Gidge's Intro to The Challengers of the Unknown
First off, who are the Challengers of the Unknown? They are a team of adventurers. Their comic originates in the late 1950's, and it ran until 1978, ending with issue #87.
Their adventures are supremely stereotypical of the time. They start off as very pulpy sci-fi fantasy in the 60's and skew more mystical/occult through the 70's. They functioned as Jack Kirby's rough draft for the Fantastic Four, but even so, have slightly different dynamics.
Origin: Four experts in their field concluded that their survival of a deadly plane crash was nothing short of miraculous. They noticed that the watch on one man's wrist had stopped, as if frozen in time. The men--Ace Morgan, Mark "Prof" Haley, Red Ryan, and Rocky Davis--concluded that they were living on borrowed time. They decided to use that time adventurously as the Challengers of the Unknown.
One of their earliest adventures caused them to seek the help of computer and robotics expert June Robbins. As June helped them save the day on more than one occasion, she became an honorary challenger. Many modern references to the roster include her by default.
The Team
Ace Morgan is portrayed as a pilot in the 60's and has his wheelhouse extended to astronaut as we veer into the 70's. Ace possesses an even keel that garners instinctive respect, and this is why he is the default leader.
Mark "Prof" Haley is their resident "egghead". Because nerds weren't cool yet, Prof gets occasionally teased about having more brains than brawn, but that's usually ended by him judo flipping whoever was talking smack.
Since 60's common knowledge didn't differentiate between a lot of sciences, Prof kinda knows them all. Since deep sea diving is his main schtick, he'd probably be introduced as a marine biologist today. The only thing that isn't his main wheelhouse is computers/robotics. There, he is very much outclassed by June.
Red Ryan is is a skillful acrobat and mountain climber. He is also an asshole. I mean this with affection or annoyance depending on the day. 90% of interpersonal drama with this team is from Red being sexist or generally shallow and opening his mouth about it. However, this is often used as a device, and the point is to show that Red is wrong. Then June or Rocky or whoever Red was poking at saves the day. He does occasionally use his snark to be actually funny, tho.
While many of Red's words tend to suck, his actions show a lot of loyalty to the team. Perhaps the most endearing thing about him is the love he has for his baby brother, which is major plot point of some arcs.
Rocky Davis is the team's gentle giant. He is an expert boxer and wrestler, and as such, is often teased for a lack of brains or looks. As sensitive as he may be about that, Rocky is no pushover, and will gladly attempt to punch whoever was giving him too much grief (usually Red).
In truth, all four of the men do poke fun at each other for being confined to their niche roles, but all of them actually do posses the ability to move beyond them.
They all pick up skills in science, fighting, and the arcane from working together. Pretty sure they were all born snarky, tho.
So who are my Top 3 Fave characters from their title?
#1. June Robins
June is a gal of many hairdos and many talents all through the 60's. A mistress of computer science, disguise, piloting, chemical experimentation, and alien diplomacy.
Sadly, as cool as she began, the 70's did not do her justice. She was gone from the team for like, half of that decade, and when she returned, they gave her some fandom bicycle drama and a lot of damsel in distress scenarios. But at least they gave her a uniform to show she was really on the team. I'll take that win.
#2. Tino Manary
Tino is introduced in a very fun way. When Red appears to die in the line of duty, a teen music celebrity begins to use all his fame and money to attempt an assassination of the remaining challengers. For revenge. Bc he blames them for Red's death. And why does he care?
Because surprise! He's Red's kid brother! Once he realizes the challs aren't to blame, he starts popping in on occasion to help them. Or just annoy them. Or both.
#3. Corinna Stark
When Prof got shot by an eldritch-summoning cult leader, he appeared to be at death's door. That's when the cultist's daughter, Corinna Stark, showed up. She stuck Prof in one of her dad's cryo-pods to save his life. She agreed that her dad was quite evil and needed to be stopped, provided the challs with new uniforms, and served the team as Prof's temporary replacement.
While she clearly knew more about the occult than the sciences, this proved pretty helpful for the things the challs were up against at the time.
Corrina was introduced in the 70's, during that time June was going mysteriously unmentioned. It's seriously a shame the ladies never met.
I suspect the writers were trying to see if Corinna could be a good replacement for June, but their expertise and origins were different enough that it would have been cool to see what they could bring to the team if they were on it simultaneously.
Am I done talking about this crazy comic? No, but I'm pausing for now.
