Challengers of the Unknown (3rd Series)

(DC, 2004-2006)
™ and © 2004 DC

Challengers of the Unknown, the original series, is among my all–time favorites, so you’ll know the source of my discomfort with this new series, which has only the most tenuous connection with the original.

This doesn’t feature the same characters as the original and certainly isn’t adventuring in the same SF milieu. It makes me question why this new series doesn’t stand on its own.

Objections thus noted, let me briefly say Howard Chaykin has crafted an intriguing story here. His five protagonists are not even remotely lily–white and they are all far more than even they knew they were.

The bottom line? Chaykin is telling an exciting, packed–with–plot thriller. With his intricate script and equally intricate art, he gets a lot more story into 22 pages per issue than you’ll find in almost any other contemporary comic book. I’m in for the whole six issues. I just hope that, when and if the big original Challengers revelation comes, Chaykin is gentle with both this reader and with the heroes of my youth.

— Tony Isabella

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