If Buck Rogers, Flash Gordon and John Carter had a baby, that baby would be Adam Strange. Created by legendary comic writer Gardner Fox, with help by artist extraordinaire Carmen Infantino and former Buck Rogers artist Murphy Anderson on inking duties, the original Adam Strange stories from the 1950s are some of the most underrated DC Silver Age sci-fi comics.

Not only are these stories great fun to read, taken as a whole, they invoke the very spirit of the Silver Age sci-fi genre. The basic tenor of the tales would later come to be called ‘Space Opera’. This was Star Wars before there was Star Wars, but obviously building heavily on established pulp fiction tales, such as the John Carter saga.

As a result the early Adam Strange comics are highly imaginative and just plain fun.

However, they never let themselves lapse into plots that are too goof-ball or too corny as earlier Golden Age sci-fi tended to do. Inevitably, these stories allowed the obvious fantasy elements to fall into place without interfering with either the emotional impact or narrative twists and more mechanical aspects of their well-constructed plots.

Largely this can be attributed to the wedding of Fox’s scripts with the art and narrative brilliance of Carmen Infantino’s artistic contributions. Infantino was at his peak when he penciled these tales, his nimble and naturalistic style keeps the otherwise fanciful stories grounded in a way that might have been lost if another artist had been handed the reins.

In effect, Fox and Infantino were doling out unfettered science based speculative fun: teleportation, alien creatures, travel through space (and time).

All the elements introduced in Adam Strange, such as the Planet Rann, the city of Ranagar, Zeta beams and stories featuring a human archaeologist who fights monsters using a jet pack and ray gun, hearken back to the Planet comics of the Golden Age but are delivered with a more polished and refined style. Recently, Adam Strange has appeared on the SyFi series 'Krypton'. There’s no movie or standalone show planned, but his key comics can stand on their own artistic merits.

Showcase #17 (November 1958) - First appearance of Adam Strange; Origin of Adam Strange

So economically written were the original Adam Strange stories that they can sometimes come across as deceptively simple. They are nothing of the kind. Gardner Fox sets up the stories with an introductory page or two, the Zeta Beam arrives to transport Adam and we’re off. Then the adventure begins. A problem to be solved is approached in a pragmatic way, with Adam using his brains and wits as much as his ray gun to solve the problem.

Adam Strange’s first use of the Zeta beam and first appearance in comics, subsequently, can be found in Showcase #17. This comic is also the first appearance of Strange’s love interest (and future wife) Alanna as well as her father Sardath, Rann’s greatest scientist.

The most recent sale of the first Adam Strange in 7.0 sold for $4, 900.00 (ComicLink, 02/28/2019), a 6.0 sold for $2, 350.00 just two weeks later (CommicConnect, 03/14/2019). With 233 total copies of this book on the CGC census (most in the 5.0-6.5 range) this book will sell at auctions. That in itself is impressive in this age of movie hype pushing keys. Overall, like most DC books, returns have been softening, although long term returns are quite strong, three month data on standard blue label sales show negative returns on 5.0 (down -4.2% after two sales; last sale: eBay 06/29/2019, $958.00) and 4.0 (down negative -25%, after 3 sales; last sale: eBay 06/24/2019, $600.00).

 

 

 

Mystery in Space #53 (August 1959) – Ongoing Adam Strange Stories Begin, Robot Cover

After two more appearances in the Showcase title (after issue #19) Strange took the headline spot in the DC sci-fi anthology title Mystery in Space. His ongoing stories would develop in the pages of this comic and his first appearance here is a key that is worth around $5, 500 in 9.6 grade. This book is very hard to find in higher grade however, and of the 179 total copies on the CGC census, there are no copies graded above 9.4. The last known sale of a 9.0 was way back in 2006 on a Heritage auction (ended August 8) with a $1, 912.00 price tag.

 

 

 

 

 

Mystery in Space #90 (March 1964) – First Adam Strange-Hawkman team-up

This issue marks the first team up of Adam Strange and Hawkman and therefore can be viewed as the initial inspiration for the later Rann-Thanagar war. The pairing up of Strange with the Space Police Man Karter Hol, would be a frequent occurrence throughout the 1960s and 70s. You can find Mystery in Space #90 in 9.0 grade for just over $200.00. The last Heritage Auction on 01/20/2019 ended at $209.00. There are 63 total copies of this book on the CGC census and the highest graded in a 9.6.