Friday, February 1, 2008

Challengers of the Unknown #61

Challengers of the Unknown #61 (On Sale: February 1, 1968) features a poorly colored cover by Bob Brown. I think it is interesting, the John Buscema vibe the Professor Chang character gives off on this cover. I'm not in any way suggesting that Buscema had anything to do with it, just that DC was really trying to get a Marvel-look to some of the covers they were producing.

"The Robot Hounds of Chang" is by Arnold Drake and Bob Brown. After a series of heists involving robots, the Challengers trace the thefts to Professor Chang, an inventor on a a remote island. The team is captured shortly after landing and forced to endure a chase across the island pursued by Chang's robotic creatures. Ace eventually disables the robot brain powering the robots. Chang himself is dragged into the ocean when one of the powerless robots falls from the sky.

The back-up story is "The Chall Without a Memory" and is by the same team of Arnold Drake and Bob Brown. Red tells the other Challengers the story concerning events that happened to him following his apparent death. Instead of killing him, the explosion Red set off knocked him into the air where he eventually fell to Earth and got amnesia. Soldiers found him and locked him in prison, but Red managed to escape. He earns money by gambling, but still could not remember anything about his previous life.

Eventually he remembered Vaniki Island where the League of Challenger-Haters was incarcerated. He traveled to the island and was tricked by Multi-Man into creating a dose of liquid light which the villain needed to shapeshift. Red saw through Multi-Man's lies and swallowed the formula himself. The chemicals allowed him to shapeshift, but drove him mad. He then left the island.

Edited by Murray Boltinoff.

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