DCU Comic Book Reviews

ADAM STRANGE SPECIAL

Temporal Linkage

November 2008

Written by Jim Starlin

Pencils by Rick Leonardi

Inks by Dan Green

Cover by Jim Starlin

Synopsis

In the middle of destroying the machine plaguing Rann with temporal anomalies, Adam Strange suddenly finds himself in the past, watching himself arrive on Rann for the first time.  He is then sent to the future and witnesses a large bomb destroying Rann.  Strange then is transported to another time, where his wife Alanna grieves at a grave and tells her husband that she no longer wants to have him in her life.  Strange realizes that she is not talking to him, but to a different version of him.  Before Strange can learn anything more, he finds himself transported before Synnar.  Strange learns he is one of the Aberrant Six before he is transported again.  He encounters Sardath, who tells Strange he will meet himself again and that he should listen to what he says.  Strange is transported to an asteroid where he encounters Synnar again, who tells him the same thing:  to heed his own counsel.  Strange then finds himself on Rann, where he indeed encounters himself.  The other Strange gives himself the key to escaping the time loop and find himself face-to-face with Synnar, who sends Strange back to his present life. 

Review by Binkley (e-mail)

I’ll call it a wash, how ‘bout that.  There are some good things about this issue, but there are also some bad things.  Ultimately, I think the good and bad bounce off each other and nullify each other, putting the entire issues into a neutral position.  I can’t say I was bored or uninterested, but nor can I say I was emotionally engaged in the story.  As a result, there is nothing really “special” about this special.  What I liked about it is the manner in which Starlin handles the time loop, the way Strange bounces around and talks or sees various incarnations of himself.  I even liked the solution to how he escapes from his predicament.  And I liked Synnar and the way he was portrayed here with a touch of good, but with hints of evil.  What I didn’t like was that all of the jumping around from past to future to present didn’t really amount to much; it all seemed superficial.  Oh, look, there is Strange seeing himself land on Rann.  Oh, look, there’s Alanna and she is mad at Strange.  But without any context or meaning behind the moment, it lacks the impact I think Starling was going for.  Maybe that was part of the plan, to drop hints as to what might happen later in the main mini-series.  And, in fact, I am curious to see what happens, but only in terms of the plot (how does Rann get destroyed), not the story (how this affects Alanna and who is in the grave). 

 

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