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  1. #1
    Extraordinary Member HsssH's Avatar
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    Default Strange Adveentures #11 discussion

    Lovely art, but I can't wrap my head how this is a thing that actually is published.

    As is the norm in this series not much happened in this issue either. Some war flashback and confrontation in the present. No, there is no "I thought that Justice League would be able to deal with these aliens" silver lining. There is no "Terrific didn't get the whole story" argument. Adam Strange pretty much admits that he is a war criminal and a traitor and he sees zero problems with that. He is even one step away from killing Alanna and if she didn't act first I think he would have actually killed her if she tried to leave the house. But instead it ends with Alanna shooting Adam.

    I think Adam dies next issue and Justice League manages to save their daughter to drive the point further that Adam is not only a war criminal and a traitor, but also a moron. Is this story good? I guess technically it is, but is that the most important thing here?

  2. #2
    Black Belt in Bad Ideas Robanker's Avatar
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    I rarely read a book and want my money back, but I do. For the entire run. I'm sorry, but this was a massive letdown and everyone in it is outright unlikable save Michael Holt.

    This has really devolved into a shitshow. Like Heroes in Crisis, this was a waste of great art.
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  3. #3
    Ultimate Member Johnny's Avatar
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    And was there need to have expletives in every sentence. I get that Adam and Alanna were having a huge argument but if King's goal was to make it seem more realistic to have a husband and wife curse at one another like that, then that only made them feel more unlikable to me.

  4. #4
    Mighty Member marvelprince's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Johnny View Post
    And was there need to have expletives in every sentence. I get that Adam and Alanna were having a huge argument but if King's goal was to make it seem more realistic to have a husband and wife curse at one another like that, then that only made them feel more unlikable to me.
    Same. I get the anger, but it was just really excessive. I didn’t even mind the violence between them (Cept for Adam pulling the gun) as much as I did that. And gotta say, been enjoying this series a lot but I also felt as though we didn’t really get much here. I don’t the goal is to make either of these guys like able though.

  5. #5
    Moderator Frontier's Avatar
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    I guess DC really gives King a lot of leeway unless they just don't care about Adam Strange at all or are comfortable placing this as an Elseworld in case anyone wants to write the real Adam Strange.

  6. #6
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    I wonder if Alanna killed Adam on purpose -- seemingly by accident, because she knows they're watched (as we saw previously). It's Aleea's only hope. The JLA can't rescue and with Adam exposed, the Pykkts will kill her in retaliation. If Adam's dead though, they might use her to negotiate.

    I wonder also if she's known Adam's betrayal the whole time, and is angry because Terrific forced her hand. The argument then is to goad Adam into confessing (to confirm Terrific's hunch and bring in the JLA) and reveal what he knows about Aleea.

    Probably not, but I find this line very telling-- "Sometimes when you're in a race, and you lap the field, it can look like you're behind when you're actually so far ahead."

  7. #7
    Black Belt in Bad Ideas Robanker's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Frontier View Post
    I guess DC really gives King a lot of leeway unless they just don't care about Adam Strange at all or are comfortable placing this as an Elseworld in case anyone wants to write the real Adam Strange.
    This has to be it because Strange Adventures pretty much burned Adam and Alanna down.
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  8. #8
    insulin4all CaptCleghorn's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by I.Strange View Post
    I wonder if Alanna killed Adam on purpose -- seemingly by accident, because she knows they're watched (as we saw previously). It's Aleea's only hope. The JLA can't rescue and with Adam exposed, the Pykkts will kill her in retaliation. If Adam's dead though, they might use her to negotiate.

    I wonder also if she's known Adam's betrayal the whole time, and is angry because Terrific forced her hand. The argument then is to goad Adam into confessing (to confirm Terrific's hunch and bring in the JLA) and reveal what he knows about Aleea.

    Probably not, but I find this line very telling-- "Sometimes when you're in a race, and you lap the field, it can look like you're behind when you're actually so far ahead."
    I'm hoping for some last issue rabbit out of the hat. The story has been slow and a definite downward spiral for Adam. It's been slow with very straight forward development.

    What makes it seem like there is a final twist is that the exposition was in a letter to Alanna when Holt was brought in to investigate Adam for the JL. Is Michael telling Alanna this to be a dick, or is there some reason to set the Stranges up like this for a show? I might be wrong and Adam is truly guilty of all this, but just the fact that Adam originally asked Batman to look into it should be enough to make it clear that Adam isn't the villain he appears to be. Unless, of course, he really is the stupidest hero ever.

    I don't expect Adam to come out of the crystal clean, but some of this stuff seems like it is totally a setup for a Sixth Sense type revelation.
    I’ll don the mask and wear the cape
    If I am super, how can I wait?

  9. #9
    Extraordinary Member HsssH's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by CaptCleghorn View Post
    I might be wrong and Adam is truly guilty of all this, but just the fact that Adam originally asked Batman to look into it should be enough to make it clear that Adam isn't the villain he appears to be. Unless, of course, he really is the stupidest hero ever.
    Maybe I'm remembering wrong, but didn't Holt in his letter say that Adam wanted the investigation because he believed that his story was bullet proof and would exonerate him from any possible links to Pykkts? My understanding is that he simply didn't expect Holt to crack it.

  10. #10
    Invincible Member Vordan's Avatar
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    Yeah this basically nuked Adam Strange as a character. Not sure what, if anything, they’ll be doing with him going forward after this. It was a hell of a Mr. Terrific story though and since Holt was the one of the two I care more about, I enjoyed this. Absolutely sucks if you’re a fan of Adam though.
    Quote Originally Posted by Frontier View Post
    I guess DC really gives King a lot of leeway unless they just don't care about Adam Strange at all or are comfortable placing this as an Elseworld in case anyone wants to write the real Adam Strange.
    Both sound reasonable. There’s no plans for Adam in outside media and no plans for him elsewhere in the DCU. Why not let King work out his anger on the character, especially since it was bound to sell more than any traditional Adam Strange book ever would?
    For when my rants on the forums just aren’t enough: https://thevindicativevordan.tumblr.com/

  11. #11
    Black Belt in Bad Ideas Robanker's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Vordan View Post
    Yeah this basically nuked Adam Strange as a character. Not sure what, if anything, they’ll be doing with him going forward after this. It was a hell of a Mr. Terrific story though and since Holt was the one of the two I care more about, I enjoyed this. Absolutely sucks if you’re a fan of Adam though.


    Both sound reasonable. There’s no plans for Adam in outside media and no plans for him elsewhere in the DCU. Why not let King work out his anger on the character, especially since it was bound to sell more than any traditional Adam Strange book ever would?
    I don't really care about Adam (I was here for Shaner art and Michael Holt) and I'm still pissed off. This just felt mean spirited at this point. The whole issue was a teardown of his character with seemingly no plan to build him back up, even having Alanna emasculate him to some effect. It's character assassination, full stop.

    Michael Holt comes across great, but I'm not going to forgive a shitshow just because my favorite participant got to shine in it.

    Moreover, if Tom needs to work out anger, I would argue there are better avenues than nuking a character someone or their family may still get royalties from or have had some affection for.

    Strange isn't very popular, so in this instance I doubt it's going to blow up, but it still doesn't sit well with me. Outside of the Super characters, he seems preoccupied with deconstructing heroic figures into neurotic messes that he has no intention of building back up which pretty much screws over anyone who liked that character or wanted to tackle them in a project but was trying to build the prestige to convince DC to let them try. Now they have to unravel this mess on top of getting DC to approve Adam Strange again... So probably never unless Morrison or Gaiman decide they need to slum it and write a monthly book again.

    Unlike Batman, Strange is a small character and there's no guarantee this isn't one of the last words on the character. It probably won't be until the next reboot that it's even possible to use him again as anything other than a villain or sadsack who lost his family assuming he lives. Hell, I didn't care for Scott killing himself (he would never do that to Barda, but don't tell Tom that) but I figured he's popular enough that could be worked out. Adam Strange? I highly doubt it.

    Each issue, I kept thinking "well this is twelve issues so there has to be more to this we aren't seeing" but no, it just kept mounting to exactly what it looked like. Nothing clever nor interesting. Just a lot of anger playing at something emotionally compelling but ultimately being a 2AM Denny's parking lot breakup with a raygun.

    His books are quickly becoming a waste of great art more often than not, and I already skipped half of them.
    Last edited by Robanker; 07-29-2021 at 02:39 AM.
    May we never forget:

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    Truer words never spoken.

  12. #12
    Extraordinary Member HsssH's Avatar
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    I'd agree on Terrific, but he has been kinda absent in the second second half of the series? I hope he gets some pages in the final issue.

    As for sales, looking at what similar ranked books sold in 2019 it looks like it is selling around 30-35k per issue so I wouldn't be surprised if DC will allow King to murder some other minor character next year.

  13. #13
    Black Belt in Bad Ideas Robanker's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by HsssH View Post
    I'd agree on Terrific, but he has been kinda absent in the second second half of the series? I hope he gets some pages in the final issue.

    As for sales, looking at what similar ranked books sold in 2019 it looks like it is selling around 30-35k per issue so I wouldn't be surprised if DC will allow King to murder some other minor character next year.
    He's already greenlit for the Human Target, so we'll see who else gets held up for King's Ransom.

    At least Up in the Sky, Grayson and the GL Darkseid War special were rad.
    May we never forget:

    Quote Originally Posted by Gaius View Post
    Daddy Zeus can hit the bricks.
    Truer words never spoken.

  14. #14
    Extraordinary Member HsssH's Avatar
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    I initially skipped Up in the Sky thinking that it is going to be more of the same, but picked it up a month or two ago seeing that people mention it in positive context. And well I was a bit baffled that its written by the same guy as this and Heroes in Crisis. You never know what you are going to get with King.

  15. #15
    Black Belt in Bad Ideas Robanker's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by HsssH View Post
    I initially skipped Up in the Sky thinking that it is going to be more of the same, but picked it up a month or two ago seeing that people mention it in positive context. And well I was a bit baffled that its written by the same guy as this and Heroes in Crisis. You never know what you are going to get with King.
    You really don't. Up in the Sky was delightful aside from the awful Lois Lane snuff sequence. That was rightfully dragged through the mud when published...

    But that was at least framed as all of Clark's worst nightmares.

    This is worse. Yeow.
    Last edited by Robanker; 07-29-2021 at 03:24 AM.
    May we never forget:

    Quote Originally Posted by Gaius View Post
    Daddy Zeus can hit the bricks.
    Truer words never spoken.

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