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Adam Strange Collected Editions: #Silver Age Omnibus
Adam Strange: The Silver Age Omnibus
Written by one of comics' most critically acclaimed authors, Gardner Fox, and presented in hardcover is ADAM STRANGE: THE SILVER AGE OMNIBUS.
Born at the dawn of the Space Age, planet-hopping adventurer Adam Strange embodies America's fascination with all things extraterrestrial. Debuting in 1958 in the pages of DC Comics' SHOWCASE, Adam Strange was an archaeologist working in South America when he was whisked away by a Zeta Beam to the futuristic planet Rann, which circled the star Alpha Centauri.
There, the displaced Earthman met and fell in love with the beautiful Alanna and kicked off a series of intergalactic adventures that bounced him back and forth on the Zeta Beam like a yo-yo, alternating between his normal life on Earth and defending Rann from a seemingly endless barrage of weird threats and invaders.
ADAM STRANGE: THE SILVER AGE OMNIBUS collects the galaxy-spanning adventures of Adam Strange, first published in SHOWCASE #17-19, MYSTERY IN SPACE #53-100 and 102, and STRANGE ADVENTURES #157, 217, 218, 220, 221, 222, 224, 226, 235 and 241-243.
Born at the dawn of the Space Age, planet-hopping adventurer Adam Strange embodies America's fascination with all things extraterrestrial. Debuting in 1958 in the pages of DC Comics' SHOWCASE, Adam Strange was an archaeologist working in South America when he was whisked away by a Zeta Beam to the futuristic planet Rann, which circled the star Alpha Centauri.
There, the displaced Earthman met and fell in love with the beautiful Alanna and kicked off a series of intergalactic adventures that bounced him back and forth on the Zeta Beam like a yo-yo, alternating between his normal life on Earth and defending Rann from a seemingly endless barrage of weird threats and invaders.
ADAM STRANGE: THE SILVER AGE OMNIBUS collects the galaxy-spanning adventures of Adam Strange, first published in SHOWCASE #17-19, MYSTERY IN SPACE #53-100 and 102, and STRANGE ADVENTURES #157, 217, 218, 220, 221, 222, 224, 226, 235 and 241-243.
848 pages, Hardcover
Published July 25, 2017
3 people are currently reading
76 people want to read
About the author
Gardner Francis Fox
1,193 books89 followersGardner Francis Cooper Fox was an American writer known best for creating numerous comic book characters for DC Comics. Comic book historians estimate that he wrote more than 4,000 comics stories, including 1,500 for DC Comics.
Fox is known as the co-creator of DC Comics heroes the Flash, Hawkman, Doctor Fate and the original Sandman, and was the writer who first teamed those and other heroes as the Justice Society of America. Fox introduced the concept of the Multiverse to DC Comics in the 1961 story "Flash of Two Worlds!"
Pseudonyms: Gardner F. Fox, Jefferson Cooper, Bart Sommers, Paul Dean, Ray Gardner, Lynna Cooper, Rod Gray, Larry Dean, Robert Starr, Don Blake, Ed Blake, Warner Blake, Michael Blake, Tex Blane, Willis Blane, Ed Carlisle, Edgar Weston, Tex Slade, Eddie Duane, Simon Majors, James Kendricks, Troy Conway, Kevin Matthews, Glen Chase
Fox is known as the co-creator of DC Comics heroes the Flash, Hawkman, Doctor Fate and the original Sandman, and was the writer who first teamed those and other heroes as the Justice Society of America. Fox introduced the concept of the Multiverse to DC Comics in the 1961 story "Flash of Two Worlds!"
Pseudonyms: Gardner F. Fox, Jefferson Cooper, Bart Sommers, Paul Dean, Ray Gardner, Lynna Cooper, Rod Gray, Larry Dean, Robert Starr, Don Blake, Ed Blake, Warner Blake, Michael Blake, Tex Blane, Willis Blane, Ed Carlisle, Edgar Weston, Tex Slade, Eddie Duane, Simon Majors, James Kendricks, Troy Conway, Kevin Matthews, Glen Chase
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
August 16, 2019
I think the reason DC did such great SiFi stories and themed comics in the late 1950s and through the 1960s is their choice of writers for these comics. DC got some of the talented SiFi writers from the Pulp Era and the aspiring new SiFi writers of the 50s and turned them loose on comics and it really stands out. Great stories and art. Very recommended
Currently reading
July 26, 2024
Underrated Science Fiction series of the Silver Age, beautifully drawn by Carmine Infantino.
I flip through it here :
https://youtu.be/buZATGukciQ
December 10, 2017
This was my first DC Silver Age book and similar to Marvel Silver Age, it's a little rough trying to get through it primarily because of the repetitiveness of the stories. However, if you take into account the time period, there's a wealth of ideas, and it can be easily seen how the imagination in the stories captured audiences.
The formula is simple: Adam Strange is caught by a "Zeta Beam" and transported to the planet Rann where he falls in love with Alanna, but every time he goes there, something is threatening the planet and it falls on Adam's knowledge, courage, self-sacrifice and love for Alanna to stop it. A couple things that are added to help shake up the formula are that the beam hits the Earth at different places on the planet and sometimes Adam has some difficulty getting to the beam. The threats are usually stopped with modern science (which somehow always seem to work on another planet) and Adam knows quite a bit being an Archeologist as opposed to say a physicist or chemist (not that Archeologist couldn't know that stuff.) There is some recognition of the fact that there is always a threat when he shows up, although why in the world you would live on Rann with that many attacks!
About halfway through this volume the stories become longer, and a few times they bring back previous enemies. Alanna is more than just a damsel in distress, but not quite Adam's equal and their relationship matures slightly but not a lot. More details on Rann and the structure of its society and government might have made things more interesting, but that's the modern way of writing stories. I believe there was a conscious effort on many books to be 'one-offs' where anyone can pick up any book and enjoy it, not being burdened with continuity. The majority of the art is by Carmine Infantino whose clean, classic look was the most pleasing to the eye.
One small thing that was interesting was how the first page of the story was a "hook" page, just like the cover where it detailed something happening farther in the story, some dramatic moment that was meant to pull you in and make you want to read it, this was done again once you opened the cover. Marvel books did that on the cover, but never on the first page.
All in all, an enjoyable read, although best in multiple sittings, and a fascinating look into comics of the time period.
The formula is simple: Adam Strange is caught by a "Zeta Beam" and transported to the planet Rann where he falls in love with Alanna, but every time he goes there, something is threatening the planet and it falls on Adam's knowledge, courage, self-sacrifice and love for Alanna to stop it. A couple things that are added to help shake up the formula are that the beam hits the Earth at different places on the planet and sometimes Adam has some difficulty getting to the beam. The threats are usually stopped with modern science (which somehow always seem to work on another planet) and Adam knows quite a bit being an Archeologist as opposed to say a physicist or chemist (not that Archeologist couldn't know that stuff.) There is some recognition of the fact that there is always a threat when he shows up, although why in the world you would live on Rann with that many attacks!
About halfway through this volume the stories become longer, and a few times they bring back previous enemies. Alanna is more than just a damsel in distress, but not quite Adam's equal and their relationship matures slightly but not a lot. More details on Rann and the structure of its society and government might have made things more interesting, but that's the modern way of writing stories. I believe there was a conscious effort on many books to be 'one-offs' where anyone can pick up any book and enjoy it, not being burdened with continuity. The majority of the art is by Carmine Infantino whose clean, classic look was the most pleasing to the eye.
One small thing that was interesting was how the first page of the story was a "hook" page, just like the cover where it detailed something happening farther in the story, some dramatic moment that was meant to pull you in and make you want to read it, this was done again once you opened the cover. Marvel books did that on the cover, but never on the first page.
All in all, an enjoyable read, although best in multiple sittings, and a fascinating look into comics of the time period.
August 28, 2021
Like so many old comics, this is a YMMV review. If you can't get into them, they're formulaic as hell. I can, so I'm cool with the formula.
Adam Strange is an archeologist temporarily transported to the planet Rann by a Zeta Beam, a communication ray aimed at Earth that instead functions as a teleporter. He keeps going back because in the first story he falls for Alanna, beautiful daughter of super-scientist Sardath (and she is indeed a looker, whether drawn by Mike Sekowsky in the early stories or Carmine Infantino later).
Every time Adam shows up, there's something attacking Rann — even in-story they joke about how routine that becomes — but with his raygun and his quick wits, he comes out on top.
4.5 because after editor Julie Schwartz, writer Gardner Fox and artist Infantino left (reassigned to work on the Batman books, which were floundering at the time), the quality sunk like a stone. But my love for the earlier stuff is deep.
This also includes a couple of Hawkman issues that wrapped up Adam's adventures later.
Adam Strange is an archeologist temporarily transported to the planet Rann by a Zeta Beam, a communication ray aimed at Earth that instead functions as a teleporter. He keeps going back because in the first story he falls for Alanna, beautiful daughter of super-scientist Sardath (and she is indeed a looker, whether drawn by Mike Sekowsky in the early stories or Carmine Infantino later).
Every time Adam shows up, there's something attacking Rann — even in-story they joke about how routine that becomes — but with his raygun and his quick wits, he comes out on top.
4.5 because after editor Julie Schwartz, writer Gardner Fox and artist Infantino left (reassigned to work on the Batman books, which were floundering at the time), the quality sunk like a stone. But my love for the earlier stuff is deep.
This also includes a couple of Hawkman issues that wrapped up Adam's adventures later.
February 13, 2025
A Hero Between Worlds: A Review of The Adam Strange Omnibus
America, a nation forged in exploration and restless ambition, has always been drawn to the frontier myth—the idea that civilization exists only at the mercy of those brave enough to expand its boundaries. In the 19th century, that frontier was the West. By the 20th, it was the Moon. But in the pages of Silver Age comics, the frontier stretched even further, beyond the known limits of science and imagination, to the cosmic unknown.
And in this frontier, one hero stood apart—not as a conqueror, not as an omnipotent demigod, but as something more profoundly human: a man defined by intellect, courage, and, above all, longing.
That hero was Adam Strange, the Earth-born protector of Rann, a man who does not fly by divine right nor wield powers granted by accident of birth, but who instead survives on the strength of his mind, his heart, and his ability to navigate a universe that never quite belongs to him.
The Adam Strange Omnibus, collecting the classic stories from Showcase #17-19, Mystery in Space #53-100, and later issues spanning the Silver and Bronze Ages, is a love letter to the very idea of adventure—a relic from an era when science fiction was still optimistic, romantic, and unshackled from cynicism. It is a book about distant worlds and closer emotions, about a man who is forever caught between duty and desire, between two planets, two identities, and two impossible choices.
And, for those willing to surrender to its charms, it is magnificent.
The Silver Age Spirit: Adam Strange and the Era of Cosmic Optimism
The 1950s and 60s were the golden age of space-bound possibility. The Sputnik launch (1957) ignited the Space Race. John Glenn (1962) orbited the Earth, and Neil Armstrong (1969) took a “giant leap for mankind.” Science fiction, always a reflection of the culture that produces it, was entering a new phase—one that moved beyond the paranoid B-movie bug-eyed monsters of the 1950s and embraced a more elegant, intellectual vision of the cosmos.
It was in this atmosphere that Adam Strange was born.
Created by Julius Schwartz, Gardner Fox, and Mike Sekowsky, Adam Strange was not a hero in the Superman mold. He was not all-powerful. He was not even particularly special. He was, in fact, a man of pure happenstance—an archaeologist on Earth who, while exploring ruins in Peru, was struck by a Zeta-Beam, an experimental energy wave that transported him across the galaxy to Rann, a planet orbiting the star Alpha Centauri.
There, he met Alanna, the brilliant daughter of Sardath, Rann’s leading scientist. In a plot development that embodies the romantic spirit of the era, Adam and Alanna instantly fall in love, and he becomes Rann’s protector, using his intellect and courage to battle the planet’s alien warlords, rogue science experiments, and intergalactic threats.
But here’s the catch: the Zeta-Beam wears off.
Every time Adam is pulled to Rann, it is temporary. He is never there for long enough. He will fight, he will save the day, he will embrace Alanna—and then, against his will, he will be ripped back to Earth, left once again to chase the next Zeta-Beam, hoping it will take him back to the woman he loves.
It is, in essence, a science-fiction inversion of the Orpheus myth: a hero who reaches his paradise only to have it torn away from him again and again.
And in that longing, that constant pursuit of home, lies the genius of Adam Strange.
The Art of Adam Strange: Elegance in the Cosmos
For all of Gardner Fox’s superb pulp storytelling, it is Carmine Infantino, Adam Strange’s defining artist, who gives this book its soul.
Infantino’s pages are not just futuristic—they are architectural. His cities do not look like crude sci-fi sketches; they look like thoughtfully engineered civilizations, filled with soaring towers, graceful skybridges, and advanced technology that feels realistic, not haphazard.
His action sequences have a kinetic sharpness that was groundbreaking for the time.
His use of negative space in cosmic environments creates a true sense of otherworldliness.
His character designs are sleek, his Rannian costumes elegant yet functional.
And then there is Adam Strange himself: lean, athletic, almost poetic in his movement. Unlike the broad, square-jawed Superman, Adam is a swashbuckler, a hero who soars across the cosmos not because of powers, but because of ingenuity.
He is a spacefaring Errol Flynn, a man who wins battles not by brute strength but by cleverness—by anticipating enemy moves, using the alien environment to his advantage, and out-thinking rather than out-hitting his foes.
This is heroism at its most intellectual, and Infantino’s clean, precise, graceful artwork ensures that Adam Strange always feels like a figure of ingenuity rather than force.
Gardner Fox and the Genius of Thoughtful Heroism
Much has been made of Gardner Fox’s ability to craft intricate, puzzle-like narratives, and his work on Adam Strange is a masterclass in intelligent adventure storytelling.
Unlike the brawler heroes of the Golden Age, Adam Strange is not a fist-fighter. He is a strategist. He does not win through strength; he wins through problem-solving.
In every issue, Adam faces a seemingly insurmountable problem—a warlord with a gravity weapon, an invasion force immune to conventional weapons, a scientific catastrophe threatening the stability of the planet—and Fox’s genius lies in letting the reader see Adam THINK.
He analyzes his environment.
He deduces alien technology.
He exploits scientific principles.
And, at the last possible second, he outwits the enemy, using logic, physics, and quick thinking to save the day.
This is what makes Adam Strange unique: he is, in many ways, the first great science-fiction superhero, a man whose mind is his greatest weapon.
The Romance of Adam Strange: Love Across Light-Years
At its core, Adam Strange is not just a hero’s journey—it is a love story.
Adam does not fight for justice in the abstract. He fights for Alanna. He fights for Rann itself—a world he does not belong to but that he has chosen as his home.
And therein lies the melancholy at the heart of the book.
Adam Strange is always longing.
He is always caught between two worlds.
He is always racing against time—not just to defeat villains, but to make the most of the fleeting moments he has with the woman he loves before the Zeta-Beam fades and he is pulled away once again.
It is, in its own way, one of the most romantic ideas in superhero comics.
And it is why Adam Strange endures.
Final Verdict: A Masterpiece of the Silver Age
The Adam Strange Omnibus is a revelation. It is optimistic but poignant, intellectual but exhilarating, classic yet timeless.
It is a book about science, love, and the pursuit of something greater than oneself. It is a testament to the heroism of intellect and the power of longing.
And, above all, it is a reminder that the best heroes are not the ones who never lose—
They are the ones who keep fighting, even when the fight never truly ends.
As well they should.
America, a nation forged in exploration and restless ambition, has always been drawn to the frontier myth—the idea that civilization exists only at the mercy of those brave enough to expand its boundaries. In the 19th century, that frontier was the West. By the 20th, it was the Moon. But in the pages of Silver Age comics, the frontier stretched even further, beyond the known limits of science and imagination, to the cosmic unknown.
And in this frontier, one hero stood apart—not as a conqueror, not as an omnipotent demigod, but as something more profoundly human: a man defined by intellect, courage, and, above all, longing.
That hero was Adam Strange, the Earth-born protector of Rann, a man who does not fly by divine right nor wield powers granted by accident of birth, but who instead survives on the strength of his mind, his heart, and his ability to navigate a universe that never quite belongs to him.
The Adam Strange Omnibus, collecting the classic stories from Showcase #17-19, Mystery in Space #53-100, and later issues spanning the Silver and Bronze Ages, is a love letter to the very idea of adventure—a relic from an era when science fiction was still optimistic, romantic, and unshackled from cynicism. It is a book about distant worlds and closer emotions, about a man who is forever caught between duty and desire, between two planets, two identities, and two impossible choices.
And, for those willing to surrender to its charms, it is magnificent.
The Silver Age Spirit: Adam Strange and the Era of Cosmic Optimism
The 1950s and 60s were the golden age of space-bound possibility. The Sputnik launch (1957) ignited the Space Race. John Glenn (1962) orbited the Earth, and Neil Armstrong (1969) took a “giant leap for mankind.” Science fiction, always a reflection of the culture that produces it, was entering a new phase—one that moved beyond the paranoid B-movie bug-eyed monsters of the 1950s and embraced a more elegant, intellectual vision of the cosmos.
It was in this atmosphere that Adam Strange was born.
Created by Julius Schwartz, Gardner Fox, and Mike Sekowsky, Adam Strange was not a hero in the Superman mold. He was not all-powerful. He was not even particularly special. He was, in fact, a man of pure happenstance—an archaeologist on Earth who, while exploring ruins in Peru, was struck by a Zeta-Beam, an experimental energy wave that transported him across the galaxy to Rann, a planet orbiting the star Alpha Centauri.
There, he met Alanna, the brilliant daughter of Sardath, Rann’s leading scientist. In a plot development that embodies the romantic spirit of the era, Adam and Alanna instantly fall in love, and he becomes Rann’s protector, using his intellect and courage to battle the planet’s alien warlords, rogue science experiments, and intergalactic threats.
But here’s the catch: the Zeta-Beam wears off.
Every time Adam is pulled to Rann, it is temporary. He is never there for long enough. He will fight, he will save the day, he will embrace Alanna—and then, against his will, he will be ripped back to Earth, left once again to chase the next Zeta-Beam, hoping it will take him back to the woman he loves.
It is, in essence, a science-fiction inversion of the Orpheus myth: a hero who reaches his paradise only to have it torn away from him again and again.
And in that longing, that constant pursuit of home, lies the genius of Adam Strange.
The Art of Adam Strange: Elegance in the Cosmos
For all of Gardner Fox’s superb pulp storytelling, it is Carmine Infantino, Adam Strange’s defining artist, who gives this book its soul.
Infantino’s pages are not just futuristic—they are architectural. His cities do not look like crude sci-fi sketches; they look like thoughtfully engineered civilizations, filled with soaring towers, graceful skybridges, and advanced technology that feels realistic, not haphazard.
His action sequences have a kinetic sharpness that was groundbreaking for the time.
His use of negative space in cosmic environments creates a true sense of otherworldliness.
His character designs are sleek, his Rannian costumes elegant yet functional.
And then there is Adam Strange himself: lean, athletic, almost poetic in his movement. Unlike the broad, square-jawed Superman, Adam is a swashbuckler, a hero who soars across the cosmos not because of powers, but because of ingenuity.
He is a spacefaring Errol Flynn, a man who wins battles not by brute strength but by cleverness—by anticipating enemy moves, using the alien environment to his advantage, and out-thinking rather than out-hitting his foes.
This is heroism at its most intellectual, and Infantino’s clean, precise, graceful artwork ensures that Adam Strange always feels like a figure of ingenuity rather than force.
Gardner Fox and the Genius of Thoughtful Heroism
Much has been made of Gardner Fox’s ability to craft intricate, puzzle-like narratives, and his work on Adam Strange is a masterclass in intelligent adventure storytelling.
Unlike the brawler heroes of the Golden Age, Adam Strange is not a fist-fighter. He is a strategist. He does not win through strength; he wins through problem-solving.
In every issue, Adam faces a seemingly insurmountable problem—a warlord with a gravity weapon, an invasion force immune to conventional weapons, a scientific catastrophe threatening the stability of the planet—and Fox’s genius lies in letting the reader see Adam THINK.
He analyzes his environment.
He deduces alien technology.
He exploits scientific principles.
And, at the last possible second, he outwits the enemy, using logic, physics, and quick thinking to save the day.
This is what makes Adam Strange unique: he is, in many ways, the first great science-fiction superhero, a man whose mind is his greatest weapon.
The Romance of Adam Strange: Love Across Light-Years
At its core, Adam Strange is not just a hero’s journey—it is a love story.
Adam does not fight for justice in the abstract. He fights for Alanna. He fights for Rann itself—a world he does not belong to but that he has chosen as his home.
And therein lies the melancholy at the heart of the book.
Adam Strange is always longing.
He is always caught between two worlds.
He is always racing against time—not just to defeat villains, but to make the most of the fleeting moments he has with the woman he loves before the Zeta-Beam fades and he is pulled away once again.
It is, in its own way, one of the most romantic ideas in superhero comics.
And it is why Adam Strange endures.
Final Verdict: A Masterpiece of the Silver Age
The Adam Strange Omnibus is a revelation. It is optimistic but poignant, intellectual but exhilarating, classic yet timeless.
It is a book about science, love, and the pursuit of something greater than oneself. It is a testament to the heroism of intellect and the power of longing.
And, above all, it is a reminder that the best heroes are not the ones who never lose—
They are the ones who keep fighting, even when the fight never truly ends.
As well they should.
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