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.

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.