Take The Challenge

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DC Challenge
Year
1985

Spotted in

The scoop

So here is the concept. Each issue has a certain creative team. They are allowed to use any characters in the DCU as long as it's not the characters they were currently writing or drawing. Each issue ends with a cliffhanger that the next creative team would have to work their way out of.  That is the part of the "Challenge" for the reader... to figure out how the heroes get out of their particular predicament. Below is a break down of the issues and the featured creative team.

• 1 – “Outbreak!” by Mark Evanier; art by Gene Colan & Bob Smith (Nov. 1985)
• 2 – “Blinded By the Light” by Len Wein & Chuck Patton; inked by Mike DeCarlo (Dec. 1985)
• 3 – “Viking Vengeance” by Doug Moench; art by Carmine Infantino & Bob Smith (Jan. 1986)
• 4 – “Atomic Nights” by Paul Levitz; art by Gil Kane & Klaus Janson (Feb. 1986)
• 5 – “Thunderbolts and Lightning” by Mike W. Barr; art by Dave Gibbons & Mark Farmer (Mar.
• 6 – “A Matter of Anti Matter” by Elliot S. Maggin & Dan Jurgens; inked by Larry Mahlstedt
• 7 – “Don’t Bogart That Grape . . . Hand Me the Gas Pump!” by Paul Kupperberg; art by Joe Staton & Steve Mitchell
• 8 – “If This Is Love, Why Do My Teeth Hurt?” by Gerry Conway; art by Rick Hoberg, Dick Giordano, & Arnie Starr
• 9 – “All This and World War, Too!” by Roy Thomas; art by Don Heck
• 10 – “Jules Verne Was Right!” by Dan Mishkin; art by Curt Swan & Terry Austin
• 11 – “How Can You Be In Two Places At Once When You’re Not Anywhere At All?” by Marv Wolfman & Cary Bates; art by Keith Giffen & Dave Hunt
• 12 – “Fathers Against Suns”, with everyone

It sounds pretty cool and you had some very crazy stuff happening. Aquaman trapped in a desert? WWII Nazi's find a spaceship brought to their time by the Blackhawks and end up winning the war? Albert Einstein is even in it. The series started just before Crisis but didn't wrap up until after. Throw all your continuity concerns out the window, this is pure crazy...but is it fun? I've read numerous reviews that state it's not some hidden gem. That the series had the obvious "too many cooks in the kitchen" syndrome for it to work. I think I  may add it to my list of cheap books to look for at comic cons.