Strange Adventures #12

Gerads and Shaner deliver some fantastic visuals throughout this issue. The contrast between the two stories looks amazing and both styles continue to complement each other brilliantly. Read Full Review

Tom King concludes his story brilliantly by sort of bringing things full circle by ending the book with the same image that started it all 12 issues ago. A flashback of Adam Strange signing his book. It's a bittersweet ending to a book that has deconstructed a hero and shown that not everything is black and white. Read Full Review

It's weird, violent, tragic, and such a radical change to the world of these characters that it's hard to imagine how DC even greenlit it. But I'm very glad they did, because it's one of the best works of fiction about war in a long time. Read Full Review

DC Comics' STRANGE ADVENTURES is not fluffy entertainment. It reaches right into your soul and digs around in there. It's a fantastic and complex work. Read Full Review

A great issue that doesn't stand alone. As a conclusion to an entire series it is satisfying, but if you haven't read the series yet just pick up the trade. Tom King, Miutch Gerads, and Evan Shaner have created an Adam Strange story worth reading. Read Full Review

Strange Adventures #12 ends the series with an extended prologue that realigns the status quo but ultimately resolves nothing. The war continues, the main characters continue to act awfully towards each other, and readers are left to wonder "what was the point?" I suspect this is one of those series that will receive accolades for technical execution but will ultimately be remembered as the series readers would rather forget existed. Read Full Review

Strange Adventures had some incredible highs along the way, but it felt like a disappointing take on Adam Strange. This is a scenario where this story playing out in the non-continuity Black Label universe was aterrific decision for the series. Read Full Review

If you are a fan of Adam Strange I cannot recommend reading Strange Adventures #12. Everything you've feared since issue #1 is basically true. There is no hero. There is no satisfying resolution. Everything just falls apart. It's better just to think of it unfinished. Read Full Review

There are no clear answers to these sweeping themes, but this gorgeous text does not contribute to the conversation. The vibe of people trying better and choosing new heroes without ever interrogating ideology allows for endless projection, for readers to suggest whichever outcomes might most appeal to them. So it's appropriate that Strange Adventures ends on Shaner's soft, rounded, and reductive style. Read Full Review

Comics instrucciones de uso

Oct 12, 2021

Painfully masterpierce.

Atari

Jan 14, 2022

Great conclusion. No idea why it got a lower rating than the rest. I LOVED this book. Wish it was canon

Avanvolk

Feb 24, 2024

As someone who has never read an Adam Strange comic prior to this one, I have to say...I absolutely loved this. I know a lot of people have accused King of character assassination and just making Adam Strange into a villain, but isn't the point of DC black label books that the creators can do whatever they want with the characters and the story? It seems like King made an effort to pay homage to Adam Strange comics of the past while crafting a story that was new and different, and I thought it was fantastic. I love the way King told this story with contrasting art and dialogue between the flashbacks and the events unfolding in the present. Doc Shaner drawing the final panel that was a copy of the very first one drawn by Mitch Gerads was a brilliant way to drive home Alanna's point that our lives are fictions that we tell other people, praying that they don't find out we made them up. Shaner's art throughout the book was crisper, cleaner, and painted an idealistic view of past events, while Gerads' art was grittier and more raw, illustrating the difference between people's perception of what happened and what really happened. Even the dialogue reflected this contrast, with the present-day dialogue being more grounded and realistic and the past events dialogue sounding more like something out of a silver-age comic. This story-telling device worked brilliantly in my opinion and was one of my favourite parts of the book. This is definitely going to go down as one of my favourites of King's works. This is the kind of story that will stick with me for a long time. As an aside, Aleea now being the one quizzing Mr. Terrific instead of his robots was a surprisingly powerful moment that I thoroughly appreciated. more

Batman Jones

Oct 12, 2021

I would love it if comics were judged on the quality of the story and art and not on how upset fans get when their favorite imaginary characters are ‘mistreated.’

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Applemask - Oct 26, 2021

Sadly an impossibly Utopian ideal

Linkush

Oct 12, 2021

An outstanding ending to an outstanding series. Right from the start this series was complex and thought-provoking and it continued to be so right until the end. The story was engaging, unpredictable, violent, tragic, heartwarming and human. The characters were well written and their motives always made sense, they felt like real people and not like characters in a story. Then you have the art. This series wouldn't be what it is without the incredible artwork of both Gerards and Shaner, creating a distinct look for both the present and the past that served the story of each timeline really well. When all things considered, this was a great series about war and the effects of war that you don't want to miss.

WhistleBlower

Oct 12, 2021

The bootlicker is going to be ass-blasted over this.

Loafy Trophy

Oct 13, 2021

This is a brutal, but absolutely brilliant book. Almost no one, other than Mr Terrific, comes out looking good and that’s entirely the point. Alanna truly is the “woman of two worlds” as she put it. Both in a literal way, taking over Adam’s job, and in a figurative one. She lives in the space between a cold reality and the little fictions she tells herself to pretend otherwise, and the way the last page hammered the point home was genius. The juxtaposition on art between Gerads and Shaner was truly the highlight of this series. Both artists absolutely brought it and the way King was able to organically work the difference between the two into the narrative was impressive.

TSMack

Oct 21, 2021

Overall, I enjoyed this series, but it certainly ended on a downer. Adam was killed in the last issue so there was no new revelation there. In her grief, Alanna blames Terrific for screwing up her life. We see at the end that Alanna was the author of the book and was the one who left out the inconvenient truths because it wasn't the story she wanted to tell. Under the weight of the responsibilities put on him, Adam reached the breaking point where he would do anything to protect his family & Rann. However, as Alanna realizes, the Pykkts will again be back to attack Rann seeking vengeance since they failed to conquer Earth with Adam's help.

Psycamorean

Oct 19, 2021

This ended fine. I don't have much to say about it. It's something that happened.

Ryan

May 27, 2025

Strange Adventures goes out with a whimper despite the great art. Not a horrendously bad series but extremely forgettable which is disappointing considering the good reviews and high standards for a Tom King series

Julhin

Oct 13, 2021

I have really mixed feelings about this.....i understand why everything happened the way it did, and i understand what King is trying to say, but....something just feels off for me.....i think this may be the first comic that he has ever made that really disappointed me, which doesn't mean is necessarily bad.

daspidaboy

Oct 11, 2023

going on a Tom King binge, and honestly after re-reading omega Men, I really wanted to take my time to read this series so I can get all the information. As a whole, this entire series is a 5 out of 10. There are so many plot inconsistencies here, Adam Strange saying that if the Justice League his daughter will be killed. But his wife and Mister Terrific shows up and nothing happens? I dont mind Adam Strange being the villain of the story where he faked his daughter's death so he can murder more aliens, and how this series shows the ugly side of war. But at the same time the characters and ending didnt sit well with me and was just.... okay. So overall, this series started off with a lot of good potential, then fall flat. Tom King likes to deconstruct and break down characters, and thats fine. But he needs to stop overusing it and treat characters with more respect more

Hydro-Man

Oct 15, 2021

Vision, Omega Men and Mr. Miracle were all great… the first time I read them. King is truly the second coming of Bendis in that he’s out of tricks and every song sounds exactly the same. Next he’ll do a 12-issue maxi about Metamorpho coping with erectile dysfunction. If that sounds ridiculous, it’s cuz it is. When I’m done, I’m done. If you want to effect change, bitching about books after you’ve BOUGHT them is not the answer. I dropped Supergirl and will need a lot of convincing to bother with Human Target.

Merlyn

Oct 12, 2021

Finally, this piece of garbage and character assassination is over! Anyone who really thinks this is some masterpiece either didn't really read it and just rates it with big ratings because it's Tom King or is really just a sadist who enjoys seeing heroes thrashed. So, if this is to become canon, Adam Strange will be replaced by his wife as the hero of two worlds AND replaced as a father by Mr. Terrific. It looks like Tom King really likes to destroy heroes, he did the same to Wally West, almost did the same to Batman and Nightwing, wrote Booster Gold as a maniac, this guy has a terrible record when it comes to beloved DC characters. I'm almost sure no sane DC fan really believes this is actually a good book but I guess if it's King's name on the cover people immediately pretend this is "groundbreaking". That's how much he's dumbed down his audience. I'm sure he'll get an Eisner for this too lol. The saddest thing about this is that this book only exists because Tom King hates himself, or at least pretends to, for his involvement in the Iraq War. There's a solution for that: therapy. But instead he chooses to "take his revenge" on us by getting his hands on every hero he can and staining them in all the worst possible ways as a kind of "self-torture" through comics, but he's too cowardly to face his issues, so instead he does this. more

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BitchWitcher - Oct 12, 2021

You know, all political differences I have with you aside, you seem like a guy who's intelligent enough to understand that just because you hate something, it doesn't mean other people can't love it. Rate this book a 1 and hate it as much as you want, that's your right, but it's really bizarre how you think no one else could possibly enjoy it just because *you* don't. You complain that King needs therapy (and I'm sure he does, most if not all of us do) but it seems to me so do you.

Merlyn - Oct 12, 2021

Read carefully, please, I didn't say no one could possibly enjoy it, I just said it definitely doesn't deserve ratings this big and appellations like "masterpiece". Because let's not kid ourselves, this ISN'T a masterpiece. Even if you're a sadist and enjoy seeing a hero completely tarnished, killed and replaced by his wife, this isn't done in a way that deserves these high ratings. I stand by that. I think if this book was written by Bendis it would be bombed pretty badly with awful reviews.

Merlyn - Oct 12, 2021

But since it's King everyone's pretending this is some great work of art when it really isn't in fact.

the green death - Oct 13, 2021

You said “ I'm almost sure no sane DC fan really believes this is actually a good book” so you’re saying to enjoy it you say you enjoy it you’re either a) lying b) insane or c) not a fan of DC. I’m only so-so on King and haven’t been reading this, but I still understand that there’s people outside hose three options who genuinely love this.

Merlyn - Oct 13, 2021

No, you can enjoy a book even if it's not a very good one. I've enjoyed, for example, Rosenberg's run of X-Men but I agree it was not a very good run. And yes, I do believe there are a lot of people falling into the a) category and some who love King so much that are falling into b) when defending him.

Nickweiser - Oct 13, 2021

Sounds like Adam Strange played Tom King.

Merlyn - Oct 13, 2021

Yep, it's a guilt trip and at the end the only ones who lose are the fans.