Broken Frontier

Spinning out of 52, the wayward spacefarers Adam Strange, Starfire and Animal Man have come home but that doesn’t mean they’ve found peace.

With this eight issue mini-series DC works to strengthen the ties between 52 and the current weekly series Countdown. Here the main story follows the aftermath of Adam Strange, Starfire, and Animal Man’s year long journey to reach their respective homes chronicled in 52 while the backup story sheds light on one of the new players in Countdown – Forerunner. But does it all work?

Adam Strange has been taking a break from his duties as protector of Rann while he adjusts to the new eyes given to him to replace the ones he lost in the aftermath of the Infinite Crisis. During this time he has reconnected with his family and indulged in some alien archaeology but now he is ready and eager to get back to his swashbuckling job. The trouble is that Rann apparently waits for no man and another Earthling has been brought to Rann to be Adam’s replacement!

Meanwhile, Starfire’s last, desperate trip to Earth has left her nearly comatose in Buddy Baker’s spare bedroom – something that his wife, Ellen, is not exactly thrilled about. The presence of the alien princess is only one thing causing distress in the superhero’s life, however, as it looks like he is having trouble with his powers as well.

Finally, in the backup story, readers get a look at the warrior culture that originally spawned Forerunner on one of the myriad new alternate Earths. An agent of the Monitors originally, has Forerunner now truly been incited to join Monarch’s team?

Throughout the 52 week run of 52 fans came to know and love the underdog spacefarers as they fought each other and the odds and enemies lined against them. With the way the story caught fans’ attention it would seem only natural to give them a spin-off mini-series as a follow up… and possibly to test the waters for an ongoing? As far as first issues go this one fulfills all the requirements for (re)introducing all the characters and setting up the new central conflict. The problem is that, despite writer Adam Beechen’s strong credentials and wonderful work in the past, the whole thing feels very "paint by numbers." Both Strange and Animal Man’s stories play out by rote and readers can see what is coming telegraphed from a mile away. It isn’t bad but it just does not grab you by the throat and refuse to let go. Unfortunately the same can be said of the Forerunner back-up story. A very interesting science fiction tale penned by the usually outstanding Justin Gray, Forerunner just feels like she pulls a little too heavily from too many sources – most notably Star Trek’s Klingons. There is little there that truly feels new and exciting.

The art is another matter entirely, however. For the Adam Strange – Starfire – Animal Man story Eddy Barrows provides the pencils. Barrows, whose most recent work could be seen in The All-New Atom, does his usual, amazing job here. Barrows makes each and every face readers encounter unique and different. He also crafts some visually interesting "camera angles" and his action sequences are packed with dynamite. Likewise, artist Fabrizio Fiorentino provides some truly alien landscapes and figures for the Forerunner tale. He manages to combine all out battle with just a little taste of horror-thriller action.

While Countdown to Adventure is an enjoyable enough read there is really nothing here that is out of the ordinary and, with so many comics vying for my hard-earned dollar these days, "ordinary" is an uphill climb. All is not lost, however, as this series still has another seven issues to prove that either or both stories contained herein are more than meets the eye.