Strange Adventures

Strange Adventures was the title of several American comic books published by DC Comics, the first of which began in 1950.

Original series

Strange Adventures ran for 244 issues and was DC Comics' first science fiction title. It began with an adaptation of the film Destination Moon. The sales success of the gorilla cover-featured story in Strange Adventures #8 (May 1951) lead DC to produce numerous comic book covers with depictions of gorillas. The series was home to one of the last superheroes of the pre-Silver Age of Comic Books era, Captain Comet, created by writer John Broome and artist Carmine Infantino in issue #9. A combination of the "Captain Comet" feature with the "gorilla craze" was presented in issue #39 (December 1953). Other notable series included Star Hawkins which began in issue #114 (March 1960) and the Atomic Knights which debuted in issue #117 (June 1960).

In 'The Strange Adventure That Really Happened' in issue #140 (May 1962), real life comics creators editor Julius Schwartz and artist Sid Greene struggle to make writer Gardner Fox recall a story he has written that holds the key to saving the Earth from alien invasion. In a rare acknowledgement of the rest of the DC universe in Strange Adventures, one panel mentions Gardner Fox having previously met the Flash in the iconic Silver Age story "Flash of Two Worlds".

Strange Adventures #180 (September 1965) introduced Animal Man in a story by Dave Wood and Carmine Infantino. The character was revived by writer Grant Morrison in 1988.

Initially a science fiction anthology title with some continuing features starring SF protagonists, the series became a supernatural-fantasy title beginning with issue #202, for which it received a new logo. Deadman's first appearance in Strange Adventures #205, written by Arnold Drake and drawn by Carmine Infantino, included the first known depiction of narcotics in a story approved by the Comics Code Authority. The "Deadman" feature served as an early showcase for the artwork of Neal Adams.

With issue #217, the title gained another new logo and began reprinting stories of Adam Strange and the Atomic Knights, among other stories. Several Strange Adventure stories were also reprinted in some of DC Comics' later anthologies, such as From Beyond the Unknown.

In 1978, DC Comics intended to revive Strange Adventures. These plans were put on hold that year due to the DC Implosion, a line-wide scaling back of the company's publishing output. When the project was revived a year later, the title was changed to Time Warp and the series was in the Dollar Comics format.

Publication history

Continuing features in Strange Adventures included:

Chris KL-99 (issues 1-3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 15)
Darwin Jones (issues 1, 48, 58, 66, 70, 76, 77, 79, 84, 88, 93, 149, 160)
Captain Comet (issues 9-44, 46, 49) (cover feature many times)
Space Museum (issues 104, 106, 109, 112, 115, 118, 121, 124, 127, 130, 133, 136, 139, 142, 145, 148, 151, 154, 157, 161)
Star Hawkins (issues 114, 119, 122, 125, 128, 131, 134, 137, 140, 143, 146, 149, 152, 155, 158, 162)
Atomic Knights (issues 117, 120, 123, 126, 129, 132, 135, 138, 141, 144, 147, 150, 153, 156, 160, with reprints in 217-231)
Faceless Creature from Saturn (issues 124, 142, 153)
Star Rovers (from Mystery in Space, issues 159, 163)
Animal Man (issues 180, 184, 190, 195, 201)
Immortal Man (issues 177, 185, 190, 198)
Enchantress (issues 187, 191, 200)
Deadman (issues 205 to 216)
Adam Strange (reprints in #217 to 244; new stories in #222, 226/227 text stories with illos)

Awards

The series was nominated and awarded several awards over the years, including Alley Awards in 1963 for "General Fantasy", in 1965 for "Best Regularly Published Fantasy Comic", in 1966 for "Best Fantasy/SF/Supernatural Title", in 1967 for "Best Cover" (for issue #207 by Neal Adams), in 1967 for "Best Full-Length Story" ("Who's Been Lying in My Grave?" in issue #205 by Arnold Drake and Carmine Infantino), and the 1967 for "Best New Strip" ("Deadman" by Drake and Infantino).

Revivals

Vertigo miniseries

In 1999, DC Comics' Vertigo imprint released a four-issue mini-series reviving the Strange Adventures title and concept.

It featured stories written by Brian Azzarello, Brian Bolland, Dave Gibbons, Bruce Jones, Joe R. Lansdale, John Ney Rieber, Robert Rodi, Doselle Young and Mark Schultz. Artists included Edvin BiukoviÄ‡, Richard Corben, Klaus Janson, Frank Quitely, James Romberger, and John Totleben. The miniseries is cover-dated November 1999 to February 2000.

JSA Strange Adventures

In 2004, Strange Adventures was again revived, in modified format, as the six-issue limited series JSA Strange Adventures, which presented a new Golden Age Justice Society of America story incorporating fantasy-fiction themes. It was written by Kevin J. Anderson, with art by Barry Kitson and Gary Erskine. The miniseries is cover-dated October 2004 to March 2005, and was collected in trade paperback in 2010.