Hey, hey, hey, Groove-ophiles! Today we're gonna check out the all-too-short-lived late Groovy Age
Challengers of the Unknown revival that began in
Super-Team Family #8 (September 1976)! The
Challs were a successful Bronze Age team of non-powered heroes created by Jack Kirby way back in 1956, whose mag lasted until the 1971. In 1976, under the new publisher Jenette Kahn's administration, DC's reprint mags (like
STF, along with
Superman Family and
Batman Family) were shifting to all-new material, so author Steve Skeates was tapped to write the
Challs, newcomer James Sherman (who would later claim fame on
The Legion of Super-Heroes) was hired to pencil it, and Jack Abel inked it. Evidently, Skeates, Sherman, and Abel were doing so well with the feature that it moved out of
STF with ish #10 (January 1977) to graduate to their own revived title (
Challengers of the Unknown #81-87, March 1977-March 1978). The weird thing is, when the
Challs got their mag back, Skeates, Sherman, and Abel weren't invited. Ol' Groove "talked" to Steve Skeates about the
Challs via FaceBook a while back about it, and he didn't really know why he wasn't asked to write the revived
Challs mag, but suspects that the plan was to have writer/editor Gerry Conway helm the mag all along.
 |
| Cover art by Rich Buckler and Jack Abel |
But that's all a ways off. Right now, let's just dig the fun, far-out, and downright wild story Mr. Skeates concocted (with assistance from editor Tony Isabella who encouraged Skeates to feature real-life newsmakers President Gerald Ford and Secretary of State Henry Kissinger). While Abel's inks are too overpowering for Ol' Groove's tastes, there is no denying that Sherman's layouts and figurework are cool and dynamic to the extreme! Whaddya say yers trooley stifles himself and we truck on into the
Bermuda Triangle with
Ace, Red, Rocky, Prof, and
June to visit..."The Devil's Paradise!"
