In Review: Strange Adventures (2020-) #4

Synopsis: Welcome to planet Rann, Mr. Terrific! Earth’s champion of fair play has traveled halfway across the galaxy to investigate firsthand the crimes Adam Strange stands accused of. He’s not going to find many friendly witnesses, though, as the people of Rann consider Adam Strange their true champion. Yet for all the resistance Mister Terrific faces on the surface of Rann, his true opposition may be lurking closer to his subject than he realizes.
This adventure between two worlds continues…

The Story

Mr. Terrific arrives on Rann and is initially granted access to all of Rann’s files about the Pykt War and Adam Strange, but when he asks for access to files from the Pykt side he is fobbed off with excuses, which only serve to get Mr. Terrific’s back up as he feels he is being stopped from completing his investigation.

Meanwhile, Back on Earth. Adam Strange tries to enlist help from Hal Jordan and Superman to go to Rann with him and help him defend his people from another Pykt attack, but neither Hal Jordon nor Superman can provide aid as they are needed elsewhere.

The Artwork

Mitch Gerads and Evan Shaner bring their A-Game to this issue. I loved the brief sequence in the first few pages where we see Mr. Terrifics spacecraft come into land on Rann. We get a great series of panels later on in the issue where Mr. Terrific and Rann’s leader Sardath lock horns over the fact that the Rann authorities will not provide the Pykt records.

The artwork throughout this series continues to be a high point.

Overall

This issue redeems the failure in pacing from the previous issue and actually moves the story along a little bit. I particularly enjoyed the sequences of Mr. Terrific trying to investigate the Rann records of the war and Adam Strange’s part in it. His frustration with only being served propaganda was understandable and only really makes the readers question if the Rann authorities are completely blameless in the war given their reluctance to allow Mr. Terrific to see both sides of the conflict.

Hopefully, we’ll get a few more answers in the next issue as to what really happened during this war. Was Adam Strange manipulated by Rann’s government or was he a willing participant in the war?