ComicBook.com is reporting DC Comics' newest
epic has officially been unveiled.
As part of San Diego Comic-Con's Sunday proceedings,
DC officially announced a
new revival of Strange Adventures, which will
be brought to life by Tom King,
Mitch Gerads, and Evan "Doc" Shaner.
King and Gerads previously collaborated on
the Eisner-winning Mister Miracle
maxiseries, as well as The Sheriff of Babylon.
Shaner's work includes Future Quest,
Flash Gordon, and The Terrifics.
Strange Adventures first debuted under the
DC banner in the 1950s, providing an
outlet for the publisher to adapt and tell
new science-fiction titles. As the title
went on, it began to feature stories involving
the likes of Deadman and Adam
Strange and the Atomic Knights. The series
has been given several new revivals
since 1999, most recently in an 80-page Vertigo
one-shot in 2011.
As King teased earlier this year, Strange
Adventures will be another twelve-issue
series, in the similar vein of the work King
and Gerads did on Mister Miracle.
"For me, that 12 issues is perfect." King
told ComicBook.com earlier this year. "It
just ends up being just a beautiful length.
You can sit down and read it all in six
hours if you want to, or if you're reading
it issue by issue, you know that next year
you'll get a new one. That's the format I
like the best, 'cause to me it just feels
like
you're writing a novel."
"If you're looking back at my career, over
the past four years I wrote Sheriff of
Babylon, Omega Men, The Vision, and Mister
Miracle." King continued. "Those are
four novels. I could give those to anybody
off the street and be like, 'This is a
novel with pictures in it.' And I think that's
important for the industry to have
those. There's something nice about having
a complete story in your hands,
you're like, 'I did this.'"
DC Writer Tom King has been on quite the roller
coaster ride the past 24 months.
When Mister Miracle began it was the most
talked about comic in all the industry.
Even overshadowing Sean Gordon Murphy's Batman:
White Knight at one point.
Unfortunately, Mister Miracle fell of the
rails the final 6 issues or so. Hitting rock
bottom at Mister Miracle #11. Featuring Darkseid,
evil ruler of Apokolips, snacking
on a veggie tray.
Batman was the best-selling ongoing series
in the industry by miles heading into
mega-hyped Batman #50. Also known as the Wedding
fake. DC editorial spoiled
issue #50 to The New York Times days before
release. Tom King, once the hottest
writer in all of comics, has been in freefall
mode ever since. Batman became an
emotionally fractured pantywaist ever since
Selina Kyle left him at the altar. The
Batman series shed 80k monthly sales since.
DC recently announced King is
exiting Batman much earlier than previously
expected, at issue 85. He's moving
on to event book Batman/Catwoman to complete
his planned story.
I personally disagree with Mr. King's assessment
of 12-issue stories being the
perfect length for him. He's much better with
shorter form comic stories, in the 4
to 6 issue range. One of King's worst tendencies
as a writer is to meander and
jump between plots randomly. Heroes in Crisis
was initially announced as a 6-
issue story but later expanded to nine. The
extra content stood out like a sore
thumb and killed story progression. And readers
aren't the only ones taking
notice. King, once the apple of the shill
comic medias eye, has seen critic scores
for his comics nosedive the last 12 months.
Even the biggest brownnosers in the
industry finally had to be honest and acknowledge
his declining story quality.
One thing Tom King is great at is successfully
pitching stories to the very best
artists in the comic industry. Lee Weeks,
Tony Daniels and Clay Mann all
collaborate with King regularly. Strange Adventures
is no different. Mister Miracle
partner Mitch Gerads is on the art team as
well as "Doc" Shaner.
The cover art portrays two starkly different
versions of Adam Strange. Shaner's
depicts Strange as a smiling hero in an idealistic
future world. Gerads' image
depicts Strange in shadow with phrases like
"Stranger Danger," "I kill," "War
Criminal," and "Space Liar!" scribbled across.
Indicating the same kind of bleak,
psychological approach King and Gerads took
with Mister Miracle.
In my opinion Shaner is just another guy.
He's a talented illustrator but nothing
special in comparison to King's normal visual
partners. Gerads on the other hand,
is one of the best artists in all of comics.
He has a unique style that adds value to
any property he's attached to. Tom King and
Mitch Gerads are a proven money
making combo in an industry desperate for
consistent performers. I expect
Gerads to provide a majority of the graphics
on Strange Adventures. It's likely to
be a superbly illustrated series.
During DC Comics Sunday panel at San Diego
Comic-Con Tom King provides a bit
of insight on the direction of Strange Adventures.
Some of it is extremely
welcome. But not all the clues he delivers
paint a positive picture for the project.
King has been in a very dark place creatively
for some time now. Everything he's
written lately is focused on trauma and PTSD.
Tom King told the audience at SDCC he's putting
this creative period behind him.
He's throwing away the dour themes based on
his time in Iraq and personal
trauma. This is excellent new! Tom King was
a quality writer prior to his recent
foray into all things traumatic. Although
I do believe he's had issues finishing
stories all the way back to his work before
DC Comics. But prior to the last 18
months or so his storycraft was far superior.
He also adapted too many tropes from superior
creators like Alan Moore and his
writing became extremely pretentious. Few
wield the literary tools in prime Alan
Moore's arsenal well. King has proven time
and time again his admiration for
Moore's craft should be left at that. Rather
than flattery via imitation. I doubt
Tom King totally drops his pompous writing
tendencies but he needs to use them
more judiciously.
Now for the bad news. King stated on the panel
he needs to make something
more contemporary. In the wake of the 2016
election everyone said they were
going to make great art. He hasn't seen that
yet and they are trying to do that
with Strange Adventures. I think this is a
very poor direction to rehab his
dwindling reputation. Then again, he recently
signed on to write the screenplay
for the upcoming New Gods film. He might not
care what comic readers think at
this point.
His recent comments also indicate he's much
more interested in writing novels
than comic books. He might not be long for
the comic industry in general and
wants to use the last bit of juice he has
left with DC to get his feeling about Trump
in print before moving on. I'm surprised DC
okayed him to get word out Strange
Adventures will be allegorical to King's feelings
on President Trump. While it's
likely to court promotion and controversy
from entities outside the comic
industry. It will also drive paying customers
away before an issue is published.
These type of stories can be done well. King's
recent attempts to incorporate his
personal trauma into comic stories are disastrous.
Using another emotional topic
for inspiration isn't likely to result in
better writing. I wish he would go back to
his
form from 24 months ago but he's taking his
own path. I'm personally not
attracted to the series but I will cover it
on the channel as it's of interest to my
audience. Look for more information and reviews
of Strange Adventures in the
weeks and months ahead.
There you have it folks. Tom King's next big
project at DC Comics is his take on
classic Strange Adventures. I'm very excited
Tom King's leaving his trauma
infused writing in the past but drawing inspiration
from the 2016 election
results feels like a misguided choice. What
do you all think? Are you excited for
Tom King and Mitch Gerads Strange Adventures
maxiseries? Will you be
supporting the book? Thank you so much for
watching this video and I hope you
join me for my next
comic book commentary!
