Mystery in Space #74 is an issue of the series Mystery in Space (Volume 1) with a cover date of March, 1962.
Synopsis for "The Spaceman Who Fought Himself!"
As Alanna prepares to meet Adam at his next arrival point on the planet Rann, Alanna is surprised to find somebody who she thinks is Adam Strange, but unable to speak the language of Ranagar, she takes "Adam" back with her to use the Menticizer to teach him the Ranagar language once more. Meanwhile on Earth, the real Adam Strange is rocketing across the Pacific ocean where he finds a saves a woman on a boat that's caught in the powerful typhoon that's hitting the ocean, and manages to catch the Zeta-Beam in time. Finding that Alanna isn't there to meet him, Adam travels to Ranagar alone to Alanna's home and finds her Menticizing somebody who strongly resembles him.
Wondering who this "other Adam" is, the use the Menticizers to communicate with the being telepathically, and the being introduces himself as Hortan Var. Horatan explains that he comes from another dimension where he is also a great hero like Adam Strange. He explains that his people the Kai are under the rule of evil warlords, and that he had invented a teleportation device that would allow him to dispose of the warlords to Rann's dimension. Being exposed by a spy, the warlords bombarded Hortan with Mu radiation so that they could monitor everything Hortan sees and hears in the other dimension (to foil any attempts at returning to his home dimension) and used his own device to transport him to Rann's dimension.
With the Menticizer allowing them to communicate in a way that could not be monitored by the warlords of Kai, Adam, Alanna and Hortan begin devising a plan to get Hortan back home to overthrow his masters. Adam vocally challenges Hortan to a duel because he is "sick" of the imposer being around him. And the two dress in identical outfits, and Hortan reveals that he's "planned" to take Adam's place. The two "battle" outside Rann, where they fake Hortan's death. Later Adam uses the dimensional transporter to travel to Kai. However when he activates the machine he finds that he is on a baron dead dimensional world.
There Adam is greeted by a disembodied voice that informs him the whole story about Hortan Var and the dimension of Kai was all a hoax, and that he is on the dead world of Maragol. The voice explains that they are really a group of space warriors that plunder planet and their next target was planet Rann and that they had devised their current plot in order to get Adam Strange off the planet Rann. The voice then explains that when the Zeta-Beam returns Adam to Earth, they will determine where he will appear on Rann the next time he attempts to travel there and kill him on the spot. The voice then leave Adam to contemplate his situation.
Coming up with a solution, Adam holds onto the transporter device as the Zeta-Beam wears off, transporting him and the device back to Earth.
With the last of the fuel, Adam transports himself to his lab in Australia where he analysis the device and creates a new fuel cell for it. He then uses it to transport himself back to Rann, fooling the invaders into thinking that he did not take the next Zeta-Beam to Rann from Earth. He then finds Alanna who tells him that the Kai invaders from Maragol quickly took over Ranagar, and freed Hortan Var, who spares their lives because they treated him so well.
Adam then creates a giant teleportation device out of a large lense and tricks the Kai forces to be under it just as it is activated and they are returned to the dead planet Maragol. With the device being given enough fuel to transport them back to that world, the Kai invaders would be trapped with no way off the planet. As an added surprise, Adam reveals that since he used the teleportation device provided by the Kai invaders to return to Rann, he no longer has to worry about a Zeta-Beam wearing off and returning him to Earth.
Appearing in "The Spaceman Who Fought Himself!"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
- Horatan Var
Other Characters: Locations:
Items:
Vehicles:
Synopsis for "Where Is the Paradise of Space?"
Appearing in "Where Is the Paradise of Space?"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
- Xanathar
Other Characters:
Locations:
Items:
Vehicles:
- Star Rover space vessels
Notes
- Reprinted in The Adam Strange Archives Vol. 2.
See Also