Challengers of the Unknown by Jack Kirby

Challengers of the Unknown (1958)

by Jack Kirby (Writer, Penciler), Ed Herron (Writer), Dave Wood (Writer)

From the late 1950s, these are the original tales of four death-defying adventurers and their impossible, 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 as The Challengers of The Unknown. Their mission: to explore the unexplainable for the good of mankind. This beautiful hardcover edition tells the earliest adventurers of these four adventurers as they encounter powerful aliens, deadly robots, and creatures of unknown origins, including a mysterious "star stone" that bestows super-powers, a space circus, monsters from space, a planet populated by robots and more.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Dc Comics, Science Fiction, Superheroes, Fiction, Adventure

316 pages, Hardcover

First published July 1, 1959

About the author

Jack Kirby (born Jacob Kurtzberg) was one of the most influential, recognizable, and prolific artists in American comic books, and the co-creator of such enduring characters and popular culture icons as the Fantastic Four, the X-Men, the Hulk, Captain America, and hundreds of others stretching back to the earliest days of the medium. He was also a comic book writer and editor. His most common nickname is "The King."

Reviews

[Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

This volume collects Kirby's twelve Challengers magazines which ran from early 1957 through mid-1959. The first four stories are from Showcase, and Kirby worked on the first eight issues after they got their own title in 1958. The pencils are all Kirby, and he wrote quite a few of the stories, too; other writers were Ed Herron and Dave Wood. Kirby inked many of the covers himself, but the story inks were rendered by George Klein, Bruno Premiani, Marvin Stein, Wally Wood, and Roz Kirby. (I was unaware that his wife had worked with him so closely.) The art is terrific, vintage King Kirby, action-packed and expressive, full of little details that enhance the story, and the inks are great, too, particularly those done by Wally Wood. It's amusing to note a continuity gaffe in the story Ultivac is Loose! inked by Roz Kirby and Marvin Stein who must have alternated pages, because June Robbins flips back and forth from wearing a red dress to a red blouse with a white skirt. Other than the four Challengers, June is the only continuing character, and sometimes her name is Walker and sometimes Robbins, and sometimes her hair is blonde and sometimes dark brown. She's an "honorary" member of the team, and only appears occasionally. The stories are all simple and self-contained ones aimed at young readers, so they can't be compared to the kind of more mature and complex character studies that emerged from Marvel in the next decade. The Challengers, one of the first comics "teams," face an amazing array of aliens and robots and monsters and time-travelers, with many a lost civilization and lost island, all lovingly portrayed by the King. The stories were produced very swiftly, and it's amazing what they accomplished. And there were so many exclamation points! Dozens and dozens on every page! At the end of every sentence! It's fun stuff with great art, but I suggest just reading a story or two at a time and spreading it out. There's no character development, and the stories all seem the same after a while.

[J · Rating 4 out of 5]

This week's theme for the Shallow Comic Readers is, well, pot luck!



DC has gone to great lengths to reprint comics legend Jack Kirby's output at that company, and I have obliged them by trying to read all of it. My wallet thanks you, DC!

Many people know of Kirby's early 1970s DC work, starting with Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen, where he reintroduced an updated Newsboy Legion and planted the seeds for his Fourth World opus, the tale of Darkseid and the New Gods. Kirby also did a few other series which are familiar to a lot of modern readers, such as his creation The Demon, Kamandi, OMAC, and even a short stint on WW2 feature The Losers. Kirby also, however, had a long run with DC back in the 40s and 50s, drawing/writing/creating The Newsboy Legion, the Boy Commandos, and illustrating a long run on Green Arrow, as well as numerous romance and horror strips.

By any standard, Kirby's input on the Challengers of the Unknown is the peak of his pre-Fourth World work at DC. Although who actually created The Challengers is lost to time, we do know that Kirby was the primary, if not sole, creator of this intrepid band of four adventurers, who survive a plane crash unscathed, and decide that since they are living on "borrowed time," they will continue to push the boundaries of adventure.

The Challengers first appeared in the classic tryout magazine Showcase, which was used to update such super-heroes as Flash and Green Lantern. Kirby was primarily the illustrator, with a small number of inkers to assist, although he did write a few of these early stories. After four or so issues of Showcase, the Challengers graduated to their own magazine, with the first eight issues drawn by Kirby.

The adventure that the Challs faced were rather standard 1950s sci-fi and horror stuff, both found in the comics and in the Saturday afternoon matinee. Aliens on earth causing havoc, or criminals who find ways to usurp the laws of nature, and even a short flight into space which gave one of the Challs super-powers (hmmmm....). Although these stories are tame by comparison with today's comics, the dynamic art of Kirby makes them leap off of the pages. Kirby was doing some fine work on The Challengers strip, and his art is miles-wide better here than his early work at Marvel on Fantastic Four and the Avengers. I can only assume Kirby's DC inker had a lot to do with this, because the art is much tighter.

The one thing that stands out in these stories is the subservience of the Challs to the federal government and the police. That rankled the anarchist in me, but this was the latter part of the 1950s, so it's not surprising. The introduction of lady scientist June Robbins, who ran a government science lab, was a nice addition to the book. Although the strip is notable for a complete lack of characterization of the male Challengers, June, who was made an honorary member of the group, is shown to be smart, brave, and nothing like later Kirby characters like Sue Storm or the Wasp in Avengers, i.e., she is not a damsel in distress. There isn't any romantic tension going on to distract the team, and although that might have made for some good stories, it allowed June to be on a somewhat equal footing with the guys in her few appearances.

I have a running list of "Marvel swipes from DC," and a good question is how much did the Challengers inspire Kirby in creating the Fantastic Four? There are obvious similarities: the number of members, surviving an odd occurrence, similar team uniforms, etc. Kirby himself later alluded to this. Of course, Stan Lee gave the FF what the Challengers lack here, namely distinct personalities and voices, and much more interesting villains. So the similarities are not as stark as those between the Doom Patrol and the X-Men.

Since I really enjoy comics from this time period, it gets a good 3.5/4 stars from me. For most modern readers, sadly, the book will appear as outdated and therefore not worthy of being read. This really is a fine showcase of Jack Kirby's pre-Marvel work, though, and I'm glad DC has printed so much of Kirby's work for the modern reader to explore and, hopefully, enjoy.

[Carl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nostalgia

[Alicia Riley · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of Jack Kirby early works Challenges of the Unknown is like other reviewers said, a "a monster/villain of the week" type comics. Stories fun to read through it dose lack character development.

[Devero · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sono sempre stato un grande ammiratore di Jack Kirby, e questo è uno dei due motivi per cui ho acquistato e letto la raccolta delle sue storie dei Challengers. Sono storie degli anni '50, fine anni '50. Era quella l'epoca dei mostri, dei b-movie di fantascienza improbabili, degli scienziati avventurieri ed eroi tutti d'un pezzo. Queste caratteristiche le troviamo tutte in questo volume. A parte un paio di queste storie, tutte le altre sono invecchiate molto male. La presenza di un membro onorario femminile, June, tra quattro maschi non è nemmeno finalizzata al minimo sindacale dei personaggi a fumetti femminili di quegli anni. Il suo ruolo è praticamente solo di comparsa occasionale, nemmeno la damigella in pericolo Kirby riusciva a farle fare.
Qui veniamo all'altro motivo per cui ho acquistato il volume: i due articoli, in particolare quello finale di Morrow, curatore della JKCollector, rivista specializzata nel Re dei Comics. In quell'articolo, come già sapevo, elogia i Challs come antesignani dei F4; Morrow è uno di quelli che danno a Kirby il merito principale nella ideazione della Marvel.
Ebbene, dopo aver letto questo volume ho le prove che Morrow si sbaglia. Le storie di Kirby, ideatore del gruppo, hanno in comune coi F4 giusto il fatto che sono 4 i protagonisti, e sono avventurieri. Manca completamente la caratterizzazione dei personaggi, che sono praticamente intercambiabili. Manca completamente anche l'aspetto di famiglia, che è vero che Stan Lee sviluppò a fondo solo dopo i primi due anni, ma già agli inizi si intravedeva bene questo aspetto.
Taciamo pure degli avversari, tutti insipidi, malvagi e incapaci a parte Darius Tiko, una specie di antesignano di quello che sarà Zarrko, avversario di Thor.
Quindi Morrow, come altri, accecati dalla loro amicizia con Kirby, non riesce a vedere quanto poco, dal punto di vista delle idee, delle trame e soprattutto della caratterizzazione dei protagonisti, la mano di Stan Lee fosse pesante.
Due stelle al volume, due e mezzo al massimo. Perché le storie sono troppo ripetitive, anche nei canoni base: i Challs finiscono quasi sempre su di un'isola sperduta, rifugio di scienziati o con rovine di antiche mistoeriose civiltà magiche o entrambe le cose. Gli avversari sono sempre (o quasi) malvagi e ingenui, o alieni malvagi e ingenui. E loro dopo una iniziale difficoltà ne vengono sempre fuori, ma se non fosse per il colore dei capelli difficilmente si potrebbe dire chi di loro ha fatto cosa.

[Zack! Empire · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have to say, the idea behind the Challengers is a great one. Four guys living on borrowed time throw caution to the wind, taking on dangerous missions because they should be dead already. Honestly, I can't believe this isn't somehow a tv show! The work here is just a few years away from Kirby starting the Marvel Universe, and it is an intresting time for his artwork. He is still in a very Golden age style. You can see him starting to break away from it though. Some great examples include the giant "Kirby Tech" city of the Year 3000, or the massive robot hand that reaches through a wall. It almost looks 3-D!
The stories are still sort of monster of the week style though. Kirby hasn't quite got that winning Marvel formula yet where the stories become more about the characters and how they act, not just putting them in a situation. It does get pretty repetitive reading them one after the other. It's a shame Kirby never really had a good relationship with DC. You can't help but wonder what would have happen if he had just stuck around a few more years.

[Brett · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun little adventures that become more and more science-fiction as they go on. The premise is still curious - 4 guys survive a plane crash and decide they’re living on borrowed time anyway so might as well team up and place themselves in dangerous situations from now on. As you do.

[B · Rating 3 out of 5]

These stories are nothing to write home about. The four Challengers are largely interchangeable except that Rocky always leads with his fists and gets pummeled for his troubles. The villains are usually one-note aliens. The solutions to the problems rarely satisfy. Also, in a collection of about 12-20 stories, I think there were at least 5 where a villain has a 4-part device and the fourth part is the most important so that the 4 chapters each relate to part of the device. Also, interesting that Kirby chose to keep writing nearly identical shallow villains rather than making them the same villain.

The art is much simpler than later Kirby art. It's noticeable even to a shmoe like me. I think that has some real merits.

There's obvious parallelism to the Fantastic Four. I think I'd add that you can really see the Doom Patrol in here, too, but it lacks the abrasive personalities of the Doom Patrol that made you think real people were involved in the stories.

Basically, it would be OK as a one-issue comicbook. But there's no development of anything in particular (except the addition of a fifth "honorary" Challenger, nothing carries over from issue to issue.)

[Max · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jack Kirby creates a team of four heroes who survive a near death experience and walk away from it committed to using their talents for the good of the world. Except this is at DC comics and a couple of years before the Fantastic Four, because this is Challengers of the Unknown. The Challengers don't have superpowers except for the random stories where one of them does get a power for a bit. They don't have flashy supertech or at least at this point a special headquarters. And honestly, the Challengers don't have enough of a character for me to easily distinguish one from another. But this still manages to be a pretty fun romp and an interesting look at one of the things that clearly paved the way for the Fantastic Four.

The comic as a whole lasted about eighty issues, but this volume collects just the twelve where Jack Kirby was involved prior to his departure from DC. The Challengers got their start in DC's Showcase, a comic designed as a way to tryout various concepts that helped launch a lot of notables in DC's Silver Age lineup. It seems like the sales figures might've been on the borderline because it takes four go arounds before the Challengers graduate to a solo book, at which point Kirby does eight issues before leaving. Interestingly the Showcase issues all have one story that spans the whole comic while the solo series generally does two separate stories per issue.

A typical Challengers story involves the guys, sometimes with their lady computer scientist "honorary Challenger", getting drawn into an alien invasion or mystic artifact or criminal plot. There's usually one or more big monsters to be fought and usually there will be some human agent acting as the true villain of the piece. But unlike the Fantastic Four, none of the villains ever have the same panache as Doctor Doom and for that matter in the 12 issues collected here nobody appears to menace the Challengers repeatedly. Nor does it feel like there's much growth or continuity in general, other than adopting the one honorary member.

In general the stories are very much standalones, but fortunately they do tend to be pretty entertaining. Having read a lot of Marvel's monster/sci-fi comics recently, as well as some of the contemporary DC equivalents in the past, this comic feels like an outgrowth of those. The advantage of the Challengers is that instead of having to make up a new hero each time, there's a quartet of guys ready to be thrown at whatever wizard or space alien Kirby comes up with this month. Kirby is a talented enough creator that in general I found myself enjoying the stories. Even if there's not a ton of characterization to the heroes, the plots are generally pretty fun. Especially the more out there stuff like the heroes getting kidnapped by a space circus or dealing with a crashed alien zoo.

And there are some amusing stories that riff on or foreshadow other superheroes. One story sees the Challengers deal with a man who can create constructs out of imagination that makes me wish Kirby had been writing Green Lantern because maybe then Hal Jordan would've been actually creative with his powers. And issue 3 of the solo series features one of the Challengers going to space and getting superpowers - I can't help but think that Kirby must've been thinking of that when he and Stan Lee brainstormed up the Fantastic Four.

I've actually had a couple of black and white reprints of this series lying around for a while, but I'd missed the Jack Kirby connection. So I'm glad that discovering this reprint made me decide to check out the series. It's not exactly the greatest thing ever and maybe even isn't an overlooked gem of comics. But it's a reasonably fun series and I could definitely see reading more of it at some point cause I'm curious how it fares without Kirby and whether it ever starts trying to build some continuity.

[Steve · Rating 3 out of 5]

From 1957 until 1960, Jack Kirby drew (and occasionally wrote, or at least helped plot) this comic book series about four adventurers with a penchant for wearing purple jump suits who were ostensibly living on borrowed time after surviving a plane accident together. The idea was they'd already cheated death so they might as well take outrageous chances with their lives from then on.
They found lots of isolated islands with mysteries and mad scientists and ancient sorcerers secretsl and that sort of thing. Heck, in the last story included here, they found a world where the robots had rebelled, which wound up introducing the only villain in a dozen issues by Kirby that I remembered from the 1966 and later ones I read in my pre-teen years, Kra.
Early on, they met a woman they thought was cool enough to make an honorary Challenger even though she hadn't risked her life, and even though they couldn't decide from issue to issue whether her last name was Robbins or Walker. Slowly but surely, the members of the group took on distinct personalities, with Ace emerging as their leader once he got the crew cut he would keep all the way until the book was cancelled around 1970.
The last few issues were inked by Wally Wood, and the Kirby/Wood team has to be considered one of the most magical combinations in comics history. Two highly original artists working together without either overpowering the other - a rare thing, indeed, and one that makes even the sometimes formulaic nature of these stories worth reading. (Of course, Kirby on his own could do that, too.)

[Michael Emond · Rating 2 out of 5]

Even though I am rating it low because it got really boring really fast, I would consider this an essential collection for any Jack Kirby fan to get. It has some of his earlier art and some of his earliest writing.

The first issue in the collection actually had me excited. Some fun, crude early comic art bursting with energy and action and a fun adventure story with the four Challengers of the Unknown. Four men who cheated death and pledged the rest of their lives accepting unknown challenges.

Then...the boredom snuck in. The stories aren't horrible and would be fun for a young child but there is ZERO attempt to flesh out the four characters in any way. Aside from their four specialties (Ace is a pilot, Prof is a diver, Red is a climber and Rocky is a fighter) they are all the same character. There is a lot of opportunity to make them different and unique and make the stories more interesting by giving us a glimpse of who these men are when they aren't in the middle of an adventure - but it was never done. So we have some silly sci fi stories with four men. And it raises the question - why these four men? Their specialties rarely figure into the plot. Again - that is a sign of the weak writing.

So - from an entertainment perspective I lost interest halfway through. But as a collection of classic comics and Jack Kirby I would give it 4 stars.

[Jack Holt · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was surprised what a large role June Robbins (later sometimes June "Walker") had on the team even from the very beginning of the series. Although she started out as "just" a computer scientist, she quickly became one of the linchpins of the series, often prompting the Challengers' adventures. Somewhere along the line, she became a pilot and also a world traveler and explorer–– just like the Challengers themselves.

This was even occasionally acknowledged within the story structure itself. It still seems quite unusual for the times to me. But welcome nontheless. I vaguely remember a story from the 1970's dealing with a brief discrepancy that arose in these stories. June Walker Robbins

I used to think that no one could ever "disguise" Jack Kirby's work but both Bruno Premiani and Wally Wood added a patina of elegance to the book that it might not have had otherwise. This is particularly true of the fine black inking in the first few stories. Wood's Sci-Fi style was more of a complement to Kirby's own work I think, but you can see Wally Wood in the facial expressions and the jawlines.

It was a very enjoyable collection.

[Kevin · Rating 2 out of 5]

After reading Kirby’s The New Gods, I decided to grab another Kirby book off my shelf to see what he was like before Stan. The reason I own a Challengers of the Unknown trade is because of its connection to the Fantastic Four. People often directly compare the four Challengers to the Fantastic Four, and I had to know.

Showcase #6 "The Secret of the Sorcerer's Box!" 1.5 Stars
I get what it was going for, but ugh the way the team comes up with solutions is so contrived. Also, this does a really bad job at differentiating them, something which continues for the rest of the book.

Showcase #7 "Ultivac Is Loose!" 2.5 Stars
This one is vastly better, and despite the concept not being new, it is a good use. June is a nice addition, but that ending cop out is as lame as is the villain.

Showcase #11 "The Day the Earth Blew Up!" 1.5 Stars
More typical alien invasion and an equally ridiculous ending.

Showcase #12 "Menace of the Ancient Vials!" 1 Star
This is incredibly similar to Showcase #6. More magic crap with equally silly resolutions. This also feels way longer than it should be and is probably why their solo series has two stories per issue. I would be amazed it went to series after this, but the 1950s Science Fiction I’ve read has very similar bland, interchangeable “men of science,” so yeah, sign of the times…

Challengers of the Unknown #1 "The Man Who Tampered With Infinity" 2.5 Stars
Some fun creatures, actual creativity and shorter length make this more reasonable read. Our heroes remain very stock, though June gets to hold a gun on some dudes, so progress?

Challengers of the Unknown #1 "The Human Pets" 1.5 Stars
It’s been done better before and since. Neat cover, though.

Challengers of the Unknown #2 "The Traitorous Challenger" 2.5 Stars
Okay, evil June needs to be a thing. It’s far more interesting than most of this and the ending even works! There is sadly a bit of old timey racism for a page to bring it down.

Challengers of the Unknown #2 "The Monster Maker" 1.5 Stars
Another ridiculous ending to a silly story. It could have been good if it had been more imaginative.

Challengers of the Unknown #3 "Secret of the Sorcerer's Mirror" 1 Star
I feel like I’ve read this story three times now. Criminals get magic BS.

Challengers of the Unknown #3 "Menace of the Invincible Challenger" 1.5 Stars
Well, this is the one that supposedly comes closest to the original Fantastic Four, and aside from a spaceship crash (that is not what gives one member of their group powers) and him being able to shoot fire and turn invisible (sort of), there’s not much here to connect it to the later idea. He gets his powers from an alien adaptation pill, and he uses a bunch of other powers aside from those two. I’m not going to say it had no influence, but it had little influence. I’d actually argue the next story has more of an influence on a different Marvel property. Oh, and it just has the standard convenient memory loss and tricked by villains angle for why he fights his friends. No guesses for how he gets his memory back because I knew from the start of the story.

Challengers of the Unknown #4 "The Wizard of Time" 1.5 Stars
Hey, it’s Kang the Conqueror from the Avengers! Though, he’s dressed more like Immortus who Kirby may have had some involvement in. This is a return to book length adventures, and the time hopping aspect gave it good reason even though it’s almost too brief and doesn’t serve to do enough.

Challengers of the Unknown #5 "The Riddle of the Star-Stone" 2 Stars
The powers could have been more interesting, but at least the team has some challenges. Also, it has a decent ending.

Challengers of the Unknown #6 "Captives of the Space Circus" 1 Star
It’s been done better before and since.

Challengers of the Unknown #6 "The Sorceress of the Forbidden Valley" 1 Star
Another Challenger gets power and gets amnesia and gets manipulated by criminals.

Challengers of the Unknown #7 "The Beasts From Planet 9" 2 Stars
I think the space critters are my favorite part of this. Also, there are some fun ways of capturing them.

Challengers of the Unknown #7 "The Isle of No Return" 1 Star
Challengers get shrunk, blah, blah, blah. The series is really starting to get to me at this point.

Challengers of the Unknown #8 "The Man Who Stole the Future" 1.5 Stars
This one is just kind of a mess. I guess I appreciate the young versions of the Challengers and how they’re used, but they’re still so bland.

Challengers of the Unknown #8 "The Prisoners of the Robot Planet" 1 Star
I feel like I’ve read this exact story before. I have no idea where, but the sand thing and everything… Weird. Anyway, done.

So, I was hoping for Kirby genius and only got some of the art. It’s really not worth it unless you’re a challenger fan. I don’t know that I’d even recommend it to Kirby completionists or people curious about the origins of the Fantastic Four as I feel those influences are way overblown. Ah well. Now I know.

Other Comics Reviews
Jack Kirby’s The Fourth World Omnibus
Batman by Neal Adams Omnibus
Roots of the Swamp Thing
Orion Omnibus
Power Girl: Power Trip
Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow
Detective Comics: 80 Years of Batman: The Deluxe Edition

[Marcos Muñoz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Es difícil valorar este tomo: por la mayoría de sus historias, repetitivas y casi anecdóticas por lo "whimsical", no pasaría de las dos estrellas. Los Challengers son casi intercambiables. En cambio, el primer y último par de historias apuntan a algo más, a un aprovechamiento mínimo de personajes y variedad de situaciones que promete. Nacía la silver age, y antes que la JLA (pero particularmente antes que los 4F) fueron los Challengers. El tomo es poco más que ese apunte histórico... pero el poco, vale la pena.

[Christopher (Donut) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Two things worth noting:

1. All hail the great Wally Wood. His inks are simply some of the best ever in comics, and it's little wonder that Kirby got his only offer to do a strip when he was partnered with W. W.

2. If you want to debate how much the Fantastic Four derived from the Challengers, the fact that the F.F. had superpowers is less important than the fact that the F.F. had personalities.. In 300+ pages, that's something these dudes show no sign of.

[Bob Dawson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tightly written, good art, entertaining stories

This collection of mostly one shot stories proves that characters don't need super powers to entertain the audience. The authors pack a lot of storytelling into one comic, and keep it entertaining. The characters rely on their wits and a great deal daring to overcome a wide variety of imaginative adventures. The stories are fun to read, and some of them are absolute gems.

[Ángel Javier · Rating 5 out of 5]

Si es que no hay mucho que decir: Jack Kirby y Wally Wood. No creo que jamás haya habido un equipo creativo de mayor calidad en la historia de los cómics americanos. No, en serio. Kirby y Wood. Solo pensarlo, parece un sueño hecho realidad. Absolutamente impresionante. Y las historias son entretenidas, los personajes, carismáticos... ¿qué más se puede pedir? ¿Que no haya rastro de Stan Lee por ninguna parte? ¡Concedido!

[Kyle Wise · Rating 3 out of 5]

Challengers of the Unknown predate the Fantastic Four by a few years and share a co-creator in Jack Kirby. These stories are dated and silly in the way most comics from the 1950s are, but I find them endearing nonetheless. This was basically the rough draft for the Fantastic Four, and it's quite fascinating for that reason as well.

[I. · Rating 4 out of 5]

You can see the roots of so much of what Kirby did later here and while there's some interesting stuff, it's not his best work and you can feel him constrained. A worthwhile artifact but not essential.

[Nicolas · Rating 3 out of 5]

This early Jack Kirby book is worth the read, even if it's not particularly engaging. The art looks great and the missions the Challengers wind up on are pretty creative. The problem is the Challengers themselves. They are four white dudes in identical purple jumpsuits with no discernible personalities. Maybe he should take the idea to Marvel and team up with Stan Lee to create the Fantastic Four. Just a thought.

For more tune in to Comic Book Coffee Break: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=48xyG...

[Benjamin]

When my nearby comics store had a sale, I almost bought this book before I read it, and I'm so glad that I didn't. (Yay for libraries.)

I grabbed this on a lark, as usual, based on Jack Kirby's involvement, but I found this book mostly boring, with a slight streak of infuriating. In short, it's very 1950s comics.

For instance, the premise: four adventurous men nearly die and so decide that they should go on adventures to live life to the fullest. Which is fine, except those four men are a jet pilot, a mountain climber, a deep-sea diver, and a wrestler. It's like the most boring line-up of "adventurous" careers ever. Was circus strong-man already taken?

(Also, right about now, you might be thinking that this book with four dull men--only differentiated by their hair color--might not be the best on women, and you'd be right. The opening pages actually point out four adventurous women on a radio show, before switching to talk about the men. There is one female Challenger who more or less fills the Jimmy Olsen role of getting into trouble or being taken over, though, like Jimmy, she does save the day at least once, i.e., rescues the people who turn around and rescue her.)

The stories are also pretty 1950s: an endless array of criminals who discover superpowers or ancient mystical energies that they steal from archaeologists, with an occasional mad scientist or alien thrown into the mix. It's very typical for these stories to end with the Challengers whisking the offender off to jail; in one memorable moment, the challenger hand over the alien criminals to alien law enforcement, who promise to put the criminals in "space jail." There are stories here that are so cliched that I know they were cliched even back then, like the "captured by an alien child" story or the "thief fleeing through time."

Without Jack Kirby's name--and the lingering suspicion that he took this idea with him when he went to Marvel to create the Fantastic Four--this would be a historical curiosity undeserving of a hardcover reprint. With his name... well, I still think it's pretty undeserving.

[Mike Clooney · Rating 3 out of 5]

Let's be honest: we all revere the Silver Age of comics, but 98% of the stories don't exactly make for compelling reading when we're adults. The wacky pseudo-science common to SA DC books in particular would leave the average 8-year-old shaking his head in 2013. It's always great to look at this stuff in its proper historical and nostalgic context, though, and this is a handsomely produced hardcover. This volume isn't the best introduction to Jack Kirby, but if you're sinking 40 bucks into it, you're undoubtedly already a Kirby aficianado anyway.

The early Challengers stories weren't Kirby's finest work, especially given that his exuberance and dynamism were inhibited by DC's then-standard 6-panel page format. It is, however, interesting to see the characters and themes of the yet-to-be-born Fantastic Four beginning to germinate in these prototype Challs. It's also a treat to see Kirby inked by the great Wally Wood in the latter few issues, lending a sleeker polish to Kirby's usually rougher-hewn blocky figures. Not recommended for a casual reading experience, but worth a look for rabid scholars of the medium.

[Nate]

I enjoyed this. While perhaps not as significant as his Bronze Age DC work, Jack Kirby’s Challengers of the Unknown nonetheless offers imaginative fun. It’s sci-fi pulp adventure. I love superhero comics, but sometimes cape-less adventures like this hit the spot (although, admittedly, the Challs’ exploits are similar to other heroes’ at the time).

As with most Silver Age comics, the stories follow a predictable formula that wears thin after a while. Still, Kirby’s ideas are undeniably creative. The Fantastic Four comparison has been made a million times, and it’s true. In hindsight, the Challs served as a dry run for Kirby’s FF stories.

His art is the best part of the book. It jumps off the page. The stories will likely fall flat for modern readers, but I think anyone will appreciate Kirby’s art here.

[Scott · Rating 3 out of 5]

So many of the stories are about temporary superpowers that it gets kind of repetitive. Kirby themes abound like being kidnapped by a criminal circus. I liked the artwork a lot, especially when inked by Roz Kirby, who gave it the most detail. Wally Wood's inks make it look too simplistic. An interesting inconsistency is June's last name--Robbins initially, then Walker (in stories Kirby is credited with writing), then back to Robbins for good in a story where the writer credit is unknown. One of the repeated lessons in these stories is not to underestimate the abilities of women, and negative remarks by the male Challengers don't abound the way they often did in this era.

[Ruz El · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'd give this 2.5 stars if it allowed. This is widely considered to be a dry run to what Kirby would do with the pop culture changing "Fantastic Four" in the the 60's. The problem with it is, it's a very dry run. The stories just aren't that interesting and seem to have too many plots featuring ancient boxes that slowly get opened with new things to challenge the Challengers. Art wise it's pretty solid, especially later when Wally Wood shows up to ink, but lacks the dynamic punch of classic Kirby superhero work.

So it all ends up being a rather flat read that is beautifully presented.

[Tazio Bettin · Rating 5 out of 5]

You can see the seed of Stan Lee's Fantastic Four in this creation by Jack Kirby. But it's much better than Lee's derivation. Kirby's art is amazing as usual, and the stories have that ingenuity and freshness that is difficult to find in comics nowadays. It tends to be repetitive at some points, and it takes a while to get accustomed to recognizing the four heroes: their faces all look similar and only the color of the hair really helps telling them apart. But that aside, it's a little jewel that I'd definitely recommend reading.

[Chris Aylott · Rating 3 out of 5]

Four heroes "living on borrowed time" take on mad scientists, aliens, and strange beasts in a series of slam-bang adventures mostly written and drawn by the great Jack Kirby. Much has been made of the Challengers as a precursor to the Fantastic Four, but these stories look backwards more than forwards. They're old-fashioned two-fisted pulp adventures in which anything can happen, and they're a lot of fun.

[Bryan · Rating 3 out of 5]

For those who are curious about what the Fantastic Four would be like if they had different hair colors instead of unique and interesting personalities.

[Keen Reader · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an enjoyable compilation from one of the pioneers of the genre, from back in the late 50s. At times this reads like a fascinating time capsule and will even having you giggling at what passed for high technology, and some of the choice dialogue really brings home how much has changed in the genre. Either way this is beautifully drawn with some bold colouring that really gives the characters and scenes that extra punch, the format may become a little jaded and predictable for some towards the end but all in a lovely rendered collection.