Where to start with this reboot of the Jack
Kirby classic Challengers of the Unknown. Well, for one thing, it’s not really
a reboot. Usually when a series from the 50s or 60s gets another chance in the
90s or 2000s, I describe it as not being “your dad’s” superheroes or even “your
granddad’s.” But when this mini-series starts, the Challengers are very much
the super hero team that your parents or grandparents grew up with. Only, they
got older.
Now
approaching 50, the Challengers are still searching out the unknown, they’re
still super heroes and they are most definitely on borrowed time. Time, which
is running out for our superhero team of non-super powered explorers, is now
coming to a close as someone has planted a bomb in their not-so-secret base
during a tour group meeting. The explosive cliffhanger promises to tear the
team apart in ways unimaginable as some of the team will not make it out alive-
well at least for a few issues. It is a comic book- you know that death isn’t
always final in those.
This opening chapter was fantastic. The
writing was by the now legendary Jeph Loeb of HEROES and LOST fame, as well as
countless comics from the big two publishers. I don’t think it’s his first
work, but it’s pretty early. What is a first for Loeb is that this mini-series
is the first ever teaming of the writer and artist Tim Sale. Sale, whose
classic inking and water color style is a favorite of mine, is fantastic. With
works like The Long Halloween and the color series of Marvel tales in their
future, I’m excited to see what this duo comes up with next in issue 2.
Worth Consuming.
Rating: 8 out of 10
stars.
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