Challengers of the Unknown - a novel based on the DC Comics characters

First, I found the House of Mystery novesl by Jack Olsek.  Then I discovered the Blackhawk novel by William Rostler.  Now, thanks to a friend, I was made aware of another novel based on the characters of DC Comics - this one based upon a group of adventurers that debuted back in the February 1957 issue of DC's Showcase comics (issue six, to be exact).  While credits did not appear on the pages, it has later been said the art of that original story was by Jack Kirby, and the story was by Kirby and Dick Wood.  The group appeared three more times in Showcase (issues 7, 11, and 12) before appearing in their own title, which initially ran 77 issues, was picked up for three more issues, and eventually picked up for seven more issues before finally being cancelled for good.  There have been a number of reboots, revivials, and restarts over the decades, but none of them seemed to really catch.  To be honest, I've never read any of the comics series, so going into this book, I knew very little about the team, other than the fact they were also advertised as "living on borrowed time."

 

Challengers of the Unknown is the name of this group of adventurers.  Originally, the team consisted of four men:   Kyle "Ace" Morgan, Walter Mark "Prof" Haley, Leslie "Rocky" Davis, and Matthew "Red" Ryan.  Eventually, a female member by the name of June Robbins was added to the team.  You will note that all four men had nicknames that were used, but June merely goes by her given name.  This book avoids the 'origin' trope, very briefly mentioning in conversation among the characters how they came to be together (the four men survived a plane crash that should have left them dead, so "living on borrowered time," the four decide to go out and do what they can to make the world a better place with the time they have been given).  Instead, the author, Ron Goulart (a/k/a Ronald Joseph Goulart), gives readers an exciting adventure that pits the Challengers against not only a lake monster believed to be myth, but also against an army of former Nazis who are hell-bent on reviving the Third Reich and taking over the world, starting with the South American country of Ereguay (fictional, of course).  The author, by the way, also wrote a number of Zebra Mystery puzzlers under the pseudonym of Josephine Kains (the reviews for which you can find on my blog!).

 

The story opens with each member of the Challengers facing a dangerous threat, which almost kills them - emphasis on the "almost" part.  They realize the attacks were meant more to scare them than take them out, and that is even before they get assigned to go down to Ereguay to look into a local legend about a lake monster that has been killing people in the area where a United States oil company is looking to establish a refinery.  The Challengers take the assignment, believing they will likely find there is no monster, but either a wild animal or some person working hard to make people think there is a monster.  But upon arriving in the South American country, they are asked by the president of Ereguay to look into another matter involving a potential dissident who is about to start a coup.  They divide forces, and soon both groups find themselves facing even more deadly danger, as they become targets of an unknown force who is definitely trying to do more than scare them.  They quickly learn there is a contingent of Nazi soldiers who immigrated to that country after the end of World War II and have developed a serum that will keep them young indefinitely - so as to allow them to build an army and finish what Hitler could not!  Rocky and Red get kidnapped out in the desert, while June gets kidnapped in the jungle, and the Prof and Ace find themselves facing off against a very real monster that has no hesitation about ripping a man apart with its bare hands!

 

The story moves at a pretty fast pace, and there are no lulls in the action.  Goulart manages to give the reader sufficient knowledge about each of the five members of the Challengers so that you have a good grasp on each of them, without bogging the story down with pages of exposition about their past.  Goulart sneaks in a couple of surprises here and there with regard to who can be trusted and who cannot be trusted, and the real monster of the story is not necessarily the one you would expect!  As with many superhero groups where there is only one female character, poor June is relegated to the sidelines quite a bit, and, of course, she becomes the victim that must be rescued by her male teammates.  She does have a couple of moments where she shines (showing some attackers that she is not to be underestimated) - it's just a shame that her own teammates (as well as Goulart!) fail to see her true potential on the team.

 

 The artist who provided the cover art is not identified, nor is there a signature on the art itself.  The back cover of the book merely states the "Cover Illustration copyright (c) 1977 by DC Comics, Inc."  However, thanks to Chad Lee Carter in a Facebook group called "Fear the Man-Thing," I discovered the cover artist was Enrique Torres (with an image of the clean art, provided by Mr. Carter in that group).  Torres, who is also apparently known as Enric Torres-Prat, is known for his work on many old Warren title (such as Vampirella).  More information about the artist can be found at Enric Torres-Pat.

 

One final thing I did want to mention is Goulart, in the story, reveals the chief brain behind all of the Nazi activity in Ereguay to be a man named Otto Wenzler (p. 88), who was reportedly killed in an air raid in Germany back in 1943 (but somehow survived).  That name sounded extremely familiar, and I thought perhaps that same character had been used in the Blackhawk novel I read some time ago.  Looking back, though, I did not see any reference to Wenzler in that book.  Some digging on the internet reveals this is the only book in which Wenzler appears, so I can't figure out why that name sounds so familiar...

 

Overall, the story was a fairly interesting read, it kept my attention from beginning to end, and I found the characters to be rather fun.  I may just have to pick up that Challengers of the Unknown Showcase sitting on my shelf and give it a read!

 

RATING:   8 electronic disabling devices out of 10 for good, old-fashioned comic-book danger, adventure, and excitement with fun characters and dastardly villains!

Blackhawk - a novel based on the DC Comics characters

The 1970s and 1980s were the decades when I was just getting into comic books as a kid, and while my growing love of the medium expanded by leaps and bounds, my knowledge of all the non-comic merchandise being put out there was very limited (remember, this was pre-Internet days!).  Thus, just like I was unaware of the two House of Mystery novels by Jack Olsek (The House of Mystery, Book 1 and The House of Mystery, Book 2), I was also unaware of the William Rotstler novel from the early 1980s based on some DC characters that were acquired from Quality Comics.  While I am not really a fan of war comics or war stories, this book was passed on to me by my friend, Kevin, after he finished reading it.  So, since it was a gift, I figured it was time to sit down and read it.

 

Blackhawk was originally published by Quality Comics and first appeared back in 1941 in the first issue of Military Comics.  The character and team was created by Chuck Cuidera, with assistance from comic legend Will Eisner, along with Bob Powell.   The character has seen a number of iterations through the decades, and his origin (and even his real name) has changed as well.  Author William Rotsler, as he states in the book's Afterword, stays pretty close to the original story in Military Comics No. 1.  The main character is an ace pilot who is shot down over Poland, and while trying to reach the house of his brother and sister, he witnesses the Germans bomb the house, killing both of his siblings.  He vows vengeance on Von Tepp, the man responsible for their deaths, and he sets about building a squadron of men to take on the Nazi forces and find, and kill, Von Tepp.  Assuming the name "Blackhawk," he gathers a rag-tag team of men to form his team:  Andre, a French pilot; Olaf, a Swedish pilot; Stanislaus, a Polish fighter; Hendrickson, a Dutch flyer; and a Chinese man skilled in karate, who they refer to as "Chop-Chop."  

 

I had expected there to be one story within the book; however, Rotsler wraps up the tale of vengeance against Von Tepp within the first half of the book, and the second half is spent with the team rescuing a female British agent known as "Bluebird" and working to take out a WarEagle machine terrorizing England.  From what I can gather online (since I never read any of the Blackhawk comics from either company), the story of Blackhawk's search and ultimate revenge on Von Tepp stay pretty true to the comic tale.  In the comics, they track down Von Tepp in France, where he is holding one of Blackhawk's men hostage.  Blackhawk sends a note demanding the release of his man, so Von Tepp orders his execution along with two other captives, including an English nurse.  The Blackhawks arrived in time to save the captives, capture Von Tepp, and take him back to Blackhawk Island where Blackhawk challenges his adversary to a one-on-one aerial duel.  Both planes crash, and Von Tepp is killed in a volley of bullets.  The book maintains most of these story elements, with slight variations - there is only one other captive being held by Von Tepp (the nurse), and Von Tepp is killed during a physical fight after the planes crash, and he is pushed back against a sharp piece of metal that pierced his heart, leaving him dead.

 

The other two adventures - the rescue of Bluebird and the take-down of the WarEagle - are more fast-paced and read like your typical war stories. And while the Blackhawks are a team, the stories are definitely focused on Blackhawk himself (who, curiously enough, is never identified by any real name - it seems no one, not even his own teammates, know his true identity), who turns out to be the hero of every story.  His men serve him faithfully and rarely, if ever, question his command or his orders.  Again, war stories are not really my cup of tea, so I had to force myself to read page after page to ultimately finish the book.  The writing itself is not bad by any means, but the stories simply did not interest me that much.

 

 The cover art is provided by Romas Kukalis, a Canadian artist, who is well known for his cover art for science fiction and fantasy novels.  Some of his early work apparently included illustrations for Creepy, Eerie, and Heavy Metal magazines, before he moved on to painting book covers for publishers such as Ace, Berkley, Del Ray, and others.  His cover for this novel depicts not only Blackhawk and his men firing off against an unseen enemy, but it includes a lone female figure standing right beside Blackhawk.  The scene does not actually occur anywhere in the book (as the females rescued by the Blackhawks do not take an active role in fighting the enemy during the stories), but is merely a representation of the characters and action.

 

 In my research online after reading this book, I discovered Blackhawk has had much more exposure than I realized - not only the various comic book series and this novel, but there was also a serial back in the 1950s starring Kirk Alyn; there was a radio series, voided by Michael Fitzmaurice; there was even a limited edition G.I. Joe doll of Blackhawk in 2002, complete with various uniforms!  Apparently, in the 1980s, Steven Spielberg had plans to adapt the comic into a movie, but the project was scrapped; later, in 2018, Warner Bros. tried again, with Spielberg once again attached to the project.  In 2022, a script was confirmed to have been written for a film; however, with the new Gunn-driven DC film universe, it's unlikely that film will see the light of day.

 

For those who love war stories and war/military comics, this book is probably a great read.  For me, it was somewhat tedious, and I had to force my way through it to finish it.  There were hints in the Afterword that this was to be the first in a series of novels, but no other Blackhawk novels were ever published.

 

And, ah, yes, before I forget, I should mention that Rotsler did provide some Easter Eggs in the story for comic fans.  The name of Blackhawk's benefactor, who helps finance the planes, provides their secret island, and keeps them informed with secret military information is named "Levitz" - obviously after Paul Levitz, a major player at DC Comics during the '70s and '80s, as both an editor and writer.  The name of Levitz' firm in the book is "Levitz, Cuidera, and Dillin" - a tribute to Paul Levitz, Chuck Cuidera (Blackhawk's creator), and Dick Dillin (who provided art for Blackhawk in both the Military Comics series by Quality, as well as Blackhawk's own series).

 

Aside from that, Rotsler has Blackhawk utilize a "small sabotage device called a fire pencil [which was] the size of a small fountain pen..." (p. 106).  I found this interesting, because it immediately brought to mind those "pencil bombs" that Mildred Wirt referenced in the 12th Penny Parker mystery,  Voice from the Cave.  I had never heard of these before reading the Penny Parker book, and now here they appear for a second time in this Blackhawk novel!  An interesting coincidence...

 

RATING:  6 twin-engine Grummans out of 10 for a novel filled with plenty of wartime action, dramatic battles, and heroic last-minute saves - a definite compliment to the comic stories upon which the book is based.