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Volume 3, 18 July 1998 |
This is "Saxon's Story". The Challengers never appear. Some bored kids fool with a black sabbath. Instead of a demon, they summon Saxon. The Anti-Challenger was last seen sucked into an expanding Tesla field (COTU V3 9). He kills the two boys and spares the girl. Saxon goes to a hospital to see his comatose father and his sister, Becky. Saxon's first name, we learn, is Noel. Becky sits by the old man's bed, but Saxon figures he'll never wake up, so it's a waste of time - though he IS visiting. Leaving, a goober named Daniels intercepts him, offering a proposal. "Take me to your leader," grins Saxon. |
They meet the Aristos, a cult, "The Eye of the Dark Flame". The flame reveals Saxon's origin. The jetliner crashed in the mountains. There were five survivors. Four saw "the light". Saxon averted his eyes and did NOT see the light. The four became the new Challengers of the Unknown: Marlon, Brenda, Kenn, and Clay. The Dark Flame flares. The priest rants, "It chooses you, Mr Saxon! It sees you! You are the elected champion of the Endtime! When we've slaughtered the Challengers, the Dark Flame will burn down the world." Saxon's not interested. He doesn't hate the Challs. "They're just something that has to go. Like you... Everyone wants to change the world. I'm sick of it. I like it the way it is." Grabbing a gun, Saxon kills every cult member. "True faith comes out of the barrel of a gun!" |
One masked cultist wings Saxon. Removing her mask, it's his sister Becky! She declaims, "You could have saved Dad. All you had to do was cooperate." Saxon counters the old man is dying. And Becky tried "to sell me to the Dark Flame. YOU brought this down." Then he strangles her - his own sister. And leaves. But Saxon's SHADOW lingers on the wall. And talks. "So proud... so dark a soul... You do not understand what we are, Saxon. The Challengers were born of the light. You are their SHADOW. We will destroy the Challengers, and with that damn the world!" The shadow peels off the wall and walks out after Saxon. And there the saga ends, because the book was cancelled. |
Comments This issue kicked off a new multi-parter, according to Steven Grant (see below). But since everyone knew the book was already cancelled, why not save a lot of trees? And, as a rule of thumb, any comic that fails to include the stars is off the rails anyway. You sometimes wonder if this comics run shouldn't have been "Saxon of the Unknown". Evidently the book was troubled from the get-go. There was NO agreement on what the new Challengers should be or do, as explained by writer Steven Grant in Comic Shop News: |
... And I'd rather it hadn't been part of the Weirdoverse, and perhaps that was a mistake. And DC really wanted them to have specified powers, but I thought that dodged the whole point, so I dodged the order, and that might have been a mistake. It's easy in retrospect to look back for things we could have done differently, but this isn't a world where doing things opposite a specified way will result in the outcome. The fact is, I'm proud of the book, I'm thrilled with the work of all the artists involved, especially John Paul Leon and Mike Zeck. And I don't think, even looking back, I would have done things any differently, except the Weirdoverse connection. Editor Dan Thorsland, who loves the Challengers more than any of us, would like to try the book again someday in a better sales climate. And he mentioned they're already slated to guest in another DC title, but I can't recall which one. For me, I'm glad I took the ride, I thank the readers and the artists who took it with me, and I hope they'll all come back for the next ride. And bring lots of friends!" So, did the Challs guest-star in another book? |
Just for completeness, here's the original black and white cover by Mike Zeck.  |