Challengers of the Unknown

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Challengers of the Unknown is the title of a series of comic books published by the US publisher DC-Comics since 1957.

The comics in the series are traditionally about the daring missions of a group of four daring adventurers who routinely get to the bottom of "inexplicable" and "paranormal" incidents especially newer versions of the material add elements of mystery comics to the concept.

The American Jack Kirby is considered to be the originator of the series , although it is not entirely clear whether Kirby only developed the visual design of the characters and scenes of action for the Challengers or whether he also provided the idea for the series. In addition to Kirby, the brothers Dick and Dave Wood, who wrote the first comics about the Challengers of the Unknown, before Kirby, in addition to his work as a draftsman, also took on the task of authoring later comics, are considered possible "intellectual fathers" of the characters. It is therefore unclear whether the Woods had the original idea for the series, or whether the idea for the Challengers goes back to Kirby and the Woods simply took a basic action concept and scenario devised by Kirby himself and based on this wrote stories for Kirby, which he himself staged visually.

Publications under the Challengers of the Unknown title

The first story about the Challengers of the Unknown was published in February 1957 in issue # 6 of the Showcase anthology series published by DC Comics . After three more showcase issues with Challengers stories (# 7, 11, 12), DC began in 1958 with the publication of a first independent series about the Challengers of the Unknown, which had the name of the group as the title.

This series was initially published every two months from 1958 to 1971 before it was initially discontinued with issue # 77. After a little more than two years of publication pause, three reprint editions followed in 1973, which reprinted stories from earlier editions of the series, but continued the old numbering as issues # 78 to 80.

In 1977 they finally dared - after having published three new Challengers stories in issues # 8-10 of the series Super-Team Family with modest success - to a regular resumption of the old series. This new series, however, only reached seven issues, labeled # 81 to 87, and was discontinued as early as 1978.

After a long pause in publication, an eight-part mini-series, written by Jeph Loeb and drawn by Tim Sale, followed in 1991 , which, in the old fashion, was called Challengers of the Unknown. The production of a second series following on from this mini-series did not materialize in the end. Instead, the eight issues of the 1991 miniseries were released in 2004 under the title Challengers of the Unknown Must Die! reissued as an anthology.

In 1997, DC launched a new, ongoing Challengers of the Unknown series that reached eighteen issues and ran through 1998. The American Steven Grant took over the writing job .

Most recently, a six-part, designed by Howard Chaykin , mini-series about the Challengers was published in 2004-2005 , which was later reissued as a paperback under the title Challengers of the Unknown: Stolen Moments, Borrowed Time.

There is also a 1974 novel by Ron Goulart, briefly titled Challengers of the Unknown, which is about the Challengers' hunt for a group of South American neo-Nazis, their fight against robot dogs, adventures with a Loch Ness-like monster and the like.

The plot of the original Challengers series (1958-1978)

Most of the Challengers of the Unknown stories start from a serious plane crash, which four of the occupants of the plane miraculously survive. Due to their scarce survival, they "come to the" realization "that their life is nothing more than" living on borrowed time "anyway, the four of them form a group and decide from now on to" challenge "life. by taking it to its limits through death-defying adventures.

The quartet consists of the pilot Kyle "Ace" Morgan , the daring daredevil Matthew "Red" Ryan , the strong, if somewhat dumb, Leslie "Rocky" Davis and the scientist Walter Mark "Prof" Haley . The challenges that the Challengers will have to deal with below include classic sci-fi threats such as aliens, monsters, robots, dschinis, crazy scientists and the like. In relatively formulaic stories, the Challenger solve puzzles, help other people with problems and, time and again, the government. The Challengers meet other DC characters like the Sea Devils, the Swamp Thing or the undead Deadman, travel through space, time and even into other dimensions.

With the young archaeologist and computer specialist Chalune Robbins , a first female member joins the team ("girl challenger"), who is later followed by a second with the mystic Corinna Starks and a third with the young June Robbins.

The plot of the second Challengers series (1997-1998)

The Challengers series, which started in 1997, contained stories reminiscent of the X-Files television series about a group of four "mystery detectives" who solved all sorts of actual or apparently supernatural incidents.

This second group consists of NASCAR driver Clay Brody, doctor Brenda Ruskin, game designer Kenn Kawa, and pilot Marlon Corbet. This second Challengers group competes against a satanist sect, against zombies, ghosts, an Amazon cult, monsters, mass suicides, living buildings and other obscurities. Rocky Davis appeared in this series as the background mentor of the "second generation" of the Challengers, who primarily gave the group advice and instructions. The series eventually ends with both Challengers groups fighting together against a mad scientist who was intricately responsible for the plane crash that made the original team possible.

Reprints

So far, two paperback and three hardcover anthologies have been published that reprint old Challengers stories:

• Challengers of the Unknown Archive # 1 (contains stories from Showcase # 6, 7, 11, 12, and Challengers # 1 and 2).
• Challengers of the Unknown Archive # 2 (contains stories from Challengers # 3–8)
• Showcase Presents Challengers of the Unknown (includes Showcase 6, 7, 11, 12, and Challengers # 1–17)