It does not take much for a comic-book fan to cite phrases like sci-fi, cosmic rays, and jet-packs while discussing the Silver Age. For heroes like Adam Strange, it was a start, and a beautiful one at that, with the description of a space ranger fitting him like a glove. There are several memorable stories in the DC Universe, and Adam appears in several of them. The ‘protagonist energy’ is really powerful in this scene!
Adam was created so that he could fit into any plot arc all those years ago, in 1958. Adam was tailor-made for it and the perfect candidate available when writers needed to provide readers a human viewpoint on inter-galactic difficulties. The unusual character has grown and wrapped himself around complicated storylines over the course of this long voyage, and those who know KNOW there is more to him than meets the eye at first glimpse.
As a result, we spare him, even more, today, as he deserves.
ADAM STRANGE: The First Comic Appearance and Origins
The Silver Age of comics gave us quite a few notable names, worth being etched in memory. Much like Green Lantern and Flash, Adam Strange had words to say and things to do and he did them beautifully, IMPACTFULLY. He was THAT sci-fi hero who deserved more moments of glory, so we’re doing our bit today.
Created in 1958, Adam Strange met us in Issue 17 of ‘Showcase’. The story around and about him was extensively built through Issues 18 and 19 following it. Issue 17 carried two stories. Under the same banner of ‘Adventures on Other Worlds’, the first one was called ‘Secret of the Eternal City and the second one was ‘The Planet and the Pendulum’. Both of these stories starred Adam Strange in a space-trouble scenario and the plot ran thick.
In the country of Caramanga in South America, there lived a young archaeologist who went by the name of Adam Strange. In one instance, he came across a hostile tribe of Incan villagers, who began chasing him and Adam ran for his life. He did manage to evade them but was then struck by what was shown as a beam of energy. This ‘Zeta-Beam’ helped him teleport through space, some 25 trillion miles away to the Rann planet.
Seeking answers as he should, Adam met a scientist on the planet who called himself Sardath. Sardath informed Adam of the true nature of the beam, intended to have been a ray for communication. More precisely, a ray for communication has gone wrong because of radiation, giving it the characteristic of teleportation.
To his relief, Sardath tells him that the effects of the beam on him are temporary in nature. He should be able to return to his home planet as soon as the effects wear off. More relaxed now, Adam introduced himself to Sardath’s daughter Alanna, learned some of Rann’s native language Rannian, and familiarized himself with the violent past that Rann had seen. Unfortunately, for him and the rest of Rann, he did not have to wait for long to see hints of that violence in person. Rann was invaded by another race of aliens who called themselves the Eternals, searching for Vitatron, a rare mineral they believed Rann possessed.
Alanna and Adam decided to engage in the quest to ensure that peace prevailed on Rann again. As they traveled to Kamorak, a city-state nearby to get more information on the whole incident, they not only came across the Eternals, but it also dawned upon Alanna that ‘Vitatron’ was possibly found in another city called ‘Samarkand’. The problem? ‘Samakand’ was a truly mythical city emerging only once in every 25 Rannian years.
They managed to reach Samakand and consulted scientists there, wanting to get to know more about ‘Vitatron’ and why it was being sought after. The clever duo led the Eternals straight into a trap set for them though, where these scientists of Samakand – far more advanced with their technology against invaders and the like – apprehended the rowdy alien beings and bound them to prison with fourth-dimensional characteristics.
As was fated, the effects of the Zeta-Beam wear off, and Adam returned to Earth. But the fondness for Rann encapsulated his heart and never left. So, he decided to dedicate time and effort so as to anticipate and apprehend the exact time that the Beam would strike the Earth again. Wishing for nothing more than to return to Rann and it’s residents, Adam began calculating the days until then. However, that next bit about the return does not go quite as planned.
A successful tracing and interception of the next Zeta-beam strike later, Adam teleports again to Rann. However, he ends up amongst a barbaric native trible, ‘Zoora’ from the region Vardana. They got hold of Adam and transferred him to the Tower of Rainbow Doom as a captive, and he eventually was sent to Anthorann, the sister-world to Rann. Adam’s survival instincts kicked in, and he began exploring the area he was left in.
Coming across a disabled space vessel with recognition marks of Rann, he ventured inside. There, he met Sardath and Alanna again, enquiring about the vessel being there as it was. They told him that Samakand’s scientists had let them acquire the advanced technology which they used to make the space-travel vessel, but they were shot down by an alien race from another land, Moreen.
Their initial mission was to find evidence of a lost, ancient Rannian colony. With Adam by their side, they discovered that this lost colony was actually located in the midst of another city, ‘New Ranagar’ that was protected by a dome. The trio managed to reach and establish contact with one of New Ranagar’s denizens, but to their dismay, the Moreen invaders launched an attack once again.
This time, the invaders attempted to damage the protective dome around the city with a large pendulum with sharp spikes. As the dome was being struck at with an intention to slice and damage it, Adam mustered up all his courage. He borrowed a jet-pack and ray gun from Sardath’s space vessel, determined to not let his beloved planet and people see such destruction.
As people watched, Adam projected himself to intercept the Moreens and destroy their pendulum before it could cause more damage than it already had. This move drove the invaders away a second time, far away from Anthorann, leaving that world slightly shaken up but peaceful again. This tale too ends with the Zeta-Beam’s effects wearing off, and Adam Strange found himself in Earth’s cradle again. Amidst his own people, he craved to be on Rann with Alanna once more who he seemed to have grown fond of.
ADAM STRANGE: Other Appearances
Adam Strange’s character made his mark in the live-action universe with the TV series ‘Krypton’, recurringly appearing throughout the two seasons and being there since the pilot episode aired. His character arc was slightly altered herein, and he remained an archaeologist – albeit a failed one and a college drop-out at that.
He was a part of Krypton’s future, traveling to the past to meet one Seg-El and warn him about a threat to Krypton that was incoming. Adam insisted that if Seg-El did not pay heed, his grandson Kal-El a.k.a. Superman would never come to be. And that, would be or do no good for the world.
The story opens with Seg-El’s absolute disbelief of Adam, even after Adam gave him a sunstone. This sun-stone was embedded with a slightly altered crest of The House of El, and with that gift, Adam beseeched Seg-El to look for the Fortress of Solitude.
Then, as suddenly as he had shown up with a catastrophe of news, Adam Strange disappeared from Seg-El’s sight. Unbeknownst to the reader until then, his “disappeared” form had actually met Sardath and Alanna and managed to convince them before he returned to his era of Krypton.
Seg-El on the other hand managed to find the Fortress. Adam met him there again, pleased that Seg-El had believed him and found the place he had requested him to. As miffed as he was at the death of his parents, Adam Strange presented Seg-El with Superman’s cape. He pointedly told Seg-El that as the cape was slowly being removed from existence, he may end up being the last one of his family.
Only he could stop that from happening, though and for that, he needed to believe the truth of an alien invasion from the future. Seg thereby learned of ‘Brainiac’, nicknamed the ‘Collector of Worlds’. The plot thickens until it thins out to reveal a beautiful story, giving us a goosebump-inducing ride through the episodes and seasons. One of the 1950s’ most beloved superheroes, he makes himself known in the live-action form too, all for those who find that medium more enticing!
In another instance, there is a DC showcase – an animated short that any fan of the character should. not. miss. That is a tale of a colony that mines asteroids, and a drunkard that is looked down upon by the hardworking people. One of their workdays did not quite come to be so usual, as they managed to open a crevice quite roughly and deadly alien insects came flying out of it.
It is at this point where the town drunk’s true identity is laid open for all to see – space adventurer Adam Strange has to now save people who have never made him feel welcome or appreciated and have only had feelings of disdain for him. The history of this hero comes out frame-by-frame, as Adam Strange becomes that hero who must battle not only the insects out in the open about to devour him but also the feelings inside of him attempting quite the same thing.
ADAM STRANGE: What Makes Him Extra-Special?
The Zeta-beam had had some damaging effects on Adam Strange’s normal vision, and he lost his eyes. Sardath then used Alanna as a template donor and made new eyes for Adam, giving him an enhanced vision. This ability enabled him to see more details than normal human eyes were generally capable of, to the extent that the augmentation meant he had natural electromagnetic spectrum vision to the full extent and an eidetic memory.
Adam was extensively trained in hand-to-hand and aerial combat, exhibited in his battle with humanoid species ‘Hawkmen of Thanagar’ who he took down with his bare hands, and his capacity to operate the jet-pack as well as he does when needed. He made use of his skills to learn the use of Rannian firearms and came to be known as an expert sharp-shooter. Adam has a sharp mind too, enhanced by his vast knowledge of archaeology and experiences with aliens of different kinds. As a tactician, he can strategize well; he is also a brave explorer, mathematician par excellence, and above all, KNOWS how and where to use his knowledge.
His weakness lies in the little detail of the planet he loves to be on – he was known to not be able to survive on Rann for more than a year at a stretch.
Adam Strange was also known to possess a Zeta-beam module, essentially a compression of Rann’s Zeta-Beam device. This drone could be filled in with the exact coordinates of Adam’s desired destination and it would assist him to reach there. He also had one of the most impressive physical appearances, ahead protected by helmet-like gear and an insulated costume that was non-flammable. The helmet in question had a shield to counter the harsh unearthly atmospheric conditions, alongside being equipped with a Head’s Up Display.
Adam was capable to the point where during his stint on Justice League of America, he once managed to imprison the entire Justice League on Rann, when they reached their – (accidental) credits to the Zeta-Beam again! Issue 20 of JLA saw Adam insist upon the heroes to assist him in rebuilding the damaged capital city of Rann.
ADAM STRANGE: Closing-In
Editor, Julius Schwartz went on record to say that he wanted that line of divide between Adam, and the space-opera of sorts that Flash Gordon was. Hence, Adam was based more on the foundational facts in sci-fi and won his battles against enemies by making good use of scientific principles to suit his needs.
If even it was all slightly fiddled with at times, no one had to know because of the seamless way in which it was blended into the story being told! Earlier on with Adam Strange, stories like ‘Diamondium’ were pure fiction, of course. But it is noteworthy that Strange’s early appearances frequently contained backup pieces that explored the actual science behind various astronomy-based themes discussed in the adventures preceding it.
If pulp-hero forefathers from books are anything to go by, they have never let us have a dearth of superheroes to talk about. Adam Strange owes his essence to one Arnold Lieut, a creation of Edwin Lester. The stories of American men in the military traveling to other worlds, developing feelings for alien princesses? Very much the storyline of Edgar Rice Burrough’s ‘A Princess of Mars’ and a couple of others too.
The most significant and direct influence probably came from a long-running Flash Gordon comic strip. With all the characters of this story – All American Flash, scientist Hans Zarkov, and his daughter and Flash’s girlfriend Dale Arden – we see some Cinderella’s shoes here and these shoes would undoubtedly fit the characters we have talked about so far, so long.
Allow us to give you a piece of brownie here – Adam was at one point, the name suggested by Flash for incorporation into the roster of the Justice League. How? What? Where? We will leave that for you to find out!