Strange Adventures #12 Preview

[Bored at 3:00AM]

I’m sorry but who was a major Adam Strange fan before this series? He’s been confined to obscurity for decades and now everyone’s upset over his treatment? If this series hadn’t happened we wouldn’t hear a word from Adam Strange fans here because he would have continued to be absent from the line and I’m sorry but I don’t believe he had serious fans since the 60s, and even then a handful at best.

I think this is more about the outsized King hate on this board than about the series or the character. I’m not going to tell anyone what to love or hate but for those that hate King’s writing so much I’d suggest they consider appreciating the fact that lately he’s mostly writing about obscure characters that never had a real following before. I can’t wait for the outrage over him ‘ruining’ The Human Target, lol.

This was a story about war. Soldiers always make terrible, morally compromised decisions during wars, many of those receive medals for it, and none of them return unchanged.

But mainly I just think it’s silly for readers that didn’t much care for the character before to be upset over his characterization. This series was literally the first time he’s been more than a D-list, two-dimensional also-ran.

This is completely fair, but I just don't have much interest in seeing bright sunny superheroes deconstructed into killers, war criminals, or whatever other horrible **** you can graft on to them. King is clearly an Alan Moore fan, but he seems to have missed that Moore came to realize that deconstructing these characters isn't particularly valuable. There's nothing particularly creative or novel about turning children's characters into dark and morally compromised anymore. I mean, you can turn Popeye into a drug addict giving blowjobs in back alleys for another can of spinach, but why would you? This isn't to say that superheroes can't examine more complex subject matter, but there's only so far you can bend these characters before they break because you're trying to use them for something they weren't created for.

That said, Alan Moore had great success deconstructing the Victorian era superheroes in League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, but that worked because those characters weren't really children's characters. They all had much darker, adult themes baked into their original stories, which isn't always the case with many of DC's brighter roster of heroes. Keep in mind that, when Moore tried to explore the sexual undercurrent of classic children's book characters, he failed spectacularly.

King needs to understand that it's not about how obscure or beloved a character is. It's about the stories they were built to tell. Adam Strange wasn't created to examine the trauma of war and the moral compromises it requires of those who fight it. If King wanted to tell that story in a sci-fi setting, he should have done so with an original character instead of one who wasn't meant to tell that kind of story.

Moreover, I'd argue the desire to tell morally ambiguous stories with children's characters isn't a sign of maturity, it's a sign of stunted adolescence in that we're trying to force the stories we enjoyed as children to grow up with us, rather than simply be what they are.

Now, of course, everyone's idea of what crosses the line into too adult is going to differ from person to person. I'm sure there were many who viewed O'Neil & Adams' story of Speedy being a heroin addict was going too far for them, whereas for me, it worked just fine. Had Roy Harper murdered or crippled someone for drugs, I probably would have agreed, too.

For me, turning Adam Strange into a war criminal accomplished nothing dramatically. It wasn't shocking. It wasn't enlightening. It didn't give me a new perspective on what war does to people. It didn't have any impact on me because it was so utterly predictable due to King's inability to grow as a writer. He's stuck worshiping at the altar of Alan Moore circa 1986. The shame of it is that King absolutely has talent and attracts unbelievably talented artist like Gerads, Shaner, and others. I'm just hoping that, sooner or later, King starts coming around to Alan Moore circa 1997 because that would be something to see.

[Vordan]

I'm just hoping that, sooner or later, King starts coming around to Alan Moore circa 1997 because that would be something to see.

That’s what Supergirl is supposedly kicking off. A new era of lighter books, Human Target is a part of that too.

[Jabare]

you all need to let the story finish before you jump to conclusions. I'm telling you all this is an Adam Strange title. There is a twist coming

[DragonPiece]

you all need to let the story finish before you jump to conclusions. I'm telling you all this is an Adam Strange title. There is a twist coming

...The series finished today lol. Didn't really end well for Adam.

Tom King on JSA maybe?

That'd be interesting. He doesn't do many team books, closest one was omega men I think?

[numberthirty]

you all need to let the story finish before you jump to conclusions. I'm telling you all this is an Adam Strange title. There is a twist coming

To be completely serious for a moment...

Was that a deadpan?

Because if it was?

I applaud your deadpan.

[Frontier]

Tom King on JSA maybe?

...Monkey's Paw of the highest order .

[marvelprince]

Read the finale, was surprised by how it left Adam and how big Mr Terrific ended up being in this , but considering I love Mr Terrific this worked out for me. I didn’t mind the characterization, I knew what this was going in so I expected it to be dark. Just like I don’t necessarily think other writers will draw from this directly.

[numberthirty]

Read the finale, was surprised by how it left Adam and how big Mr Terrific ended up being in this , but considering I love Mr Terrific this worked out for me. I didn’t mind the characterization, I knew what this was going in so I expected it to be dark. Just like I don’t necessarily think other writers will draw from this directly.

While it did a lot of interesting things?

I can't think of one writer who might be working for DC in the future who even seems like they will draw from this.

[nightw1ng]

I feel like it'd be easy to retcon what happened by saying the Pykkts imprisoned Adam Strange and replaced hiim with a clone.

[Johnrevenge]

Tom King on JSA maybe?

That would be a total confirmation that DC editors really really hate the JSA with passion.

[sbp1972]

I don't understand why so many people are concerned about what this does to Adam Strange as a character. Again: this was a Black Label book. It's not beholden to the standard DCU continuity.

I point out the example of the significant death in the 2nd issue of Suicide Squad: Get Joker!. And that same character is still running around in the main line Suicide Squad book. And another character appears at the end of Get Joker #2 that died about a year ago. Again, Black Label books don't have to be in-continuity.

Adam could show in up Justice League, no worse for wear.

[Bored at 3:00AM]

I don't understand why so many people are concerned about what this does to Adam Strange as a character. Again: this was a Black Label book. It's not beholden to the standard DCU continuity.

I point out the example of the significant death in the 2nd issue of Suicide Squad: Get Joker!. And that same character is still running around in the main line Suicide Squad book. And another character appears at the end of Get Joker #2 that died about a year ago. Again, Black Label books don't have to be in-continuity.

Adam could show in up Justice League, no worse for wear.

I think the concern some have is that, like Dark Knight Returns did for Batman, elements from this will now inform all subsequent portrayals of Adam Strange.

In regards to Alanna and Mr Terrific, I’d have no problem with that, but it would be a bummer to have a character as fun as Adam Strange be saddled with the idea that he might commit war crimes hanging over him from now on.

[CaptCleghorn]

We are still talking about the character who cheated on his pregnant wife and whose mistress helped deliver his child, right?

[lefthanded]

Putting aside any concerns about "Adam Strange would never act this way," think about it more abstractly.

This Strange Adventure storyline is very similar to the Manchurian Candidate (a very good book and movie). In both, a man comes home from war, is lauded for his actions during the war, but there are some tiny questions as to what actually occurred during the war. Both stories focus on an investigator trying to unravel the conspiracy, all the while the conspiracy is hitting close to home.

From that standpoint, Tom King has delivered a compelling story, with interesting character interactions, that happens to be set in the DC universe and features Adam Strange.

I will admit that I don't have any skin in the Adam Strange game, so I don't have any issue with this Black Label (non-canon) series going 'there' with Adam.
But, I am really surprised by how many Adam Strange fans there suddenly are. At least some of that is probably a strawman to hate on Tom King.

People's concern that even non-canon stories can influence future canon portrayals is certainly valid, but I think are overblown. Superman going evil is a regular non-canon story device, where there is never any 'concern' expressed of what that means for future canon Superman appearances. Granted it is not a perfect comparison, as A-list characters have more canon "good" appearances than non-canon "evil" appearances, compared to D-list characters, to wash away the non-canon stories. Thus, the fewer appearances by D-list characters results in an increased power for any one appearance to define them.

But, at the end of the day, it was a well written story, featuring a character that no one cared about (until Tom King featured him), that is officially non-canon.


Unrelated question lingering from the prior issues: The gap in the defense in Phoenix - Is the implication that the defense would have worked perfectly if the opponent wasn't told about the plan?

[Vordan]

Putting aside any concerns about "Adam Strange would never act this way," think about it more abstractly.

This Strange Adventure storyline is very similar to the Manchurian Candidate (a very good book and movie). In both, a man comes home from war, is lauded for his actions during the war, but there are some tiny questions as to what actually occurred during the war. Both stories focus on an investigator trying to unravel the conspiracy, all the while the conspiracy is hitting close to home.

From that standpoint, Tom King has delivered a compelling story, with interesting character interactions, that happens to be set in the DC universe and features Adam Strange.

I will admit that I don't have any skin in the Adam Strange game, so I don't have any issue with this Black Label (non-canon) series going 'there' with Adam.
But, I am really surprised by how many Adam Strange fans there suddenly are. At least some of that is probably a strawman to hate on Tom King.

People's concern that even non-canon stories can influence future canon portrayals is certainly valid, but I think are overblown. Superman going evil is a regular non-canon story device, where there is never any 'concern' expressed of what that means for future canon Superman appearances. Granted it is not a perfect comparison, as A-list characters have more canon "good" appearances than non-canon "evil" appearances, compared to D-list characters, to wash away the non-canon stories. Thus, the fewer appearances by D-list characters results in an increased power for any one appearance to define them.

But, at the end of the day, it was a well written story, featuring a character that no one cared about (until Tom King featured him), that is officially non-canon.


Unrelated question lingering from the prior issues: The gap in the defense in Phoenix - Is the implication that the defense would have worked perfectly if the opponent wasn't told about the plan?

There is on the Superman forum lol. But ultimately this story isn’t going to permanently change who Adam is unless it gets adapted somewhere outside of comics. That’s what really affects character portrayal nowadays.