DC Universe Presents #7: Challengers of the Unknown

I wonder how many Challengers of the Unknown covers have them in an hourglass?

This issue begins with Ace crawling out of the Well of Souls where a couple of Initiates of Rama Kushnu have decided to betray their Lord and summon whatever Being has taken over the body of Ace. Ace uses their lives to reinvigorate his rotting corpse and then proclaims, "The Challengers must die!"

Does he call them Challengers because he remembers that's what they were called on the television show? Or have they all fallen into some cosmic script where the role of the Challengers has existed for all time and the universe has finally cast the parts?

Morgan Edge produces the show. Therefore the show is evil.

At least two months have passed since the accident and it looks like the Reality Show has become something entirely different. The group has taken on the name The Challengers of the Unknown and they have a television set of Challenger's Mountain, the name of the headquarters of the old group. At this point, they're definitely the super hero version of The Monkees. But are they up to anything besides playing the roles on television?

On the side, the Challengers are still looking into the disappearance of Ace and the secrets locked away in Brody's talisman. No sign of their accident or Nanda Parbat can be found in the Himalayas so June believes their last chance lies in studying the Spiral Talisman. But they need a real scientific lab and not a fake MST3K style set of one. Luckily, their celebrity buddy Kenny Kawa (the one with 4 million "Flutter" followers! Lame! I only have 21 Followers!) has a pretty swanky headquarters in Colorado.

Looks like Challenger's Mountain to me!

Of course this tech savvy Kenny Kawa has a research lab that rivals STAR Labs. But is it as good as that nobody Crux's lab?! Apparently every rich or determined bastard in the new DCU who is at all interested in research can have technology way better than anything anybody else has. Do I have to try to rank these outfits? STAR Labs is supposed to be the best. But now Kenny Kawa claims to have a better lab than they have. And Waynetech and Q-Corp and Holt Holdings and Crux and Simon Tycho and Lex Luthor and all sorts of other people have better technology as well!

Kenny Kawa has already begun research on the Spiral Talisman.

Five pentagons don't fit together nicely. I think there needs to be more Talismans.

June's call is to Morgan Edge. She gets the Challenger's uniforms, a jet, and camera vests to film their television show. It looks like maybe Brody really did become lunch for a Great Old One which killed the Game Show aspect of the Reality Show. But in turn, the show has become an Adventure Reality show and it funds the Challengers trips to discover what happened to them in Nanda Parbat. This first mission is composed of June, Rocky, Red, Brenda, and Maverick.The Prof and Kenny Kawa remain behind to do more research.

Watching the team take-off from inside a hanger at the airport is Zombie Ace.

Are TSA Agents really allowed to carry guns? If so, I'm never stepping foot in an airport again. Not because I fear guns. I fear morons carrying guns.

Ace stabs both gun-wielding agents to death with his knife. Why is it the people with the ranged weapons always give up their power by engaging in close combat? Fucking dumb asses.

The Challengers land in Germany where they enter an ancient temple and discover the second talisman. June picks it up and triggers a trap that causes the temple to collapse. All of the Challengers manage to escape only to find the statues on the outside walls have come to life. So far, not one Challenger has shown any kind of expertise in anything aside from flying. And even that is debatable since they crashed into a mountain while doing that.

Meanwhile, back at Challenger's Mountain, The Prof and Kawa have hacked into somebody named Terrance Thirteen's laptop. This one person in all the world seems to know about these talismans. Part of what they read tells of a "cosmic event called 'The Convergence.'" Wait. My mistake. Terrance isn't the only person who knows about the Talismans.

But he is the only non-zombie person!

Back in Germany, the Challengers are being overwhelmed by stone statues. Maverick has some sort of Grenade Launcher that destroys one or two but he doesn't have much ammunition. He gives Red a grenade which doesn't seem like a good idea in this close combat.

Red climbing the temple in the background is the first example of one of the Challengers showing his expertise. He gets to the top and blows the temple top off with the grenade. It collapses on the statues while the rest of the Challengers get away.

But then again, I think the Challengers of the Unknown rely mostly on luck to be successful. This comic is a bit like an old school Computer Role Playing Game. The Challengers have eight members on their roster (seven if Kawa is actually dead from stabbage). But only six could be chosen to fill out the party that would go on the mission. So it's important to pick the characters with the right skills and attributes. This mission needed a pilot, so Maverick went. Luckily they had a Mountain Climber with sufficient skill in Projectiles, Explosive to save the day. And Brenda's primary skills are in Fame and Nails but she seems to have a really high Hiding Skill which enables her to find some cover sufficient for all of the Challengers to survive! And after all the Experience Points they'll get for a successful mission and killing six Stone Guardians, they should be able to level up! They also got some treasure: the Sefer Yetzirah, the second talisman!

Meanwhile, back at Challenger's Mountain:

Whoops!

DC Universe Presents #7: Challengers of the Unknown Rating: No change. Decent enough comic that I'm not going to drop its rank although it doesn't really match up to how much I liked Deadman. So I might have to drop the rank at least one point simply on principle that the title isn't as good as it was. I do think the Challengers of the Unknown could be a fun comic. But this story needs more time to tell. It just has too many characters and too many things going on for a 3 Issue mini-series! It gets by well enough seeing as how the characters are mostly stereotypes. So there really isn't a great need for back story when you can drop a few lines and the reader knows what to expect from a character. In the first issue, The Prof actually says, "I hate to play to stereotype" when he claims there must be a scientific explanation for some pretty freaky things. If the comic had more time and could get more in-depth and slow down the pace, I think it might be a fun ride. As it is, it's decent if a little hurried and crowded.