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December 1961 - January 1962 |
The trail begins in the Museum of Middle Eastern Antiquities. A criminal, Burt Langdon, has stolen an artifact, the Horn of Herix. The Challengers have battled Langdon before. Why's he want the horn, and where's he hiding? Ace finds a belt maker's awl on the floor. Langdon must have tried to pry open a case. There's an old belt factory nearby. (A belt factory?) At the factory, they find a sketch of the Valley of Herix. That's where an "ancient mechanical wizard" built the Doom Box, a "weapon with fantastic powers". It's hidden in the valley. The horn is a clue to the box's location. They fly to the valley, but can't find it. The map shows twin pine trees. No trees. But two carved trees mark a rock. |
The Challs shove the rock - and fall through a trap into a pool with an alligator! Prof dives, grabs a rock, and shoves it in the beast's jaws. Rocky says, "Thanks, Prof! I saw him licking his chops!" Ace finds the Horn of Herix lying in the trail. Langdon was in such a hurry he dropped it. The trail splits. So does the team. Red and Prof follow a path cut through a tree. They step in - and the tree sinks like an elevator. |
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At the bottom, they step out and find a dungeon. But a portcullis clangs down. Trapped again! Red barked, "There must be a way out of this! Give me your belt!" Red quickly ties the dungeon bars to the elevator, guessing it'll go back up. He's right. The elevator rips away the bars. "Now we've got a way out of here!" Meanwhile, Ace and Rocky explore. Rocky trips over vines - and a rock panel slides up. Another trigger for a trap. Giant robot gladiators come out swinging swords.! |
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Ace points to two saplings, and orders Rocky to rip them up. "I don't know what you've got in mind, Ace, but here it comes!" The Challs swing the saplings. The "meat slicer" hacks it off. But Rocky bleats, "Jumping Jonah! They're marching backwards!" Ace figured they were "geared to back off once they hit something, otherwise they'd destroy each other. Let's scram!" The teams meet up - and there's the Doom Box sitting on a rock! But it's guarded by a two-headed mechanical dragon that breathes fire! The dragon pins the Challengers against a wall. Ace takes a long shot and blows the horn. "Great Godfrey!" The doom box shoots a ray that stops the creatures and the flames. The box had twin horns atop. Ace guessed they were related. The dragon guarded the box, but the inventor needed a way to get to the box. They'll take the box back to the lab for study. Who knows what destructive powers it contains? Good thing Langdon didn't get it. Langdon does. He and his men drop in and snatch the box from our heroes. |
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A fistfight ensues, but Langdon grabs the Doom Box - and blows a hole in the ground. The Challs are stalled - and appalled. Langdon tricked them into getting the box! He planted the belt awl, the map, even the horn by tossing it from the cliff wall. Langdon flashes a heat ray that scorches stone. "Don't try to follow us!" The gangsters run off with the box. Ace blows the horn again.  The other Challs think it's a waste of time, because "before nothing happened." But Ace has figured it out. Langdon panics as the box glows and rumbles. Ace yells, "Hit the dirt, fellers!" Langdon pitches the box - as it explodes! Ace explains, "The horn was geared to destroy the doom box only when it wasn't protected by the flaming dragon." Rocky quips, "I'm glad we got the horn as a memento instead of that weird box." |
"The Island in the Sky!" |
Atop a restaurant in Boulder City, Colorado, people are baffled as objects disappear. June Robbins, honorary Challenger, is intrigued. Note this tells us Challenger Mountain is definitely "in the nearby Rocky Mountains" in Colorado. So close, that June drove there. The Challengers encounter two aliens who use glass cylinders to imprison cops pursuing them.  |
Rocky and Prof trail the aliens, while Ace, June, and Red fly into a strange cloud that has hovered near each event. Hidden inside the cloud is a floating platform controlled by alien criminals. Ace and Red are captured and imprisoned. In the city, Rocky and Prof battle a metallic insect. The Challs commandeer a wrecking ball for the fight - another example of Chall ingenuity.  |
The two aliens come to the rescue by shaking the insect to pieces. They explain that they are the scientists who created the floating platform. However, it was taken over by Zog, a criminal, and his men. Rocky and Prof stow away aboard an aircraft flown by the alien scientists to the platform. The scientists are captured by Zog, but Rocky and Prof burst in and free their captured partners. By creating a distraction, the Challs give the scientists time to use a secret device - jets of air. |
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Comments This is the first 12-cent issue. Interesting that in "The Doom Box", it's Ace who figures out the tricky connection between the horn and the box, while Prof is befuddled. But the story is such a mess, why should the characters be sensible? Ancient mechanical traps sitting in the open for decades still function? A dragon? A generic box of diabolical gadgets? Hack work. |
No letters column yet. Instead was an old text story about (ooh!) mysterious predictions.  |
The Public Service Message was a nice touch when integration was on everyone's mind.  Of course, if you're a creationist, this is all a pack of lies. |
