WARNING: The following contains spoilers from Strange Adventures #9 by Tom King, Mitch Gerads, Evan "Doc" Shaner, and Clayton Cowles, on sale now.
War can push soldiers to new depths and heights, with the stresses and challenges of unending battle sometimes bringing out the worst in people. In the DC Universe, such an effect has been shown to be a major part of Adam Strange's life, especially in light of his actions during the Pyykt war.
And in Strange Adventures #9, Adam Strange's previous actions during the war with the Pyykts took a seriously dark turn that saw him and his allies slaughtering thousands of soldiers in a single night.
The Pykkt army has been one of the primary threats throughout Strange Adventures, with the alien horde laying siege to Raan in the past and attacking Earth in the present. Although Adam Strange has so far been portrayed as a hero to the public, there are questions to his actions -- with one of his worst acts now coming to light. During the conflict between Raan and the Pykkts, Adam Strange found himself becoming increasingly brutal with his enemies, especially after being held in confinement and tortured for a time. The death of his daughter -- something Mister Terrific actively doubts happened -- was seemingly the final straw and motivated him to carry out more vicious attacks.
In the dead of night during the war, Adam Strange snuck into a large base full of unaware Pykkt forces. While his ally Hellotaat army attacked the base directly and serving as a distraction, Strange was able to place and shoot a canister hidden within his jet pack, releasing a deadly toxin into the base. It quickly proves to be a lethal and effective gas, bringing down a Pykkt soldier with ease. It spreads fast through the base, striking down more and more of the Pyykt forces. With the advancing Hellotaat army, the surviving soldiers within the base are forced to flee out through the north gates -- right into a trap laid by Strange and the Rock Queen. Adam even jokes about sparing the soldiers -- and orders the rock queen to activate her trap.
The ground underneath the fleeing army is ripped open, leaving them all to fall to their deaths --all in one fell swoop. It's a brutal act and helps cement the idea that Adam Strange committed some actions in the war that genuinely earned the hate of the Pyykt army. When the truth is revealed on Earth, humanity is shown having a mixed reaction to this truth. The Justice League officially bars him from membership over these actions, but members of the press quickly come to his defense. Alanna even ends up defending his actions in an interview, saying that she's proud of her husband's actions, due to how they were used to help bring down armies of enemies.
It is inarguably a grim act, however, and the sort of strategy that would force the other heroes of the DC Universe to consider his actions as unbecoming of their efforts to save lives above all else. Even if the act could be considered a justifiable act of war, Adam Strange is directly responsible for a lot of deaths. On Earth, an attack on an unsuspecting base -- and the wholesale slaughter of so many soldiers -- would be considered a war crime, and may have even been a major reason why the Pyykt army hated Adam Strange enough to come to Earth -- and continue the cycle of violence, even leading to the destruction of the cities like Phoenix.
KEEP READING: Strange Adventures Solves One DC Mystery And Sets Up Another