November 1982 |
 The splash panel for the first story is the only place our heroes appear in uniform. The real adventure takes place all in civvies. |
Our story that features "The Triumphant Return of the Challengers of the Unknown!" (from the cover) begins with an episode of TV's Incredible People being filmed in Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas. The hosts promise next week to present "four men whose exploits have taken them to every corner of the globe - on land, under the sea, and in the air!" But a shadowy figure watching the show chortles, "Wrong! One guest is NOT going to appear as scheduled!" Cut to a small airport in Texas where - happily for us fans - we see the very first meeting of the Challs. All of them already have nicknames, and all are already famous.  Red is wondering about the odds of the three of them, all bound for Las Vegas, winding up in the same backwoods airport. Then Ace, the fourth TV guest, walks in!  That all four future-Challs ARE in the same airport is either a huge coincidence, or someone's conniving. If the latter is true, how they arranged it is yet to be revealed. |
Ace shows off his brand-new jet, promising that all the kinks are worked out. Rocky swings a soda bottle and christens the jet "Lucky Ace". (Or maybe not. In COTU 31 he sticks gum on the name.) Ace is not amused, and says he's flatten Rocky for spoiling the paint job if he could. They take off. Ace notes the jet set him back plenty, but he put it all on plastic (credit cards). But soon the jet runs into an electrical storm. Rocky wants a good looking stewardess to tell him to put on his life jacket. Ace replies:  Even facing death here, the Challs can joke - until Ace announces the controls have gone haywire. Thoughts turn grim. Prof has research left undone. Rocky fought his way to the top only to lose it to a hunk of metal and wires. Red has no regrets, only figuring the odds are he won't win this one. And Ace laments he's no crackerjack pilot. Ace tries mightily, but notes, "Nothing is responding. It's as if someone pulled the plug on the plane. If anyone knows any good prayers, SAY 'EM FAST!" |
Then they hit.  |
It's quiet. Then Rocky shoves the twisted door open. The guys can't believe it: not a scratch on any of them! Red has had worse falls in the bathtub. Prof just feels "weird". Red thinks he's acting like Rod Serling, taking about "borrowed time ticking away".  |
Ace, meanwhile, finds a piece of non-standard equipment in the wreckage of his plane. "Somebody tried to kill us!"  |
And the story continues in Adventure 494! |
Comment The Adventure digests are a pain in one way, because they're too small. Artists and writers created full-size pages that had to be reduced too much for clarity. The panels shown here are enlarged. But they are PACKED with stories and they have nifty back covers. Here's this issue's.  See a map of the flight path and crash. Read more details about the reason for the crash. |
