DC Comics reviews 3/4/20 – The Flash #750, Batman #90, Strange Adventures #1

Strange Adventures #1

Tom King is a writer whose best work seems to come when he’s working with a character in a bubble — free of continuity restraints and more flexible in terms of making any significant alterations to his characterization (see Mister Miracle, Vision, Omega Men). King is back in his wheelhouse with Strange Adventures, a deconstruction 12-issue maxi-series of the classic Silver Age hero Adam Strange.

The series finds Adam back on Earth seemingly for good after playing a key role in saving his galactic home Rann from an invasion. Adam has parlayed that experience, like most people with a fascinating story, into a bestselling book. He’s making the touring circuit with his wife, Alanna, handling his bookings. But what if the great galactic hero wasn’t such a hero after all and was actually a war criminal? It’s an interesting take on Adam Strange, a character a lot of modern comic fans like without necessarily being able to pinpoint a specific favorite comic he headlined. Strange is more of a great character who plays off others (Hawkman, Justice League, Animal Man and Starfire) well. With the spotlight solely focused on him, will Adam crack under the pressure?

King tries an ambitious storytelling approach with this saga. For the modern scenes, his Mister Miracle collaborator Mitch Gerads handles the art while Doc Shaner tackles the flashback sequences. Shaner seems to have landed from the Silver Age to modern times with his throwback style so he was an ideal choice for the old scenes while Gerads brings a stripped down, real world take to the story. Interestingly on more than a few panels it looks like King was Gerads’ inspiration for Strange. The choice of colors Gerads and Shaner use effectively tells their respective eras as well.

When his reputation comes into question, Adam takes a proactive approach in proving his innocence and calls on a modern classic character to investigate his claim. King is setting up an engaging mystery here and it seems like another strong series in line with some of his career best work.

Rating: 9 out of 10