Comic Review: Strange Adventures (2020-) #1

Strange Adventures #1

DC Comics

Writer: Tom King

Artists: Mitch Gerads and Doc Shaner

Mister Miracle is, for my money, one of the best comics to grace this planet. Needless to say, I was ecstatic to see that the team behind it would be coming back for Strange Adventures. Not to mention that Doc Shaner, another of my favorite artists, had been added to said team. With expectations so high, however, so comes the creeping doubt in the back of my mind that they can’t ever be lived up to. While it’s too soon to say for certain whether this is the case or not, at the very least I can say that the first chapter doesn’t disappoint.

The biggest concern I had going into this was that I didn’t want the book to feel like a retread of Mister Miracle. Given the shared two-thirds of contributors between the books, it’s not unreasonable to worry about the similarities between them. After reading, I no longer feel the criticism holds weight.

There are elements that are the same, such as the rhythm of the team’s signature nine-panel-grid, however, these comparable elements only apply stylistically. Plot-wise and thematically, Strange Adventures feels like an entirely different beast. It’s less about traumas of the past and instead focuses more on the concept of truth. How do we tell truth from fiction? Where do the stories end and the truth begins?   There are significant comparisons to make between the two, but Strange Adventures does plenty to step out of Mister Miracle’s sweeping shadow. Not the least of which is due to the addition of a new artist.

The inclusion and utilization of Doc Shaner on this book is simply a stroke of genius. From a purely visual standpoint, his art is just next to perfect. His style walks the line between the more stylish look of an indie-book and the house-style that the Big Two are so fond of. More than that though, it visually establishes the story’s themes before a single letter hits a word balloon.  With Shaner drawing the more fantastical and idealized portions of the story and Gerads focusing on the gritty present bits, it drives home this idea that the truth seems to differ depending on the who’s and the why’s of the storytellers. By contrasting Shaner to Gerads, the book manages to brilliantly display its goal before the reader even needs to take in a word of it.

The beauty of this book is that you can throw all of that away and still have something worth reading. Take out the subtle touches of the art and meticulousness of the writing and you’re still left with a fun Adam Strange book. It doesn’t sacrifice the strangeness of the character to serve it’s more mature themes; it uses them to its advantage. The Shaner sections of this story are compelling even if taken independently from the Gerads bits and vice versa. They cleverly work together, but to be honest, if they were sold as separate books I would still have a blast.  Together though, they form something truly special.

Strange Adventures #1 is a delightful start that threatens to live up to the unreasonable expectations set upon its shoulders. Shaner and Gerads’ artwork together by operating independently, while Tom King proves he’s more than a one-trick pony by offering a unique perspective on truth rather than trauma. Provided the rest of the series is consistently as strong as this opening, we’ll have another modern classic on our hands.