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December 1960 - January 1961 |
Ace Morgan and June Robbins are in mufti, in town shopping. June drools over her favorite gems, opals. Suddenly a genie crashes out of the bank next door. The "Chief of the Challengers" charges to "cut the genie down to size" and gets swatted flat. The genie bounds onto a flatbed truck and is carried away. Ace asks how much loot is missing. "That's the crazy part," says the guard. "All he took was a sackful of pennies!" |
The truck left a trail of red clay, likely from the clay pits in Fairview County. Time to "hop into my fighting togs!"  |
The Challs "swing into action" in a blue convertible. (This is a fighting car?) In the pits, they spot Malvolio, "the magician turned to crime," another bald bad guy, except this one wears a purple-orange cape. He stirs a cauldron of pink froth. His henchman wonders why the genie couldn't have grabbed real loot. The genie's powers are weak from lying dormant for so long. Once restored, he'll be able to do anything! The magician recites a spell. They need copper for "the gale", then brass "to fly you o'er hill and dale", and finally iron ore for "indestructibility". Adding copper to the cauldron, Malvolio twists a ram's horn and summons the genie with a BLAM! Spying, the Challs hear bullets zinging around their ears. Another henchman shoots from a hill. Red and Rocky race around. Rocky boosts Red to punch out the sniper. "Just thought I'd drop into say hello - with my fists, buddy!" The genie has drunk the cauldron. The Challs rush in - too late. The genie blows them away with a gale. Malvolio orders the genie to destroy the Challs. (Throughout, the genie never says a word.) |
Frantic, June runs up spouting the chant, "Siddifo - Saddifo - Ralvo!" To everyone's astonishment, the genie recoils in fear!  |
The Challs mob the genie. Malvolio tosses smoke bombs and the villains vanish. Through a hidden tunnel in the mountain? Or through magic? What's next? The genie needs brass. There's a pipe plant on the county line. Sure enough, they find Malvolio has dissolved brass in the cauldron. The genie drinks. The Challs run up with a plan - to utter June's magic words. |
No good. The genie keeps coming! Ace and Rocky grab sledge hammers and knock over a rack of brass pipes, but the genie shrugs them off. He'll destroy the Challs for sure.  |
June rushes up with a hand raised - and the genie cowers. Can they grab him now? Nope. With the power of flight, he grabs Malvolio and soars away. "We're right back where we started," says Prof. Iron ore? The mines in Clayville. This time, June marches forth alone. The henchmen charge June - and are ambushed by two Challs who leap from a trench. Ace confronts the genie and - for the first time - makes the giant cringe in fear! Malvolio gets a bust in the mouth. Ace gets the ram's horn and smashes it against a rock. And their secret? Ace is wearing an opal ring - a gem often used to combat black magic in ancient times. June was wearing one all along! |
"Secret of the Space Capsules" |
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The Challs' clunky red jet-copter or "amphibian-copter" clatters out of the mountainside. The tentacles crush the patrol ship. The Challs drop life rafts to save the sailors. Too close to bomb, Ace fires a carbine putting "over a hundred rounds" into the tentacles without effect. Prof notes the roots are below the surface. "That's the logical place to administer the coup de grace." Ace advises they make it quick. With the ship sinking, the tentacles will "be shaking hands with us in seconds! It's strictly up to Prof to break up this meeting!" Below, Prof shoots a spear into the heart of the tentacles - and it withers and dies. (That was easy.) The soggy sailors report three space capsules drifted away. Prof consults maritime charts of the Gulf Stream and predicts where the capsules will wash ashore. |
Reconning the beaches, they find an empty capsule - and spot a drill-nosed monster chasing some fishermen! Landing, the Challs decide not to use bullets around the village, since they might ricochet off the thing's hide. Instead they pour gasoline along a trench and ignite a fire wall. The monster burrows out of sight. A fisherman comes running. "Your guns are needed down the beach!" A third capsule washed ashore and spilled more monsters! "This looks like the showdown, men!" |
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The aliens are golden dwarves who shoot ray guns, but only to protect themselves. Ace swings down on a rope ladder between the fight. The aliens send thought messages, "We mean no harm..." Then collapse. The sinking aliens apologize for "vexing" anyone. They arrived a "great time ago... when your entire planet was bathed in bitter coldness..." The last Ice Age! The aliens are scientists who came to run tests on their pet, Zod. (The drill-nosed creature on the cover, only tiny as a chihuahua.) The scientists need "ollygen" masks to breathe. But they ran out of ollygen as an avalanche engulfed their ship. They climbed into a capsule-life raft and remember only numbing cold... |
Now they awaken in the 20th century, gasping for air - and growing larger! Rocky says, "We gotta do something for these guys. They don't deserve to go like this!" Prof has an idea. The copter sweeps the coast until they spot the last capsule sloshing in the waves. Red rappels atop and fixes a tow line. Of all times, a tidal wave swamps the capsule and almost sinks the copter. Red is gone! Not so. "Ever hear of a good mountain climber who didn't use a safety line on the job?" Rocky teases, "Red's voice - music to my ears!" The aliens have passed out. The Challs crack the fourth capsule to find the spaceship inside, with a supply of ollygen in tanks. Pumping it to the aliens, they revive and shrink to normal size. Donning their ollygen masks, they're glad to have survived. |
For now. Their space pet, Zod, comes roaring down the beach, a giant menace! The Challs turn to their "space pals" for advice, but they've soared off in their spaceship! Zod shears off a lighthouse, which topples at the Challs. They'll be crushed - until a loud EEERRR!!! rips their ears. The lighthouse has been re-constructed by a ray from the spaceship. Zod is still charging, but another ray makes the monster fade - forever. A mental message comes from the sky, "Farewell, Earthlings! Thank you!" Ace calls, "Hope we meet again!" |
Comments Patchy stories, minimal art, a lot of running around, clunky coincidences - a tidal wave? No wonder the writer didn't want to be identified. In many ways, the Challs are still underdeveloped after 20+ adventures. The creative team hasn't worked up much backstory. The Challs drive a blue convertible and fly a red helicopter? Where's the Challengermobile? The Chall-jet? |
Comics in those days had a mishmash of extra features.  Doctor Rocket by Murray Boltinoff was a regular visitor to the Challs' mag. |
Comics always carried a text page to meet postal requirements for a magazine's contents. The stories were interchangeable, one-shot suspense stories about generic people.  Some people read them. |
DC, to their credit, always donated one page for public service messages. They were usually stories in comic form. Growing up, kids of the 1960s read generous and gentle messages about tolerance, family customs, good manners, and efforts at world peace and improvement - and the lessons stuck.  It never hurts to remember that real people are more important then imaginary superheroes. |