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Volume 2, Issue 8 October 1991 |
The cover is another surreal Jim Steranko homage. Just as Steranko's covers were spins on Salvador Dali. |  |
Concluding from last issue (COTU V2 7)... Like all villains, before the climax, N’Zrath blathers. Claims to have nudged humans to “seize the dark half of your so-called souls”. Caused Cain to murder Abel, slavery, Hitler, assassinations of Abraham, Martin, and John. “Whenever there’s the slightest chance of stopping me... the human condition... exterminates the chance.” |
Standing in the demon’s dimension, which resembles Hell, Harold Moffet thinks it’s a bad dream. Ace wonders how they got from Prof and June’s phantom living room. Ryan wonders why “super-jerks” always explain their evil plan. Rocky encourages N’Zrath to continue. The “super-jerk” calls the Challs “the cockroaches in my wood pile.” After a millenium, N’Zrath managed to nudge hundreds of normal people into “violent betrayals, mass suicides, and ritual murders.” And who tries to stop him? Rocky: a drunkard! Ace: an irresponsible fool! And Red: a murderer! |
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And from the shadows, forgotten, Duncan Pramble mumbles, “Yes.”  N’Zrath hurls hundred of demons at the Challengers. Red shoots. “’Bout time this group cut loose!” Ace worries. “It’s been years since we had combat.” Rocky yells tactics. “Pick a target and hit him with everything you’ve got!” Bullets, a club, and magic don’t do much. They’re bleeding. Red asks for heavy-duty backup. Rocky calls Ace for a quick exit. Ace intones, “In brightest day, in blackest night -” but he’s swamped by demons. |
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Moffet runs. He promises God he’ll “keep the Sabbath every week!” And Channukah and high holy days - N’Zrath cuts him off. “Going somewhere, bug?” Moffet tries bargaining with a god-like demon. “So, Naz, babe. Who’s writing your bio?” N’Zrath laughs, and continues with his tale. “A wall had to come down.” Prof and June were searching for an alternate energy source. “All they found was me.” But people needed nudging. Duncan Pramble to plant a bomb, the Challs to pull a switch. |
 Note N'Zrath on the wall, bomb in hand, nudging Pramble.
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“In that instant, the wall cracked.” N’Zrath squeaked to Earth. Prof and June were sucked into the demon’s direction - no idea why. No matter. “After I’ve incinerated these Challengers of the Unknown, I can get on with my crusade. The elimination of good. Everything becomes evil.” |
Moffet scribbles, trying not to believe. Rocky crawls up with the nitro bomb. “Stop him.” Moffet gawks. “ME?”  N’Zrath laughs. “You kill me. Pinning your last best hope on Harold Moffet?” And while Moffet dithers, someone else acts. Duncan Pramble, ex-Multi-Man, of all people, babbles, “Wrong. Wrong song. NO!” And snatches the bomb! And dives down the demon’s throat. KA-BOOM! |
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The last pieces float down into - “The crisis has passed,” says June, waddling with pregnancy. Rocky adds, “Like a dream.” |
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Ace can get them all home - except for Prof and June. They’re not sure where this “phantom-like zone” is, but they belong. Alone? Same as in a mountain. And the baby? “You’ll hear from us.” Ace urges they “click their heels” and repeat, “There’s no place like home.” He sketches a door, and they’re gone. |
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One Week Later Rocky dedicates a plaque at the remnants of Challenger
Mountain. It reads, IN MEMORY
Of Duncan Pramble HE CHALLENGED THE UNKNOWN AND WON Rocky adds, “In a strange way,
he dedicated his life to us... In the end, maybe he found a
little good in his heart.”
(Catch the Kirby tribute in the letter font? Same as Jack designed for Showcase 6.) 
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Two Weeks Later Over Moffet’s protests at “giving it away”, the Challs tell
their tale to Lois Lane, who listens skeptically. The result is in a small back-page story,
“Multi-Man Dies. Relatively Minor Super-Villain.” (But there's more to Multi-Man's story.) |
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Three Weeks Later
Rocky hangs in a bar telling stories. “June was pregnant big, not fifty feet big.” He drinks only ginger ale. Red practices target shooting. “Back to living on borrowed time... What the hell. The struggle for life is the ONLY struggle.” Ace meditates. “There are no endings. My friends and I begin again.” |
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And Moffet - in his best Challengers boxers - gets some bed time with his throb, Jody, who more or less kicked him onto the trail. He’s gone back to The Tattletale. “Gave them an exclusive on what really happened. Wanna see?” Moffet holds up a comic book version of the story. Red pummels guards “crying out for mercy”. Rocky bets heavily and wins every time, then sets a speed record racing into action. Ace fires spells “to save us all”. Everyone yells, “Great guns!” |
And Multi-Man shrills, “The Challengers must die!”  Jody, appalled at the sell-out, grabs her clothes and leaves. “And lose my telephone number!” |
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The letters
column promises that, soon, there will be another eight-issue
miniseries. It will focus on Prof and June and... never
happened. Very cool and comprehensive logo, though. Our heroes, Moffet, Prof and June in limbo but accessible, and hints of demons. Loeb and Sale thank Honorary Challengers, readers who responded so enthusiastically. "Remember: The struggle for life is the only struggle." |
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The Honorary Challenger Roll Call Dale Coe, Cheshire, England. JM DeMocko, Seattle, WA. R Kevin Doyle, Honolulu, HI. Rux Hensley, St. Charles, IL. Mark Lucas, Los Angeles, CA. Vinnie Bartilucci, Elmont, NY. Elvis Orten, Dawson Springs, KY. Kenneth Silver, Oakland, CA. Eric Skudlarczyk, St. Francis, WI. Robert Kowalski, Detroit, MI. Adam Gross, Annapolis, MD. Mark Brown, Winnipeg, MB, Canada. Kip Talbot, Dayton, VA. Martin Lee, Los Angeles, CA. Tom O'Hagan, Bellerose, NY. Jeff Lang, Sewell, NJ. Mark D Squire, Des Moines, WA. Charles J Sperling, Flushing, NY. Jason E Cook, Belfast, NY. Justin Pollack, Woodbury, NY. Chuck Dill, Fairfax, VA. Julio Diaz, Tampa, FL. Gerard D Wilson, Lincoln, NE. Frank Delmasto, Brooklyn, NY. Scott Tilson, Streetsville, ON, Canada. Mark J Price, North Canton, OH. Jonathon David Lydon, West Springfield, MA. Joe Zigmund Jr, Frackville, PA. Nicholas Rudman, Durham, England. Carl Swansen, Philadelphia, PA. Bob Schreib Jr, Fords, NJ. Jeff Bailey, Rochester, NY. Ed Homa Jr, Claymont, DE. Chris Khalaf, Houston, TX. J Blair Tarleton, Tarboro, NC. Steven R Mitchell, Chester, England. Kurt Nyeholt, Grand Rapids, MI. Eric Londergren (Fluffy), Dedham, MA. Ted Whitford, London, ON, Canada. Rol Hirst, West Yorks, England. Rob Ertnicol, Clark, NJ. John Larkin, Paramus, NJ. Steven Littlefield, Richmond, VA. Thomas Moudry, Murfreesboro, TN. Omaha Perez. Christian Konig, Cremen, West Germany. Paul Neid, Overland Parks, KS. Gregory Tiede, Livermore, CA. Domenic Bruni, Oshkosh, WI. Jeffrey A DeWitt, Redlands, CA. David Hodgkins, Oak Harbor, WA. Malcolm Bourne, Bury, Lancashire, England. Rene Lespier, New York, NY. Charles Brown, Brentwood, NY. SR Hnasko, Hazelton, PA. |
Comments And paves the way for the second story arc that never happened. So where does that leave our heroes? In limbo, until they were resurrected and rescued in Volume 3 by Steven Grant, who kept some of the new thrust but softened the jagged edges. Howsoever, the Challengers continue forging into the unknown... |
For the record, Tim Sale could draw heroic Challengers. If only.  |