Showcase Presents: Strange Adventures, Vol. 1

Showcase Presents #65

by John Broome, Otto Binder, Joe Kubert

"Witness the weird world existing within the boundaries of our own, where the laws of reality aren't what they seem. Where the mundane life is exposed to strange inventions, alien imperialists and invasions from inner space! Where men are possessed by strange gifts that could bring them their greatest wishes or doom all of humanity--. This volume presents an amazing collection of science fiction tales that reflected our nation's greatest fears and celebrated curiosity and ingenuity. From Pluto to Mars and beyond, there's nowhere these stories won't go!"--P. [4] of cover.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Comics, Dc Comics, Science Fiction, Fiction

512 pages, Paperback

First published January 13, 2009

About the author

Librarian note:
There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Bro...

Reviews

[Charles · Rating 5 out of 5]

The stories collected in this volume were originally published in 1955-56 and any evaluation of their content must keep this in mind. At that time, very little was known about the surface conditions on other planets, so it was plausible that there was intelligent life on places such as Mars, Jupiter and even Pluto. Therefore, when an alien lands on Earth in a story of the middle fifties, it was not altogether ridiculous for them to say that they were from another planet in our solar system.
Most of the stories are based on the premise that aliens from other worlds are preparing an invasion of Earth. In general, the one thing that they fear are the nuclear weapons that the Earthlings possess. Of course, this does not hold up to great scrutiny, as any species capable of interplanetary or interstellar travel will understand nuclear physics well enough to possess nuclear weapons.
These stories are a look back to a very unique time in the history of comics. Largely as a reaction to public pressure generated by the book “Seduction of the Innocent” by Frederic Wertham in 1954, the comics industry adopted the self-regulatory Comics Code Authority in September 1954. Therefore, these comics would essentially be the first ones in this series off the presses that conformed to that code. There is very little in the way of violence, the aliens are defeated by human guile and subterfuge rather than as a consequence of a brutal, destructive war.

[Tom · Rating 2 out of 5]

I tend to enjoy DC Comics' Showcases, and "Strange Adventures" was hardly a bad book. The two stars represents the work as a whole. While the imagination involved in crafting these stories, to say nothing of the Silver Age talent involved on creating them, makes for fun stories, the overall effect has all the weaknesses of a 1950s sci-fi comic. Bland white men in their late 20s or early 30s find a problem and use some clever bit of knowledge or observation to fix it in roughly six pages a piece. Many times Earth is threatened by aliens, or talking gorillas, or, in the case of the cover story, aliens disguised as talking gorillas. The A- or H-bomb is frequently invoked, often as a dues ex machina since apparently interstellar space travel is one thing, but lots of alien invaders don't have atomic bombs which scare the crap out of them. Humans are essentially decent, the government is always trustworthy, scientists are dashing, some anonymous mid-sized American city will be threatened and then rescued, and everyone has to say out loud everything they are doing for the benefit of the reader. These stories are often fun, but they reflect the time and should be approached as what they are.

[Andy · Rating 3 out of 5]

The difference between Marvel and DC doing science fiction comics in the Silver Age are fairly conspicuous: Marvel Comics was more monster and horror based and DC was more bookish, intellectual to the point of adding many science facts to their stories. Educational Comics indeed!

In one story (The Thermometer Man) I learned that depending on temperature, all matter can exist in three states - sold, liquid, and gas, thus the chemical combination H20 can exist as solid ice, liquid gas, or gaseous vapor! Wow!

Wake up, I'm not done yet! Stories include "The Rock & Roll Kid from Mars" about a mohawked alien who digs atonal jazz on Earth and uses his space powers to punish any hecklers in the audience, "I Was The Man In The Moon" about a man cursed to see his face carved on the Moon, and "The Riddle of Animal X" about a cute little space guy some Earth kid adopts for a pet. There's also lots of gorillas in this book. Lots of 'em. The writing and art are always top notch (Infantino, Kane, Greene, Binder, Fox, Broome) and damn it, you're gonna learn stuff too!

[Stephen · Rating 4 out of 5]

As I type this, this is probably the most obscure set of vintage reprints in the Showcase line. And that is a shame, because National Comics has a ton of great comics from the 1950s and 60s with great characters who just happened to never get their own titles, or that we just don't see today -- and Warner is just sitting on the rights, holding them in their vault, not bringing in any money with these properties.

I applaud them on printing this edition. Publishers don't have to have a headliner character like Batman to put out a good book (especially when the comics are already written and drawn decades ago!) But I would also BEG them to take a look at what else could be reprinted -- things like Sugar 'n Spike, Bob Hope, Jerry Lewis, or the Television Detective, stories that haven't seen the light of day in decades and should be introduced to a new generation of comic fans.

[Jamie Rosen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Definitely not the best of the proto-Silver Age "strange" comics available in Showcase format. Tales of the Unexpected ranks above it because, while that series relied overly on the "shocking twist on the last page" formula, Strange Adventures is usually not as entertaining.

Also features some pretty basic science and logic mistakes, even for the time and genre.

You could probably do worse, but you could definitely do better.

[Ben · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this old Sci-fi! It's full of strange, but not too strange aliens and the usual 50s mode of deception instead of violence.

[Max · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sadly, the promised space gorillas are only aliens disguised as space gorillas.

[Beluosus · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a collection of 1950s sci-fi comics that betray no understanding of science... nor indeed society and human nature. It's the funniest book I've read in years.

Highlights include: the space alien thrown into a jail cell with a vagrant, the detective who's been undercover for two years wearing a false mustache, and "It all began when I was performing an experiment in my laboratory...mixing some chemicals without knowing what the result would be".

Also, I think there are more stories that contain gorillas than women.

[Matthew J. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mostly goofy and always way, way too wordy, this collection of 1950s weird science stories are fun, if forgettable. A few of them have ideas that would be nice to see expanded into something more involved. Some of them have ideas that have been done better elsewhere (sometimes before, sometimes in the years after). The art is fine, if a bit bland. Most of the aliens look like variations on a theme, bordering on Star Trek: The Next Generation's use of funny-foreheads.

[Wt · Rating 4 out of 5]

What makes these books (Showcase Presents) so wonderful is that they collect great old issues you can't afford in a single volume. Even though they are black and white, the actual art is still great.
This particular volume features early science fiction from DC and while they may not be excellent examples of writing or art, they offer a glimpse into the 50's/60's paranoia and society that made us want to truly escape reality for other worlds.
Good reading!