Adam Strange was the thinking man’s superhero of the late 1950s, rendered with a sleek, space-age elegance by Carmine Infantino and written with reassuring intelligence by Gardner Fox.
“Strange, an adventuring archeologist, is caught in an alien experiment and hurled through 25 trillion miles of space to Planet Rann in the Alpha Centauri system,” comics historian Matthew Grossman said, summarizing Showcase 17 (Nov. 1958).
“Strange falls in love with beautiful Rannite Alanna, daughter of the scientist whose experiments with Zeta-Beam technology resulted in his extraplanetary teleportation, and — armed with a jet pack and a ray gun — becomes Rann’s champion against a series of bizarre science-fictional menaces.”
I was an adult before it suddenly dawned on me that Adam Strange worked as an exact mirror-reversal of the same company’s flagship character, Superman.
Instead of someone sent to Earth from an exotic planet to act as a savior with his superhuman powers, we have someone sent to an exotic planet from Earth to act as a savior with his human powers.
 |
| Art by Mike Sekowsky |
Lacking Superman’s brawn, Adam Strange relies solely on his brain, reasoning his way out of every dilemma, no matter how difficult.
“In many ways the character was a crowning jewel of the Silver Age vision, an adventurer whose courage and intellectual skills embodied an optimistic view of moral action wedded to science,” Grossman observed.
“And while close in essence to pulp science fiction figures like John Carter and Flash Gordon, two other Earthmen whose adventures began with otherworldly abduction, Adam Strange operated within a fully superheroic universe, as observed by his sleek costume, frequent visual depictions in flight, and the ways his stories followed classic genre rules.”
Arthur Lockwood wrote: Adam Strange, Batman, and Hawkman all had entries in "The Encyclopedia of Superheroes" by Jeff Rovin . It seems to be a matter of mystique . Adam Strange might have settled for a pair of black boots, brown pants, a white shirt, and a black leather jacket . He wouldn't seem like a superhero in an outfit like that . He wears a flashy red suit . If Millionaire Playboy Bruce Wayne had gone in a different direction, he might be a private detective wearing street clothes . Instead, he wears a flashy bat costume, so he's a superhero . Katar Hol might be a mere policeman on Thanagar, but on Earth he's a superhero dressed like a bird .
ReplyDeleteCarl Thiel wrote: I love the phrase "written with reassuring intelligence."
ReplyDeleteRichard Decker wrote: Characters like Adam Strange and Batman might be the ultimate definition of the superhero, ordinary people performing acts of superhuman heroism.
ReplyDelete