A new challenge!
Creative Staff:
Story: Aaron Gillespie, Scott Snyder
Art: Andy Kubert, Klaus Janson
Colors: Brad Anderson
Letterer: Deron Bennett
What They Say:
From the pages of DARK NIGHTS: METAL! Challengers Mountain has returned to the DC Universe and chosen a new team of explorers! Five misfit strangers are given a second chance at life, but only if they obey the orders of the mysterious Professor and execute deadly missions in the most unexplored corners of the multiverse! And if the new Challengers of the Unknown fail…it will be more than just their own lives that hang in the balance!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
One of the best things about being a teenager into comics in the late 80’s and early 90’s was that there was simply so much to be discovered. I was big into DC Comics since the 80’s Crisis event and I got introduced to this property through a miniseries in 1991 which got me to read backwards some. Challengers of the Unknown has had some play in different media over the years but I was beyond excited with this incarnation since I’ve not read a Scott Snyder book in forever and his work with Aaron Gillespie here definitely works very well. It’s also been forever since I had an Andy Kubert book in hand and coming from the 80’s the name Klaus Janson always was synonymous with quality.
I went into this book with the idea that there’d be some minor nods to what’s come before but that it would do its best to stand alone, which is important in a different area as it spins out from Dark Metal and I’ve not read that work. With an important tease at the start with some action that takes place in the past over the Himalayas, the main story that we get in this issue takes place in Colorado, deep in the mountains. In an underground high-tech base we get introduced to several people that are being mysteriously teleported into it and end up having a kind of skin graft tattoo of sorts placed on their arm. While we initially are introduced to Trina as she struggles with the situation, it gets a bit more intense with the arrival of Spyral operate Robert Brink, who thinks this must be a Kobra operation. It’s only moments later that we get a few others.
The gimmick? They’re all dead.
While there may be a trick to it, in that they were pulled here just before death or in a state between life and death, they’ve all been selected by a mystery man who introduces himself as the Prof. They’ve all been selected to be a part of the Challengers of the Unknown, which is a long line of teams that have been pulled together over the years to deal with dangerous situations where death is almost a certainty. Through some flashbacks we see some of the death moments for them that clues us into their personalities a bit and they’re made clear in interacting with each other and the Prof as they learn what their fate is like, where they’re living on borrowed time to be sure. One even opts to leave in a bad way, resulting in a nearly instant death. It’s not exactly a new thing as it riffs on plenty of other groups in similar situations, including the Suicide Squad,
In Summary:
While we get a small taste of the first mission here and hints of the larger play in store with what the Prof is doing, it’s mostly a standard introductory issue. But it’s one that does a lot right as we get a good handle on several of the characters and the situation they find themselves in. It’s something that didn’t require reading Dark Metal to understand, which other recent series haven’t done well, and just a lot of fun. The concept is one that’s very open-ended in what can be done with it and what they applied to it here with a borrowed-time concept with people that are otherwise dead is definitely interesting. I liked the nods to the past and I’m curious as to what neat things are to come because what the Prof represents and is up to is definitely not being made clear here. It’s a great looking book with so much going on, filled with strong character designs and a sense of place, that I can’t wait to see what else will be brought into it as it progresses.
Grade: B+
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: DC Comics via ComiXology
Release Date: May 16th, 2018
MSRP: $2.99
