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    Showcase #17

    Showcase » Showcase #17 - Secret of the Eternal City; The Planet and the Pendulum released by DC Comics on December 1958.

    Short summary describing this issue.

    Secret of the Eternal City; The Planet and the Pendulum last edited by MickRory on 04/28/23 08:02AM View full history

    Zapped by the Zeta-Beam, Adam Strange is teleported, not to Rann, but to Anthorann, a neighboring planet; escaping barbarians and their "Rainbow Doom" (a teleporter), he meets Alanna and Sardath, who had used knowledge from Samakand scientists to journey to Anthorann.

    Secret of the Eternal City!

    Adam Strange's first encounter with the Zeta Beam
    Adam Strange's first encounter with the Zeta Beam

    On the Peruvian Plateau of the Andes Mountains, archaeologist Adam Strange discovers the lost Inca city of Caramanga. Finding a treasure of gold, Adam is assaulted by natives determined to not let his discovery reach the outside world. With no place left to run, Adam jumps off a cliff, but instead of plunging to his death, he finds himself teleported to a jungle with creatures not native to Earth.

    A flying ship saves him from one of these creatures, and a beautiful woman comes out. She speaks a language Adam does not recognize, yet Adam makes out that her name is Alanna, and she wishes to bring him to a place called Ranagar. Alanna brings him onboard her flying ship, and shows him the wonders of this new planet. Alanna brings him to a small laboratory, where a balding scientist attaches a headband to him. The headband, a menticizer, instantly teaches Adam their language.

    Adam finds out he is on the planet Rann, orbiting the star Alpha Centauri, in the lab of Sardath, Alanna’s father. Four years ago, Rann transmitted a Zeta Beam to Earth to communicate. Evidently, the beam now serves as a teleportation conduit between Earth and Rann. However, due to the rotation of both planets, the beam intersects at different locations at different windows. Alanna offers to take Adam on a tour of Rann.

    While visiting the coastal city of Kamorak, Rann is assaulted by spaceships. Heading back to Sardath’s lab, Adam and Alanna find out that the attacking aliens are called the Eternals. They come seeking Vitatron, a rare element. The only place to find Vitatron on Rann is in Samakand, the city that only appears every 25 years. Samakand reappears from the fourth dimension, just as the Eternals attack. Adam Strange, in a commandeered spaceship, stalls the Eternals. The Eternals finally land in Samakand, just as it disappears again. The Eternals are trapped. However, just as Alanna and Adam celebrate, Adam fades as the Zeta Beam wears off, returning him to Earth. Adam vows to go to the next Zeta Beam location in 62 days and return to Rann.

    The Planet and the Pendulum!

    Saving New Ranagar
    Saving New Ranagar

    Adam Strange has traveled to the coast of Singapore, where he awaits the next Zeta Beam to Rann. The beam strikes him, bringing him to a Rann he does not recognize. Instead of advanced technology, he finds a barbaric race. Two bystanders call him a sorcerer from Ranagar, and capture him. They bring Adam to Chief Zoora, leader of the ruined city of Yardana. Zoora places Adam in the Rainbow Doom, which teleports him someplace else.

    Finding a wrecked spaceship, Adam also discovers Sardath and Alanna. They are on Anthorann, a neighboring planet of Rann. When the Samakand joined Rann society, they brought new technology that Rann brought to the primitive tribes. However, the tribes saw the other Rannians as sorcerers and banished them to Anthorann. Adam contacts Rann’s city of New Ranagar on Anthorann, and asks for a pickup.

    A New Ranagar patrol comes, but warns them to hurry, because Anthorann is under attack by the alien Morleen. The Morleen plan on using a large pendulum blade to slice through the domed city of New Ranagar. Adam destroys the fulcrum of the pendulum, saving New Ranagar. However, just as he finishes, the Zeta Beam wears off, returning him to Earth.

    Vignettes:

    • “Look to the Stars!”
    • “Our Strange Universe!”
    • “Curious Comets”
    • “The Three-in-One Star”
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