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| Copyright 2007 by DC Comics |
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October 2007 |
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Characters:
Batman; Green Lantern; Brainiac 5; Invisible Kid; Legion of Super-Heroes; Adam Strange; Supergirl;
Prof Haley; Rocky Davis; Red Ryan; Ace Morgan. Villains: Luck Lords;
Hawkmen; General Mondath; Rannians. Cameos of DC's Future Heroes and Villains: Booster
Gold and Skeets; Star Hawkins and Ilda; Kamandi; Tommy Tomorrow; Ultra the
Multi-Alien; Space Ranger and Cyrll; Atomic Knights; Astra, Girl of
the Future; Space Cabbie; John Fox Flash; Professor Zoom Reverse Flash;
XS; Sela Allen Flash; Jace Allen Flash; Sun Devils; Star Hunters; Chris KL-99; Time Trapper; OMAC; Rip Hunter; Space Museum; Star Rovers; Knights of the Galaxy. Synopsis: The Luck Lords have used the Book of Destiny to dominate the last thousand years. Until Batman, Adam Strange, and Green Lantern bring in "The Men Who Were Not There", the Challengers of the Unknown. Comment: The cover title pays homage to |
Continuing from last issue (The Brave and the Bold 5)... In 3007, a thousand years in the future, the Luck Lords hold up The Book of Destiny and gloat, gloat, gloat. |
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In 2007, they got hold of The Book of Destiny, which shows everything that ever happened in the past, present, and future. They've eliminated luck and chance, and KNOW how everything works out. And have dominated the last thousand years. They show captives, Batman and the Legion of Super-Heroes, that Supergirl, Adam Strange, and Green Lantern all died in 2007. |
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"And this is only the beginning," gloats a Lord. "This isn't luck! This is genocide!" barks Batman. But there's one glitch. Brainiac 5 explains the Lords fear Batman. "You're afraid Batman can still do or say something on Rann that could unravel your plan -" Brainiac 5 gets his brains gooshes. No, the Lords don't fear Batman "because we were there" on Rann one thousand years ago. |
True. In 2007, on Rann, Adam Strange, Green Lantern, and Supergirl battle while the Luck Lords look on. Adam is almost turned into water (by the Menace of the Aqua-Ray Weapon!) but GL smashes the device and restores him. (All the weapons were used in Mystery in Space. Clicks the links to see.) The enemy is General Mondath and his Rannian forces, who fight Thangarian Hawkmen. General Mondath refers to The Book of Destiny to direct the battle, since everything is already written in "history". But the Luck Lords are the real threat, since a thousand-year Rann-Thanagar war will help them dominate the universe. |
Supergirl, Green Lantern, and Adam Strange are getting creamed. They need Batman to identify "The Men Who Were Not There." But where's Batman? Adam Strange has a plan. Supergirl has triple-powers under Rann's triple suns. She can read The Book at a distance. She does, but it's terrifying, especially when she sees her and others' deaths. "We're... so... small." Still, 3X-Supergirl reads The Book and learns Batman's stuck in the year 3007. So... |
Adam Strange ties his zeta-beam to Green Lantern's power ring and - - as Batman faces death from the Luck Lords, he vanishes - - and is yanked back through time, passing visions of DC's Future Heroes - - to arrive on Rann in 2007. |
The heroes grill Batman. Who are the missing men? He explains to Adam Strange as they punch coordinates for the zeta-beam. Outside, Supergirl and Green Lantern battle bipods and other nefarious Rannian weapons. |
"Several years ago, four men - each the best at the most dangerous jobs on Earth - went down in a violent plane crash. "No one could have walked away from it. No one. Those four men should have died that day - but they didn't. "Against all conceivable odds, they sidestepped fate and cheated death. Now they live on borrowed time, unafraid of anything. "They call themselves the Challengers of the Unknown." |
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And our heroes, plucked across space by a zeta-beam, plunk down on Rann. "Batman?" asks Prof. "Where are we?" "Under attack, Professor Haley! Alien army! I'll fill in the rest later! Right now I need you four hell-bent on grabbing the General's guidebook!" "You heard Batman!" yells Rocky. "Everybody in the pool! Oh... and be careful!" "Good one, Rocky!" Laughing, the guys demonstrate "how the Challengers define 'careful'!" |
A bipod (from The Mechanical Masters of Rann!) comes stalking. A tentacle smashes into Adam's control room. The Challs latch hold and soar out. Ace flips and smashes into the cockpit. "Nice rig! Does it handle as smooth as an F-22?" (Since it's impossible to shatter the glass with your feet, we assume Ace cracked the glass with a tentacle first.)  |
Rocky hops in and delivers a punch. "Boom! Like Mayweather on De La Hoya!"  |
Already Supergirl is thrilled. She saw the future and knows, "None of this was in The Book! We did it! We changed destiny!" Except... Supergirl is lanced by a giant kryptonite talon. (As shown earlier.) General Mondath is learning how to adapt technologies. Green Lantern whisks the dying Supergirl into space. "We're still in this," says Batman. "If my theory is correct, General Mondath can't possibly account for the Challengers... |
"Don't forget. They're supposed to be dead. That means their destiny isn't written."  "Somehow, they managed to walk right off The Book's pages and onto an uncharted path. "Every move they make can - and does - change the universe in unexpected ways. That's why the book sometimes makes minor adjustments to itself." |
The Book adjusts now, and Batman and Strange are flash-fried in of the air. Red catches "The Bat" on the fly. "Punch it, Ace!"  Rocky and Ace whack two bipods together and slide down the legs. "How's that for a hit?" boasts Ace.
Rocky laughs, "You meant to do that, right?" "Seemed like a plan." |
Groundward, Prof nails a Rannian and steals his sparkling ray gun (The Multiple Menace Weapon!) and headset. The General wants the Challs shot. Prof responds, "If you're calling for a sniper, General, he can't hear you. I, on the other hand, am now armed."  Up in space, Green Lantern hovers Supergirl among three suns, praying their solar power will heal her. Then soars Rann-ward. "We have a new problem. The Luck Lords have surfaced. If they get The Book before the Challs do, it's all over!" |
Fat chance. The Challs are trashing the Rannian army. Ace rides a giant ray-gun (The Ray-Gun in the Sky!). Prof hoses blasts with his weapon. Rocky "tears through the Foot Troops like wind through a voartree!" General Mondath panics flipping pages. "Nothing matches The Book!" |
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General Mondath runs. "No! Victory was preordained!" He crashes into the Challengers. Ace notes, "A true general knows when to focus on the battlefield and not the game plan. Red?" Red Ryan, acrobat, swings from a pipe and snatches The Book. "Yoink!" |
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Luck Lords beam in, though, and level deadly hands at the Challs. General Mondath bleats, "Strike these strangers down! They are but mortal, while you are gods!" The Challs grit their teeth, ready for the Lords' best shot - - and blink at a yellow explosion. The Luck Lords are gone, zapped to the center of the universe by Adam Strange and a flying zeta-beam cannon. Rocky rasps, "Nice shot, fin-head!" The Luck Lords' "ambitious thousand-year war is over before it's begun," says Batman. A flip through the book shows the Legion of the future hale and hearty. "We saved today AND tomorrow." Supergirl has healed and, thankfully, forgotten most of the forbidden knowledge. |
Adam Strange hands The Book to Ace. "Destiny says the Challs are the rightful owners of The Book... for now, anyway."  "But for god's sake, be careful. Not Challenger careful - fate of reality careful." Can't Adam use it to stop the Rann-Thanagar War? No. He checked and... it wouldn't help. |
The heroes prepare to leave, though GL notes, "I hate to abandon you in the middle of a global conflict." Adam will call "if it gets bad". Supergirl apologizes for freaking out before. Adam Strange smiles. "It's all right. All you did was leave the fate of the cosmos in the hands of a bunch of guys like me. Never a problem." And Earth's heroes hop a zeta-beam back home. |
Comments So, who are these guys?We know they're contemporary Challs because Batman's time-space beam was green, but theirs is the regular yellow zeta-beam. Interesting the plane crash was, according to Batman, only "several years ago". Exactly where the Challs were on Earth, and what they were doing, are more questions. And how did Red get back from Hypertime? Questions, questions... |