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31 of 31 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fox/Infantino Classic Interstellar Adventures!, September 1, 2004
This review is from: Adam Strange Archives, Vol. 1 (DC Archive Editions) (Hardcover)
If, as I was, you were born when everyone "liked Ike", and Captain Kangaroo was the nation's babysitter, if you read comic books, you knew Adam Strange! An adventurous archeologist long before Indiana Jones made the profession fashionable, he would experience a kid's ultimate fantasy, at the dawn of the Space Age...transporting to a distant planet, fighting incredible enemies armed with only a 'ray gun', a rocket pack, and a keen intellect, and winning the heart of an exotically beautiful alien girl. It was Edgar Rice Burroughs, updated, and it was IRRESISTABLE!
While his uniform was straight out of pulp SF magazines of the '30s and '40s (sort of 'Flash Gordon Meets the Rocketeer'), he never looked ridiculous, particularly when illustrated by the legendary Carmine Infantino (who, with his pioneering work on the Flash, proved that superheroes didn't have to look like overweight wrestlers). While Mike Sekowsky's earlier work lacks the simplistic grace of Infantino, there is no doubt that Adam Strange was cut from a different cloth than Superman and Batman. He was a thinking man's hero, lean and graceful, and willing to rely on his wits rather than on unbelievable powers, or an overstocked utility belt. That his intellectual exploits would earn him the title of the planet Rann's 'Champion' became an inspiration to me to study harder, and to understand that nearly any problem could be solved if you simply "used your head".
And oh, the bittersweet irony, when, after saving Rann, Strange would always be returned to Earth, before he could get more than a kiss from his beloved Alanna! Hokey, maybe, but what a hook for the next issue of "Strange Adventures"!
I never forgave DC Comics for yanking Gardner Fox and Infantino away from Adam Strange and using their talents to 'juice up' the "new" Batman of the mid-sixties. Perhaps the 'Adam Strange Formula' was a limited one, but even the lesser efforts of the creative 'dynamic duo' were a cut above anything else of the period. Certainly, under new hands, the Strange stories quickly lost their magic, and the series died. Subsequent 'limited' reappearances have only served to reduce Adam Strange's stature even further, as if DC, in turning the hero into a tragic figure, hoped to justify earlier abandoning him. Certainly, the 'Adam Strange' of recent years is NOT the hero I grew up admiring!
So treasure this first volume, when Adam Strange was pure of heart, and a whole planet believed in him...You have a treat in store for you!
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25 of 26 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Out of this World Archive Edition, March 7, 2004
This review is from: Adam Strange Archives, Vol. 1 (DC Archive Editions) (Hardcover)
One of the best Archive Editions of DC's secondary characters. Rereading these wonderful stories starting in 1958 Showcase and moving into a long run in Mystery in Space brings a real appreciaton for the creative team of Julie Schwartz, Gardner Fox, and Carmine Infantino. Adam had no superpowers other than a cool jetpack and raygun. He generally overcame the threats to his adopted home of Rann by outhinking his opponents in clever and unusual scripts by Fox. The relationship with Alanna is unique because she is an equal partner with him in his battles-way ahead of the 1960s womens lib movement.Their relationship is integral to the stories and always bittersweet because Adam inevitably returns to earth when the Zeta-beam wears off. Infatino's artwork is elegant and lyrical with beautiful futuristic cities and alien landscapes. This book shows the effect of different inking styles on Infantino's pencils with Murphey Anderson stealing the show. Even though Adam owes his heritage to Buck Rodgers and Flash Gordon, there is a unique cold war post-sputnik tinge to these stories that is interesting to ponder from the vantage of 2004. Quirky, wonderful scripts, art by Infantino at his best, and one of the best Silver Age love stories ever-Please get volume 2 out fast!
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18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Adam Strange, a tormented and unusual comic book hero, September 18, 2004
This review is from: Adam Strange Archives, Vol. 1 (DC Archive Editions) (Hardcover)
Amazing! D.C., thanks for for bringing back an authentic comic book hero and a sentimental favorite. Gardner Fox, Adam Strange's creator, was an icon for those of us who came of age in the late 50's and early 60's.
Other reviewers feel the same way about the Fox-Infantino collaboration that I do: A first rate comic with incredible and tantalizing covers, imaginative drawing, and entertaining stories.
Indiana Jones meets Buck Rogers meets Casablanca. Adam Strange, an earthman and archeologist, used no superweapons to defeat his superior foes. All he used were his brains (Wow! This guy rivaled, or surpassed, Batman in the sheer use of brainpower without the benefit of a utility belt!), a rocket pack, and an semi-useless ray-gun (considering the impregnable quality of the aliens.). His alien girlfriend and equal, Alanna, seldom left his side. At the very least she inspired Adam Strange to persevere in the face of hopeless odds, so she shares the glory.
On an aside, I agree that this was formula-writing; so was the original "Star Trek" for the matter(which in my opinion cribbed the Adam Strange "endings" quite a bit), but I also second the reviewer who said that Adam Strange was an inspiration and role model for the rest of us. Brains counted! Gardner Fox, an attorney and prolific writer, projected a lot of his ideals and values unto Strange. This character made a difference in my life. Too bad Fox is no longer around to receive my praise and gratitude.
Adam Strange managed, issue after issue, to save an entire civilization/planet using his powers of observation and quick wits. Sadly, Strange--after risking his life--then remained on Rann just long enough to reap a grateful half-kiss from the excellently drawn Alanna before the teleportation zeta-beam effects wore off and sent him back to earth. Why and how writer Fox and his formula tormented Adam Strange (and us) with heartache remains a mystery to this day. But we couldn't wait for the next issue...hoping Strange would remain with Alanna for good (which he finally did).
In this respect, Gardner Fox anticipated the pain of Marvel's superheroes, especially Spiderman.
By the way, before there was "Playboy" my friends and I would gab and speculate hours on end about Strange's female equal, side-kick, and lady-love. What a babe!
The melancholy, if not heart-wrenching, endings certainly prepared a generation emotionally for Sophoclean tragedy, or so it seemed to me when I was in junior high. If you recall the haunting, Adam Strange-like ending from "Shakespeare in Love," you know what I mean. But don't kid yourself, these were love stories in an "acceptable" format for pre-teen and young teen males.
And yes, Adam Strange patented the, "I'll be back" trope long before Arnie ever did...and gave it a tender significance. I am glad Adam Strange is back.
If you enjoyed the Silver Age, Adam Strange is an Archive to treasure. I can't wait for Archive #2.
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