March 1983 |
In Vegas, Red escorts his old friend Johnny Green back to the other Challs, when someone tries to run them down!  The driver is drunk, but he looks familiar to Red. |
When the Challs meet Johnny Green, they put the puzzle together. The surprise: NONE of the Challengers were targeted for death! Johnny Green won $300K gambling, but has yet to collect. The mob tried to see he never did. Johnny and Red were to fly together on a commercial flight. So mobsters planted a plastic gizmo in Red's luggage to sabotage the plane. Johnny is shocked that someone would destroy an entire planeload of innocents to kill one person, even for $300K. Cynical Red notes, "It's been done before for lots less, pal." The fiendish device was plastic to get through metal detectors. That it was plastic tipped off Ace: why make it plastic when a luggage for a private plane wouldn't be scanned? Knowing the mob is responsible, the not-yet Challengers accost Bernie. The "drunk driver" is there, regretting missing Red and Johnny with the car. Rocky interrupts.  |
Thugs close in. As Prof notes, Rocky can't punch them out. His hands are lethal weapons. But the others can - and attack. Ace is belly-slammed, and Prof goes skidding down a blackjack table. Oh, well. Rocky, hands in his pockets, trips some bad guys. Red bangs another over the head witha roulette wheel.  The resulting "chaos in the casino" as seen on the cover flattens the casino and the gangsters. Johnny gets his money and presumably repays Red's debt. That's that. |
FINALLY, our heroes make their TV appearance on "Incredible People",  where they're introduced as Challengers of the Unknown! |
Comment A nifty end to a fun story that gives us many insights into our pals, the Challs. Good intro, too. Each episode opens with a great blurb, worth repeating here. "There is a line most people will not cross - a line which marks the boundary between the safe and familiar and those horrors that we fear. Now there are four men who dare to journey beyond that border of the frightening. Four men living on borrowed time... Challengers of the Unknown!" |
Bonus! Check out the "lost" Adventure stories! |