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June - July 1969 |
At a top-secret government lab somewhere in the New Mexico Badlands, a
scientist runs screams for his life. He’s found a few hours
later, raving mad, the fifth man they’ve lost. “Only one thing
left to do. Call the Challengers!” |
In their (which?) headquarters, the Challs relax. Red works on
the trapeze, and Prof kids him not to break his neck. Better than
“dying of eyestrain from reading too many screwy books”. Rocky
lifts weights. Ace returns from test-flying a helicopter. The phone rings. “Probably some movie star wanting a date with
me,” quips Rocky. “A movie star named Flipper,” snaps Red.
It’s the President, who “wants us at the White House – pronto!” They fly the borrowed chopper to the White House. (“Before noon”, so
they’re not in their secret Pacific lair. Must be Ace's apartment in New York.) The heroes stand at
attention, hands behind their backs. They wear their yellow
uniforms, and Red his eyepatch. President Nixon (seen in shadows
and from behind) has a “bizarre problem”. The Secretary of
Defense felt the Challs “may be the only people equipped to solve
it.” Rocky nods, “We sure will! What’s the beef. . . er. .
. difficulty?” Scientists at the lab, half a mile underground, are going insane.
“Means a great deal to me. . . Peace and security of the nation.
. . Blah, blah.” (As if Nixon ever cared about anything but
looking good, no matter who got hurt.) |
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Dr. Fillmore, in a suit and Van Dyke, meets them at the private air
field. He briefs them as they board a jet and fly west. A
highly advanced computer beneath the earth will trace atomic explosions
as they occur. By nightfall, the Challs are descending in a mine elevator. “This
joint ain’t much for class, is it?” asks Rocky. “What did you
expect,” asks Red, “the Ritz?” |
Immediately they’re in trouble. “What in the name of Grandma’s
gold toothpick IS it?” It’s a monster made of bundled wires in
human shape. Stuck on the elevator, Rocky throws a punch.
“We gotta tangle with it! Yeoww!” He’s knocked flat.
“Feels like I smacked a solid wall of electricity!”  |
More punches do nothing. “It’s too strong for us!” Red,
“like workin’ the big top”, swings around the elevator cable and kicks
the monster. “My whole body tingles! I get a crawly
feeling!”
He scrambles up a steel ladder, but the thing grabs him
and squeezes. “Blackin’ out. . . Maybe for the last time...” |
The cable creature, anchored like an octopus, resists as the Challs try
to pry Red loose. Dr. Fillmore jumps to help and walks into
Rocky’s elbow – and is knocked cold. The thing lets go and
plummets down the elevator shaft. Red has no “permanent
damage”. Ace notes, “We’ve seen the enemy! Now we’ve got to
learn where it hides!” Prof guesses, “We’ve seen only a small sample. . . That wraith,
horrifying as it is, couldn’t drive me insane. . .” (Prophetic
words, Prof.) |
The elevator is stuck, so they climb down into darkness. “Darker’n the inside of the tomb.” The power’s out. Prof
has a “hunch about the cause of the trouble.” He wants to see the
computers. Dr. Fillmore sends Prof on ahead while the rest check
the wiring. Prof pushes through the dark, “The way those shadows fall on them,
those computers look like monsters! And I’m betting that’s
exactly what they are!” A groan sounds ahead. “That sounds
like Ace!” |
But ghostly laughter wells up. “Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!” A
cloaked figure swoops down with a wrecking bar in hand. Prof
kicks, punches flesh, and grabs the cloak. But the villain, “with
the strength of madness”, flees. Then the wraith appears. Prof dodges, but it cuts him off.
Prof has guessed its secret. “The thing is telepathic. . .
controlled by a human mind!” He tries to make it respond to his
thoughts, concentrating. “Do not advance -- Go back
–“ It begins to slow down, but pushes mentally. The Challs charge in. Prof orders, “Rocky! Slug
Fillmore!” Rocky socks the scientist. “Prof’s gotta
have a reason for his nuttiness!” |
Fillmore is out. Prof says, “The guy is more dangerous than an
army.” He guesses Fillmore lost his reason some time ago,
essentially drove the computers mad, and “combined twisted
intelligences” to make the wraith from the computer’s power supply. Rocky says, “So all we gotta do is keep Fillmore in dreamland.”
Red yells, “Dead wrong! The thing’s back! And it’s got Ace!” “It ain’t possible. . . ‘less someone else is givin’ it orders! What can we do?” Prof thinks, “You can all die!” |
The prose gets purpler. “Gaze upon Prof Haley, reader...
Observe the slight, sinister smile, the flash of evil in his eyes. .
. And prepare yourself for the fear-fraught climax to this, the
strangest unknown ever to face The Challengers. . .” The monster flies to the ceiling with Ace while Rocky and Red
gape. Prof wars with himself. “When I locked minds with the
computer-creature, he infected me!” He wants to both save and
kill Ace! Ace gets dropped. Red yowps, “There’s nothing we can do – but
watch!” Rocky runs to “play cushion” despite “it’s gonna
hurt”. FWOMP! He catches Ace with “bone-crushing
force”. Prof is temporarily free of “the weight pressing on my
mind”. He finds a First Aid kit and administers smelling
salts. Ace comes around. Rocky may be hemorrhaging and his
skull may be fractured. |
They park Rocky in a hospital cot. Ace wonders how the monster
attacked him if Fillmore is kayoed. Prof stutters, “It’s taken on
a life of its own!” The truth catches in his throat. The
evil within prevents him from helping his friends. They have to bust out to save Rocky. Since the monster is
electrical energy, Ace suggests they wrap their bodies in copper
wire. If it attacks, the wire will drain off the energy.
(Make it go to ground, really, but we get it.) Possessed Prof
disagrees. Ace snaps, “Give me a better plan.” They get
moving. But Red has found a self-destruct setup with many sticks
of dynamite “set to blow this joint to smithereens”. The guys
unhook the dynamite and spread out. |
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Fillmore comes too and shambles off. But it’s Prof who’s
possessed again. Unable to stop himself, he triggers alarm doors
to cut off Ace’s escape. He’s got a fire axe to kill Red.
“Look over there. . . (at your death!)” But Fillmore blasts Prof
with fire foam. Ranting “you take away the love of my computer”,
he crowns Red and Prof with the fire extinguisher. Now Fillmore has the axe, “to silence you forever!” But the
creature snags Fillmore and flings him against a control board, freeing
Ace. Prof realizes, “The wraith acted to save my life! It
prefers me to be evil!” He won’t disappoint, and leans to jam
Red’s body-wrap wire into the shorted electrical board.
“Farewell, Red Ryan...” |
Ace rushes in, dynamite sizzling. The monster tries to cut him
off, but he pegs the bundle at the control board. VA-SHOOOOM! Prof is blown clear of the board, inadvertently
saving Red’s life. |
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In the smoking wreckage, the Challs wrap Rocky and start the
heartbreaking climb up the mine shaft ladder. No sign of Fillmore
or the spook. Blown up? “Better save your breath! And
be thankful ya still have it!” Hours later they reach the top and hand Rocky to EMTs. And – is
that the spook flying away? “That thing couldn’t have survived!” |
Yet Prof can feel it, and the evil still inside him, “gnawing at my very soul!”
The narrator finishes, “He wonders and worries what horrors lie ahead. . .” |
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Let’s Chat with the Challengers
Frank Haggerty of Detroit, MI notes that “Jack Sparling’s handiwork is
evident in many features in the DC line,” so suggests he pencil only
and get an inker. And “you hit the drawing pin right on the head,
Frank,” says the Editor. Now “Invincible Vince” Colletta will
ink. (Great choice. Why not a retarded monkey with a burnt
stick?) Gary Skinner of Columbus, OH suggests first names.
“What do you think of Scott Morgan, William Davis, Allen Ryan, and
Robert Haley?” Ye Editor asks, “Okay, all you Challenger chums,
what do you think?” (We think those are the weakest names ever,
Gary.) Eric Nash of NYC asks for reprints, as did James Streich
of Bay City, MI. Vicki Wolford of Gonzales, TX wants a pinup of
Tino. Bev Kirkham wonders why Tino is now shorter and younger,
when he should be at least 18. Jan Boll notes, “Tino is like
cool, groovy, way out. . .” (See what happens when you let girls
join the club?) Even Billy Parker of Greenville, SC wants Tino to be a
regular Challenger. Ye Editor notes, “to the whole chorus that’s
been changing about tempestuous Tino, your comments are duly
noted. A note to the effect has been flashed to the artist to
tack onto his drawing board as a vivid reminder.” The other text feature is “Fact File #8” giving the ancient history of The Spectre. Really, who cares? |
Comments Coming to the Challengers assignment, Denny O’Neil must have felt like
all the other young writers. “The Challs had no personalities, no
conflicts, etc etc.” So he decides to run them through an
emotional wringer, starting with Prof. And with DC’s new policy
of “Superheroes are boring, let’s try occulting everything,” our heroes
stumble in the dark against a computer-ghost. Red even comments
they’re helpless to save Ace. And the story drags on with
needless complications. Could have been ten pages easily. Compare this pansy attitude and time-killing to Robert Kanigher’s
previous issue, with “The Dream Killers!” and “Ace: The Beast in the
Bomb!” Both are short, punchy, grabbers with weird menaces that
rocket along with heroic action. It’s not hard to do. Yet,
obviously, it is. |
For those keeping score, the Challs got this mission from President
Nixon, and get a later one from Nixon’s replacement, Gerald Ford. And as the
writers got wise, a Nixon-lookalike is later fed to a space monster. Neal Adams posts the cover on his own website. |
Another way this story suffers is in comparison to what’s going on
elsewhere. “3 Blockbusters” in one ad are the Haunted Tank vs a
Nazi submarine, a crazy guy praying while Easy Company fights a tank,
and Enemy Ace crash-landed and about to be eaten by wolves. Then The
Atom and Hawkman have been stomped by the Gentleman Ghost, and even
Sugar & Spike are thwarting burglars. Wish the Challs were
facing menaces that cool. |
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The original art for page 1 showed up on eBay. Fun to see.
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