The calm before the storm.
Creative Staff:
Story: Tom King
Art: Mitch Gerads, Evan Shaner
Letterer: Clayton Cowles
What They Say:
The battle against the Pykkts continues! The Justice League-including Green Lantern, Doctor Fate, Batman, the Flash, Superman, and Wonder Woman-has scattered across the Earth, pushing back the marauders wherever they appear. Even Mr. Terrific takes a break from investigating Adam Strange’s alleged war crimes to land a punch or two in their stupid alien faces. But Adam Strange has made his decision: to save Rann at any price-even if that price is the Earth itself!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Strange Adventures has been playing out well with a lot of teases, hints, and some interesting reveals along the way. Tom King has been giving us an interesting take on the characters and how this war across two worlds is being presented across time and space. I’ve long enjoyed King’s works like this so it’s little surprise that the whole thing is working well for me. But it’s made far more engaging thanks to what Mitch Gerards and Evan are beginning to the page with the visual design and capturing the distinctive look of each world and all those that inhabit it. The details and color design is fantastic throughout.
This issue has a lot going on with the action side of it as it captures the war on Earth while playing to the darkness on Rann from the past. The earthside adventure is definitely fun even if the world is suffering hard from the Pykkt as we see almost 40,000 dead in Phoenix, Arizona when the area is destroyed. It’s a brutal fight from what we see of it and the way the tragedies hit the Justice League is particularly rough, especially as Flash finds himself only able to count the dead. What helps along the way, at least a little, is that Mr. Terrific manages to capture one of the Pykkt and sets up an interrogation with Batman for it. Though the creature says little, there’s definitely a lot to get from this in how English sounds to their ears and what little the creature is willing to say. There’s definitely more going on that Terrific is aware of from what this interrogation brings forth but it feels muted.
At the same time, we get flashbacks to Adam on Rann where he’s definitely struggling amid the fight with all the other things that are piling up on him. We see how Alanna wants him to spend more time with Alee but he’s focused on the fight to the exclusion of all else, making for some tough marital times. We do see him trying to make an effort to get close to his daughter amid all of this and it’s interesting in how it plays out but leaves you uncertain of the perception. He gets brought into an interrogation here himself but it’s something that plays to a different mindset about this war and what needs to be done with it, as it goes pretty brutally and not like his father-in-law expected it would. Adam’s so on edge here and essentially playing the role of a war criminal that will do anything that it’s hard to sympathize with him on any element of what he’s going through.
In Summary:
Strange Adventures doesn’t have any big reveals here but it unfolds more of the war on two fronts at different times and places that illuminates a lot. The battle on earth is going brutally but there’s also ways time for some interrogation and seeing similar happening on Rann is just rough to watch. Such sequences are fascinating to watch unfold and I like how this issue plays out as it shows a lot from past and present with what’s happening and the why of some of it. There are teases of the bigger picture and reveals to come and be confirmed and I’m excited to see what the remaining issues in the run will bring out.
Grade: B+
Age Rating: 17+
Released By: DC Comics via ComiXology
Release Date: January 26th, 2021
MSRP: $4.99
