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June - July 1966 |
A quarter, the narrator tells us, will admit you to Excito-Land, an indoor amusement park. But it will prove a death-trap for the Challengers. As happy families stream in, behind a two-way mirror "desperate men meet in a grim mission."  |
This unnamed cabal complains, "Let's face it! We can't lick the Challengers! They've sent our boys up the river, had 'em sentenced to death! They've driven us into rat holes... backed us up against a wall!" So they've called in "the top gun of gangland... He's run Interpol ragged!... the most vicious character in the world! Villo, the World's Vilest Villain!" And Villo boasts, "Believe me, gentlemen, nobody could possibly be as bad as I am!" Or as badly dressed: somewhere between a sideshow magician and Satan. |
After Excito-Land closes, the Challs investigate. An anonymous tip says the place is a front for mobsters. What they find are scenes from childhood. Humpty-Dumpty, Jack and the Beanstalk, the Tin Woodsman of Oz. Rocky digs the storyland scene. But he doesn't get the "Pop Op Art" on the walls - until it pops out and grabs his arm! "This fink's fist is for real!"  Rocky punches back, ripping the painting. The other Challs are "back in business again. Looks like that tip was right!" A witch buzzes Prof. The Tin Man karate-chops Ace. And the "un-jolly green giant" knocks Red right down the gullet of a dragon! |
Red tumbles down a chute and, before he can recover, is hustled by a goon into a cell. He tells Villo, "You in the scarecrow suit... and marbles in your head! You can cut the funhouse jokes now!" Villo replies, "Some joke, eh? You're about to die!" Red snarls through bars, "Not that old gag! The guys who have tried that would fill a telephone book!" Villo is different. "I choose one Challenger and direct him to kill his pals... one by one..." Topside, Rocky beats on the giant. Behind, Prof gets tumbled against Humpty Dumpty, who flips open and swallows him. When Rocky turns around... |
 Part 2 opens with the funhouse in a shambles. Only Rocky and "Ace" are still standing. Except a mirror reveals "This cat ain't Ace!" Villo is SO nefarious he even dressed a goon in a Chall uniform! (And we think that's the only time anyone's impersonated a Chall.) Rocky knocks the guy for a loop, but the knife handle snaps off and - shades of James Bond - blinds him with gas! |
The goon reports to Villo, who loudly brags of his plan. Below the amusement park was a laboratory with escape-proof cells - and "This key I hold is the ONLY way to freedom!" Rocky overhears and bursts through the door. "You dream-happy characters forgot one thing - There's still a Chall on the loose... namely, me! And I'm gonna beat it into you so you don't forget it!" Knocking Villo and goon flying, Rocky grabs the key and trots down the stairs. His pals are in three cells labeled with their names, no less. "I'll have you guys out o' this crazy clink in a split sec!" "Think so, Rock?" Above, Villo explains. The weak gas let Rocky break in and grab the key. Now, when "that gross, stupid Challengers turns the lock in one of the cells - POW! comes the REAL surprise!" The goon counters, "You're real clever, but what makes you the worst villain?" Villo holds up a blank check from the mysterious cabal. He could fill in any amount, one, even two million. Instead, he burns the check. He'll destroy the Challengers out of sheer meanness! |
And below, as depicted on the cover, Rocky turns the key on Ace's cell. Ace steps out - and transforms into a giant green monster! The beast slaps Rocky flat and smashes through the wall! Rocky didn't know. When he heard Villo's plan -- Prof stops him and gets the full story. And examines the key, which is actually an electrical device. What's its purpose? Rocky argues, "Who cares? They have to catch Ace and turn him back to normal. Let's go, cats!" Villo is just as confused. He expected an explosion! And who's the interloper in the Chall uniform? Shooting it gets them nowhere. Villo gets somewhere. He pulls a gun, shoots a giant bubble onto the floor, and steps in. The bubble pops, and Villo is gone! He even leaves his faithful goon behind. "If I helped you, think what it would do to my reputation!" |
Villo travels by "vanishing beam" to his hideout, "Villo's Villa". He steps out of Brainex, a gigantic computer. The two are prickly partners, we find. Villo says, "Don't give me an I-told-you-so look!" Brainex returns, "Your plan laid a king-size egg!" Both glory-hogs argue about whose plan is better and who's more diabolical.  But moving on, Villo asks why Ace turned into a monster. "That wasn't MY doing!" Brainex explains that the explosion that wrecked the original lab embedded chemicals in the walls. They mixed with Villos' explosive gas to make Ace a monster. Villo feels vindicated. He can still use the monster Chall to kill the others. And Brainex can fetch monster-Ace with his double-zero transport wave-length! |
Soon monster-Ace lies in a giant test tube shot full of electricity, just like Frankenstein's monster. Villo brainwashes him to "Kill the Challengers." Villo will live in infamy! Monster-Ace in his Challengers uniform is set loose to find and kill his pals. He strides down a city street as people dive every whichway. But the creature just passes through town, subconsciously drawn to Challenger Mountain. Meanwhile, inside the mountain, the Challs are finishing - of all things - their new jet. Rocky admits it's important, but shouldn't they be looking for Ace? Prof argues this new jet is just the thing to search for Ace. "Our new look... our ticket out of the ordinary jet era! The Gallopin' Gizmo!" |
Just in time. A TROMP TROMP TROMP shakes the mountain. "Ace! He came home!" "Yeah, but maybe we should've yanked the welcome mat outa the door!" Monster-Ace grabs a generator and swings wildly. He knocks Challs flying and wrecks the power unit. Rocky bleats, "Cut out cats! Before the place blows!" Prof gets flattened by flying wreckage. Rocky lugs him out. "The whole joint's falling apart!" They run for the jet. But without Ace to pilot, and Prof unconscious, Rocky has to read Prof's instructions. Red asks, "Can't you pilot this buggy?" "Cool it, Carrot-Top!" |
In a hilarious sequence, three fast loops find the Gizmo whirling upside-down! (Even the panel is upside-down.) Red and Rocky feud, of course. Except Rocky remembers Ace. "We've got to get him out of there!"  |
Too late. Challenger Mountain blows its top. "Our headquarters! It's gone! And so is --" "Go ahead and say it. So is Ace!" In the Villa, Villo celebrates with champagne. He didn't think killing the Challs would be so easy. "That does not compute, old boy," says Brainex. His "presence factor ray" senses the Challs all survived. "You forget - these fellers make a living cheating death!" What now? Villo laments, "I've been as evil as evil can be! How can I top myself?" Brainex will take over. He'll summon the monster, and the Challs will follow. Right into a trap! Soon Monster-Ace follows directions towards Villo's Villa. Rocky and Red fly above in the Gizmo. Ace bursts through an "abandoned gas station" and finds Villo. Immediately the lights go out. When they flicker back on, Rocky and Red are stuck in a glass booth with mind-control helmets clamped on! Villo gloats, but wonders, "Where's the other one?" Oddly, Brainex replies, "Uh, let me, uh, think for a minute." Villo does a double-take, but soon returns to gloating. Brainex will now change Ace back to normal, and he'll join his pals in perpetual suspended animation - trophies to impress future clients. |
But Ace is already changing! Villo chirps, "Brainex, stop him! He's crabbing my act!" Brainex blares, "No soap, Villo! I've cut Brainex's power!" Prof jumps out of Brainex's "brain". He pulled a sneaky while the lights were out. Yet Villo won't be outdone. He pulls his zap gun, snares the Challs in a bubble, and sends them packing on a vanishing beam. Throwing a switch bring Brainex "back from limbo". Outside, the Challs watch as the "portable hideout" whooshes away into the sky. "There he goes," says Prof, "flying the coop. And we're left out in the cold with Challenger Mountain gone! We need a new headquarters!" Rocky asks, "So where do we go from here, chums?" The narrator supplies the answer. "Wherever Villo and Brainex take you - because they're coming back for revenge sooner than you think!" |
Comments A funny sort of issue. Panel for panel, we spend as much time watching Villo and Brainex as the Challs. They get bounced around like ping-pong balls and barely pull their ashes out of the fire. But the shoe is really on the other foot here. The Challs didn't go hunting trouble - a major baddie came hunting them. Just as the quick-draw cowboy had to defend his reputation, outlaws are now hunting the Challs to crush them and gain a rep. That's the price of success. Major developments come fast and furious. The Challs get their own funky jet, not a generic model. They lose their headquarters - and their clean socks and record collections - in one big blast, rendering them homeless. And Ace got killed for a whole page! Big doin's that shake up the Challs' cozy lives. With more to come. |
Comic books were scorching-hot properties in 1966. Pop culture couldn't get enough. Check out the ad on the inside front cover. Batman is on TV twice a week. Superman runs in syndication everywhere. Superboy is coming to Saturday morning cartoons. "It's a Bird... It's a Plane... It's Superman!" is a Broadway play! And the Superfriends are on their way! No wonder the Challengers have been superfied. |
But look again. In the same comic run ads, not for superheroes, but for funny books! Scooter, Inferior Five, Bob Hope, and Sugar and Spike! What's going on? Are comics SO hot that even funny books sell? Or - more sinister - is the fad already fading and DC is hedging their bets towards comedy? Only time will tell. |
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