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April - May 1960 |
As the Challs fly into the mountain hideout, a tiny spaceship - very coincidently - skims by. Prof thinks it might be "one of those satellites we've been pitching into orbit" (such as Sputnik), but he doesn't recognize the design. The only thing in the ship is a gold ball. Which is immediately grabbed by a spaceman in red and blue, who runs for his spaceship over the next hill! Prof nails the guy with a flying tackle. The Challs tie him up. Later in the lab, Prof X-rays the gold ball. What's inside? A tiny man! The shell cracks open.  The tiny man grows and grows to normal size. And what a story! He is Zanna. The spaceman who grabbed the ball is Vraaba, a faithful servant. The Lingua-Stat he's wearing translates their language. Zanna is the rightful ruler of the planet Ak-Sel. He was overthrown by "an insurgent leader, Dakyah, an infamous scientist". Dakyab turned a "fixation beam" on Zanna, rendering him immobile, then enclosed him in the tiny ball in suspended animation and shot him into orbit. Zanna's underground stole a ship to rescue their leader, but a meteor knocked the new satellite into a new orbit - to Earth. Now Zanna can return to Ak-Sel and fight Dakyab. Ace announces, "You fellows might need some help! We'll go along! Don't argue! Danger's our business!" |
Back on Ak-Sel, the evil Dakyab finds the satellite is gone. He orders a search of every mile of the planet, and the palace reinforced. A ship lands on Ak-Sel in the crater of an extinct volcano. The underground shouts, "Hail, Zanna!" The leader shows the Challs around. The only weapons to fight with are small shuttle planes. |
But Dakyab's scouts close in, having seen the ship enter the volcano. The bad guys descend with ray guns. "The enemy is upon us!" Rocky yells, "Okay! This is where we make our move!" Though the Challs are wearing guns, they plow into the enemy with fists.  |
Someone throws a switch, and the room goes black. Zanna leads them to the shuttle craft and out a sub-tunnel. They fly to a floating island - one of many - kept suspended by anti-gravity rays. Word is that Dakyab's forces will be spread out, leaving the palace undermanned, but still too formidable. Ace muses. "If we could fly this island over the palace, we could attack from above." But the rays, which bounce off the earth below, keep the island suspended in one place. Ace asks, "Will they bounce off ANYTHING solid, even if it's in motion?" Yes. With that information, Ace offers his plans. Soon the four Challs take off in four shuttle craft. Flying under the island, they cut off the beams so the beams bounce off the ships! Precision flying does the rest, as the shuttles "ferry" the island to a new location - |
- high above the palace, where the forces of Zanna and the Challs launch their attack!  The Challs blow up the main tower positions. Landing on the roof, they open the gates. And that's pretty much it. The good forces rush in and capture the castle. But where's Dakyab? Zanna shows where - "in the palm of my hand!" Dakyab shrunk himself into a tiny spaceball. A tiny ship would launch automatically to be picked up later by an aide. But Zanna will release him and find "a more suitable prison". Zanna says, "Vraba will pilot you back to your world - with our most grateful appreciation for your help! You are brave, fearless men!" Ace tells him, "We can afford to be, sire! You see, we're always living on borrowed time!" |
"The Creatures From the Past" |
"Once across the fabled Aegean Sea and through the Dardanelles, a small schooner plies through the waters of the Sea of Marmara, finally entering the expansive Black Sea..." Aboard are Dr Henry, archaeologist, the Challs, and June.  Nice to see the group in repose for once. |
Dr Henry has a book recently recovered from the archives in Rhodes. It claims that the land of Colchis and its legendary Golden Fleece are real. And soon they reach the shore with its ancient ruins. The Challs split up to search. Alone, Rocky mutters, "I think the whole bit is as screwball as they come..." Until he falls through a trapdoor and lands next to - the Golden Fleece! "Call me Lucky Rocky!" No one can hear his shouts, and the fleece is heavy. He dons it like a coat to have both hands free to climb out of the secret chamber. Soon he's "dizzy - things are spinning around..." |
The other Challs spot Rocky, and he's wearing the golden fleece - and an odd expression on his face. Rocky runs away. And from the ruins charges - a fire-breathing dragon!  For once the Challs use their guns, blasting away, to no effect. They run. But the dragon suddenly veers off into the ruins, gone. Dr Henry explains. The wearer of the fleece is "himself, trapped in those powers. Rocky isn't aware of what's occurring!" So Rocky is summoning "fantastic creatures from a never-never land". The dragon is the guardian of the fleece, and turned on the Challs to protect it. "Once Rocky was safely away, the guardian dragon departed!" But June and Dr Henry have uncovered an old vase full of fluid that "might be of some importance". The two will investigate while the Challs chase Rocky. Villages in the hills might be endangered. |
Climbing a hillside, the Challs feel the rock shake. Is it a landslide? Or an earthquake? No, it's a gigantic cyclops holding the rock!  Ace bails out and takes cover in trees. He recalls that "Ulysses found the cyclops' one weak spot - its vision!" A hornet's nest might be "just the ticket". Jumping onto a massive shoulder, Ace sets hornets buzzing around the giant's head. It drops the Challs and runs off with a roar of rage. Watching, they see the cyclops enter a cave along the water - a grotto. To charge in would be suicide. Prof suggests a smudge fire to drive the creatures out. Ace and Red will do that. Prof can check with Dr Henry and June. Reading the inscription on the vase, the scientist guesses it was made by an alchemist "who also sought to destroy the fleece". (WHY on earth would anyone want to do that?) The fluid actually changes "base metal to gold". (Not the usual way around.) But a distant bellow sends Prof running to his pals. As seen on the cover, Rocky rides a centaur at Red and Ace. Again, bullets won't stop it - and they run out of ammo. But a rope-vine snags the centaur's back leg, dumping it and Rocky. Prof "played rodeo star - with a vine rope!" Before they can grab Rocky, though, a strange melodious humming draws him to the rocky beach. - |
- where "a lithe figure appears on the sea-washed rocks". A mermaid.  Rocky is indeed lured by the mermaid. She swims close - and hurls a liquid in his face! It's June in disguise (hubba, hubba) tossing the gold-debasing fluid. The golden fleece fades in color. Rocky's head clears as the spell wears off. Dr Henry and June got props from the boat to make a fishtail and wig. The creatures from the past fade away, back to their "never-never land" of legends. |
Comments The first story is a mess with its alien names, casual flight to another planet, and incredible coincidences, though moving the floating island is clever. The second story is more Challenger-y, mixing action, legend, and science. And that June in a skin-tight fish suit - wow!  How long ago was 1960? The Public Service page welcomes our newest state! |
Another genre gets a hero as "Rip Hunter, Time Master" debuts in Showcase.  Of course, the Challs had already been to the past and the future and everywhere in between, but don't tell Rip... |