Sunday, December 10, 2017

Challengers Of The Unknown - Year Two!





The Challengers of the Unknown got their own title, a successful couple of runs in Showcase to their credit. the powers that be at DC knew they had a winner. Four men living on borrowed time battling the weirdest menaces imaginable. Ace Morgan, the brave and bold test pilot; Rocky Davis, a brash boxing champ; Prof Haley, resourceful and savvy scientist; and Red Ryan, a cocky but capable daredevil. These four men along with late recruit June Walker, a notable scientist in her own right, confronted bizarre menaces from outer space, inner space, and the crime-rich streets of America and beyond. They are globe-trotters supreme, able to jet across the world to see what adventure was next on the roster.


In their debut issue the team confronts an evil scientist named Tagorian who has massive lab hidden in a mountain uses his equipment to snatch impossible creatures and machines from other dimensions. Then they find themselves captured by an enormous alien who turns out to be a kid looking for  some intriguing playthings. With the second issue June pretends to be a traitor to save the other Challengers from themselves as they face the threat of a weird beast from the depths of the Earth. Then they face another evil scientist, this named Mycroft who is able to conjure beasts from myth and the imagination to battle the team. In the third issue they battle against hoods who steal the magical mirror of Kregon the Sorcerer and face off against a magical giant and a magical giant bird. Then an experiment gone wrong exposes Rocky to deadly radiation in space that makes able to throw fire, frost, lightning, turn invisible, grow to great heights, and more. The fourth issue takes the team across time as the confront a villain named Tiko who has brought men from ancient Greece and Egypt to steal. The team travels to the ancient worlds of Greece and Egypt to find their foe and end up eventually in the far future of the year 3000. They barely escape but as always find a way to live longer on their borrowed time.


Most of these stories were written by Jack Kirby and feature the inks of Marvin Stein. The fourth issue introduces the sleek inks of Wally Wood and the Challs never looked better. If the stories feel familiar, it's because the Fantastic Four would have similar adventures. It's clear that Kirby had a great deal of input on the early FF stories as he cribs from himself regularly.


More to come next week as we wrap up with the third year of the Challengers, the final by Jack "King" Kirby.

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