World Famous Comics: Challengers of the Unknown Archives, Vol. 1 (DC Archive Editions)
Challengers of the Unknown Archives, Vol. 1 (DC Archive Editions)
By: Jack Kirby, Dave Wood Publisher: DC Comics Average Rating: Binding: Hardcover Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 168 Publication Date: August 01, 2003 Release Date: August 01, 2003 Studio: DC Comics
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Product Description: CHALLENGERS OF THE UNKNOWN ARCHIVES VOL. 1 reprints the original 1950s tales of four death defying adventurers and their impossible and unimaginable exploits. After surviving the crash of a small aircraft, test pilot Ace Morgan, daredevil Red Ryan, heavyweight boxing champ Rocky Davis, and marine scientist Professor Haley unite themselves in a mission to explore the unexplainable for the good of mankind. This beautiful hardcover edition tells the earliest adventurers of these four men of different backgrounds and personalities as they encounter powerful aliens, deadly robots, and creatures of unknown origins.
I Challenge the Unknown every time I eat at Taco Bell! :) ^ Red, Prof, Rocky and Ace, a daredevil, a scientist, a champion wrestler and a test pilot, are the Challengers of the Unknown. (Weren't there any Nicks or Steves?) To me, when I was a little Hammockrider, the Challengers sounded like Doc Savage's men, except without Doc Savage. And who cares about Doc Savage's men without Doc himself? I wasn't really interested in reading about the Challengers because reading about Doc's group without Doc would be like seeing an olde tyme Yankee game without seeing Babe Ruth or Lou Gehrig play. You don't want to see the spear-carrier; you want to see the Main Man, the Hero. I wanted capes and powers, not just a couple of guys, any of which I thought I could easily grow into as an adult.
Then a few years passed and I was old enough to try to actually accomplish something academically, athletically or what have you. And I realized that it's REALLY HARD to get really good at anything. It takes work and discipline to achieve almost anything worthwhile. And that's when I realized how great a team was the Challengers of the Unknown. Here were four guys who, armed only with their own guts, wits and skills were not only adventuring in an outrageous comic book universe but they were thriving in it. Sure they were smart and strong and brave but for the most part their abilities fell within the range of actual humans. That made them not only more heroic when they battled the fantastic minions of evil; it made their stories more exciting. They couldn't count on super-speed or a power ring or adamantium claws to pull them out of a jam. The reader didn't know how they were going to pull it off this time. They were living on borrowed time and you never knew when that time was up. I think that's one of the reasons why they're so much fun.
This book is a nicely bound and printed collection of a few of the Challengers' earlier exploits.
SHOWCASE #6-Secrets of the Sorcerer's Box- It's the boys' famous origin story. They all miraculously survive a plane crash and decide that because they're living on borrowed time they can afford to take risks and challenge the unknown. A self-proclaimed descendent of Merlin, himself a sorcerer, offers the Challengers 2 million dollars if they can successfully open a mysterious, glyph covered, four chambered box which contains wonders unseen since the dawn of man. Of course the wizard wouldn't have hired the Challengers if he thought opening it was a safe bet.
SHOWCASE #7-Ultivac is Loose!!!! - The Challengers are sitting around wondering what new adventure awaits them when in runs a former Nazi mad scientist and Felix Hesse, chased by a giant, mind-reading, super smart computerized robot of his own design. (No emergency off button?!) When the Challengers consult a beautiful computer/robotics expert for help in scrapping the walking junk heap, her own computer delivers this prediction: For Ultivac to fall a Challenger must die!!!
SHOWCASE #11-The Day the Earth Blew Up!! - An alien race with an auxiliary brain tries to take over the Earth by destroying some of its mass and thereby weakening it's gravity. The extra brain allows them to anticipate a human's every action in advance, making them impossible to surprise. Too bad they didn't factor the Challengers into the equation!
SHOWCASE #12-Menace of the Ancient Vials!!! - The Challengers furiously chase Karnak, enemy master spy, to an isolated island in the middle of the ocean, which is home to an aged alchemist. Karnak and his men find lost potions with which they usher in Vast Dark Powers, which were banished from Earth before the Birth of Civilization!
CHALLENGERS OF THE UNKNOWN #1-THe Man Who Tampered With Infinity! -Those pesky mad scientists just can't stay out of trouble. If only we had the Internet back then to keep them occupied. Anyhow, this one opens up a gateway to another dimension and unleashes Creatures Not of This Earth! Then, in The Human Pets, The Challengers are captured by an alien and kept in a cage just like his space hamster. Well, hopefully not "just Like".
CHALLENGERS OF THE UNKNOWN #2-The Traitorous Challenger- While fighting a radioactive monster the Challengers learn that one of their own will die by a Challenger's hand! Then, in MONSTER MAKER, an arch-villain gains the power to create monsters from the depths of his imagination. The only way to defeat him is for a Challenger to take that power for himself. But will the power help the Challenger, or drive him...mad?
Some of the stories are a bit clunky and short on humor, which always mixes well with action, but most of the adventures are fun and action-packed. I like to think of the Challengers as a whole team of Indiana Jones', taking on dangers that no single Jones could stand against. This is old-fashioned simple but fun Saturday afternoon matinee type stuff without the boring newsreel. And you gotta love any group that keeps their closets so well stocked with bazookas.
For Kirby fanatics only ^ DC has done an excellent job in the reproduction of this and its companion volume. The quality of the art and color are clear, sharp and first rate. So don't hesitate to buy these 2 volumes if you're concerned about the technical aspects. The problem is simply that these stories are pretty forgettable. Jack Kirby's art is decent enough given the constraints of DC's house style, but lacks the dynamics of the monster stuff he was doing at Marvel at the same time. There are moments of imagination and inspiration, but they are few and far between. The Challengers themselves are totally uninteresting as characters -- they have no personalities, and have no real interplay with one another. The fact that they all wear the same dull purple jumpsuits only accentuates their lack of individuality. The plots are mostly straightforward, lacking the plot twists or the cleverness that were the hallmarks of DC's best writers (Gardner Fox, John Broome, Edmond Hamilton). Reading these stories makes it clear why this was one of DC's second string titles. Of the 2 volumes, volume 2 is the better one, in that most of the stories are inked by the great Wally Wood. So, if you're a Kirby fanatic, you'll want this in your library. But if you're looking for content that's entertaining, you can do better.
Kirby without Stan Lee ^ This Archive Edition of four Showcase tryouts and the first two issues of Challengers of the Unknown presents a delightful kalidescope of romping Jack Kirby action. Very different from anything else in the late 1950's DC universe.The Showcase issues are each one very long and complexly developed story unlike most of the '50s period DC comics that favored multiple stories. This is just one of many touches that prefigure aspects and characteristics of the Marvel renaissance several years in the future.Part of the joy of this collection is picking out pieces of the future Marvel Universe : a whole story that parallels FF#24 the Infant Terrible, along with monsters and dragons similar to preheroe Marvel horror issues, along with a rock creature with a hide like the Thing and robots that look like Ironman. The list goes on and on. The ProtoMarvel aspect is not the only reason to buy this book, however. The stories and art are fantastic, with Jack Kirby at his peak creating a kinetic collage of action and a plethora of monsters and threats that are truely dizzing per issue. Just like the Fourth World series of books in the 1970's these stories give you a chance to see what KIrby could do without Stan Lee and it is terrific, but also telling, in the absence of the Marvel magic that Stan contributed. No real humor, no flip, hip dialogue and no Shakespearian introspection.After reading these wonderful stories you can see how special the Lee/Kirby team really was. Archive Editions are great but expensive--this one is worth every penny IF you are a Kirby fan. The stories are a hard to describe mix of H.P. Lovecraft and SciFi. Truely fantastic, but unimaginable to me that any 1950's DC editor would not have his head spinning then go into seizures to see this stuff printed with a DC logo. Kirby did not stay long on this series .Volume 2 ,in the future , has the rest of his limited run -more joy for us! If you have read this far your wallet should be lighter, you will not regret it!
What Jack Kirby did between Joe Simon and Stan Lee ^ The American comic book reached its low point in the 1950s, primarily because the Comics Code gutted EC comics, which meant not only the horror titles like "Tales of the Crypt" but also the science fiction and war titles as well. During that period the team of Jack Kirby and Joe Simon, creaters of Captain America, The Boy Commandos, and the Newboy Legion, ended their partnership as well. Kirby turned to a concept that he had been kicking around and the "Challengers of the Unknown" was published by DC Comics in 1957. The Foreword by Paul Kupperberg in this volume will help put the comic in historical perspective.
Our story begins in "Showcase" #6 with the crash of a small airplane from which four men walk away: Ace Morgan, the war hero and test pilot; Rocky Davis, the heavyweight boxing champ; Red Ryan, the mountain climber and circus daredevil; and Professor Haley, a deep sea scientist. When the quartet walked away from the plane crash they declared that they were now living on "borrowed time," and the next thing we know they are wearing purple uniforms and playing hero. Since, by rights, they should be dead, they are fearless and foolhearty, even by comic book standards. This particular comic book was unusual in that issues usually had a single story, which was quite against the norm at that point in history. That was really more innovative than having a group of relatively normal guys be the heroes. However, the menaces they fought were almost always extraordinary: prehistoric monsters hatched from giant eggs, criminals traveling throught time, and angry aliens.
Volume 1 of the DC Archive Edition of "Challengers of the Unknown" collects "Showcase" #6-7, #11-12, and, "The Challengers of the Unknown" #1-2, including the original covers from this Silver Age classic. The chief attraction here is the art by Kirby, with the first four scripts being written by Dave Wood. These are essentially superhero comic books without superheroes. Much is made of the fact that four years later Kirby and Stan Lee would create the Fantastic Four for Marvel Comics, but seeking out the parallels is only half the fun. These comic stand on their own as fairly unique and ambitious, although once Kirby left they quickly fell out of favor.
Pre-Fantastic Four Kirby at Its Best!!!!!! ^ This is Jack Kirby at his best. Just before he made his switch to Marvel from DC he set loose on the world another Fantastic Four-the Challengers of the Unknown. Their adventures did not lack from their lack of super powers, if anything they were enhanced by it. Some of the stoires echoed Kirby's big monster stories for Marvel where ordinary men battled beings from beyond the norm. A great read with that DC silver age feel and yet that feeling of Marvel power. The next volume will have Wally Wood mixing in with Kirby and I can't wait for it!!!!
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