A few years ago, the comics world was wholly rocked by Tom King and Mitch Gerads’ DC series, Mister Miracle. The series flipped the superhero genre on its head, focusing on DC hero, Scott Free aka Mister Miracle, in a way rarely seen in superhero comics, using the character as a vehicle to discuss and tell a mature story about the effects of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The series’ reception was unequivocally positive, which culminated in the series winning the Eisner Award for Best Limited Series in 2019. This week King, Gerads and new addition, Evan “Doc” Shaner, return with their new series, Strange Adventures.
Once again, King has decided to tackle his story through a B-level DC hero, Adam Strange, a man of Earth who is struck by a zeta beam and whisked away to the distant planet of Rann where he becomes the hero and savior of their planet. The new series tells dual stories – one set during the final war on Rann between Strange’s people and the invading Pykkts, and another after the war has ended when Strange and his wife, Alanna, have retired and returned to Earth.
For those familiar with King, especially Mister Miracle, the tone of Strange Adventures will feel immediately familiar in a good way. King has an uncanny ability to tell a very mature story while still incorporating big action and superhero antics. This duality is built into the core of Strange Adventures and is the basis for the tag-team of artists on the series, both of whom handle one-half of the series’ concurrent stories. Gerads covers the present day, with Strange and Alanna back on Earth, and Shaner covers the past – the final war on Rann.
Similar to Mister Miracle, Gerads’ grittier style fits perfectly with the more introspective storyline as Strange deals with the fallout of the war and his new status as a hero on Earth. On the other hand, Shaner’s clean lines and bright colors meld well with the Golden Age and more classically superhero-ish vibes of the action set pieces of the wartime story. Impressively, the two styles with similar color palettes actually flow well from one into another – important as certain pages have panels from both artists in them.
It is a testament to King’s talent that he is able to continually write great stories within the same thematic ballpark as most of his previous series. As he has self-stated with his loosely-defined ‘Trilogy of Best Intentions” (The Vision, The Sheriff of Babylon, and The Omega Men) and “Trilogy of Trauma” (Mister Miracle, Heroes in Crisis, and Batman), King has a habit of writing about fallible men suffering from deep-set traumas and inner conflicts. These themes are very much prevalent in Strange Adventures. It is made clear early on that things may not have transpired as cleanly as they seemed on Rann, and the question of whether Strange is, in fact, a wartime hero deserving of commendation becomes a tangible issue that he and Alanna must confront both in their private and public lives. While King is still holding many of the story-cards close to his chest, a pivotal event in the issue creates a mystery that will likely become a major backbone of the series. Unlike in Mister Miracle, which largely remained self-contained in the world of the New Gods, the event that occurs in Strange Adventures leads to a visit into familiar corners of the DCU with some welcomed cameos by other heroes.
There was a strong foundation for the widespread anticipation leading to Strange Adventures, and it may be that the series first issue actually surpasses the high expectations that were awaiting it. King is unquestionably back to his finest form here. In only one issue, Strange Adventures has set a new bar for 2020. It is a deftly crafted comic filled with mystery, action, and drama, and, more importantly, unlike many books out there, this series has something important to say. At the rate it has set out with, a new string of Eisner Awards does not seem out of the question at all for DC and King, Gerads and Shaner’s Strange Adventures.
Strange Adventures #1 is available at your local comic book store now.
