Showcase #17
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeShowcase #17 (cover-dated December 1958) launched one of the Silver Age's most distinctive heroes, marking the first appearances of Adam Strange, his love interest Alanna, and her scientist father Sardath — the entire core cast of the Rann mythology — in a single issue. The concept of a contemporary Earth archaeologist repeatedly teleported to an alien world by a device grounded in real astronomy gave DC's science-fiction line a romantic, puzzle-driven formula that stood apart from the cape-and-punch mainstream. The Showcase tryout succeeded commercially and led directly to a nearly fifty-issue run as the cover feature of Mystery in Space, cementing Adam Strange as the defining space-hero of the early Silver Age. The character's influence stretches across decades, from Alan Moore's 1980s retcons to Tom King's 2020 Strange Adventures miniseries, demonstrating the durability of the original premise introduced here.
"Secret of the Eternal City!" in Showcase #17 (1958) kicks off with Adam’s sudden zeta-beam teleportation to Rann, where he’s captured by tribesmen who see him as a threat to their "Rainbow Doom." Written by Gardner Fox and Edmond Hamilton, with art by Mike Sekowsky and inks by Frank Giacoia and Joe Giella, the story unfolds as Adam is sent to Anthorann—home of Alanna and Sardath, survivors of a crash from Samakand’s lost knowledge. Cover by Gil Kane, the issue blends sci-fi mystery and early interplanetary adventure, setting the stage for a high-stakes clash with Morleen invaders wielding a diamondium pendulum.
In "Secret of the Eternal City!" from Showcase #17 (1958), an Earth archaeologist named Adam is suddenly whisked away by a zeta-beam to the distant planet Rann, where he meets the enigmatic Alanna and the scientist Sardath. As alien invaders known as The Eternals lay siege to Rann, Adam and Alanna race toward the hidden, Brigadoon-like city of Samakand in search of a rare life-metal called vitatron. The story unfolds with quiet urgency, blending cosmic mystery and ancient wonder—no heroes return unchanged, and the zeta-beam waits.
In "The Planet and the Pendulum!", Adam is zapped by a zeta-beam and stranded on Rann, where he’s captured by tribesmen who see him as a sacrifice to their "Rainbow Doom" device—only to find it’s a malfunctioning teleporter that sends him to the sister planet Anthorann. There, he meets Alanna and Sardath, survivors of a crash from Samakand, and dons a Rann spacesuit to defend New Ranagar from invaders wielding a diamondium pendulum that slices through its dome.
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The issue was born out of a 1957 directive from DC editorial director Irwin Donenfeld, who challenged editors Julius Schwartz and Jack Schiff each to develop a new science-fiction hero — one from the present day and one from the future. Given first choice, Schiff took the future (producing Space Ranger), leaving Schwartz, a science-fiction agent and enthusiast since his youth, to build a present-day hero. Schwartz conceived the Zeta-Beam premise — an Earthman periodically transported to a planet in the Alpha Centauri system — and developed it collaboratively with writer Gardner Fox; their plots were hammered out in Schwartz's office, with Fox scripting at home. Murphy Anderson designed the costume and produced the first cover sketch, which Schwartz rejected, commissioning a replacement from Gil Kane while retaining Anderson's costume design; penciler Mike Sekowsky and inker Bernie Sachs handled the interior art. Schwartz's background as a science major allowed him to feed Fox accurate astronomical and scientific details, giving the stories a plausibility that distinguished them from most contemporaneous SF comics.
Trivia · 8 facts
- First appearance of Adam Strange — archaeologist, Silver Age science-fiction hero — in the story 'Secret of the Eternal City' (cover date December 1958, on-sale November 1958).
- First appearance of Alanna, Rannian warrior and Adam Strange's love interest, who rescues Adam upon his arrival on Rann.
- First appearance of Sardath, chief scientist of Ranagar and Alanna's father, inventor of the Zeta-Beam communication/teleportation device.
- The issue contains two complete Adam Strange stories; it is in the second story, 'The Planet and the Pendulum,' that Adam acquires his classic look — jetpack and ray gun — from equipment aboard Sardath's downed spacecraft.
- The cover was penciled by Gil Kane; interior art was by Mike Sekowsky (pencils) and Bernie Sachs (inks); Gardner Fox wrote the scripts; Julius Schwartz edited.
- The issue's banner heading reads 'Adventures on Other Worlds' — Adam Strange's name did not appear on a Showcase masthead until issue #19.
- Strong tryout sales led directly to Adam Strange becoming the cover feature of Mystery in Space starting with issue #53 (1959), where the character ran for nearly fifty consecutive issues — primarily drawn by Carmine Infantino.
- The stories from this issue have been reprinted in The Adam Strange Archives Vol. 1, Showcase Presents: Adam Strange Vol. 1, and Adam Strange: The Silver Age Omnibus (2017), all published by DC.
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Reprints
Reprinted in All Favourites, The 100-Page Comic #12 (1959), The Hundred Comic Monthly #32 (1959), Sidéral #27 (1960), Secret Origins #1 (1961), Strange Adventures #217 (1969), Strange Adventures #218 (1969), Flash #28 (1976), Big Boss #45 (1980), Mysteries in Space: The Best of DC Science Fiction Comics #[nn] (1980), The Essential Showcase 1956-1959 #[nn] (1993), Secret Origins Replica Edition #1 (1998), The Adam Strange Archives #1 (2004), Showcase Presents: Adam Strange #1 (2007), DC Universe Secret Origins #[nn] (2012), Showcase Presents: Showcase #1 (2012), DC Universe: Secret Origins #[nn] (2013), DC Comics Graphic Novel Collection #48 (2016), Adam Strange: The Silver Age Omnibus #[nn] (2017), Mysteries of Love in Space #1 (2019), All Star Adventure Comic #59, Marvila, la Mujer Maravilla #48
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