By Gardner Fox, Carmine Infantino & various (DC Comics)
ISBN13: 978-1-4012-0780-9
The Silver Age “thinking man’s hero†returns in this second compilation of adventures on other worlds, reprinting tales from Mystery in Space #66-80.
For me, Adam Strange, more than any other character, epitomises the Silver Age of Comics. An Earth archaeologist who, whilst fleeing from enraged natives in Peru, jumped a 25 ft chasm only to be hit by a stray teleport beam from a planet orbiting Alpha Centauri. He materialised on another world, filled with monsters, fabulous civilisations and non-stop peril for which brains, not brawn, were the only solution.
Witty, sophisticated, gloriously illustrated and fantastically imaginative: And there was always the woman named Alanna, beautiful, but somehow unattainable. The happy-ever-after was always just in reach, but only after one last adventure…
After the bravura of the first Adventures on Other Worlds (see Adam Strange Archives volume 1, ISBN: 1-4012-0148-2) the far-flung fantasy continued with ‘Space Island of Peril’ by Gardner Fox, Carmine Infantino and Joe Giella, a duel with an alien super-being who plans to throw Rann into its sun, followed in #67 by the deceptive ‘Challenge of the Giant Fireflies’ when Adam’s adopted home is menaced by thrill-seeking creatures who live on the surface of our sun.
Murphy Anderson returned as inker-in-residence for ‘The Fadeaway Doom’ wherein Rannian General Kaskor made a unique attempt to seize power by co-opting the Zeta Beam itself. ‘Menace of the Aqua-ray Weapon!’ had a race from Rann’s primeval past return to take possession of their old world, whilst #70 saw ‘The Vengeance of the Dust Devil’ threaten not just Rann but also Earth itself.
‘The Challenge of the Crystal Conquerors’ (inked by Giella) was a sharp game of bluff and double-bluff with the planet at stake but #72 was a radical departure from the tried and true formula. ‘The Multiple Menace Weapon’ found Adam diverted to Rann in the year 101,961AD to save his descendents before dealing with the threat to his own time and place. This was followed by the action-packed mystery thriller ‘The Invisible Raiders of Rann!’
The puzzles continued with #74’s complex thriller ‘The Spaceman who Fought Himself!’, inked by the back-for-good Murphy Anderson, leading to MiS #75 and a legendary team-up with the freshly-minted Justice League of America against the despicable Kanjar Ro in ‘Planet that came to a Standstill’, indisputably one of the best tales of DC’s Silver Age and a key moment in the development of cross-series continuity.
After that 25 page extravaganza it was back to 14 pages for #76’s ‘Challenge of the Rival Starman!’ as Adam becomes the involuntary tutor and stalking-horse for an alien Champion. ‘Ray-Gun in the Sky!’ is an invasion mystery that invited readers to solve the puzzle before our hero did, and ‘Shadow People of the Eclipse’ pitted the Earthman against a bored alien thrill-seeker. Issue #79’s ‘The Metal Conqueror of Rann’ saw him fighting a much more personal battle to bring Alanna back from the brink of death.
The book closes with ‘The Deadly Shadows of Adam Strange’ wherein an old enemy returns to wreak a bizarre personal revenge on the Champion of two Worlds.
These short-story thrillers from a distant time still hold great appeal and power for the wide-eyed and far-seeing. The deluxe Archive format makes a fitting home for the extraordinary exploits of Adam Strange: by far and away some of the best written and drawn science fiction comics ever produced.
Whether for nostalgia’s sake, for your own entertainment or even to get your own impressionable ones properly indoctrinated, you really need these books on your shelves.
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