DCU Comic Book Reviews

STRANGE ADVENTURES #4

Or You Will Be Destroyed!

August 2009

Written by Jim Starlin

Pencils by Manuel Garcia

Inks by Al Milgrom

Cover by Jim Starlin

Synopsis

With the help of Future Synnar, Comet, Eye, and Adam Strange confront Zalcor Numrat to retrieve the items that Zalcor had stolen from Strange.  Afterwards, Future Synnar tells the threesome they need to rescue Weird/Synnar from the custody of Chief Justice Max.  If the Weird retains Synnar’s power, he will destroy the universe.  Based on the disappearing stars Strange has seen, he believes Future Synnar.  On New Rann, Prince Gavyn also notices the disappearing stars and decides to investigate the Dark Zone to learn more.  On Hardcore Station, Bizarro continues to battle against Max’s force.  Comet, Eye, and Adam Strange use the distraction to locate Weird/Synnar and then use the zeta-beam to transport to Terranium.  There, Future Synnar tells Strange that Comet and Eye are part of the Aberrant Six and they will be joined by another in the Dark Zone.  The small group then teleports to the Dark Zone, where they encounter a dozen Weirds flying towards them. 

Review by Binkley (e-mail)

After a rough beginning, this issue just sizzled along.  Starlin has a good handle on these characters; together they have a lot of chemistry and simply sparkle on the page.  I like the way the small group first retrieved Strange’s items and then retrieved the Weird.  They work together, but are still a little at odds with each other.  Mostly, however, I think this issue was enjoyable because the action and the humor and the mystery matched perfectly, with just enough of each to create a terrific balance.  Plus, the plot took a gigantic step forward as we start to learn more about the missing stars and what it might mean.  I am looking forward to see what happens next. 

The opening confused me for a little bit.  Starlin makes a plot-point leap forward in the story from the end of last issue to the beginning of this issue.  It took a minute or two for me to fill in the gaps based on what I was reading.  However, it wasn’t that distracting and it was fairly easy to connect the dots to understand what was going on.

I am enjoying Starlin’s work.  I wish DC had enough faith either in Starlin or in science-fiction to make this an ongoing story rather than a scattershot of minis.  I say this because at the halfway point of this particular min-series, I doubt that whatever is going on with Synnar and the Aberrant Six will actually be resolved in any way.  The ending to this story is when Synnar and Weird are split into two beings once more, but Synnar’s secret evil plans and what that means for the Aberrant Six will be a mystery.  But whatever else Starlin has planned for his cosmic story will probably be resolved in some further mini-series.

The Aberrant Six:  Gavyn, Strange, Comet, Eye, Hawkman (or his replacement), and ????.  The last one could possibly be Weird.  I wasn’t sure if that was assumed or not based on the conversation.  It makes sense, but then who the hell really knows.  As for replacing Hawkman, I am assuming that this was done based on the original plan to kill Hawkman in Final Crisis, but for whatever reason that didn’t happen.  I wouldn’t at all be surprised if Starlin had to rewrite parts of the story to accommodate the lack of death. 

Just Passing Through...

Written by Jim Starlin

Art by Rafael Albuquerque

Synopsis

On Hardcore Station, Bizarro battles Chief Justice Max and his group.  Max enlists a psychic to help, but is having little success.  Nearby, Coriolis casts a spell and spirits Bizarro away to another reality.  Elsewhere, Lady Styx monitors the events.  She then relates her origins in which she is seems to be always beaten by Synnar.  This time, however, she will have sweet revenge. 

Review

This was a pretty straightforward recap of Lady Styx’s life.  I am not sure if this was ever stated before in any of the mini-series in which she appeared, so I can’t tell if anything was retconned or added to make it fit the current story.  Frankly, I am not even sure it was needed, but I can’t say it was a complete waste of space and time.  However, I would have liked to have seen more of the Bizarro fight.  However, I liked the way the two stories worked in parallel in the neither really featured the fight, but used it as part of the story Starlin actually wanted to tell.