If it feels as if you’re emerging from a time machine, you’re not alone. Issue 1 came to us back in March. But at long last, it’s issue 2 (of 12) of Strange Adventures from DC.
As we know, Adam Strange is the hero of Rann. After leading Rann to victory in an interplanetary war, Adam and his wife Alanna retire to Earth. However, the decisions Adam made during battles on Rann come back to haunt his family. Already, a vocal critic of Strange has turned up dead, and the Earth public is turning against him too!
In this Black Label miniseries, Tom King writes, and two artists: Mitch Gerads and Evan “Doc” Shaner illustrate. “A little demanding'” is the title to Chapter two, and yes, well, let’s try to figure out what’s going on, shall we?
Well, without giving away ANY of the story, (I hate spoilers in a review, don’t you?) there are two parallel stories underway. Adam the hero, and the investigator who is constantly being quizzed by a small electronic apparatus. Perhaps an exam is coming, a big test. Adam Strange’s quest will involve the Hellotaat tribe, a vicious people. But they are Rann’s only hope, it seems.
The issue is baffling, beautifully rendered by Misters Gerads and Shaner, and bewildering. If you are as out of touch with segmented storytelling as I am, you will have a merry time with this issue, following clues, backtracking for more information, gradually piecing together the semblance of a timeline and forward direction. It’s engaging, it’s continued in the next issue, it’s not clear to me, nor does it need to be. Just throw on your deciphering jetpack, and away you go! The drawings are wonderful, the scenery first-rate, and the golden hues of the desert contrast so nicely with the snow and darkness of our Earth. Ah, summer solstice, do your thing!
DC Black Label, Strange Adventures #2, $4.99 for 30 pages of content.
Newsdesk