I'm thinking of reading a few Adam Strange comics from over the years, but I'd like to know what was the best representative story in which he appeared in the 70s?
I know he didn't star in his own stories in the 70s, but perhaps a JLA/JSA crossover, or a Brave and The Bold?
Most importantly, it'd have to be a story that I could reasonably get my hands on, so one that is available in reprint would be good.
Has Adam Strange's first appearance in Mystery in Space #53 - 'Menace of the Robot Raiders!' been reprinted anywhere? What about Mystery in Space #82 "World War on Earth and Rann!" as well?
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HAWKMAN #18:
A year and a half would pass between Mystery in Space #102 and Hawkman #18, but Gardner Fox (with artist Murphy Anderson) slipped back into writing Adam Strange like an old glove. (At some point, Adam got a replacement helmet.) Sardath has finally figured out a way, not only to negate the zeta ray radiation which returns him to Earth but also to counteract Kanjar Ro's anti-evolutionary beam which prevented him from loving on Rann full time. There are a couple of problems: 1) the maching must continue to bombard him all the time, and 2) is he ever returns to Earth now, he will die. Now that he is free to live on Rann permanently, he and Alanna decide to get married the very next day. On their way to the hierach who will perform the ceremony, however, Rann is attacked by giant Man-Hawks, actual birds wearing human masks.
These "Man-Hawks" date all the way back to Hawkman's tryout appearances in The Brave & the Bold (#43, specifically) and have been imprisoned on Thanagar ever since their defeat. [Personally, I never did buy the conceit that their human masks covered their bird heads any more than when Batman would wear a disquise over his cowl.] Sardath's sub-nucleonic machine has one additional detrimental effect, however, and that is that it reached the planet Thanagar and granted the Man-Hawks super strength and intelligence, which Falthis Farr, their leader, used to cause the entire planet to disappear. Sayera was visiting her parents at the time, and managed to get an emergency call to Katar on Earth but, by the time he got there, Thanagar was gone. There was some residual radiation (from Sardath's sub-nucleonic machine), however, which Hawkman follows back to Rann. The Man-Hawks powers had previously started to fade and, determining the radiation was the source of the powers, they too followed it to Rann.
Hawkman arrives in time to save Adam from the Man-Hawks' attack, but not in time to prevent their disruption of his wedding. They bring each other up to speed and much of part two is given over to Murphy Anderson to depict their glorious arial "wheeling-dealing fight-flight" against the Man-Hawks. Eventually it is muitually decided by the both of them that the only way to defeat them is to lure them to Earth, where the same radiation which will kill Adam if he ever returns will immobilize the Man-Hawks. Hawkman flies to Earth through hyperspace , despite the danger to Adam Strange that the zeta beam radiation might fade without the machine, and the Man-Hawks follow. He leads them to the Sahara Desert where they remain, rigid and unmoving as the sands bury them.
When Hawkman returns to Rann he reveals that Adam was never in danger in the first place because Katar duplicated Sardath's machine, but Adam rushed him off the planet so quickly that he didn't have time to tell him until now. The planet Thanagar is still missing, but the next issue blurb promises that that will be dealt with in #19, which I don't have. I would dearly love it if DC ever sees fit to release a Silver Age Hawkman Omnibus, even though it will duplicate (and surpass!) my two Silver Age Hawkman Archives, but they don't seem to be in any rush to do so. And what about Adam and Alanna's wedding?
Would it be a SPOILER to say that Thanagar was returned to its proper orbit in Hawkman #19, no worse for wear? Because it was. There was a great deal of technobabble about Lizarkons and Man-Hawks, with the latter returned to their home world. As to the wedding, it didn't happen until Justice League of America #120, eight years later.
Would it be a SPOILER to say that Thanagar was returned to its proper orbit in Hawkman #19, no worse for wear?
That's not a spoiler.
As to the wedding, it didn't happen until Justice League of America #120, eight years later.
That's a spoiler.
Were I a planet and had I awareness of Adam Strange's adventures, I would keep an attentive eye on him at all times. He has a knack for making strange, dangerous things happen to planets, you know.
Had I also access to some form of lawyer, I would dearly consider giving him (and probably Hawkman and Hawkgirl) some form of cease-and-desist request. When they meet, the poor planets around them tend to suffer all sorts of abuse.
Well, you would, wouldn't you?
Somehow it is only now that I realize that Adam Strange has a weird life in one of the most mundane ways conceivable: despite being a fully grown, capable and resourceful man, he can hardly do anything of any significance whatsoever without relying on his girlfriends' father's help in ways that he can barely understand or predict.
And that is on top of the frequency of interrupted would-be kisses.
It is both a very conventional social structure and a maddening one.
In Hawkman #19 Adam and Alanna only appear briefly. Hawkman and Adam independently come up with a plan to find Thanagar that Hawkman follows, leaving Adam on Rann.
I'm unable to tell what grounds the GCD has for ascribing Adam's stories in Mystery in Space #99-#100, #102 to Siegel. #102's story is somewhat like the Robolink story "You Bush a Button.." from Spyman #2, which also has a watching robot eye. O'Hearn attributes the latter to Binder and is probably right because the name "Robolink" recalls "Adam Link". The Razak bird in #99, which fires dangerous quills, is paralleled in the story in Superman #184, attributed to Binder. (But also the lead story in Lois Lane #87, attributed to Leo Dorfman.) The GCD credits Binder wth stories in later Mystery in Space issues, so perhaps he wrote these Adam stories. But it could be there's solid evidence it was Siegel and these remarks are wrongheaded.
MYSTERY IN SPACE #99
"The World-Destroyer from Space!"
The wedding ceremony is held the next day, but it interrupted by the attack of a giant, pink, sentient blob firing bolts of electricity
A regular interruption of weddings on Rann. Plan for it, people!
Adam then disappears as the zeta beam wears off, leaving Alanna with the final word... er, thought: "I'll have plenty of time [before Adam returns] to make myself look my prettiest for him! I'm not taking any chances!" Ugh. Alanna, what happened to you?
Writers other than Gardner Fox happened to her. Previously, her occasional jealousy wasn’t too bad.
MYSTERY IN SPACE #100
"The Death of Alanna"
Don't expect too much from this one; it's only nine pages.
It’s short, but I thought it was well written.
Richard will be relieved that Adam manages to avoid the "jaws" of the mountain without destroying it.
You never know when you’ll need a mountain, so we have to conserve them.
When the girl you call Alanna accidentally broke a vial containing some deadly disease germs, I knew the germs would kill her very swiftly, unless she was put into a state of suspended animation!
When Alanna said “I broke something,” I knew it was important. When the alien shot her I didn’t see how that would all fit together. A “suspended animation ray” did the trick.
MYSTERY IN SPACE #102
"The Robot World of Ancient Rann"
Investigating an ancient Rannian cave, Adam and Alanna discover pieces of robots lying next to cave paintings.
They jump to the conclusion that the cave paintings and the robots are from the same time period. It turns out that they were, but why would they have assumed that?
But the people were so lazy they eventually built a sentient Robot-Master to oversee the robots.
I like the design of the Robot-Master.
HAWKMAN #18:
On their way to the hierach who will perform the ceremony, however, Rann is attacked by giant Man-Hawks, actual birds wearing human masks.
I liked everything about Hawkman except his adversaries.
Hawkman arrives in time to save Adam from the Man-Hawks' attack, but not in time to prevent their disruption of his wedding.
What did I say about being prepared for wedding disruptions?
They bring each other up to speed and much of part two is given over to Murphy Anderson to depict their glorious arial "wheeling-dealing fight-flight" against the Man-Hawks.
Just before the battle, Gardner and Murphy treat us to several of the exotic Rann locations that have been featured in Adam’s stories.
The planet Thanagar is still missing, but the next issue blurb promises that that will be dealt with in #19, which I don't have. I would dearly love it if DC ever sees fit to release a Silver Age Hawkman Omnibus, even though it will duplicate (and surpass!) my two Silver Age Hawkman Archives, but they don't seem to be in any rush to do so.
I also have the two Hawkman Archives, which only cover the Brave & Bold issues and Hawkman 1-8.
For what it’s worth, the black-and-white Showcase Presents: Hawkman #2 contains Hawkman 12-27 and Atom and Hawkman 39-45 (the ones with both heroes and the ones with just Hawkman). They also threw in the Batman-Hawkman story from Brave and Bold #70. Also, for what it’s worth, DC Universe Infinite has Hawkman 1-27.
(ADAM) STRANGE ADVENTURES:
Two more years would pass before Adam Strange's next series in Strange Adventures. The title was unofficially changed to Adam Strange Adventures, but it was mostly a reprint series at that point. Two issues that weren't reprints were #222 and #226.
STRANGE ADVENTURES #222 - "Beyond the Wall of Death!"
Zeta Beam: "A carnival in Rio de Janeiro." Obstacle: Adam must catch the beam without witnesses getting wise to what happened. (He fires a magnesium flare which temporarily blinds them.)
This ten pager is written by Denny O'Neil and drawn by Gil Kane and Murphy Anderson. It is loosley based on the story of the "Trojan Horse," except instead of a horse it's a spaceship, instead of the Greeks it the Ranagarians, instead of the Trojans it's the Reekans, and instead of Helen it's Alanna. Also, the Reekans don't fall for the ruse, but Adam has planeted a gas bomb inside the fake spaceship which takes them out anyway. When it is clear that the Reekans are going to be defeated, their leader tries to kill Alanna, but Adam stops him, then returns to Earth. This story is plainly labeled as an "untold tale" which takes place in the past; it's a serviceable story but nothing special.
STRANGE ADVENTURES #226 - "The Magic-Maker of Rann"
Zeta Beam: The "Devil's Marbles" in the Australian Outback (which Fox had used before). Obstacle: He had left his costume behind on Rann the last time the beam wore off and had to catch the it without use of his jetpack.
This is an illustrated prose story from 1970, written by Gardner Fox and drawn by Murphy Anderson. Fox was one of those fired by National a couple of years earlier for having the temerity to ask for health insurance. I'm not certain the circumstances under which he was hired to write one last Adam Strange story, but his prose style is pleasant if unremarkable. the story concerns the use of magic and "contrariness" but I'm not going to delve into it too deeply because it has already been discussed in great detail on page two of the "Six Decades of Separation" discission. Although, unlike "Beyond the Wall of Death!" this story is not specifically designated as an "untold tale" yet it must be. For one thing, it occurs in the midst of an otherwise reprint title; for another, the status quo is the same as the pre-Hawkman #18 version. If this story were not a continuity implant, I would expect Adam to be living on Rann permanently (or Fox to explain why he is not) and Adam and Alanna to be married (or Fox to explain why they are not), yet neither of these things are true.
THE BRAVE & THE BOLD #90 - "You Only Die Twice!"
Between Strange Adventures #222 & #226, Adam Strange appeared in The Brave & the Bold #90, and it fits into continuity about as well as you would expect of a Bob Haney story.
Zeta Beam: "A South American capital." Obstacle: Adam is bored.
As the story opens, Adam Strange is attending an archaeological symposium in a South American capital. "The zeta beam from planet Rann is due to strike here in this deserted park at this moment!" thinks Adam as he ditches the symposium. "Think I'll make a quick trip to Rann and be back in time to read my paper on Patagonian customs!" After he makes contsact with the zeta beam, however, it is struck by a solar flare which has the unexpected effect of returning him to Earth, but shunting him an indeterminate amount of time into the future. Not only that, but he arrived in Gotham City, clearly in the Northern hemishere. It isn't clear how long it has been since Adam last visited Gotham city, but the skyline is different because new skyscapers have been added. In an effort to get his bearings, he picks up a newspaper from a newsstand, but just then the zeta beam wears off and returns him to South America with a torn bit of newspaper in his hand. The date is incomplete ("Thursday, April 23, 19--"), but it contains the twin obituaries of Batman and Bruce Wayne and also reveals that they are one and the same. He immediately jets to Gotham City to bring Batman the news, then he returns to the symposium to read his paper at last.
A few weeks later, Batman contacts him and asks to be transported to Rann. He doesn't know which year the newspaper is from, but April 23rd falls on a Thursday this year, and Batman figures if he's on Rann he can't die on Earth. "Perhaps being trillions of miles away in another galaxy will somehow thwart the awful fate of the obit that's doomed me here on Earth!" he reasons. I don't know about that, Batman, but I do know that Rann is not in another galaxy, just another solar system. Then the zeta beam strikes and carries them both to Rann. "And as the zeta beam whisks the pair through space," Haney narrates, "will fate take a holiday--or will death follow the masked manhunter even to the ends of the universe?"
Sardath (now sporting a shock of white hair on the back and sides of his head) explains that his latest invention, a "time-space continuum rectifier... could actually permit one to change the future from the present!" Batman is inconsolable, however, because the rest of the information contained in the obit leading up to his "death" had already come true. Then Sardath reveals a remote scanner which can be tuned anywhere on Earth, even the Northern hemishere, and transmit sound back in real time by "using the zeta beam trail particles as transmission waves." This explanation, of course, makes absolutely no sense whatsoever, but something has to happen to move the plot along. When he sees Alfred baing threatened by a gangster, Batman decides not to wait for Sardath to perfect his 'future-machine" but instead goes to Adam and asks to be sent back to Earth on the zeta beam (!), which Adam does (!).
Adam later follows Batman and helps him to free Alfred. "Well," says Adam after the case is wrapped, "I'm making a rendezvous of my own within minutes--with the zeta beam!" Batman doesn't die and the "obituary" is never explained, "but let's skip to a certain day in the future, years from now, in the Gotham City Library, as a man peruses a recent newspaper."
"The book I'm doing on Batman's career... I've researched everything but his final adventure," the man thinks. "So that's how he met his end! Who would believe it?"
Bob Haney gets the final word: "Who would? Maybe the whole Brave and Bold World! But that, as they say, is another story! Never, The End!"
I'm not sure how good of a researcher this author from the future is if he's perusing a recent newspaper and doesn't already know how Batman died, but that's really the least of the problems with this story. There is so much wrong with this story that the only way to approach this is as apocryphal or having taken place in an alternate reality or something.
I read the last two Adam Strange stories in the omnibus and Figs’ comments in the other thread.
THE BRAVE & THE BOLD #90
"You Only Die Twice!"
There is so much wrong with this story that the only way to approach this is as apocryphal or having taken place in an alternate reality or something.
I just read it on DC Universe Infinite. It’s interestingly written, but suffers from the usual Haney-verse inaccuracies. At least Batman and Adam both resided on Earth-1. When I was looking for it I discovered there was another Batman/Adam story in Brave & Bold 161 (APR80). Will you be covering that one?
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