Strange Adventures #79
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeStrange Adventures #79 is a well-representative example of DC's mid-Silver Age science fiction anthology formula at its most confident: a clever inversion premise (the aliens' weakness is the very thing their chosen disguise—snowmen—is made of) delivered in six tight pages. Its cover by Gil Kane, depicting animated snowmen attacking a suburban neighborhood, became one of the more-discussed images from the series' long run, cited by collectors as a standout among Strange Adventures covers that didn't rely on the era's gorilla-cover craze. The issue also showcases Darwin Jones, one of DC's recurring 'science detective' figures, demonstrating how Strange Adventures built a loose stable of proto-heroes years before the Silver Age superhero revival fully took hold. It sits squarely in the creative window when editor Julius Schwartz was fielding the sharpest writers and artists in DC's stable for short-form science fiction storytelling.
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Published with an April 1957 cover date, the issue was produced under the dual editorial oversight of Julius Schwartz and editor-in-chief Whitney Ellsworth, the standard arrangement for Strange Adventures at the time. Schwartz oversaw the Darwin Jones lead story, pairing veteran writer Gardner Fox with penciler Carmine Infantino and inker Bernard Sachs — a creative team he relied on heavily during this period. The anthology format meant other stories in the same issue were handled by separate writer-artist teams, including Edmond Hamilton, France Herron, Sid Greene, and Joe Giella, with cover art by Gil Kane. No single dominant production context beyond Schwartz's editorial direction is documented for this specific issue.
Trivia · 8 facts
- Cover date: April 1957; part of Strange Adventures Volume 1, DC Comics' first dedicated science fiction anthology title.
- Cover art penciled and drawn by Gil Kane, cited by collector commentary as one of the more striking covers in the series' run — animated snowmen attacking a suburban street.
- Lead story: 'Invaders from the Ice World!' — energy beings from Pluto possess snowmen to prepare an Earth invasion; defeated by Darwin Jones using extreme cold, not heat, in a classic Silver Age 'paradox solution' structure.
- Features Darwin Jones of the DSI (Department of Scientific Investigation), a recurring DC science-detective character who first appeared in Strange Adventures #1 (1950), created by David V. Reed and Paul Norris.
- Issue #79 was one of several irregular Darwin Jones appearances in 1957 (alongside #76 and #77); editor Julius Schwartz used different creative teams for each Jones outing, with no enforced continuity.
- Additional stories in the issue: 'Around the Universe in 1 Billion Years!,' 'A Switch in Time!,' and 'The Living Automobile!' — writers include Edmond Hamilton and France Herron; artists include Sid Greene, Joe Giella, and Carmine Infantino.
- The issue was reprinted in black and white in Showcase Presents: Strange Adventures Vol. 2 (DC Comics, November 2013), which collects Strange Adventures #74–93.
- Issue falls in the early Silver Age (1956–1969 era classification), predating the title's later landmark issues such as the first appearance of Animal Man (#180, 1965) and Deadman (#205, 1967).
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Reprints
Reprinted in Strange Adventures #40 (1958), Aventures Fiction #9 (1959), Sidéral #12 (1959), Aventures Fiction #12 (1959), Titanes Planetarios #76 (1959), Big Boss #38 (1978), Big Boss #40 (1979), Showcase Presents: Strange Adventures #2 (2014)
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