Challengers of the Unknown (1958 DC 1st Series) comic books 1970-1985

Add to cart Fine $7.20

Add to cart FN- 5.5 $5.60

Add to cart Very Good $4.20

Add to cart Very Good $4.20

"When Evil Calls." The Slaves of Chu capture the Challengers, and Tino Manarry intends to rescue them. Script by Denny O'Neil, pencils by Jack Sparling, inks by Frank Giacoia. Cover by Nick Cardy. Cover price $0.15.

Add to cart GD 2.0 $4.80

"A Plague of Darkness." An alchemist villain named Mr. Murlin unleashes a plague that turns humans into rampaging zombies. Script by Denny O'Neil, pencils by Dick Dillin, inks by Frank Giacoia. Cover by Neal Adams. Cover price $0.15.

"The Curse of the Killer Time Forgot." An astronaut in outer space is murdered, and the Challengers must investigate. Script by Denny O'Neil, art by George Tuska. Cover by Nick Cardy. Cover price $0.15.

Add to cart VG 4.0 $16.75 View scan Water damage.	Add to cart VG- 3.5 $8.50	Add to cart VG- 3.5 $8.50	Add to cart Good $9.00
Add to cart GD 2.0 $9.00

"To Call a Deadman." Deadman helps the Challengers defeat evil magician Seth Gross. Script by Denny O'Neil, art by George Tuska (pgs. 1-16) and Neal Adams (pgs. 17-23). Cover by Adams. One-page article, "So You Want To Be a Cartoonist?" Cover price $0.15.

Add to cart GD 2.0 $2.50

Add to cart PR 0.5 $2.50 INCOMPLETE. Centerfold and piece from last page missing (affects art and story). Water spotting.

"Ultivac is Loose" Corinna Stark listens to the Challengers tell the story of their battle with Ultivac. Mostly a reprint of "Ultivac is Loose" from Showcase #7. Script by Denny O'Neil, art by George Tuska. Cover by Tuska, Jack Kirby, and Marvin Stein. Cover price $0.15.

Add to cart Very Good $4.80

Add to cart VG 4.0 $4.80 View scan

Cover by Joe Kubert. Challengers reprints: "The Traitorous Challenger" (from issue 2), pencils by Jack Kirby (inks are NOT by Wally Wood, despite what the book's credits say); A prospector uncovers a monster, an indestructible one-eyed walking box that tramples villages; The Challengers' weapons don't make a dent; And June mysteriously sabotages their efforts!; Prof finally guesses the monster's one eye is solar-powered; Pursued until sunset, the monster expires. "The Secret of the Sorcerer's Mirror" (from issue 3), pencils by Jack Kirby (inks are NOT by Wally Wood, despite what the book's credits say); A mirror and chart have been stolen from a museum by Hillary Mycroft and his gang; The mirror was fashioned by Kregon the Sorcerer to show where "the ancients" hid their most potent secrets; The chart shows where the secrets are hidden; The Challengers break into Mycroft's hideout but he escapes in a plane. Moolah the Mystic one-page story by Henry Boltinoff. 36 pgs., full color. $0.15. Cover price $0.15.

Add to cart Very Good $4.20

Add to cart VG 4.0 $4.20

Add to cart VG- 3.5 $2.50

Last 15-cent cover price (the next issue will not appear for another two years). Cover pencils by Jack Kirby. "The Menace of the Ancient Vials!" (Reprint from Showcase 12), script by Dave Wood, pencils by Jack Kirby, art assist by Wally Wood; Karnak and his men land on an island while trying to escape from the Challengers; There they find Amos Hunter and 5 mysterious vials; The first vial makes two members of the gang into giants; The next vial releases a fiery salamander that begins to burn down the island; The fiery salamander is defeated but the third vial releases a giant octopus creature; The fourth vial turns Karnak into 50 copies of himself. One-page text history of the Challengers comic. 36 pgs., full color. $0.15. Cover price $0.15.

Add to cart FN/VF 7.0 $9.30 View scan

Add to cart Very Good $4.80

Add to cart Very Good $4.80

Add to cart GD/VG 3.0 $3.30 View scan 1" Tear in back cover and last 10 pages. Cover oxidation. Water damage.

First 20-cent issue. Cover by Jack Kirby. Challengers reprints: "The Isle of No Return" (from issue 7), script by Jack Kirby and Ed Herron, pencils by Jack Kirby, inks by Wally Wood; After hearing a television report about a burglar with the ability to walk through walls, the Challengers patrol the city with honorary member June Robbins accompanying them; They arrive too late to stop another robbery but pursue the thief, Anton Zammer, to his hideout, an abandoned laboratory owned by the late Prof. Macon, who left behind a number of inventions Zammer intends to use for his own gain. "The Sorceress of Forbidden Valley" (from issue 6), script by Jack Kirby and Ed Herron, pencils by Jack Kirby, inks by Wally Wood; June Robbins crash-lands on an uncharted island and finds an Aladdin's lamp in a cave; Lighting it creates fumes that overpower her; The Challengers track June down, discovering a hidden valley where they are attacked. 36 pgs., full color. $0.20. Cover price $0.20.

Add to cart FN/VF 7.0 $7.49 View scan

Add to cart GD/VG 3.0 $2.50

Cover by Joe Kubert. Challengers reprints: "The Monster Maker" (from issue 2), pencils by Jack Kirby; The Challengers pursue Roc, a would-be conqueror; Using "mind over matter," Roc runs them off by mentally conjuring a giant ape and missile; Fighting fire with fire, the scientist who created the mind-over-matter machine gives Ace similar powers; They battle with a conjured dragon, knight, giant vacuum cleaner, mirrors, and more. "The Human Pets" (from issue 1), pencils by Jack Kirby; An alien boy collects "animals." Half-page Kirby biography. 36 pgs., full color. $0.20. Cover price $0.20.

Add to cart Fine $5.40

Add to cart Fine $5.40

Add to cart Very Good $3.00

Add to cart VG 4.0 $3.00

Last 20-cent cover price (the next issue will not appear for another four years). Cover by Nick Cardy. "The Day The Earth Blew Up" (Reprint from Showcase 11), script by Dave Wood, pencils by Jack Kirby; At the Pentagon, Navy officers and scientists are stumped; Two scientists mysteriously disappeared in Antarctica; They call in "men capable of handling the unknown"; Ace, Rocky, and Red fly off, picking up Prof along the way; Off New Guinea, Prof is astounded to find a volcano rising from the sea bed; In the Antarctic, the Challengers snow-tractor toward the mystery spot; The tractor bogs in a snowstorm and needs repairs; Ace and Rocky explore and fall through thin ice!; They land on a futuristic bridge; Above, Prof and Red are captured by skinny orange aliens in bubble-suits. 36 pgs., full color. $0.20. Cover price $0.20.

Add to cart Fine $4.20

Add to cart Fine $4.20

First 35-cent cover price. Cover pencils by Michael Netzer (as Mike Nasser), inks by Neal Adams. New stories begin again: "Multi-Man's Master Plan," script by Gerry Conway, pencils by Michael Netzer (as Mike Nasser), inks by Bob Wiacek; The Challengers race against time to stop Multi Man and save June from his clutches. Story continues from Super-Team Family (DC, 1975 series) #10. 36 pgs., full color. $0.35. Cover price $0.20.

Add to cart Very Fine $9.00

Add to cart FN+ 6.5 $5.00

Add to cart Very Good $2.50

Cover pencils by Michael Netzer (as Mike Nasser), inks by Joe Rubinstein. "The Lurker Below," script by Gerry Conway, pencils by Michael Netzer (as Mike Nasser), inks by Joe Rubinstein; Prof is dying of an all-consuming fungus infection; Rocky, June, Ace, and Red rush him to their jet; Gaylord Clayburne, playboy-Challenger-wannabe, learned Prof was sick and found a specialist to heal him; Ignoring Clayburne, the Challengers zoom off to Perdition, Pennsylvania, a farm town; As soon as they land, the Challengers are mobbed by farmers with pitchforks; Doctor Monroe calls off the farmers; Dr. Monroe relates the town's history to the Challengers; Seventy years ago, a man summoned a demon to the town; Enthralled, the locals sacrificed strangers to the "god" until Swamp Thing came to town and collapsed its cave, burying the monster "forever"; Behind the scenes, we see the fungus lived on and still infects many locals. One-page Nasser biography. 36 pgs., full color. $0.35. Cover price $0.20.

Add to cart Very Fine $8.00

Add to cart FN 6.0 $4.20

Add to cart FN 6.0 $4.20

Add to cart VG/FN 5.0 $2.80

Cover pencils by Rich Buckler, inks by Joe Rubinstein. "Seven Doorways to Destiny!", script by Gerry Conway, pencils by Keith Giffen, inks by John Celardo; The cultists have June as a hostage; The Challengers get beaten down by cultists, some half-monster; Monroe explains how M'Nagala came from the stars, as recounted in Swamp Thing 8; He demands Rocky and Ace fly to England and perform an incantation from a mystical book and bring M'Nagala's "family" to Earth; They go, reluctantly; In Challenger Mountain, Clayburne (the wanna-be Challenger) uses the computer to analyze Prof's infection; It recommends Dr. Alec Holland as an expert in "biochemical abnormalities"; Clayburne flies to Oregon where Holland teaches; He agrees to help; Outside London, Rocky chants at midnight in a pentacle, while Ace fetches a pack of jet fuel; M'Nagala-kin try to burst through a portal, all icky tentacles and squishy guts; Ace chucks the fuel pod "just like Jaws" and shoots, destroying the monster and shutting the portal; Clayburne and Holland have landed in Perdition, but in the dark, Holland is reverting to Swamp Thing as his bio-restorative formula wears off; They find Prof half-consumed by icky polyps. You Can Help Superman When You Help the Special Olympics!(Table of Contents) Superman / public service announcement. 36 pgs., full color. $0.35. Cover price $0.20.

Add to cart Fine $4.20

Add to cart Fine $4.20

Add to cart Very Good $4.00

Cover pencils by Rich Buckler, inks by Joe Rubinstein. "To Save A Monster/When Deadmen Walk," script by Gerry Conway, pencils by Keith Giffen, inks by John Celardo; Perdition lies in ruins. Prof is infected with an alien fungus; Swamp Thing watches from cover, is attacked by a wolf, but brushes it off; The wolf is possessed by Deadman, who asks Rama Kushna why he's here; Back at Challenger Mountain, the heroes can't cure Prof's disease; Angry, Ace orders Gaylord to take a walk: he walks; Deadman tries a cure, diving in to possess Prof and fighting from within; Prof sloughs the fungus and Deadman passes out; Prof wakes, healthy, and announces Swamp Thing is Dr. Alec Holland, who's wandered off and needs help; The Challengers search, but Swamp Thing hopped a freight for Philadelphia; Deadman tries to possess Swamp Thing and bounces - he's already possessed!; Deadman possesses Ace and announces Swamp Thing's in Philly, where Swamp Thing rages to the state asylum and the cell of Duncan Pramble, the former Multi-Man. Artist profile on Bob Layton. 36 pgs., full color. $0.35. Cover price $0.20.

Add to cart Fine $4.20

Add to cart Fine $4.20

Add to cart Very Good $2.50

Cover pencils by Rich Buckler, inks by Jack Abel. "The Creature From The End Of Time!", script by Gerry Conway, pencils by Keith Giffen, inks by John Celardo; A giant box appears in Toronto; The Challengers, accompanied by Swamp Thing and Deadman, investigate; When Deadman tries to enter the box it opens and releases a monster; After they kill the monster, they haul the box and carcass to Challenger Mountain where tests indicate the box is from the future; The heroes fly to Rip Hunter's desert lab, which appears abandoned; Swamp Thing pushes a button and Rip's Time Sphere appears with a skeleton inside; They use the time sphere to travel to 12,000,000 AD; Amidst crumbling ruins they are surrounded by future-men and Rip Hunter in rags and a crown. Continued from last issue; continues next issue. 36 pgs., full color. $0.35. Cover price $0.20.

Add to cart Very Good $2.50

Cover pencils by Rich Buckler, inks by Frank Giacoia. "The War at Time's End," script by Gerry Conway, pencils by Keith Giffen, inks by John Celardo; In the present, Prof is wheelchair-bound in Challenger Mountain, and attacked by a mutant lizard from the future; Future-boxes keep releasing monsters around the world; Red (who quit) battles some in the streets; In the future, Rocky, Ace, June, Swamp Thing, and Deadman find Rip Hunter (and his crew) are brainwashed pawns of the despotic Sunset Lords; After a fight, they're overwhelmed and captured; But Deadman, sneaking around in a borrowed body, meets Lucas Lawspeaker and his rebels. Continued from last issue; continues next issue. 36 pgs., full color. $0.35. Cover price $0.20.

Add to cart Very Good $2.50

Cover pencils by Alex Saviuk, inks by Dick Giordano. "Twelve Million Years To Twilight," script by Gerry Conway and Carla Conway, pencils by Keith Giffen, inks by John Celardo; In 12,000,000 AD, Ace, Rocky, and June make a prison-break, while Swamp Thing holds back mutants; Back in 1978, Prof is saved from a monster when Red returns, cranks up the lab temperature, and cooks the monster, as the Justice League routs the remaining monsters; In the future, the Challs reach the breeder labs and blow them up as Swamp Thing battles the giant Persuader; Lawspeaker - the leader of the rebellion - arrives with the cavalry, his rebel Sky Riders; The Sunset Lords try to destroy the city, but Deadman possesses Rip Hunter to destroy their weapon and the heroes head home. Last issue of the revival. Includes a cutaway map of Challenger Mountain. 36 pgs., full color. $0.35. Cover price $0.35.