| Issue | #497 |
| Published | March 1983 |
| Frequency | monthly |
| Cover Price | 1.25 USD |
| Pages | 100 |
| Editing | Carl Gafford, Nicola Cuti |
| Characters | Red Ryan; Rocky Davis; Prof Haley; Ace Morgan; Superboy; Ultra Boy |
| Genre | superhero |
| Pencils | Gil Kane (signed) |
| Inks | Gil Kane |
| Characters | Challengers of the Unknown [Ace Morgan; Rocky Davis; Prof Haley; Red Ryan] |
| Synopsis | Continued from last issue... The not-yet-Challengers investigate who sabotaged their plane... Red Ryan escorts an old friend, Johnny Green, in Las Vegas, when a car tries to run them down! Johnny explains HE was the target, not the heroes. Johnny won $300K from mobsters but hadn't collected. He was to fly to Vegas with Red. Mobsters planted a plastic sabotage device to crash the plane: plastic to fool metal detectors. The heroes meet the mobsters. A fight brings "Chaos in the Casino". Johnny gets paid and the mob goes to jail. And the heroes finally get their TV appearance as "Challengers of the Unknown!" |
| Genre | adventure |
| Script | Bob Rozakis |
| Pencils | Alex Toth |
| Inks | Dan Adkins |
| Colors | Anthony Tollin |
| Letters | John Costanza |
| Editing | Nicola Cuti |
| Notes | An original adventure that finishes their expanded origin from Showcase 6 and Challengers of the Unknown 31. More Challs stories were planned for Adventure Comics Digest, but they were bumped out by Legion reprints. The only finished unused story became part of DC Comics Presents 84. Learn more about the Challs at www.challengersoftheunknown.com. |
| Characters | Superboy [also as Clark Kent]; Ultra Boy [Jo Nah, also as "Gary Crane"](introduction and origin); Marla [also as "Ben Crane"]; Pete Ross; Krypto; Lana Lang; Martha Kent; Jonathan Kent |
| Synopsis | Ultra Boy must discover Superboy's secret identity as an initiation test for the Legion. |
| Genre | superhero |
| Script | Jerry Siegel |
| Pencils | Curt Swan |
| Inks | George Klein |
| Letters | Milt Snapinn |
| Editing | Mort Weisinger (original story) |
| Notes | Ultra Boy spelled "Ultra-Boy" in this story. |
| Reprinted | from Superboy (DC, 1949 series) #98 (July 1962) |
| Characters | Aquaman; Mera; Vulko; Narkran; Aquagirl; Aqualad (cameo flashback); Aquababy (cameo flashback) |
| Synopsis | Mera has been held captive by the same gangsters Aquaman has been fighting. After they escape, they head for Atlantis for the final showdown with Narkran. |
| Genre | superhero |
| Script | Steve Skeates |
| Pencils | Jim Aparo |
| Inks | Frank Giacoia |
| Letters | Jim Aparo |
| Editing | Dick Giordano (original story) |
| Reprinted | from Aquaman (DC, 1962 series) #46 (July-August 1969) |
| Characters | Captain Marvel [also appears as Billy Batson]; Captain Marvel, Jr. [also appears as Freddy Freeman]; Mary Marvel [also appears as Mary Batson]; Uncle Marvel; Black Adam [Teth-Adam]; Shazam |
| Synopsis | The Marvel Family unite to battle the evil Black Adam. |
| Genre | superhero |
| Script | Otto Binder |
| Pencils | C. C. Beck |
| Inks | C. C. Beck |
| Reprinted | from Marvel Family (Fawcett, 1945 series) #1 (December 1945) |
| Characters | Superboy [also appears as Clark Kent]; Legion of Super-Heroes [Cosmic Boy; Saturn Girl; Lightning Lad; Sun Boy; Chameleon Boy (statue); Bouncing Boy (statue); Shrinking Violet (statue); Invisible Kid [Lyle Norg] (statue)]; Lex Luthor; Urthlo; Mon-El |
| Synopsis | At a regular meeting of the Legion of Super-Heroes, the Legionnaires lose control of their powers. Urthlo arrives and announces that he now controls the Legionnaires' powers and there is nothing they can do about it. But Saturn Girl comes up with a serum to temporarily cure Mon-El and immunize him against lead, and Superboy releases him from the Phantom Zone to knock out Urthlo, who turns out to be an automaton created by Lex Luthor sent into the future to destroy the Legion. |
| Genre | superhero |
| Script | Jerry Siegel |
| Pencils | John Forte; Al Plastino [page 4 and some Superboy and Luthor heads only] |
| Inks | John Forte; Al Plastino |
| Letters | Milt Snapinn |
| Editing | Mort Weisinger (original story) |
| Reprinted | from Adventure Comics (DC, 1938 series) #300 (September 1962) |
| Characters | Spectre; Jim Corrigan; Hamilton Benedict |
| Synopsis | An evil force invades the body of young Hamilton Benedict, giving him supernatural powers to battle the Spectre. |
| Genre | superhero; occult |
| Script | Neal Adams |
| Pencils | Neal Adams |
| Inks | Neal Adams |
| Editing | Julius Schwartz (original story) |
| Reprinted | from Spectre, The (DC, 1967 series) #4 (May-June 1968) |
| Characters | Lightning Lad; Brainiac 5; Cosmic Boy; Saturn Girl; Sun Boy; Urthlo; Aquaman; Mera; Captain Marvel; Mary Marvel; Captain Marvel, Jr.; Black Adam; Spectre |
| Pencils | Howard Bender |
| Inks | Frank Giacoia |