Adam Strange

Adam Strange was born in Chicago. Feeling unwanted and largely neglected by his parents, Adam found a friend in his older brother Todd and considered his sister Janey (the oldest child) a second mother. Adam’s mother died when he was still an adolescent, and Todd ran away soon afterward. Adam’s father, already in poor health, grew more ill and needed constant care. At 16, the brilliant Adam left home to study archaeology, and found fame at the age of 23 for his findings at the Crawnee Caveman Dig. A wing at the Natural History Museum was subsequently named after him.

A few years later, Adam learned his brother Todd had died in Singapore. Adam then lost two of his team members in a cave-in on one of his expeditions. Adam became increasingly reclusive in his work. While exploring the Andes Mountains of Peru by himself, Adam discovered a legendary city called Caramanga. A tribe of Incan people still lived in the city and attacked him. As he fled, a beam of “Zeta” radiation struck and transported him roughly 4.35 light years (approximately 25 trillion miles) to Rann, a planet orbiting Alpha Centauri.

Adam was immediately found by the Rannian woman Alanna, who took him to meet her father Sardath in the capital city of Ranagar. A scientist, Sardath was in charge of the council that ruled Rann, and Alanna was considered a princess. A “menticizer” device instantly taught Adam their language, in which they explained that years ago Rann had sent communication beams, Zeta waves, to Earth. Alanna concluded that the Zeta Beams had been altered while traveling through space, becoming teleportation beams. [In later stories, this was revealed to be a lie. Rannians had become sterile and their society was stagnant, so Sardath had deliberately teleported an Earthman to Rann in order to introduce “new blood” and act as both stud and hero.]

Alanna and Adam grew close. When aliens attacked Rann, Adam helped fight them off, but was then transported back to Earth as the Zeta radiation in his body faded away. Determined to return to Rann, Adam mapped out sites on Earth where Zeta Beams would strike, based on information he’d learned from Sardath. Whenever a beam struck, he reunited with Alanna and helped her protect her homeworld. During his second such adventure, Adam donned a personal jetpack and the first version of the red-and-white space suit he’s made famous.