Customer Reviews

Showcase Presents: Challengers of the Unknown, Vol. 1

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The line work in this volume of Showcase Presents is fantastic! Kirby's art leaps off the page! I think this volume is in the top five of all the Showcases offered so far. Dc should be commended on the wonderful variety of Showcases! We're getting adventure, horror, Sci-Fi, as well as the expected spandex teams. You can not go wrong with any book in the whole showcase line, but I think this Showcase Presents: Challengers of The Unknown, is a great place to start. Top of the line stories and art throughout, and you can see where some of the ideas for Kirby's later Fantastic Four started!

The art in this volume is SPECTACULAR. Specifically, in Challengers Of The Unknown #4, #5, #6, #7 and #8. The legendary Jack Kirby is inked by the EQUALLY legendary Wally Wood (Daredevil, EC Comics, MAD, The Outer Space Spirit and the T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents to name a few).

This volume represents the work of two comics masters at the height of their ability showing how it's done! Wally Wood was an acknowledged master of futuristic sf ships and monsters and his control of light an line always brought a certain polish to any book on which he worked. Kirby is, well... Kirby. Kirby helped define the visual language of sequential illustration and his creations and concepts have been the foundation of Marvel Comics since the Silver Age.

To have Kirby partnered with Wood is about as good as it gets!

For the record-
This volume covers 1957- 1961 and reprints Showcase #6 , #7, #11, #12 and Challengers Of The Unknown #1-17

It's Kirby. It's Wood. It's a GREAT read. AND... it's cheap. 'Nuff said.

I love the Challengers of the Unknown!! I have loved this team of classic Kirby characters ever since my dad gave me all his Silver Age comics!! The concept of a group of guys who cheated death and now go out in search of the strange and unknown was just always intriguing to me!!
For the price and the content you just can't beat it!!
I love that DC has finally decided to collect older titles in a cheap, affordable format that ANYONE can get without putting a HUGE dent in their pockets!!
Yes they are in black and white but to me I think that enhances the art work of the penciller and the inker who created these issues!!

Now DC needs to bring on The Metal Men!! ;)

It is fantastic that DC has chosen to reprint their lesser known titles in this format. These stories were almost never reprinted before. The telephone book format is great, keeps the books affordable and accessible for everyone. The Challengers had some great stories and art over the years and outlasted many of the other books in the DC line that had better know heroes over the years. Thanks DC and please reprint some of the other team books of the Challenger type!

Showcase Presents Challengers of the Unknown, Vol 1.

When discussing the Challengers of the Unknown, many fans discuss the art of the Challenger's creator, Jack KIrby... and rightfully so, Jack Kirby was a industry giant. He gave this fan several of my favorite comic book characters, including the Challengers! But when I started to read the adventures of the Challs in 1962 or 1963, I had no idea that Mr. Kirby had ever been associated with them . He was over at Marvel co-creating the Marvel Universe with Stan Lee, Steve Ditko and others at this time. I did notice, a couple of years later, when I started to read the Fantastic Four, that there was a strong similarity between the Challs and the FF's respective origins... and I wondered, in the fashion of a youngster, if DC Comics was aware it. What can I say? I was only 11 years old at the time.

This Showcase edition of the Challenger's earliest adventures feature their stories from Showcase 6, 7, 11 and 12 and Challengers of the Unknown 1-17... 544 pages of pure Silver Age excitement! And the Challengers oozed excitement from nealy every panel. The adventures of the Challs were a must read for me, beating out Superman, Batman and others for my hard earned allowence when I found a new issue on the spinner racks at the local Drug Fair. Back in the day I received a whopping 25 cents a week, so 12 cents was a huge investment for me. The Challengers of the Unknown were always worth it.

The Challengers of the Unknown were four normal, but talented and fearless men. Ace Morgan, Prof Haley (originally called Prof Harrison), Rocky Davis and Red Ryan survived what should have been a fatal plane crash. The aircraft was a twisted wreck, but this quartet of heroes survived the incident completely uninjured. Even their watches were still keeping time. Impressed with their good luck and feeling that they were all living on "borrowed time"; Ace, Prof, Rocky and Red agreed to join forces to take on the unknown and unexplained where ever it occurred. The Challengers' adventures pitted them against truely fantastic threats to mankind. Anything from giant monsters, evil sorcerers, alien invaders, giant robots and even costumed super villains ... The Challengers battled such threats without super powers or super devices and won, relying on their courage, resourcefulness and their trust in each other to see them through. Some highlights in this volume include:

Showcase# 6 (Jan-Feb 1957): The Secret of the Sorcerer's Box - The origin of the Challengers of the Unknown and their first adventure together as a team (Argueably DC's first Silver Age super-hero team). Premiering only 4 months after the debut of the revamped Flash character in Showcase# 4, the nacent Silver Age of comics is beginning to build up a head of steam.

Showcase# 7 (Mar-Apr 1957): Ultivac is Loose- This story introduces June Robbins, the brilliant and daring lady scientist to the Challs' cast of recurring characters. June is made an honorary Challenger in this story.

Challengers of the Unknown# 3 (Aug-Sep 1958): Menace of the Invincible Challenger- Rocky Davis is the subject of a medical experiment that requires him to travel into Earth orbit. When the space craft returns to Earth, the Challegers discover that their team mate has been endowed with strange and awesome super powers. If this plot sounds a little familar to you, I ask you to think of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby's Fantastic Four# 1.

Challengers of the Unknown# 14 (June-July 1960): The Man Who Conquered the Challengers- The debut and origin of Multi-Man. Multi-Man certainly has the power to make himself a very formidible opponent. After ingesting "Liquid Light", Duncan Pramble becomes essentually immortal. Every time he dies, he revives with a new, random super power. Multi-Man will face the Challengers many times, becoming the Challengers' arch foe.

The DC Showcase Presents series, as well as Marvel's Essential series, are black and white reprints presented at a very affordable price. This book features great Challengers of the Unknown art by the legendary Jack "the King" Kirby, the equally legendary Wally Woods - who inks Kirby's pencils in Challengers of the Unknown 4 through 8 and the under-appreciated but talented artist, Bob Brown, who took over the art chores on the book with issue 9. These stories were written with 8 to 11 year old readers in mind. They're family friendly, fun, cleverly plotted stories with tons action and none of the soap opera-ish angst that permeate comic books published today. Enjoy!