Going after Strange will come at a cost.
Creative Staff:
Story: Tom King
Art: Mitch Gerards, Evan Shaner
Letterer: Clayton Cowles
What They Say:
What is the truth about Adam Strange? When an activist who publicly accused him of war crimes ends up dead, the public begins to doubt Strange’s stories about his adventures on the planet Rann-and he’s even starting to doubt himself. It’s going to take a special investigator to get the truth, and he’s going to have to tear apart Adam Strange’s life and reputation to do it.
A special miniseries set on two worlds, it takes two artists to bring Strange Adventures to life. Mitch Gerads tackles the earthbound sequences, while Doc Shaner launches us into space. And it’s all written by Tom King, the Eisner Award-winning writer who brought you Mister Miracle, Omega Men, and Sheriff of Babylon.
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
The opening installment of Strange Adventures was something that certainly appealed as it leaned into the things I liked with the Mister Miracle run and Omega Men that Tom King had done previously. Working with the split creative team of Mitch Gerards and Evan Shaner to tell the tale through two time periods and situations distinctly changes things up a bit but there’s an easy familiarity to how King writes that will either interest people or turn them off entirely. I generally like it but I also know that some of it just isn’t for me, which is something that we get with a lot of the time spent with Michael in this installment even if the overall intent is something that I definitely like and appreciate.
The present-day side focuses on Michael Holt, aka Mister Terrific, as Batman is trying to get him to take on the case of investigating Adam Strange. It’s one that he’s not really keen on because Strange has become very popular since his book came out and people dislike others tearing down their heroes, especially people like him, as Holt mentions briefly. We see him getting a feel for how others think of Strange in the general sense while reading the book himself a few times. He does come to realizations about it, including that there are obvious lies that lead to less obvious lies, and he’s drawn into investigating him because it just itches in the back of his head. But what makes it a hard read at times is the way Holt is constantly being quizzed about things by his devices. It’s not a bad thing and I can see how it makes sense to keep him at the top of his knowledge game and sharp, but it just felt a little too blunt and obvious.
The flashback material takes us further into the fight on Rann where Strange is finally brought back but things have gone badly with the Pykkt. They’ve managed to essentially take over the civilized side of the world and forced its people into the desert where the more violent residents exist – ones that the Rannians tried to help civilize before. This has Adam and Alanna seeking them out in order to try and get them to help for the good of the planet overall as they’ll likely be targeted after the Rannians themselves. It’s something that plays out kind of thin overall but there’s so much reinforcement of the relationship between Adam and Alanna that it’s hard to not like it. They’re so well set together and the artwork is beautiful for them in a kind of classic 40s feature film way that I just wanted more of it. It does get a bit more rough and tumble and time goes on and the situation hardens but that’s what’s driving Adam at this point and seeing the journey itself, even in brief, that he faced helps to highlight where he is now.
In Summary:
I expect Strange Adventures to be a slow build in a lot of ways for obvious reasons and the whole pandemic and three-month delay doesn’t help things. That said, it was easier getting back into this than I expected and I’m looking forward to seeing what’s next in this story now that Michael Holt is on the case and things are ramping up well in the flashback side. I really just want a beautifully illustrated Adam and Alanna series, however, that shows off Rann and just lets them have some domestic bliss for a while. Is that too much to ask? Regardless, Gerards and Shaner put in a fantastic work here that delivers a lot of engaging material and has me wanting to see a lot more of what’s going to come.
Grade: B+
Age Rating: 17+
Released By: DC Comics
Release Date: June 16th, 2020
MSRP: $4.99
