There have been rumors swirling that DC was going to start printing Adventure Comics once again as a regular monthly title. While that remains to be seen, we did get Adventure Comics Special #1 this week. This issue features the Guardian and also has a cameo appearance by a C-list Legionnaire. I have enjoyed the New Krypton story so far so I fully expect Adventure Comics Special #1 to be a quality read. Let’s go ahead and hit this review.
Creative Team
Writer: James Robinson
Artist: Pere Perez
Art Rating: 8 Night Girls out of 10
Story Rating: 9 Night Girls out of 10
Overall Rating: 8.5 Night Girls out of 10
Synopsis: We begin with being told that Adventure Comics Special #1 takes place in between pages 53 and 54 of Superman’s Pal, Jimmy Olsen Special #1. Jimmy Olsen tells Jim Harper, the Guardian, that he has so many questions to ask him. Harper thinks if he should lie or tell the truth. Harper goes with the truth as we cut to Harper and Olsen sitting at a table inside of Harper’s trailer.
Harper says that he should start at the beginning. That one night while he was working as The Guardian and guarding the Cadmus facility in Salem he decided to take a peek inside of what Cadmus was keeping locked away in the D-Wing of the facility. We see the Guardians sneak up behind the two armed guards who stood outside of the door to D-Wing 24/7. The Guardian takes out the guards from behind so that they do not know it is him.
Jimmy asks Harper what he saw in D-Wing. Harper replies that he honestly does not know what it was. We see Harper staring at Tellus from the Legion of Super Heroes being kept inside of a large cylinder containing some type of liquid. Harper states that he first thought it was one of Cadmus’ experiments since Cadmus had genetically created all manners of creatures. But, what was odd was this creature was wearing a ring that was perfectly sized for him. We see the Legion flight ring on Tellus’ finger. Tellus then spoke to Harper telepathically and instructed Harper to do nothing. Tellus said that he would be fine and that the Science Police would be coming for him.
Jimmy interrupts Harper and says that he is surprised that Cadmus had a facility in Salem which was a place known for Dr. Fate and magic. Harper replied that Salem was the perfect place to hide a place of science. Harper then says that he started his story in the wrong place. Harper says that it began when he was having problems sleeping. He began to experience memories from his “father” the original Guardian that he was cloned from.
Harper explains that he was cloned from the original Guardian, Jim Harper, and that he calls the original Guardian his father in order to give himself the delusion of humanity. At first, Harper sought help from a hypnotherapist. But, when the hypnotherapist put Harper under he woke up and realized that he had destroyed the therapist’s office and had attacked the therapist.
Harper tells Jimmy that his first memory was seeing the original Jim Harper getting killed. It was when the original Guardian stumbled across the cloning tube where Harper was being grown. Harper saw a figure off on the side say that he had to kill the original Guardian since his orders were that no one was allowed to see the clone of the Guardian and live to talk about it.
Jimmy exclaims that the killer was Jonathon Drew also known as Assassin. Harper tells Jimmy that the identity of the killer was the one piece of information that he had been waiting to learn. Harper says that he had been spending his time sitting around waiting for the killer to one day come after him.
Harper states that he wants to look into the face of the man who killed his “father” one time before Harper takes his revenge on the killer. Jimmy says that Harper is talking about murder and that such talk does not sound like the Guardian. Harper spits back “Like who? Who am I?”
Harper continues that every person on Earth has a soul. But, he does not know if he has a soul or not since he is just a clone. That he walks through this world with another man’s memories. How can Harper say that he is his own entity?
Harper then calms down and says that he was just venting. Harper says that he will continue his story. Harper then resumes his story about when he was in the Cadmus facility in Salem and came across Tellus being held in D-Wing. Harper says that the creature informed him that Cadmus had some sinister dealings going on in the shadows. The creature told Harper to keep investigating.
Harper said that it was handy being the Guardian of Cadmus since it allowed him to snoop around and look without anyone every suspecting him. Harper laughs that he was all bright and shining gold and hiding in plain sight.
Harper continues that he peered and prowled around the facility. That Harper also de-encrypted archives on the Cadmus computer system. Jimmy asked Harper what he discovered. Harper replied that he discovered the worst nightmare of his life. Harper learned of a Cadmus facility in the Twin Cities.
We flashback to the Guardian sneaking onto the Cadmus facility in the Twin Cities while the narration boxes of Harper talking to Jimmy continue. Harper states that some people are special and are clone worthy while others are not. That included Jim Harper and Paul Kirk. Harper states that he learned that there is a military program designed to kill Superman. That they have amassed an arsenal of horrors to carry out this goal.
We see the Guardian entering a secured lab in the Cadmus facility in the Twin Cities. Inside the lab are numerous cloning tubes with various imperfect and deformed clones where Cadmus has attempted to create an army of clones from Jim Harper and Paul Kirk’s cells spliced together possibly using science from the Council. Harper asked if Jimmy got what he wanted to hear. That Jim Harper’s legacy is a stew of falsehoods. That Harper did maybe half of the deeds that he is credited with. That the rest were done by faulty copies of him and that he himself is a copy of the original Guardian. A man killed by Jonathon Drew. A name that he has been waiting his entire life to learn. Harper says that he thanks Jimmy for this information.
Harper asks Jimmy if he has been able to help Jimmy. Jimmy answers yes because now he definitely knows there is a military project with their sights on killing Superman. Harper adds that the military project includes not just an army of clones of himself, but also Kryptonite and magic. Also that the military project as the authority to parole all manner of evil in order to help the project.
Harper shrugs and says that he does not even know why the military wants to kill Superman in the first place. Jimmy answers that at least he has uncovered enough information to give him a start on figuring out more about this military project. Harper then adds that if this military operation has a name that he never learned it. However, the military operation was given a number. Number “7734.” Harper says that he has no idea what the significance of the number is.
A little girl then walks into the room and says “Daddy, I’m hungry.” The girl asks Harper if they are going to go have breakfast with Jimmy. Harper stands up and says that Jimmy was just leaving. Jimmy stands up and thanks Harper for the information. Jimmy states that Harper is a good man and one that Jimmy is proud to know. Harper replies that he is happy to know Jimmy as well. Jimmy leaves.Harper then flashes back to the moment where he burned the Cadmus facility and killed all of the clones of himself. We see that he ended up killing all but one: that of a little girl version of Harper. We see Harper walking out of the burning facility with the little girl wrapped up in a blanket and in his arms.
We snap back to the present with Harper telling his “daughter” Gwendolyn to pack up. That they have to get on the road. We zip to Harper, having gotten a haircut and a shave, driving off with Gwendolyn. They are pulling their trailer behind their pick-up truck.
The two keep driving late into the night. Gwendolyn is holding the Guardian helmet and she says that she found it in the back. Gwendolyn asks what it is. Harper responds that it is just an old trophy. Gwendolyn asks what she should do with it. She asks if her dad wants to throw it away. Harper replies that they can throw it away.
Harper then suddenly looks up into the sky and tells Gwendolyn that maybe they better keep the “trophy.” That it looks like he might need it. We pan back and see that Harper has driven them to the city limits of Metropolis. We see a bunch of Kryptonians flying above Metropolis in the night sky. Harper tells his daughter that they will be fine. That they have the blood of Gwendolyn’s grandfather in them. Gwendolyn says “I love you, papa.” Harper replies “I love you back, girl.”
Comments
The Good: Adventure Comics Special #1 was an excellent read. Robinson continues to lay a sound foundation and assemble all of the various players for this big event. Robinson crafted a quality read that properly carried out its two purposes. First, this issue successfully introduced the Guardian and his back-story to newer readers unfamiliar with his history. Robinson was able to effectively re-establish the Guardian within the New DCU as well as give him a role in the New Krypton story. Second, this issue served the purpose of hooking more readers into the New Krypton story that is being run through Action Comics and Superman.
Robinson serves up plenty of fine dialogue. The dialogue has a pleasant flow that makes this issue enjoyable to read. Robinson also did a good job with the character work in this issue by nicely fleshing out the Guardian’s character. The Guardian is a classic Golden Age character created by the comic book gods in Joe Simon and Jack Kirby. The Guardian first appeared in Star Spangled Comics #7 in 1942. Since I am a sucker for Golden Age characters, I am quite happy to see the Guardian getting to grab the spotlight in this issue.
Robinson enables the reader to get an excellent feel for The Guardian’s character. Robinson treats the reader to a raw and unfiltered look into Harper’s psyche. The reader gets a strong sense of why Harper is so broken and fractured. The fact that Harper’s first memory was seeing the original Jim Harper being killed by Jonathon Drew immediately set the tone for the turmoil that rages inside of Harper. That was a powerful scene and the symbolism of his first moments of life being the last moments of life for his “father” was nicely done. With the scene about Harper’s first memory and the fact that Olsen told Harper that it was Drew who killed the original Jim Harper, Robinson effectively sets the stage for the eventual showdown between the Guardian and Assassin. I am certainly looking forward to seeing the Guardian lay a beating on Assassin.
Robinson does a good job playing with the identity crisis that festers inside of Harper’s mind concerning who and what he is. Harper questions what are his own memories and what are that of the original Jim Harper. Harper is confused about what deeds he actually did do. And the biggest question of all is if Harper even has a soul. Harper doesn’t even know if he is his own entity.
Robinson impressed me with how he investigated the rampant chaos inside of Harper’s mind. I thought these questions that are plaguing Harper’s mind were perfectly done. It makes sense that a clone would go through these questions as they tried to come to grips with their own humanity.
Adventure Comics Special #1 was a properly paced read. The reader got a good balance of action, drama and mystery. Adventure Comics Special #1 was also well plotted. Robinson stays focused and unveils a delightfully complex story with plenty of mysteries designed to pique the reader’s interest in the New Krypton story.
Robinson did a wonderful job with handling the scene transitions between the flash back scenes and the present day scenes. The narration boxes that served as the backbone for the story to connect the various scenes together were well done. Usually issues that consist of a character re-telling flashback scenes can get a bit confusing and have a clunky and awkward flow. Robinson avoids that by constructing a well laid out story.
Obviously, I enjoyed the scene with Tellus in the Cadmus labs. However, I will probably be in the minority since most readers probably have no knowledge of Tellus. Tellus was a minor Legionnaire who joined the team in 1985 and then was not seen during the “Five Year Later” gap of the Legion that started in 1989. And Tellus has not been seen at all in any version of the Legion since the 1994 re-boot during Zero Hour. So, I am not too sure what impact this “surprise” cameo appearance of a minor Legionnaire who was with the team for five years in the 1980’s will have on your average modern day comic book reader. I did find it odd that Tellus did not want the Guardian to save him and maintained the belief that the Science Police would be coming to get him. I have no idea where Robinson and Johns are going with Tellus’ appearance. Nor do I have any idea how this relates to all of the other Legion sightings we have gotten over in Justice Society of America, Justice League of America and Action Comics. At this point, I am completely bewildered with what DC is doing with the Legion and its continuity.
I greatly enjoyed the use of Paul Kirk in this scene. Paul Kirk was the original Manhunter who appeared in Adventure Comics in the 1940’s. Paul Kirk last appeared in Adventure Comics in 1944. Kirk was later resurrected in 1973. DC explained that Paul Kirk had been killed in the 1940’s and his body was cryogenically frozen by a secret society bent on world domination called the Council. The Council resurrected Paul Kirk.
The Council created many clones of Paul Kirk. Kirk eventually figured out how evil the Council was and Kirk ended up defeating the Council but had to sacrifice himself to do so. All the clones of Paul Kirk were thought to be dead. However, they were not. One appeared in Secret Society of Super Villains and then died in 1977.
In 2002, we got Kirk DePaul from the Power Company who was the last surviving clone of Paul Kirk. Kirk DePaul was then killed by Mark Shaw, the Manhunter from the 1980’s.
I totally dig how Robinson pulls from DC’s Golden Age and Silver Age for this current story involving the Guardian and Cadmus. Robinson even refers to the Council when the Guardian suggests that Cadmus might even be employing some of the Council’s science and technology to create the Jim Harper/Paul Kirk clones.
DC has such a long and storied history and a rich continuity. It is enjoyable to see DC finally taking the leash off their writers and letting them dig deep into DC’s continuity in fleshing out New Earth’s continuity. Being the consummate professional, Robinson does a fine job of pulling off plenty of quality research in carefully constructing the story for Adventure Comics Special #1.
I liked the plot twist that Harper’s “daughter” is just another clone. This continued Robinson’s running theme of Harper trying to create his own sense of humanity by manufacturing an artificial family. Harper calls the original Jim Harper his “father” even though Harper is simply a clone of the original Jim Harper. And in the end we see that Harper has completed the family circle by giving himself a “daughter” out of the young female clone of himself. This theme was well handled and added to Harper’s desperate desire to be his own entity. Robinson uses the end of Adventure Comics Special #1 to give the reader a bit more information on the military operation to kill Superman. The Guardian reveals that the arsenal the military is amassing to kill Superman includes an army of Jim Harper/Paul Kirk clones, magic and Kryptonite. The reader also learns that the military operation was given the number “7734.” I am certainly curious to learn the significance of this number.
Robinson ends Adventure Comics Special #1 with a solid hook ending as we see Harper and Gwendolyn arriving at Metropolis with all the Kryptonians flying in the night sky and Harper deciding that he better keep his Guardian helmet. It is clear that the Guardian is going to play an important role in the New Krypton story.
I enjoyed Pere Perez’s artwork. He delivered a fine looking issue. He has a pleasant style that made this issue enjoyable to read.
The Bad: My only complaint is that Jim Harper did not keep that sweet moustache that he was sporting through out this issue.
Overall: Adventure Comics Special #1 was a great issue that serves to pull even more readers into the New Krypton story. This issue also did a fine job of re-establishing the Guardian into a more prominent role within the DCU and giving him a role to play in the New Krypton story. Adventure Comics Special #1 is a balanced issue that offers up enough action, drama and mystery that should give it plenty of broad appeal. I would certainly recommend getting this issue, especially if you are following the New Krypton story on Action Comics and Superman.
