WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Strange Adventures #1, by Tom King, Mitch Gerads, Evan "Doc" Shaner and Clayton Cowles, on sale now.

Strange Adventures #1 unites two very different eras of DC Comics through its art, by which is Mitch Gerads and Evan "Doc" Shaner. Having two separate artists working in tandem for one book with a single story is highly unusual. However, it makes sense for Strange Adventures because the story covers two time periods of Adam Strange's life. One story, drawn by Shaner, follows Adam Strange's adventure battling the Pykkt to defend the planet Rann. The other, drawn by Gerads, follows Adam Strange on a press tour for his memoir detailing his last year of the war. Each timeline portrays a distinct era of the DC Universe through the artists' distinct styles.

Gerads is considered one of the defining artists of the current generation of DC Comics, which makes him a perfect choice for the modern portion of this story. Gerards' style features heavy shadowing and darker shades of color, which has set the tone for modern DC comics. He doesn't use hard outlines -- which often make panels and scenes feel very separated -- and the lack of concentrated distinctions between the characters and the world around them allows the colors to almost blend together. His approach to the story is a more grounded, if not grittier depiction of reality. Gerads' panels focus on slice-of-life events rather than operatic space scenes, so the style matches perfectly.

A prime example of his use of a darker blended color palette is his use of yellow through his panels. In Strange's hotel room, there is a drab yellow wallpaper that seems to bleed into everything. We even see yellow in Strange's helmet, which is a stark contrast to the polished white from the Silver Age part of the story.

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Shaner invokes much of the iconic Silver Age in his art. He uses vivid colors that are full of life, reminiscent of sci-fi pulp comics. Everything glows and there are no dark shades blending things together. Bombastic battle scenes are bolstered by brightly colored enemies that Adam must face. A major distinction between the two artists and eras is how Shaner portrays Adam's shimmering red costume. Every portion of Strange's suit is noticeably distinct from the others thanks to heavy inking. These hard lines make Strange and his flashy, red suit stand out in every panel.

Strange Adventures featuring two very different but evocative artists allows the art to successfully drive the themes of the story -- and the simultaneous timelines -- without relying on exposition or heavy dialogue. Shaner's bombastic, Silver Age-style colors depict a much happier time of adventure untethered from realism. Silver Age comics were often vibrantly pulpy without as many dark undertones as we see in modern DC comics. The character art has stark outlines that give them an almost cartoonish feel in Shaner's half of the story. These distinguish Strange from his surroundings and make him the centerpiece of each panel, which both highlights what he's doing and pulls focus from the fact that he is at war. Meanwhile, Gerads' use of color and lack of hard outlines demonstrates the morally gray nature of the modern superhero. All of the modern looks at Strange's costume are free of the crisp distinction that this man is a hero.

Related: Strange Adventures #1 Is a Raw, Postmodern Take On DC's Cosmic Hero

Violence is prevalent in both Strange Adventures timelines but is portrayed very differently through each artist's style. When Shaner draws Adam fighting giant alien lizards and robots, we see him as a hero beating up foes with no noticeable casualties. The only death we see is a robot, who perishes in a huge explosion. There is no blood or anything graphic and the bright art hides the fact that this is one skirmish in a long war.

However, when we see violence in the modern age, there is a much more realistic tone to it. The closest brush with a battle in Gerads' portion of the story is a grisly murder scene depicted on television. His art shows the bloody fallout and the whimsical fun of the Silver Age clashes melts away in contrast to the cold reality of violence in modern comics.

Both artists portray drastically different eras for Adam Strange and for the DC Universe itself. As the series progresses, we may see the two styles begin to collide more as the timelines grow closer together. The distinct optimism of the Silver Age may start to tarnish as it grows closer to the uncertainty of the modern era.

Strange Adventures #2 releases April 1 from DC.

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