Challengers Of The Unknown #1

Recap
Alongside the Justice League —where the Challengers run day-to-day operations for the massive Watchtower base in orbit above Earth — Ace Morgan, June Robbins, Prof Haley, Red Ryan, and Rocky Davis must team with Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, and the rest of the League to seal the rifts that threaten the galaxy. But a mysterious foe from the Challengers’ past lurks in the shadows, and its connection to the godshock will put the DCU on borrowed time!
Review
Challengers Of The Unknown #1 reintroduces the expanded team and sets them up for an adventure of their own in the All In Era of the DCU. Introduced in the DC All In Special and seen through out other titles such as The Question, the team are tasked with not only overseeing the operation of The Watchtower, but as tracking the reverberation of Darkseid’s disappearances.
Unlike past incarnations of the team, the new Challengers are actively interacting with The League and not on some side adventure of their own, that is unconnected to the larger narrative. Cantwell does a good job of establishing the main team members, their specialty, personalities, and the dynamic of their group.
While the Challengers are unique in their own right, their is a sense that they don’t fit in with the rest of the superheroes, even questioning the need for being paired with a League liaison as they go to check out high priority abnormalities and Mr. Terrific being in charge of the teams oversight.
The first mission finds Ace, the team pilot traveling to Mars with Superman. It’s a nice touch that Superman, for the mission, is clad in a Challengers style outfit instead of his normal costume, to protect him from the Omega emissions that they plan to encounter and is an interesting show of solidarity, a theme which the Justice League is aspiring to following the Absolute Power event. The interaction between Supes and Ace is telling as Superman comments to Ace that Hal mentioned that he was surprised the Green Lantern ring never chose Ace as a potential ring bearer. It was crafty writing on Cantwell’s part to have this exchange later affect Ace while on Mars investigating the abnormality.
Sean Izaakse and Romulo Fajardo Jr. combine their creative talents in a gorgeous look and feel throughout the issue and capture both the Watchtower shots and interactions and the mission to Mars.
Final Thoughts
Challengers Of The Unknown #1 is a strong start to this new take on the classic team. The issue is a bit heavy on exposition, but it is needed to establish who the team are, their roles in the current DCU, and establish the mission they have been tasked with by The League.
As a property that has been separated from the main DCU in the past, it will be interesting to see Cantwell play with the interactions between the team and The League as a whole and see any friction between the two may threaten this partnership.
Challengers Of The Unknown #1
- Writing - 8/108/10
- Storyline - 9/109/10
- Art - 9/109/10
- Color - 9/109/10
- Cover Art - 9/109/10