Lost Legends: DC Challenge!

When I talked about DC's Emerald City Comic Con announcements, I mentioned the original DC Challenge mini-series and that I would get around to talking about it. Well, now's that time. Let's head back to 1985, a simpler time, when there were still infinite Earths, when heroes were heroes, and when it was decided by DC brass to try one of the strangest experiments in comic book history.

Now, remember, this is back in the day when letters pages in comic were not the exception, but pretty much the rule, and through the letter pages of this comic, readers got an explanation of how this particular project came about. Long story short, as the first letters page essay is longer than my average column, A group of comic writers got together at San Diego Comic Con in 1983 and decided to propose doing what they called a round robin, or what some  might know as a game of exquisite corpse, where writers each write one chapter of a story and leave it to the next writer to pick up the story without being told what the previous writer's intention was to wrap up the story. There were specific rules against consultation between creative teams, about not using the, "It's just a dream!" gambit to get out of a sticky situation, and a few more logistical points, but generally, this was no holds barred comics like we rarely get anymore, twelve issues of pure crazy joyful comics.

I've been trying to decide how to write about this series since I realized I wanted to write about it. It's not easy, because it goes in all sorts of crazy directions. While each writer had to wrap up some of the plot points left by the previous writer or writers, some were left to dangle for issues at a time, to the point that I can't imagine reading this in anything but the concentrated burst I did; after all, if the writers were ignoring something for six months, how could readers be expected to remember them? Also, some of the best parts of the series are discovering the random, "Wow, that's a character that I never expected to see in here."

The basic premise, at the start of the series anyway, is that there are djinn-like creatures possessing people and interacting with heroes, while Floyd Perkins, a copy boy at the Daily Planet, is encountering hidden floors on the planet building and dead celebrities seemingly back from beyond. Pretty soon, aliens are involved, as are time travelers seeking mysterious stone tablets, battles between different alien species on the planet Rann, an alternate reality where Hitler won World War II, and Cthulhu like tentacle creatures from beyond. It's everything and the kitchen sink too storytelling.

As for the characters used, well it starts out simple enough with the DC Comics holy trinity of Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman, as well as their supporting casts, and sci-fi hero Adam
Strange. But issue two starts the spiral of the obscure, by bringing in not just well known western hero Jonah Hex, but Congorilla and B'wana Beast, as well as then little used villain, Mongul, who had only appeared in a handful of DC Comics Presents issues, as well as the legendary Superman Annual #11, "For the Man Who Has Everything." One of the rules the writers were given was they had to work with characters they didn't write on a monthly basis, so by series end, not only had most of the Justice League appeared, as well as many big name DC heroes, characters from other DC Earths of the time like Captain Marvel and Blue Beetle, but lesser known characters like Rip Hunter, Viking Prince, Detective Chimp, Captain Comet, Space Cabby, Enemy Ace, and Doiby Dickles, sometimes sidekick to Plastic Man all had featured roles. Basically, if you're a long time fan of DC Comics, you will find your favorite obscure character on the 60s, 70s, and early 80s somewhere in here.

And as for the creators who worked on this book? Well here's a rundown of each issue (along with the titles that each issue had, which were given to the new creative team by the previous one) and who the creative team was. These are guys who are now legends, some of the greatest writers and artists of the 70s and 80s, and they all worked together on this one project.

Issue #1, "Outbreak": Written by Mark Evanier; Illustrated by Gene Colan & Bob Smith

Issue #2, "Blinded By the Light": Written by Len Wein; Co-Plotted and Pencilled by Chuck Patton; Inked by Mike DeCarlo

Issue #3, "Viking Vengeance": Written by Doug Moench; Illustrated by Carmine Infantino & Bob Smith

Issue #4, "Atomic Nights": Written by Paul Levitz; Illustrated by Gil Kane & Klaus Janson

Issue #5, "Thunderbolts and Lightning": Written by Mike W Barr; Illustrated by Dave Gibbons & Mark Farmer

Issue #6, "A Matter of Anti Matter": Co-Written by Elliot S. Maggin & Dan Jurgens; Illustrated by Dan Jurgens & Larry Mahlstedt

Issue #7, "Don't Bogart That Grape... Hand Me the Gas Pump!": Wriiten by Paul Kupperberg; Illustrated by Joe Staton & Steve Mitchell

Issue #8, "If This Is Love, Why Do My Teeth Hurt?"" Written by Gerry Conway; Illustrated by Rick Hoberg, Dick Girodano, & Arnie Starr

Issue #9, "All This And World War, Too!": Written by Roy Thomas; Illustrated by Don Heck

Issue #10, "Jules Verne Was Right!": Written by Dan Mishkin; Illustrated by Curt Swan & Terry Austin

Issue #11: "How Can You Be In Two Places At Once When You're Not Anywhere At All?": Plot by Marv Wolfman, Dialogue by Cary Bates; Illustrated by Keith Giffen & Dave Hunt

Issue #12: "Fathers Against Suns"

Issue twelve had half a dozen chapters, each from a different creative team, and many of the artists were not involved in the earlier issues, including Tom Mandrake, Denys Cowan, Jan Duursema, and others. All twelve issues were colored by Carl Gafford and lettered by John Costanza.

And while I don't want to talk more about plot than I already have, since it would give away the fun and also take a ton of time to describe all the strange intricacies of the plot, here are a few favorite moments:

- Issue #2's cliffhanger has a time displaced Jonah Hex knock out the gangsters who have abducted him, led by a seemingly resurrected Peter Lorre, only to realize he doesn't know how to drive the car they're in as it screams down the road towards a group of nuns and school children.

- Issue #7 gives us Albert Einstein, who on his deathbed master the Unified Theory and now is the master of time and space, living in the nexus of all reality like a kindly Time Lord.

- Issue #8 is suddenly narrated by the Joker out of nowhere, because why the heck not?

-Issue #11's reveal of the big bad who's been behind the whole series. This is a character that few artists capture as well as Keith Giffen does, and the big splash page is amazing. Actually, that issue's art is possibly my favorite, as Giffen also draws an excellent Batman and Spectre.

While there's a lot of experimentation with form and character in comics outside DC and Marvel right now, the big two like to play it fairly safe. They don't try a lot of new things. DC Challenge might not have been transgressive or world shaking, but it was something that hadn't been done in comics before, and ended up being a project that was wildly fun, and in the still dark era of mainstream comics, I can only hope the new Kamandi Challenge series can recapture some of the glorious insanity of the original.

As with all Lost Legends posts, DC Challenge is currently uncollected, but I found it at a convention as a set not too long ago for a very affordable price.. However, as we near the release of the Kamandi Challenge title, I wouldn't be surprised if a collection was released. I do hope they include all the creator notes from the letters pages in that collection as well, as they added a lot of interesting back story to this unusual project.

Who Are the Young Animals? And What's So Challenging About Kamandi?

It's convention season ladies and gentlemen, and that means a few things: meeting creators, getting sketches, digging for back issues, and long lines. And of course announcements of new titles. There are three cons in New Jersey this weekend I know of. But this big con of the weekend is Emerald City Comic Con out in Seattle, and DC started it off big with the announcement of a new imprint and a particularly fascinating title outside of it.

The new imprint, called Young Animals, is being spearheaded by My Chemical Romance front man Gerard Way. Those of you who don't know you who don't know Way from his alt/punk rock band might know him from some pretty impressive comic book credits out of Dark Horse, where he's written three very successful mini-series: two volumes featuring The Umbrella Academy and one called The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys. The Umbrella Academy is a group of grown up superheroes who were brought together as kids to train by a professor who was a manipulative jerk, and who now resent each other as adults. As I get into the Young Animals books, you'll see there's a theme with this.

So I looked at this announcement yesterday, and I was like, "Huh, those are some interesting character choices," and so today, I thought I'd give a brief rundown to exactly who the characters are in three of these four titles, and some historical context on the fourth, who is a brand new character. And after that, I'm going to talk briefly about the other new title announced, Kamandi Challenge, and why I'm super excited about it.

Doom Patrol

Story: Gerard Way

Art: Nick Derington

The Doom Patrol are probably the biggest name characters of any of the Young Animals titles, and the best known. Created in the 1963, right around the same time as the X-Men, there's often been a question of who ripped off who when it comes to these two teams of misfits. Both featured heroes who were outside the norm, and both had mentors in wheelchairs. They were probably DC's earliest attempt at Marvel like pathos, with the original three members of the team, Robotman, Elasti-Girl, and Negative Man all being angry at the world and full of angst for being freaks. The original run also introduced Beast Boy, who joined the team and would go on to bigger and better things as a Teen Titan. When the series was to be cancelled in 1968, co-creator and series writer Arnold Drake did something unprecedented at the time: he had his freaky heroes sacrifice themselves for the greater good, dying to save a a small town from an enemy. And since this is comics, where death is an absolute, that was the end of the Doom Patrol...

... Ah, who am I kidding? The Doom Patrol would return many times over the course of the decades. The most successful of these series was the mid-80s series, where a young Scottish writer named Grant Morrison took over at issue 19 and made the book weird. Not just a little weird, because Doom Patrol had always been a little weird. But full on, surrealist bizarre, It would be difficult to sum up all the different things that Morrison did in his run, because it defies quick synopsis, and the heroes and villains he created and reinvented all completely defy any categorization. Favorite characters and concepts included the Brotherhood of Dada, a Dadaist group of supervillains, Danny the Street, a cross-dressing sentient street, and Flex Mentallo, the Charles Atlas ad in comics come to life. If you want to read any Doom Patrol before trying the new series, this is the one to try.

After Morrison left the book, which had become a Vertigo title when DC created the imprint (along with Sandman, Swamp Thing, Shade the Changing Man, and Hellblazer), writer Rachel Pollock took over for another twenty four issues which were weird, but never captured the same public acclaim as Morrison's. DC has tried three time to launch a new series taking place in the normal DCU since 2001, the first written by John Arcudi, the second by John Byrne, and the third by Keith Giffen. None proved especially popular, sales-wise, with the Byrne, which was a hard reboot having the Doom Patrol make a "first appearance" in the DC Universe years after they previously had, being the most controversial, to the point that Infinite Crisis had to reboot them to get the continuity straight again. Most recently, the original team returned during the Forever Evil event, but have not seen much use outside of appearances in Justice League.

The Doom Patrol's roster has fluctuated wildly over the years, especially during the Vertigo years and the Arcudi run, where nearly all the original team members were not used. Only Cliff Steele, Robotman, a human brain in a robot body, has appeared in every incarnation. Other notable members include The Chief, Niles Caulder, a wheelchair bound scientist who gathered the team and in some versions, caused the accidents that created them; Negative Man, pilot Larry Trainor who has an energy form that can leave his body, and who under Morrison went through many strange transformation; Elasti-Girl, Rita Farr, who could grow to giant size; Crazy Jane, who had sixty-four different multiple personalities, each with a different super power; and Dorothy Spinner, a deformed girl who could bring imaginary friends to life. Judging by the preview art provided for the series, Robotman will once again be on the Doom Patrol, as will Flex Mentallo, along with two new female characters.

Shade, The Changing Girl

Story:Cecil Castellucci

Art: Marley Zarcone (Covers by Becky Cloonan)

While Shade, the Changing Girl is a new character, Shade the Changing Man dates back to 1978. Created by Steve Ditko, Shade was an alien from another dimension, who wore an M-Vest, which initially meant Miraco-Vest but would change to be called a Madness-Vest, that granted him super powers. Initially the story of an alien fleeing his home dimension to clear his name of treason charges and a death sentence, Shade would pop up as a member of the Suicide Squad in the 80s.

But, like Doom Patrol, the series that this new one seems most influenced by the was the early 90s Vertigo incarnation of Shade. Here is where the M-Vest became the Madness-Vest, and it allowed Shade to warp reality. The series explored themes of identity, both on Shade and in others. Peter Milligan and Chris Bachalo created a strange and unique view of the character, and the series ran for seventy issues before ending. Since then, Shade has popped up occasionally in other Milligan written projects, both in the Vertigo imprint and the main DCU.

Cave Carson Has a Cybernetic Eye

Story: Gerard Way & Jon Rivera

Art: Michael Avon Oeming

The deepest of deep cuts, Cave Carson was a science hero in 1960s DC Comics, along with characters like the Challengers of the Unknown and The Time Masters. Not surprisingly by his name, he was a spelunker and explorer of the deepest recesses of the Earth. There's not a lot more to say about Carson. He's popped up on and off over the years, often in gathering of scientists and science heroes written by writers with a deep affection for the Silver Age, like Mark Waid in JLA: Year One. He was a member of The Forgotten Heroes, a group of random characters DC threw together to make a team. They appeared a few times, most notably with Superman in an issue of Action Comics and DC Comics Presents, and in the final arc of the original Resurrection Man series, where they thought Resurrection Man might be their lost teammate, the Immortal Man.

Mother Panic

Story: Gerard Way and Jody Houser

Art: Tommy Lee Edwards

Shockingly (or not at all), the title I'm most excited for takes place in Gotham City. Mother Panic is a completely new character, so I don't have any history to dig into here. I can say that, based on her writing in Valiant's Faith, I'm really excited to see what Jody Houser does in the DC Universe. Also, this isn't the first time a non-Bat aligned vigilante. The Helena Bertinelli Huntress first appeared in her own title with no connection to Batman, who only appeared in the final arc of her series. Garth Ennis's Hitman was based in Gotham, although Batman appeared infrequently, mostly because of Ennis's disdain for all things capes and tights. And Steve Niles and Scott Hampton's short-lived Simon Dark, about a patchwork man protecting a Gotham neighborhood, also featured no appearances by Batman. Judging by the Bat Signal on the preview art, Mother Panic will probably intersect a little more with Batman then these titles, but we'll have to wait and see.

The other announcement yesterday was about DC Challenge: Kamandi, a twelve issue mini-series with each issue by a different creative team. Kamandi, if you don't know, is the last boy on Earth, who lives in a world of anthropomorphic animal men. He was created by Jack Kirby and was featured heavily in Final Crisis, so that's a pretty solid pedigree. This title hearkens back to a 1985-1986 mini-series called just DC Challenge, which featured many of comics top creators at the time playing a game of exquisite corpse, a literary term for a story or even a sentence where each writer adds the next chapter/word without knowing exactly what the previous creators would do until they get the story. I picked up a set of DC Challenge a couple of years ago at a con and read it last year, amused but figuring ti was a fun artifact to read, but I wasn't going to write about it here, since it was not relevant and not exactly easy to track down. But now? Heck yes I'll be writing about it. Expect a Lost Legends in the next couple weeks about what is the most bizarre comic I've ever read. Not Grant Morrison bizarre either. Any series that has an issue end with a time displaced Jonah Hex having to save nuns from a runaway truck? That's a freakin' weird comic.