If you are looking for a multi-versed, multi-chaptered read, check out the New Challengers Collected Edition Graphic Novel from DC.
That’s a lot of ‘multis’. Let’s take a look at this graphic novel; the collected GN brings us the entire recent six-issue miniseries, featuring the New Challengers of the Unknown. It’s linked to the DC Metal multi-title crossover event.
Written by Scott Snyder and Aaron Gillespie, it features a new team of individuals, brought together in their afterlife; they have all just died. Soon, it becomes evident that they have been recruited for their abilities by an unknown personality, bent on collecting pieces of an old relic. The pieces have been scattered in different timelines and alternate realities, so the team must overcome significant hurdles in order to complete their mission. Collect them all, or be dead forever.
Of course, I am vastly simplifying the plot, which is intricately woven through flashbacks, snippets of backstory of the characters, and as I mention, alternate realities and timelines. It’s a lot for a reader to follow, and it’s made even more complex by its being part of the Metal event; we catch bits and pieces of references to events that have gone on but aren’t given much in the way of explanation. In a sense, we too are newly challenged: what the heck is going on here?
There is a lot going on in the six issues: there are wonderful scenes of chaos, dinosaurs, explosions, and general mayhem. It’s a violent book and one that you need to read carefully. Not all the situations are fully explained, so you might find, like I did, that you are going back a page here and there to better understand the quickly changing scenario. The internal dialogue of the characters is well handled and helps us navigate.
There are some thinly veiled fun references to Jack Kirby (Dingbats of Danger Street, a 1975 Kirby title from DC) and the Fourth World’s Boom Tube. And Joe Kubert gets a nod in a quick scene discussing Sgt Rock. Incidentally, the original Challengers of the Unknown, from wayyy back in 1957, was co-written and illustrated by Jack Kirby, so he gets even more subtle credit.
The art team switches during the miniseries. Issue one starts with Andy Kubert on pencils, and Klaus Janson on inks, with Brent Anderson on colour. Part way through issue 3, V Ken Marion replaces Kubert on pencils, with Sandu Florea on inks, and Dinei Ribeiro on colours. It’s a jarring change, but these things do happen. The art styles are different, but the pace of the story and the frequent splash pages remain constant.
There’s lots for the reader to delve into in this collected edition; the overall story is a good solid one, the characters are interesting, there are many plot twists, cameo appearances, and lots of good old physical battling to make this worth your while. Oh, and the secondary stars, the creatures, are endlessly well handled, and threaten to steal the spotlight from the Challengers!
DC New Challengers Collected Edition Graphic Novel, $16.99, assume Teen rating
Newsdesk