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The Adam Strange Archives #1
The Adam Strange Archives, Vol. 1
A thrilling adventure of sci-fi action, ADAM STRANGE ARCHIVES VOL. ONE masterfully reprints the earliest escapades of "Earth's First Spaceman" as they were originally published in the 1950s. While searching fora tabled city in the Andes Mountains, archeologist Adam Strange suddenly found his entire life changed when he was miraculously transported to the planet Rann. Stranded on a foreign world of unimaginable wonders and inconceivable dangers. Strange quickly used his genius--like intellect and natural physical abilities to become the planet's new champion. An amazing look back at the early career at the original space hero, this books features Strange's classic origin story, a battle against a berserker robot, and in incomprehensible fight with a living tentacled planet.
Collects: Showcase #17–19; Mystery in Space #53–65
Collects: Showcase #17–19; Mystery in Space #53–65
224 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2004
About the author
Gardner Fox
1,232 books93 followersGardner Francis Cooper Fox was an American writer known best for creating numerous comic book characters for DC Comics. Comic book historians estimate that he wrote more than 4,000 comics stories, including 1,500 for DC Comics.
Fox is known as the co-creator of DC Comics heroes the Flash, Hawkman, Doctor Fate and the original Sandman, and was the writer who first teamed those and other heroes as the Justice Society of America. Fox introduced the concept of the Multiverse to DC Comics in the 1961 story "Flash of Two Worlds!"
Pseudonyms: Gardner F. Fox, Jefferson Cooper, Bart Sommers, Paul Dean, Ray Gardner, Lynna Cooper, Rod Gray, Larry Dean, Robert Starr, Don Blake, Ed Blake, Warner Blake, Michael Blake, Tex Blane, Willis Blane, Ed Carlisle, Edgar Weston, Tex Slade, Eddie Duane, Simon Majors, James Kendricks, Troy Conway, Kevin Matthews, Glen Chase
Fox is known as the co-creator of DC Comics heroes the Flash, Hawkman, Doctor Fate and the original Sandman, and was the writer who first teamed those and other heroes as the Justice Society of America. Fox introduced the concept of the Multiverse to DC Comics in the 1961 story "Flash of Two Worlds!"
Pseudonyms: Gardner F. Fox, Jefferson Cooper, Bart Sommers, Paul Dean, Ray Gardner, Lynna Cooper, Rod Gray, Larry Dean, Robert Starr, Don Blake, Ed Blake, Warner Blake, Michael Blake, Tex Blane, Willis Blane, Ed Carlisle, Edgar Weston, Tex Slade, Eddie Duane, Simon Majors, James Kendricks, Troy Conway, Kevin Matthews, Glen Chase
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
November 27, 2014
These early adventures of Adam Strange were written by sci-fi pioneer Gardner Fox. First off we get Adam's tryout issues from Showcase, highlighted as Adventures on Other Worlds. Showcase gave us two Adam stories per issue, one around 14 pages, the other 8 or 9. Because his Showcase run was successful, Adam soon moved to Mystery in Space as its lead feature, each story getting 8 pages approximately. No explanation why Adam did not get his own self-titled magazine like Atom and Green Lantern.
These stories are pulpy and very entertaining. The Showcase stories, because of their longer lenght, allowed more room for character examination, but Fox was a master of the short story and none if them felt rushed. The early stories focus on Adam learning about the planet Rann and how the Zeta Beam works getting him there, but by mid-volume Adam is basically taking care of the crisis of the day, a few of which seem repetitive (a trait shared in Fox's JLA stories).
The first artist is Mike Sekowsky, proving here as he did on Wonder Woman, that his art was not the bulky, blocky style he presented in JLA. There is a certain dynamism to his work not seen in the JLA stuff.
Carmine Infantino took over the art beginning with the first MIS issue. His angular style was ok at first, but when Murphy Anderson took over inks, the art ended up with more verve and style.
Being a Silver Age book, these tales will not appeal to many modern comics readers, but I enjoyed them quite a bit.
These stories are pulpy and very entertaining. The Showcase stories, because of their longer lenght, allowed more room for character examination, but Fox was a master of the short story and none if them felt rushed. The early stories focus on Adam learning about the planet Rann and how the Zeta Beam works getting him there, but by mid-volume Adam is basically taking care of the crisis of the day, a few of which seem repetitive (a trait shared in Fox's JLA stories).
The first artist is Mike Sekowsky, proving here as he did on Wonder Woman, that his art was not the bulky, blocky style he presented in JLA. There is a certain dynamism to his work not seen in the JLA stuff.
Carmine Infantino took over the art beginning with the first MIS issue. His angular style was ok at first, but when Murphy Anderson took over inks, the art ended up with more verve and style.
Being a Silver Age book, these tales will not appeal to many modern comics readers, but I enjoyed them quite a bit.
September 4, 2018
This is classic late 50's / early 60's sci fi fun. The heroes fly around with jetpacks while wearing helmets with fins on them, shooting the bad guys with "ray guns". By some fluke of cosmic rays, the main character, an archaeologist named Adam Strange, teleports to the distant planet of Rann every few weeks where he is joyfully reunited with his sweetheart and his derring do saves the inhabitants of Rann month after month (much like John Carter). And just when things are apparently settling down on Rann, he is whisked back to Earth.
This collection is one part Flash Gordon and one part Burroughs' Barsoom (John Carter). I am a fan of both, and these stories were enjoyable reads for me. I liked the fact that Adam was teleported back home at the end of each story, leaving him back on Earth gazing wistfully at the stars and counting down the days until his return to Rann, much as the readers are left eagerly awaiting next month's issue. And it's no mere coincidence, I'm sure, that the period between Adam's adventures to Rann is roughly the same period as that between issues of a monthly comic. Since there is a well-defined parallel between the main character's experiences and the reader's, it lends the story a certain verisimilitude.
These are the earliest appearances of the character of Adam Strange. While at the time these stories were written Adam Strange wasn't yet part of the larger DC Universe, he would eventually be folded into the universe and start encountering the other DCU superheroes (especially Hawkman in the Rann-Thanagar story arc of the 2000's). Ultimately Adam Strange would become a major recurring character in the DCU.
This collection is one part Flash Gordon and one part Burroughs' Barsoom (John Carter). I am a fan of both, and these stories were enjoyable reads for me. I liked the fact that Adam was teleported back home at the end of each story, leaving him back on Earth gazing wistfully at the stars and counting down the days until his return to Rann, much as the readers are left eagerly awaiting next month's issue. And it's no mere coincidence, I'm sure, that the period between Adam's adventures to Rann is roughly the same period as that between issues of a monthly comic. Since there is a well-defined parallel between the main character's experiences and the reader's, it lends the story a certain verisimilitude.
These are the earliest appearances of the character of Adam Strange. While at the time these stories were written Adam Strange wasn't yet part of the larger DC Universe, he would eventually be folded into the universe and start encountering the other DCU superheroes (especially Hawkman in the Rann-Thanagar story arc of the 2000's). Ultimately Adam Strange would become a major recurring character in the DCU.
November 1, 2019
The author Gardner Fox was a busy man in the 1950's and 1960's, writing science fiction and many comic books for DC Comics. He tended to have a set repetitive story line, but each tale with a clever twist on how the hero solved the dilemma, often an alien visit. The Adam Strange stories had an original premise. Adam would show up at some spot on Earth that he had calculated would be where a Zeta-Beam (don't ask) would strike. It would carry him temporarily through space to his darling Alanna and Rann, a futuristic city on adisant planet. The art was usually Carmine Infantino (Batman pencils) at his best with top inkers, especially Murphy Anderson (Superman inks). In his alternate life on Rann, Adam had a nifty super hero outfit. There were a variety of cool-looking aliens, each presenting some threat that Adam would solve using a clever trick. Then while in Alanna's welcoming arms, he would fade away on Rann and return back to 1950's and 60's Earth (sigh). Each story was tight, only seven pages because they were part of an anthology comic, usually "Mystery in Space". This Archives volume includes the fantastic covers by artist Gil Kane. It is a fun read, though I spaced reading the entire book, periodically reading a few tales.
November 6, 2022
This was the first time I have read any Adam Strange and I enjoyed it. For those who do not know, the Adam Strange stories were published in the 1958, initially in Showcase comic but after three issues the stories appeared in the Mystery in Space publication. Adam Strange is an archaeologist from earth, who gets instantly transported 25 trillion miles away to the planet of Rann when he is struck by a zeta beam. However, after a period of time (Not sure it ever stated how long) when the zeta beam radiation wears off Adam is instantly transported back to the exact same location on Earth where he departed. On Rann, he meets and falls in love with a woman called Alanna and through many adventures becomes Rann's savior and champion.
There stories have the feel of the Flash Gordon/ Buck Rogers serials, but each story is self-contained due to the zeta beam radiation wearing off and Adam returning to Earth. The formula is that Adam arrives to find out the new threat, deals with it and then as just as quickly disappears usually just as he is going to get rewarded. I believe only once in this first archive volume did a single story consist of two trips to Rann. At first, I thought this would be too formulaic, but they are stories each requiring a clever way to resolve, and it kept me coming back to read the next. Clever writing completed in a few pages.
Worth checking out, now onto Volume 2.
The self-contained nature of the stories
There stories have the feel of the Flash Gordon/ Buck Rogers serials, but each story is self-contained due to the zeta beam radiation wearing off and Adam returning to Earth. The formula is that Adam arrives to find out the new threat, deals with it and then as just as quickly disappears usually just as he is going to get rewarded. I believe only once in this first archive volume did a single story consist of two trips to Rann. At first, I thought this would be too formulaic, but they are stories each requiring a clever way to resolve, and it kept me coming back to read the next. Clever writing completed in a few pages.
Worth checking out, now onto Volume 2.
The self-contained nature of the stories
October 9, 2016
Pretty standard sci-fi of the period.
July 1, 2020
The Adam Strange stories in MYSTERY IN SPACE occupy a strange space in silver age comics. Julius Schwartz edited two kind of comics, super hero and sci-fi. These stories are basically sci-fi, but have super hero elements due to the characters costume, his ability to fly (albeit with jet packs), that he was in more than one story, and his strange name. I know what to do with this hybrid now, but found it confusing as a child. That put him in the middle of my regard as my least favorite hero of the Schwartz edited super hero characters, but above all the other sci-fi stories.
I find it curious that I still feel this way. Most of the sci-fi stories Schwartz edited are actually better than your typical Adam Strange story. They are surprisingly diverse in structure and the challenges to the protagonists given that most are a mere six to nine pages long, usually eight or nine. The Adam Strange stories are written to a strict formula. After the SHOWCASE tryout, the stories are nine pages long with one page the splash page, another about how Adam Strange gets to the planet Rann for a new adventure, and one more about the background of the menace, so a full third of each story is given to this formula. The remaining six pages show Strange learn about whomever is trying to take over Rann, finding a strategy to defeat them, then fading back to earth before his girlfriend can kiss him. This happens in issue after issue after freakin' issue.
Yet, the unaffiliated sci-fi stories, though clearly better, are not why I read this collection, for they are not included. It was the lure of Adam Strange that did it, a chance to read the stories not in my comic book collection, and the superior Carmine Infantino art that gives the stories pizzazz even when they are so boilerplate.
It is in a way unfair to evaluate the sameness of Adam Strange stories. They were published six weeks apart, so memories of the last story would not be fresh, and the formula would not have been as apparent to a child. That is not how DC reprinted these stories, however. Reading them in a book that many children cannot afford, and reading them one after another (I read one a day), the repetition is appalling. If I did not have childhood memories of liking Adam Strange stories, I doubt if I would have finished this book. I do have those memories, however, and have more affection for this book than it earns.
I find it curious that I still feel this way. Most of the sci-fi stories Schwartz edited are actually better than your typical Adam Strange story. They are surprisingly diverse in structure and the challenges to the protagonists given that most are a mere six to nine pages long, usually eight or nine. The Adam Strange stories are written to a strict formula. After the SHOWCASE tryout, the stories are nine pages long with one page the splash page, another about how Adam Strange gets to the planet Rann for a new adventure, and one more about the background of the menace, so a full third of each story is given to this formula. The remaining six pages show Strange learn about whomever is trying to take over Rann, finding a strategy to defeat them, then fading back to earth before his girlfriend can kiss him. This happens in issue after issue after freakin' issue.
Yet, the unaffiliated sci-fi stories, though clearly better, are not why I read this collection, for they are not included. It was the lure of Adam Strange that did it, a chance to read the stories not in my comic book collection, and the superior Carmine Infantino art that gives the stories pizzazz even when they are so boilerplate.
It is in a way unfair to evaluate the sameness of Adam Strange stories. They were published six weeks apart, so memories of the last story would not be fresh, and the formula would not have been as apparent to a child. That is not how DC reprinted these stories, however. Reading them in a book that many children cannot afford, and reading them one after another (I read one a day), the repetition is appalling. If I did not have childhood memories of liking Adam Strange stories, I doubt if I would have finished this book. I do have those memories, however, and have more affection for this book than it earns.
June 17, 2014
Adam Strange, that frequent commuter to the planet Rann via the fluky "Zeta-Beam" teleportation phenomenon, was a favorite DC character for many a year. Gardner Fox was an amazingly creative writer, churning up a fresh planet-threatening menace issue after issue which Adam (with the help of his gorgeous girlfriend Alanna of Rann) would handily and brainily dispatch in a mere 9 pages, zooming around the skies of Rann with rocket-jets on his back and his ray gun blasting more often than not. (His origin story, with so much more exposition to deliver, runs a mighty 15 pages.)
Reading 16 of these gadgets in a row exposes the formula and wears the reader down a bit. In the original form, where you only got one story every six weeks and there were all these other stories clamoring for your attention in between, each one was a little gem.
This was especially true when Adam Strange became the star feature in Mystery in Space in 1959 and one of the great comic book artists of the century, Carmine Infantino, took over the pencils. Each panel is a joy to behold.
This "Archives" volume collects the original Showcase appearances of Adam Strange, artwork by Mike Sekowsky, covers by Gil Kane, and the first 12 Mystery in Space stories. It's a classy production and a welcome addition to my collection.
Reading 16 of these gadgets in a row exposes the formula and wears the reader down a bit. In the original form, where you only got one story every six weeks and there were all these other stories clamoring for your attention in between, each one was a little gem.
This was especially true when Adam Strange became the star feature in Mystery in Space in 1959 and one of the great comic book artists of the century, Carmine Infantino, took over the pencils. Each panel is a joy to behold.
This "Archives" volume collects the original Showcase appearances of Adam Strange, artwork by Mike Sekowsky, covers by Gil Kane, and the first 12 Mystery in Space stories. It's a classy production and a welcome addition to my collection.
March 30, 2011
I had started reading Adam Strange in the early 1960s so I missed a lot of these stories from his creation the late 1950s. The stories are good and were always my favorite in "Mystery in Space." There is a lot of SF and adventure in those 8 short pages.
August 28, 2014
Like STRANGE ADVENTURES, MYSTERY IN SPACE, where Adam Strange appeared, was one of my favorite comics when I was a kid. It was great to read these stories again after all these years. I have the other two volumes in this series which I will soon be reading.
February 14, 2016
I was lucky enough to read these when they came out in the late 60' and early 70s. Great SiFi comic stories with just a touch of the superhero feel. Very nice art makes these Silver Age stories a joy to read. Very recommended to an comic fan
December 28, 2013
If you like classic science fiction, you'll love Adam Strange.
April 16, 2014
Great silver age space fun.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews