Challengers of the Unknown #4 – Christopher Cantwell, Writer; Sean Izaakse, Amancay Nahuelpan, Artists; Romulo Fajardo Jr, Colorist
Ray – 9/10
Ray: This series has done a great job of exploring the different members of the fairly obscure Challengers team, and giving each of them a mission that reflects their unique personality. This issue, it’s Red Ryan’s turn in the spotlight, and he’s paired with Hal Jordan and the eccentric space adventurer Captain Comet to investigate a strange anomaly in an asteroid. Hal and Red make a good pair, as both of them are fairly reckless adventurers who love to push boundaries. But neither of them are prepared for what they find inside the asteroid – which not only has a strange passageway leading into it, but seems to be alive and breathing. And as they descend into the tunnels, Hal and Red start hearing a voice coming from within the massive being, calling for help. It all combines into a bizarre tale that starts as a sci-fi story and starts to feel more and more like a horror story as they head deeper inside.
Each of the Challengers have their own demons to exorscise over the course of these missions, and none has been better matched with someone with the same issues like these two. But there’s no time to discuss their pasts as they find a body hiding within the creature’s innards – and discover that not only is it a famous face from the past of the DCU, but it’s someone who Red knows very well, and who left a message for him. The end of the issue gets into some seriously bizarre, time-warping stuff that then ends on a big mystery about how exactly something happened to the lead character. This is definitely the strangest issue of the run so far, and the final segments get us a little closer to answers about exactly what is going on with the Challengers. I think this is a limited-run series, so we’re getting to the point where we’ll start getting some big answers, with only one Challenger left to take the lead.
To find reviews of all the DC issues, visit DC This Week.
GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
