Presents in my collection), but I want the first runs with material that I don't have elsewhere.

Note: This would be the last issue of Strange Adventures, capping a 23 year run for the fanciful anthology series.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

Showcase Presents: Adam Strange, Vol. 1

It's another volume of the Showcase Presents series of reprints that was designated a Volume 1, but never received a follow up. Reprinting the first appearances of Earth archaeologist turned savior of the far off planet of Rann, Adam Strange was very much cut from the same cloth as Buck Rogers and Flash Gordon, with a twist! Adam Strange could only travel the 21 trillion miles journey from Earth to Rann with the help of a transportation ray called a Zeta Beam. Once the energy dissipated from Adam's body, the hero would vanish from Rann and Strange would reappear back on Earth. Sometimes, the vanishing act would occur at the most inopportune times and Adam Strange would have to wait days, even weeks to return to Rann in order to save the beleaguered planet from a host of threats, both Terran and extraterrestrial.

Adam Strange was created by famed editor Julius Schwartz with assists by Murphy Anderson and Carmine Infantino. After a 3-issue test in the pages of Showcase Presents, the tryout anthology series, Adam Strange would become the feature character of about 60 issues of the sci-fi anthology title Mystery in Space. The writer of all of the stories contained in this book was Gardner Fox. After several artists lent their talents to Strange's appearances in Showcase, Carmine Infantino became the regular artist for the hero's exploits. 

While not Infantino's most well known work, Adam Strange would become Carmine's most favorite project to work on. So much that sci-fi lover Infantino structured his contract to allow him to work on the Adam Strange stories no matter how in demand he was over at DC Comics. The quality of the artwork really shines in the this volume. Unfortunately, the storytelling started to slip around the halfway point.

The first dozen or so stories in Mystery in Space were 8-pagers. They're excellent. After about a year, the page count of the tales would range from 16-32 pages. That's where the quality begins to slip. As impressive it is that an early silver age title maintained a level of cohesive storyline with recurring villains, Gardner Fox seemed to run out of gas in the longer stories. The set up would take forever with a conclusion so fast and clunky that would leave me overwhelmed and unimpressed. Then Fox begins to spread the dangers Adam Strange would face between Rann and Earth. As much as having the hero go back and forth between Earth and Rann is a bit tiring, the quality of those later stories improved.

My dad had quite a few Adam Strange starring books in his collection. They were big favs of mine. I enjoyed this volume very much, flaws and all. A lot really isn't said about how much of a strong female character Adam's girlfriend Alanna was. Rarely a damsel in distress, Alanna often fights without fear on Adam's side. She clearly was an archetype influence on characters like Princess Leia and Ripley. 

I really regret that DC cancelled the Showcase Presents line because I would love to get my hands on the remaining two dozen stories starring Adam Strange. Maybe there's a deluxe 4-color volume available? Or I could try to find those remaining issues of Mystery in Space. Regardless, its not going to be cheap. I can tell you that.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

Strange Adventures

Checking out two Tom King/Mitch Gerads works from the same library trip wasn't planned. It was at first a happy coincidence. Completing the Riddler: One Bad Day book was a read that while it cemented my favorite Batman rogue into a more sadistic frame of mind, was still an enjoyable read. Getting into this book, I was pumped. Tom King was going to do it again! It's going to be awesome. 

Sadly, nothing could be further from the truth.

After a terrible battle on Rann which results in the death of Adam Strange's daughter Aleea, the hero of two worlds and his wife Alanna retire to Earth. Adam has just written a bestselling memoir of the war and warns that the same empire that devastated Rann is heading to Earth. At one of the signings, a man makes a huge scene claiming to know the truth behind how Adam Strange won the war, including war crimes such as torture and the killing of innocents. At first, the media passes this off as the rantings of a crazed person seeking attention. However, when the man is found death from what looks like laser blasts, public sentiment changes and Adam Strange is fingered as the murderer. If this man did indeed know stuff and Adam Strange killed him, just what was the hero trying to hide?

Adam Strange enlists Batman to investigate both the murder and the battle on Rann. However, because of his past history in Justice League business, the Dark Knight feels that he couldn't be impartial to Strange. So he enlists Mister Terrific to head this private investigation. As Mister Terrific digs into the mystery, not only will Adam Strange's crimes come to light, so will a secret covenant that threatens to destroy two worlds!

I knew something was amiss when I noticed that the spelling of Adam and Alanna's daughter changed over the course of the first issue. Maybe it was an innocent typo. I think it might have been a Freudian slip. Regardless, that's when I knew that something in this story was total BS. Tom King does throw in a few red herrings and man, does one major metropolitan area on earth become toast. Still, for someone who grew up on the Silver Age adventures of Adam Strange, I did not like how this book ended.

Strange Adventures is a Black Label imprint release. Stories printed under this imprint are supposed to be non-canonical. However, that hasn't always been the case as a couple of Black Label stories have later been revealed to have been set in the main DC Universe. Tom King swears that this story isn't canon. I'd like to believe him. But I also don't want this story to later get retconned and become eventually true either. 

Once again, Mitch Gerads does a phenomenal job on the artwork. However, he's not the only artist on this book. Gerads illustrates what happens in the present, which is gritty and realistic. The fantastic Evan 'Doc' Shaner captures the events of the past with such an epic nod to the early days of comics of my dad's that I used to read. Shaner's work has thicker lines, is much cleaner and is literally timeless. Carmine Infantino would be so freakin' proud.

Let's be honest here: Tom King is a great writer. I'm just tired of him trying to make everything under the DC sun to reflect in the present day 2020s. King is ex-CIA. I am sure being counter-terrorism, Tom King saw a lot of terrible stuff. While having Adam Strange succumb to using any means necessary to save the people of Rann, Tom King didn't have to turn one of my favorite B-listers into Benedict Arnold! If my count is correct, Tom King has killed off Mister Miracle through suicide, basically kept Bruce Wayne and Selena Kyle from ever being man and wife, turned the Riddler into a madman more destructive than the Joker and now ruin one of the most purest hearts in all of DC Comics history. 

Awwww, crap, I just realized that Tom King penned Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow and I haven't read it yet. How'd he screw her up? I wish I knew one of Tom King's childhood icons so I could write a terrible story about it and mess up his happy childhood memories with his father... (Sorry, ranting!)

There was so much promise for this book. It seemed like it was going to be timeless fun. Instead, we get yet another post-9/11 retooling of something innocent. Sure, MASH told us that war wasn't something to glorify and in the pages of countless volumes of Strange Adventures, Adam Strange fought a lot of wars. I can accept that even good guys turn bad in the middle of great conflicts. But did Tom King have to make Adam Strange make a move so unforgivable that if this story is true, it will prevent the character from ever having a noble place in comics ever again?

Rating: 5 out of 10 stars.

Batman: The Brave and the Bold, Vol. 2: The Fearsome Fangs Strikes Again!

Collecting issues 7-12 of the DC Comics series based on the Cartoon Network animated series of the same name. The very same team-up series I wished never ended. It did take me a couple of episodes to really appreciate the show. I was hesitant to accept the comical Diedrich Bader to do justice as the voice of Batman. But as I came to realize that the writers, artists and actors involved in Batman: The Brave and the Bold were fans of classic DC and really wanted to do a series that paid tribute to all eras of DC Comics, I was hooked!

In the 6 issues reprinted here, we get several guest stars that had at one point or another appeared on the cartoon. The original line-up of the Doom Partol, along with Beast Boy, Garfield Logan, a clean shaven Green Arrow, Black Canary, The Atom (though not sure if it's Ray Palmer or Ryan Choi version), and Adam Strange return for a lot of fun. The character of Catman makes his first appearance in this series. Although, I think Catman does pop up a couple of times on the show. And the there's the team that really has got me scratching my head...

3 of the members of the Great Ten, a Chinese superhero team that first appeared in the pages of Grant Morrison's 52 appear in issue #8. The August General in Armor (name really says it all), the highly accurate Celestial Archer, and the musically inclined Accomplished Perfect Physician meet up with Batman who is in Tibet investigating the sighting of a Yeti. The Asian heroes claim that the Yeti is really a Great Ten reservist who allowed his beastly side to accidentally overtake his civilized side during one of his heroic transformations. 

Most of you are going, 'why is all that a head scratcher?' Well, the choice of the Great Ten is an odd one. They're not really characters that kids would know. To be honest, they're not really characters a ton of adult readers of DC Comics would know. After a brief appearance in 2019's Doomsday Clock, the Great Ten have been pretty much MIA from the DCU. And then there's where this story takes place.

Batman meets up with the heroes from the Great Ten in Tibet. Now Tibet is known for being the home of the fabled Abominable Snowman, AKA the Yeti. But in the story, the Chinese heroes call Tibet, well, uh, they call it Tibet. But these heroes are also government employees. Shouldn't they be referring to Tibet as China as that nation lays claim to Tibet as a part of their territory? Or at least call it the Autonomous Zone or Region? 

That story was printed in 2009. I'm surprised that DC was willing to publish an issue with subject matter that controversial. In the past decade, movie studios have gotten in trouble with China and other countries for not calling certain regions or territories by the proper internationally recognized titles. Heck, just this year, Vietnam refused to show the mega-hit Barbie movie in their theaters because of a single scene that uses an outdated map for a sight gag. Maybe we just weren't so sensitive in 2009 as we are today. If that's the case, man do I miss those days...

A great read. There's over a dozen issues out there for me to get my hands on. So The Brave and the Bold fun doesn't have to end yet. 

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Batman: The Brave and the Bold #12 (A Madman Re-Read?)

I know. I've already read a Batman book for Christmas this year. Well, I did it again. It's true; I've got a bunch of holiday themed Batman stories. But I don't have enough to read for an entire holiday season. Maybe 8 nights of Hanukkah. But definitely not enough for Christmas.

I also know in my heart that I've read this issue before. Yet I cannot find evidence of that in either this archive nor in my collection database. And a quick perusal through this book didn't really trigger any memories. Being such a fan of this great series (both as a cartoon and comic), I heartily gave this issue a possible re-read.

It's Christmas Eve and Batman is on the trail of the C-list villain known as Calendar Man. Just as the Dark Knight is about to apprehend his foe, a Zeta Beam whisks the hero to the distant world of Rann. Only this isn't the Rann that Batman is used to. Instead of a near tropical paradise, Rann has been transformed into a frigid wasteland!

Meeting up with Rann's greatest defender, the human Adam Strange, Batman learns that a rogue scientist from Qward has unleashed an anti-matter weapon that has destroyed neighboring planets like Thanagar and yes, even planet Earth! With one chance to stop the Qwardian fiend and reverse the damage, Batman and Strange team up or else this will be the last Christmas for everyone!

This was a very good issue. It almost followed the formula of the TV series. Only real difference is that nobody is around to help Batman during the opening caper against Calendar Man. Typically, this version of Brave and the Bold would have Batman doing a small opening team-up with someone and then a main story collaboration with a different hero. Writer Landry Q. Walker (Star Wars Adventures) doesn't stick to that blueprint and as a result it led to a very telegraphed ending. But it's the penultimate ending that I had trouble with. 

This issue was originally published in 2009. That was 13 years ago and hopefully enough time has passed to keep what I am about to gripe about from being a spoiler. As Adam Strange and Batman are saving the universe from the evil scientist, the pair go through some changes. Batman devolves into this craggy looking elf thing while Adam gets old and grows a white beard. Unwilling to let this stop them, the heroes reboot the universe, in turn creating the legend of Santa Claus and his Elves into the very fabric of all creation. 

Once the day is saved, Batman states that he can't believe that he created Christmas. Uh, no. Sorry, Detective. Your name isn't Jesus Christ. Remember him? He put the word 'Christ' in Christmas... Through their actions, Batman and Adam Strange might have created the legend of Santa. I'll even grant them as the originators of Saturnalia. But neither one of them created Christmas. 

Like I said, this was a good issue. It was festive. But it was not an accurate representation of what Christmas is all about. It appears Batman needs a team-up with Linus and Charlie Brown to unravel that mystery.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

Adam Strange/Future Quest Special #1

In this story, after a Zeta Beam malfunction, Adam Strange is sent back to earth. Only this is unlike any earth that the space travel has ever known. On this parallel earth, there is no Superman, Batman or Wonder Woman. But there is a daring young boy named Jonny Quest who just might have the means to get Adam back to his universe. 

Then in the back-up feature, that sly feline Top Cat is detained by the Batman. Here, Top details how a talking cat wound up in Gotham City. 

Both stories were quite good but the Jonny Quest story was better. It takes place almost immediately after the end of Future Quest. I've not read all of that story yet. Thankfully, this book really doesn't spoil too much so I still have the rest of that amazing miniseries to finish someday. This book also takes place right after the Death of Hawkman mini. I hadn't been keeping up with that, so any spoilers revealed that might ruin reading that book, I am unaware of at this point.

Top Cat's story was very interesting. I didn't so much get the feel that it's going to inspire a sequel like the Jetsons reboot has in the pages of the Booster Gold/ Flintstones special. But the seamless blending of cartoon funny animals with the gritty DC Universe has led me to believe that this was in some way the inspiration for Tom King's brilliant crossover of the Dark Knight and Elmer Fudd.

When this book debuted in March there really wasn't a lot of press. This Hanna-Barbera reboot crossover was a underrated delight to read. Marc Andreyko's ability to blend the worlds of Adam Strange and Jonny Quest was masterfully done and I thought the art in both stories was quite exceptional. Phil Winslade and Steve Lieber do great jobs on their persepective tales. But look at this cover by Evan 'Doc' Shaner. Wow- that's great stuff. I wish he had done the Future Quest story inside as he was the main artist on that project and did a kick-ass job.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Mystery In Space

  This collection is a literal time capsule of DC's sci-fi anthology series. From the fanciful stories of the wonders of the future from the 1940s to the atomic-aged heroes of the 50s and 60s to the revival of the twist ending in the 70s through to 1981 when DC published it's last sci-fi genre comic- it's all here!
    My favorite stories were of the heroes created during the 50s and 60s. The most famous of these is the earth-man Adam Strange whom become the hero of faraway Rann when a transporter ray teleports him light years away. But where is J'onn J'onzz, the Martian Manhunter? Sure, he got his start in the pages of Detective Comics and headlined the 'horror' anthology title House of Mystery, but the green man from Mars was the quintessential DC sci-fi character!
    The stories of the 70s and 80s were phenomenal as well. Featuring art by masters such as Joe Kubert and Brian Bolland, those short stories were gems being both masterfully drawn and well written.
    This book was supposed to be the flagship of a new imprint of anthologies called the Pulp Fiction Library. Collections devoted to DC's horror titles, war books, and other genre series were slated to follow this book. But for some reason, those plans were scrapped. Thankfully, DC created the Showcase Presents line that reprinted in chronological order large runs of classic Silver Age titles. Those black and white collections were much cheaper to produce but that's not the reason why the Pulp Fiction Library went nowhere as this book was published 6 years before the first Showcase title.

   Worth Consuming

   Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

Justice League United, Volume 1:Justice League Canada (New 52!)

    Former members of the Justice League find themselves pitted together against an alien invasion in the Canadian wilderness in this opening chapter of Justice League United. Also known as Justice League Canada, this short-lived series didn't get very much love, lasting only about 16 issues, along with an annual and a Futures End tie-in one-shot. But I don't know why- I liked it! (Okay- that reason alone is probably why JLU was canned.)

   The events of this volume take place after Forever Evil with the government sanction disbandment of the Justice League. Now I've read Forever Evil, but I don't remember the group splitting up. In fact, I thought the League carried on having Lex Luthor as a member! So, when and where this happens is something I've not come across. But that lack of knowledge didn't keep me from enjoying this book.

   The way these heroes come together is reminiscent of how the Justice League first came together way back in 1960. A would-be alien conqueror (Starro) sends forth creatures based on the elements to subjugate mankind. In the New 52! reboot, a rogue Thanagarian scientist is kidnapping humans in the Great White North in order to create a being that would be so undefeatable that whoever possessed it would literally being the ruler of the universe. His mission is carried out while under the protection of a heavy that can change from fire to stone, and then wood much like in the first appearance of the Justice League of America in Brave and the Bold #28

   Another twist is the role of Adam Strange and the love of his life Alanna. Here, Alanna is a human but due to a zeta beam malfunction, the two must switch places on earth and Rann or the two will die thanks to close proximity. This twist with Adam most often stuck on Rann gives Alanna a chance to be the hero for once.

   One more thing surprised me about Justice League United that I think was grossly underreported. This series introduces the new character of Equinox. Equinox is a female member of the Cree nation whose powers change with the seasons. Being how the media has gotten so excited over diversity in comics, such as a black Spider-Man, a female Thor, and a lesbian Batwoman, the addition of Equinox got swept under the rug. What, is it only news if an established character becomes more diverse? Hypocrisy, I cry!!!

    Justice League United was quite good. Writer Jeff Lemire paired up a great mix of wisdom (J'onn J'onnz), youth (Stargirl), muscle (Supergirl and Hawkman), and the much needed comic relief (with the roles of Blue Beetle and Booster Gold going to Animal Man and Green Arrow.) Mike Mckone has a deft touch with just about all of these characters as series artist though his Martian Manhunter seems to be artistically fluid as the alien team leader looks strikingly different in every issue. 

   I managed to snag volume 2 which I'll be tackling very soon. This issue made me excited for Justice League titles again and not since Giffen and DeMatteis were the League this much fun.

   Worth Consuming

   Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

DC Comics Presents: Mystery in Space #1

A tribute issue in honor of the passing of the great Julius Schwartz, long-time Editor In Chief of DC Comics. Schwartz was known for having concept covers drawn up and then would assign writers to use that idea for use in a forthcoming issue of said title.

In this issue, the First story is a team-up of Adam Strange and Ralph (Elongated Man) & Sue Dibny. I love the Dibnys, God rest their souls. So, to have them pop up here is awesome. That story involves a chance meeting in a remote African nation and the terrible consequences of Strange’s Zeta beam having on global defense in the wrong hands.

The second story is by Batman scribe, Grant Morrison. That should be a great issue. Sadly, it delves into some metaphysical metaphor for how Adam Strange was a catalyst for American’s fear of the bomb and the generation gap in terms of Vietnam. It’s really a stretch and a very confusing and awful tale.

Thankfully, the first story totally makes up for that drivel and makes this book very much Worth Consuming.

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.