Sinister Spacial Strangers: Horton Var & Rayer

Of all the adversaries who faced archaeologist turned adventurer Adam Strange, one was a mirror image of the hero. Horton Var of the other-dimensional world known as Kai appeared on Rann-One, in place of Adam who had intended to journey there from his native Earth-One via a Zeta Beam. Var explained to Strange and his fiancee Alanna that he was a great scientist of Kai, and was exiled from his world by its warlord. Theorizing that by taking Horton's place he could help bring about the collapse of its dictatorship. Staging a battle between the two, the pair made it appear that Var died in the conflict, in order to severe the video-feed placed on him by the warlords. Then, Adam traveled to where he thought was Kai using Var’s teleporter.

A group of Specialists residing on a domed city orbiting Earth-Two, originating from the Rann of that universe, invaded the world below. Hawkman encountered the aliens*, trying to educate them on the morals of humanity which differed from their own. Among their number was the energy projector known as Rayer**.

Upon arriving at his intended destination, Adam Strange quickly discovered the truth, there was no world of Kai in another dimension. Horton and his fellow raiders, traveling through space, devised this scheme to lure Rann's primary protector from that planet, allowing them the opportunity to conquer it for themselves. Using the machine which brought him to a barren world, he was able to return to Rann and lured Var along with his confederates to Maragol where they had intended Adam to remain stranded.

When the Hawkman proved unsuccessful in converting the Specialists into more lawful conduct, he instead helped them repair their city's engines. This allowed them to resume their voyage through space, either to return to their home world or to torment another civilization elsewhere in the universe.

* Adam Strange's Earth-Two counterpart, Hop Harrigan, was occupied at the time trying to save his scientist friend Professor Twink, while capturing his old foe Naja Hana. Hana aka the Black Cobra, like Cobra of Earth-One, was a global treat to peace. Due to this, Harrigan didn't have opportunity to meet Rayer and the Specialists.

** Horton Var was equipped with a ray gun and jet pack for flight. Rayer seemingly displayed inherent powers allowing him to project rays from his hands, which also produced an anti-gravitational effect. Although both Rannian societies developed technology farther advanced than that found on the Earths, some of the inhabitants of Rann-Two also possessed mutant abilities that their Rann-One counterparts could only reproduce through artificial means.