Showcase Presents
Challengers of the Unknown
Volume One
2006

Writers: David Wood, Jack Kirby, Ed Herron (also Arnold Drake)
Artists: Jack Kirby, Roz Kirby, Bruno Premiani, Wally Wood, Bob Brown
544 pages
$16.99 (often discounted)
Story and art © DC Comics

Controversy about credits for this first Challengers tale continues.  Read it here.

Characters: Ace Morgan, Rocky Davis, Prof Haley, Red Ryan.

Synopsis: Reprints SHOWCASE 6, 7, 11, 12, and CHALLENGERS OF THE UNKNOWN 1-17.

The SHOWCASE PRESENTS volumes are making friends everywhere. Copying the success of the Marvel ESSENTIAL volumes, the books pack a ton of great reading into 544 pages at a bargain price.

Fans are especially happy because the books don't just cater to the "spandex crowd". Besides the usual Superman and Batman, and even obscure characters such as Metamorpho and Elongated Man, other titles have included THE HOUSE OF MYSTERY and THE HAUNTED TANK. Eventually, runs the reasoning, everything DC ever produced might someday be available. It's a new Golden Age for comics fans!

SP COTU Volume One includes the SHOWCASE issues, then COTU issues 1-17 (not 18, as solicited). Credit controversies continue, listing many writers as "Unknown", but at least the editors address the problem. A note at the bottom of the Table of Contents states:

Writers of the Unknown. During this period, Ed Herron and Arnold Drake shared the task of chronicling the adventures of the Challengers. But individual contribution is hard to ascertain. Until the 1970s it was not common practice in the comic book industry to credit all stories. In the preparation of this collection, we have used our best efforts to review any surviving records and consult any available databases and knowledgeable parties. We regret the innate limitations of this process and any missing or misassigned attribution that may occur. Any additional information on credits should be directed to: Editor, Collected Editions, C/O DC Comics.

Comments

544 page of Challengers. Who could ask for more? (Well, color, but what the hey.)

This volume is a gem for several reasons. It lets fans read early issues of the COTU they would otherwise never see. It gets sold in bookstores and on-line where comics are not. And libraries might pick it up. The more people who discover the Challengers, the better!

Here's a bonus: the original cover from solicitations without titles. It looks like the old Gold Key back cover pin-up pages. Funny how the uniforms are blue.