Challengers of the Unknown #48 is an issue of the series Challengers of the Unknown (Volume 1) with a cover date of March, 1966.
Synopsis for "Twilight of the Challengers"
The Doom Patrol arrive at the secret hideout of the Challengers of the Unknown to find the brave adventurers on the cusp of life and death. Negative Man and Robotman place the Challengers inside a chamber of the Chief's devising, through which the Chief is able to initiate a dialogue even in the Challengers' death-like state. The Doom Patrol is told what happened:
- The Challengers were delivering food to their imprisoned arch-enemies, the League of Challenger-Haters, deep in a secret prison. Rocky was playing with a rabbit he found out on the beach, but with alarm the others point out there are no living things on the island and suspect a trap. They're right, as it starts to cut off circulation to Rocky's arm. Multi-Man, who was able to create the artificial rabbit with a scientific apparatus cobbled together from the remains of food packaging, agrees to call off his creation, but only if the villains are set free. Thinking only of their teammate's survival, the other Challengers agree. Multi-Man withers the artificial rabbit by singing "The Name Game" over it, then sics an entire swarm of his "chemo-zooid" rabbits on the Challengers, although the heroic explorers managed to reach an antidote before being overcome.
- Allowing their enemies to think the Challengers dead, the explorers kept an eye on the news and figured that stolen shipments of construction materials in the middle of the Pacific Ocean were mostly likely the work of the Challenger-Haters. Investigating in a submarine, they found an underwater city where they were attacked by the villains. Multi-Man transformed into a giant jellyfish that stung the Challengers, who limped back to their headquarters and collapsed in the state where the Doom Patrol found them.
Acting on a hunch by the Chief, Negative Man carries Robotman to the villains' undersea city. Robotman's attacked by Kra and Multi-Man, but this was the plan all along, with Robotman hacking off one of the villain-turned-jellyfish's tendrils, which he delivers back to the Chief. The great scientist quickly uses the venom to cook up an antidote to restore the Challengers of the Unknown to full health.
Meanwhile, the Challenger-Haters destroy their underwater base, since it's been compromised, and head to an island fortress. Both hero teams chase them down to it and a brawl breaks out, which ends when Multi-Man threatens the Chief with a gun. The villains escape, but the assembled heroes vows to catch them again.
Appearing in "Twilight of the Challengers"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
Other Characters:
Locations:
Items:
Vehicles:
Notes
- The Doom Patrol appeared last in Doom Patrol #101. They will appear next in Doom Patrol #102.
- This issue is reprinted in Doom Patrol Archives Vol. 3.
Trivia
- This story is told in three parts:
- Pt. I, Twilight of the Challengers
- Pt. II, Kingdom of Darkness
- Pt. III, The Battle of the Female Titans
- This is a crossover between the Challengers and the Doom Patrol. Interestingly, it is arguable that the Challengers were part of the editorial origins for the Patrol. It has been claimed that Doom Patrol is based off of the template provided by the Fantastic Four... who were originally based on the Challengers. Of course, the X-Men were based on the Doom Patrol anyway so eventually you lose track of the whole thing and decide it's better to just try and enjoy your comic books. (Although X-Men was probably in production before Doom Patrol was published...)
See Also
- Cover gallery for the Challengers of the Unknown series
- Images from Challengers of the Unknown Vol 1 48