Mystery in Space #87
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeMystery in Space #87 marks the starting point of Hawkman's third and ultimately successful tryout period under editor Julius Schwartz, the run that finally convinced DC to give the Winged Wonder his own solo title in 1964. The issue also introduces I.Q. (Ira Quimby) and the I.Q. Gang — villains who would go on to trouble Hawkman and, eventually, the Justice League across decades of DC continuity. Structurally, editor Schwartz deployed an unusually ambitious linked-story format for the era: the Adam Strange lead chapter and the Hawkman backup are narratively connected by a single Rann-irradiated stone that carries consequences from one story directly into the other, making the whole issue read as a cohesive science-fiction thriller rather than two unrelated anthology pieces. It was also the first time since Adam Strange joined the title that he was displaced from the cover in favor of another character — a quiet signal that the DC Silver Age universe was expanding around him.
In "The Super-Brain of Adam Strange!" from Mystery in Space #87 (1963), Adam Strange's connection to the Zeta-Beam takes an unexpected turn when Sardath's attempts to regulate his interplanetary travels awaken a latent power in Adam's mind—granting him a super-evolved intellect that inadvertently unleashes a dangerous brain-wave threat across Rann. Written by Gardner Fox and illustrated by Carmine Infantino with inks by Sid Greene, the story sees Alanna disable the machine to restore balance, leaving Adam with a mysterious rock containing the residual energy. The cover, by Murphy Anderson, captures the moment of cosmic tension.
In "The Super-Brain of Adam Strange!" from Mystery in Space #87, Adam Strange finds his mind altered after Sardath’s attempt to regulate his Zeta-Beam travels grants him a super-evolved intellect—though the unintended side effect unleashes a dangerous brain-wave threat to Rann. When Alanna disables the machine, order is restored, but not before some of the energy becomes trapped in a stone Adam carries back to Earth.
When Ira Quimby stumbles upon the strange rock Adam Strange brought from space—its lingering brain-waves amplifying his intellect—he turns to a life of high-tech crime, crafting ingenious devices and pulling off daring heists. Hawkman and Hawkgirl must stop him before his newfound brilliance spirals out of control, but the rock’s power fades as quickly as it began.
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By late 1963, Julius Schwartz had already shepherded Hawkman through two consecutive three-issue tryouts in The Brave and the Bold (#34–36 and #42–44), neither of which generated enough sales momentum to greenlight a solo series. Unwilling to abandon the character, Schwartz slotted Hawkman into Mystery in Space beginning with issue #87 and made a deliberate creative change: he replaced Joe Kubert — whose artistic style had evolved beyond straightforward superhero work — with Murphy Anderson, whose clean, precise line was firmly in keeping with DC's house aesthetic of the period. Anderson both penciled and inked the Hawkman story in #87, and also produced the cover solo; the Adam Strange lead story was handled by the established team of writer Gardner Fox and penciler Carmine Infantino (inked by Sid Greene). Fox scripted both features, providing the thematic glue that linked them through the shared Rann stone device.
Trivia · 8 facts
- Cover date: November 1963; published by National Periodical Publications (DC Comics); editor Julius Schwartz.
- First appearance of I.Q. (Ira Quimby) and the I.Q. Gang in the Hawkman story 'Amazing Thefts of the I.Q. Gang,' created by Gardner Fox and Murphy Anderson.
- First in-continuity meeting between Hawkman/Hawkgirl (Katar Hol and Shayera Thal) and Adam Strange, whose civilian identity (Carter Hall visiting the museum) bridges both stories.
- The issue contains two narratively linked stories: 'The Super-Brain of Adam Strange' (pencils: Carmine Infantino, inks: Sid Greene) and 'Amazing Thefts of the I.Q. Gang' (pencils and inks: Murphy Anderson); both scripted by Gardner Fox.
- Cover penciled and inked by Murphy Anderson — the first issue of the run to bump Adam Strange from the cover in favor of Hawkman.
- This issue opens Hawkman's third editorial tryout (Mystery in Space #87–90, Nov. 1963–Mar. 1964); after two failed three-issue runs in The Brave and the Bold, the MiS run proved successful enough to launch Hawkman's own title in 1964.
- Both stories were reprinted together in Action Comics #443; the Adam Strange story was also collected in Adam Strange Archives Vol. 3, and the Hawkman story in Hawkman Archives Vol. 1; both appear in Showcase Presents: Hawkman Vol. 1 (March 2007).
- The issue's two stories are connected by a single plot device: a fragment of Rann rock irradiated by Sardath's Null-Zeta experiment, which Adam Strange carries back to Earth and which inadvertently super-charges Ira Quimby's intelligence when exposed to sunlight near the museum.
Cast · 7 characters
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Reprints
Reprinted in All Favourites Comic #43 (1964), Action Comics #443 (1975), The Hawkman Archives #1 (2000), Showcase Presents: Hawkman #1 (2007), The Adam Strange Archives #3 (2008), Adam Strange: The Silver Age Omnibus #[nn] (2017), DC Finest: Hawkman: Wings Across Time #[nn] (2025), Titanes Planetarios #185
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