| Issue | #43 |
| Published | April-May 1965 |
| Cover Price | 0.12 USD |
| Pages | 36 |
| Editing | Murray Boltinoff |
| Characters | Challengers of the Unknown [Red Ryan; Ace Morgan; Rocky Davis; Prof Haley] |
| Genre | Adventure |
| Pencils | Bob Brown |
| Inks | Bob Brown |
| Characters | Challengers of the Unknown [Red Ryan; Ace Morgan; Rocky Davis; Prof Haley]; two scientists; Monstro |
| Synopsis | The Challengers are working in their mountain headquarters, and Prof returns in a wetsuit from diving, when theyre zapped by a beam to - Challenger Mountain in the year 2265. Two scientists show the heroes how Monstro, a red scaly Godzilla type, is ravaging domed cities. Monstro was shot to Earth in 1900, hatched in 1965, bored to the Earth's core to incubate, and returned to the surface in 2265. The Challengers must kill Monstro in 1965. Just then the beast bursts in and grabs Prof in his wetsuit, then inexplicably drops him and runs off! Returned to their own time, the heroes don asbestos suits and follow the egg into the Earth. Baby Monstro emerges, but grenades can't kill it, and the monster bores deeper where it's too hot to go. Still, the heroes debrief. Why did Monstro take a winding course and not bore straight? It avoided steam pockets and - Aha! Grabbing gear, the Challengers go back to the future. They fly aero-cars around Monstro and zap him with liquid. The monster falls, King Kong-like, and dies. What's the secret weapon? Plain water. Space has no water, Monstro avoided steam in the earth, and the domed cities are dry. The heroes are returned to the present. Except Rocky forgot to ask if the Mets ever win a pennant! |
| Genre | Adventure |
| Script | France Ed Herron |
| Pencils | Bob Brown |
| Inks | Bob Brown |
| Characters | Challengers of the Unknown [Red Ryan; Ace Morgan; Rocky Davis; Prof Haley]; five unnamed mutated scientists. |
| Synopsis | The Challengers enter a museum to guard a recently unearthed sarcophagus thought missing. An anonymous tip says it will be stolen, and in flies a harpy-man who grabs it! The Challs try to stop him but are brushed off. Pursuing in their jet, they reflect on recent bizarre thefts of not-extinct object such as Montezuma's Crown and a dodo. Arriving at Skull Island, they find it's a lost island recently resurfaced. The heroes find an underground lab and museum of not-extinct creatures, including the stolen artifacts and a live T-Rex and giant scorpion! A Frankenstein lookalike thumps them, and the Challengers fight back and pursue - only to be trapped and gassed. They awaken in new yellow-red uniforms with hourglass emblems for the "sands of time running out". Their costumers are a council of "oddballs": a snaky man, harpy-man, frog-man, porcupine-man, and Frankenstein-man. They were scientists mutated by radiation into freaks, so have "created their own world" of things that should be dead. Since the Challengers should be "extinct", they are invited to bathe in radiation and join the group. The heroes pass - "Give us 20 years to think about it!" - and run. The mutants release the scorpion. The Challengers steer it near the T-Rex case, and the flailing stinger shatters the glass. T-Rex and scorpion battle. The Challengers run, but are ringed by fire. If they won't mutate, they'll be displayed in suspended animation forever. Prof, oddly, freaks at the idea of "living death" and runs to the radiation machine - to mutate himself to free his friends. He's transformed into an octo-cloud, but his mind is affected and he strangles his pals. Ace dodges towards a transformer. When octo-Prof hits it, his energy is siphoned off and he reverts to normal. But the transformer blows and tears the island apart. The guys flee in their jet as all is destroyed. But they decide to keep the new uniforms, and hope the sands of the hourglass don't run out too soon. |
| Genre | Adventure |
| Script | Bill Finger |
| Pencils | Bob Brown |
| Inks | Bob Brown |
| Notes | 1) Writer ID'd by Martin O'Hearn. 2) Due to the TV Batman craze, the Challengers and others were revamped to superhero formats with new uniforms. 3) The uniform was refined in later issues. 4) Learn more about the Challengers at www.challengersoftheunknown.com. |
| Synopsis | In letters and "Chit-Chat from the Mail Chute", fans vote for their favorite Challenger, want to know more about their future wives, want team-ups with other groups, announce fan clubs, and more. |