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October - November 1961 |
The Challengers land their jet in the jungles of South America. They seek two lost explorers, Hinton and Jarvis. Natives report the explorers entered a forbidden area ruled by "the angry god" Xechulan. And here the lost explorers charge into the village! "Gold! We must have gold! We are servants of Xechulan! And only gold will satisfy his wrath!" "They must be under some spell!" yells Ace. "We've got to stop them before somebody gets hurt!" Yet Hinton and Jarvis have magical powers. Flinging out a hand makes the ground explode and a cauldron of boiling water geyser. Hinton and Jarvis grab gold artifacts, including the Golden Shield of Juatica. The Challengers would rush them, but they're restrained by the locals.  |
The two bewitched men disappear in a puff of red smoke. The chief apologizes. The tribe cannot risk the anger of the golden god. "And now our sacred shield is gone!" The Challengers promise to get it back - soon. Tracking through the jungle, the Challengers split up at a fork. Ace and Rocky are turned back by thick vegetation. In the village, Ace studies the scorched cauldron. Just then, Hinton and Jarvis wander in. "Grab them before they uncork another magic haymaker!" But the explorers are bedraggled and dazed. They can't remember anything. Ace tells them to get some sleep. Prof and Red will probably have answers. |
The two comrades do, but not what Ace expected. Red and Prof march into the village. They've become slaves of Xechulan too - and have been turned into gold!  Just like before, the slaves demand gold tribute. When Ace and Rocky rush, Prof waves an arm. Native spears fly into the air and thud in front of Ace and Rocky. Grabbing gold artifacts, Prof and Red too fling explosions, then disappear into the jungle. |
Nobody's more astounded than Hinton and Jarvis. They whisper, "Who'd have believed there was any truth to the legend?" They cooked up a "gold-grabbing scheme", but Prof and Red really found the lost territory! Hinton and Jarvis follow. Prof and Red enter a crevice between boulders. A golden ray bathes them. To avoid the beam, the crooks climb over the rocks. They find a treasure trove: gold statues, spears, helmets! Puffing, they lug the treasure to where they hid their original booty - - and get rushed. "The Challengers! You - you tricked us!" One explorer topples a statue at our boys. Another tries to part Rocky's hair with a sword. The blade cuts the statue in half - revealing a slab of rock. "Like your head!" snarls Rocky, and tackles the villain. Red bowls the shield to knock down the other. |
"How did you spot our hoax?" While they slept, Ace examined the cauldron and found traces of potassium nitrate, used in explosives. The Challs hatched a plot. Prof buried explosives and wired an electromagnet to his hand. That's how he made the spears fly, then cut off the current. Gold paint did the rest. Ace concludes, "Now, Chief, we can return the sacred shield to your people! May it rest here forever!" |
Second Story
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"In a small town, not too far distant from Challenger Mountain", our boys and June shop for "provisions" in their little blue pickup truck. (Think. How secret can Challenger Mountain be if the guys go to town in uniform?) A shout goes up. Five time-lost warriors attack buildings and cars. The knight lances the pickup as a "crouching beast". (Classical reference: one of King Arthur's knights pursued a "crouching beast".)  The guys dive in. Rocky snags the gladiator in his own net. Red "ascends" a parked car and vaults onto the knight. Prof "dives" and tackles the Viking. Ace is snared by the cave man until he flips him onto the Babylonian. |
The Challengers dump the bound warriors in their truck and wend south - where the warriors came from. The mystery deepens because the warriors fear Challenger Mountain! Inside, the Challs wait for the knight (the only English speaker) to wake up. But a R-R-RUMBLE shatters the wall. In bursts the tentacle-nosed Monstus, the Thing in Challenger Mountain! It lassoes the Challengers (as seen on the cover) and plunks them in cages. |
The Challs and the warriors are captives of J'Kal. The alien collects living creatures for his own private zoo. He uses a device called the Starkan that teleports matter.  Traveling through time, Monstus descended and scooped up the warriors from their eras (no doubt scaring the stuffing out of many ancient civilizations!) J'Kal caught the cave man in this very mountain. But they escaped when his generator failed and the cage doors opened. J'Kal goes off to rest. |
The Challengers get busy. Ace borrows June's boot, rips off the heel, and drives the nails into a power socket. Shorted out, the cage doors open. Our heroes try to sneak past, but Monstus wakes and roars. Ace orders Prof and June to take off with the pickup. "Ride for the nearest plane and get back here!" Ace, Rocky, and Red grab ammo and skip up the hill. They rain grenades on Monstus so Prof and June can drive clear. Then they're swatted by tentacles. |
J'Kal arrives and plays a red beam over Monstus to calm him. But a green beam flashes in and freezes the monster. "Another alien!" Yep. A law officer come to arrest J'Kal for "meddling with forbidden things".  Yet J'Kal also has a ray gun, and they're stalemated. He'll shoot. Rocky quips, "This is it! It was a great world while it lasted!" |
BRATTA-TATTA-TATTA! Bullets zing around J'Kal. Prof and June swoop down in a jet! (Where can you rent a jet with machine guns?) Ace tackles J'Kal. And just like that, the adventure is over. The lawman uses the Starkan to teleport Monstus and J'Kal back to their home world. Then he sends the five warriors home, then turns the ray on himself. "Goodbye, my friends - forever!" The Challenger gaze in awe at the empty space and "offer a mute farewell to the men from the past, and from the other world - and to Monstus, the Beast Invader of Challenger Mountain!" |
Comments In the "Golden God" story, it's nice to see the Challengers help native people restore their sacred artifacts and traditional ways. Their generosity is a common theme in the books. Another common theme is a bad alien terrorizing the guys until an alien policeman shows up to help corral him. An overused theme, even. |
This issue announces the new Atom. Formerly a short Golden Age fighter with an "atomic punch", the hero is recycled like Flash and Green Lantern and returns as a true "atom-sized" hero. Watch your back, Challengers, you're in danger of losing the big cases to the capes.  |