2018.002 Adam Strange: The Silver Age Omnibus

Adam Strange is one of my all-time favorite characters.  I can't tell you why, though.  Not because it's a secret, but I really don't know what draws me to him.  He's cool, he's got a simple yet effective design, but otherwise, I don't know.

And I should NOT have enjoyed this book as much as I did.  The reason being every Adam Strange story is basically the same.  He pinpoints when the next Zeta Beam will hit Earth to take him back to Rann.  He arrives to be greeted by his true love Alanna, a crisis ensues that only Adam can save Rann from, the Zeta Beam wears off and he's drawn back to Earth.  Lather, rinse, repeat.  But there is such a charm to these stories that I can't stop reading them.

The bulk of them are drawn by Carmine Infantino, not a favorite artist of mine.  But Carmine's work on Adam Strange is some of his finest work.  There's some STUNNING Murphy Anderson art in here that fills me with such joy.

There are some stories in this book I've never read before.  I had no idea there was an Adam Strange descendant in the future who took on his mantle.  Only two or three stories, but still.  Brand new to me.

One of the things I discovered in this book, also, is Lee Elias' run on Adam Strange.  In his stories, he drew Adam without his familiar cowl, which just looked odd to me at first, but by the time I finished that run, I kind of dug seeing this version.

The New 52 ruined Adam Strange for me.  I hope DC gets it's act together to Rebirth him back to his old self.

Adam Strange: The Silver Age Omnibus

Written by: Gardner Fox, Dave Wood, Jerry Siegel, Denny O'Neil

Illustrated by: Carmine Infantino, Gil Kane, Mike Sekowsky, Murphy Anderson, Lee Elias, Phil Kelsey, Joe Giella, Bernard Sachs, John Giunta, Sid Greene

DC Comics

133 Justice League Of America: The Bronze Age Omnibus Vol 1

I'm dying.  Or at least it feels like I am.  I woke up Sunday feeling under the weather.  Monday was bad enough that I told work I wasn't coming in Tuesday.  It's now Friday and I still haven't gone back to work.  I think I'm on the verge of kicking this finally.  But as I've sat home sick, I've been reading.  Because there hasn't been anything else I've felt up to doing.  The first thing I grabbed was this beauty.  850 pages (give or take) of Bronze Age JLA goodness.

This volume picks up roughly where the Archive books ended, so I'm happy for the continuity of the reprints.  Black Canary has just left Earth 2 and joined the JLA.  It's been fun watching her in these comics most of all.  She developed a superpower but is having no luck controlling it.  In a couple issues she practices her canary cry, but with no luck.  Later on, her canary cry gives her psychic powers (which were quickly forgotten about).  Most of the use of her actual canary cry takes place in the Green Lantern book.  In this run of JLA, with the exception of her botched attempts at it, she uses it only once in a blink-and-you-miss it scene.

Otherwise, this was a joy to read.  The book has two running themes, I've noticed.  The front half of the book has a ton of stories about the ecology, the environment, civil rights, that sort of stuff.  The second half, however, is all about pure super-heroic action.  I guess I never realized how much I loved Len Wein's contribution to the series until I reread these stories.

I have nothing bad to say about this book.  Nothing.  It's a pure joy, plain and simple.  So much Dick Dillin beauty, too.

Justice League Of America: The Bronze Age Omnibus Vol 1

Writer: Denny O'Neil, Mike Friedrich, Len Wein, Robert Kanigher, Gardner Fox

Artist: Dick Dillin, Neal Adams, Murphy Anderson, Ross Andru, Nick Cardy, Carmine Infantino, Gil Kane, Mike Sekowsky, Joe Giella, Dick Giordano, Bernard Sachs

DC Comics