Strange Adventures #1

Jim Starlin picks up right after Holy War, showing us how the cast from that series is doing. I really liked the methold of recap for this first issue. We have Sardath and other leaders of Rann debating the legality of Adam Strange's actions that banished his people to "New Rann" in Holy War. It was a great way to do an info dump that didn't feel like one. I don't really care for Prince Gavyn or Adam Strange when Starlin writes them. Gavyn is a generic energy caster with little to no personality (again, I thought he was a reincarnated Will Payton!) Strange is a kind of generic space hero who doesn't seem to have the bravado that I remember liking about the character. Starlin does a good job handling Hard Core Station and Captain Comet though. He's created a Star Wars-cantina like atmosphere where the cynical Comet is a great narrator. He's a fun character who has morals, but wishes he didn't. The Station-based parts of the book are definitely the highlight.

There is some sort of backup featuring Bizarro but I had no clue what was happening. I don't know who had taken Superman's form (Synnar?) and I don't understand what happened to Hawkman. Has he been removed from continuity or something? I find the whole concept of the Aberrant Six kind of threatening to some characters I used to enjoy.

Manuel Garcia supposedly did all the pencils in the lead story, but many of the pages really looked like inker Al Milgrom did the heavy lifting. They seemed to vary by locale though, so the effect wasn't too jarring. Starlin's pencils in the backup were fine, but I had more problems with the story than the art.

Average