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Comics Reviews 2/24/05 Part III
Last installment, I promise!
Sam Wilson's Reviews (Continued)
Past Trades Worth Checking out:
Challengers of the Unknown, 2005 limited series issues 1-6, DC Comics
Written By: Howard Chaykin
Drawn By: Howard Chaykin
Let me start this review by saying I know nothing of the original Challengers of the Unknown. I bought this book because I’m a Chaykin fan, plain and simple. That being said, imagine if Ann Coulter was the richest person on Earth and ruled the world secretly from a base on the moon, manipulating the media to serve her right wing agenda and commanding an army of assassins who were engineered to obey her every whim. If Angela Landsburry from the “Manchurian Candidate” wakes up with a coffee and cigarette, Mae Nash Price (the main antagonist) snorts an eight ball and has a 32 ounce Vodka Redbull before she even brushers her teeth. That is Chaykin’s Challengers of the Unknown in a nutshell.
Challengers follows five ne’er do wells of society: Zach Dyamond, Tessa Crowne, Rydell Starr, Holden Crosse and Kendra Harte; and their dealings with Hegemony, the multinational corporation overseen by Mae Nash Price, a 40’s movie star who has lived for at least a century and doesn’t look a day over 35. Each of our heroes (or antiheros if you will) come into contact with each other due to a strange sense of déj- vu, and a passing familiarity with Hegemony which no one can quite nail down.
Challengers has a slow build up. The main characters origins aren’t revealed until the middle of the series, and we don’t fully learn the antagonists’ grand scheme until sometime after that. Chaykin isn’t into needless exposition to say the least. He keeps the story tight, and only reveals what is necessary at the time, letting things unfold as they become relevant. There is plenty of action to keep things going, and the art is stylized yet pleasing. Fans of Chaykin’s American Flagg will be familiar with it, and won’t be disappointed. The each issue makes you ask, “what’s coming next?” If you’re a Chaykin fan, conspiracy theory fan, or want to read a tightly woven political thriller, I would highly recommend you check out Challengers. Since the last issue came out several months ago, I am certain DC comics will have it out in trade paperback form in no time. Or you could always go to your local comic retailer and have him pull the back issues, you won’t be disappointed.
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