New Challengers #1
Publisher: DC
Story: Scott Snyder, Aaron Gillespie
Pencils: Andy Kubert
Inks: Klaus Janson
Colors: Brad Anderson
Letters: Deron Bennett
Yet another delayed entry in DC’s New Age of Heroes line, New Challengers seeks to reestablish an old concept from the Silver Age – that of a team of non-powered individuals who, after a life-threatening accident, feel as though they are living on borrowed time and decide to become adventuring heroes. It’s a good concept for a non-supers team-based book, except that New Challengers changes the dynamic of the set-up toward a darker, more sinister version.
Rather, like The Terrifics, the team in New Challengers is assembled by other circumstances beyond their control, and forced to work together, rather than coming together organically. And, in fact, the team featured on the cover of the issue is not even the same version of the team that ends the issue.
Snyder, originally billed as the primary writer on this series, acts as the plot driver and turns over actual writing duties to Aaron Gillespie. Both creators opt for a less wild, Silver Age approach to the title, which is a much better fit for the Challengers of the Unknown concept, and instead utilize the same dreary, dark aesthetic that has infected most of DC these days, from comics to movies. Even a potential tie to the original series via the mysterious character called “Prof” takes a more ominous turn in the opening pages, reducing the amount of fun that could have been had by his introduction. While there are scenes that reference previous versions of the Challengers, aside from looking great, they have little else to do with this version of the team.
Of the New Challengers, the main point-of-view character, so far, is a healer from Gotham City named Trina Alvarez, and she actually is an intriguing addition to DC’s canon of characters. She has a unique voice and a distinct personality and history that deserves to be explored. Unfortunately, the same can’t be said of any of the other New Challengers, who have little in terms of personality or background in this first issue. There is no main adversary in this issue to help define the Challengers further, unless one counts the mysterious Prof, who looks to be created from the Amanda Waller school of team building administers.
Visually, the team of Kubert, Janson, and Anderson bring the New Challengers to life, and include some great flashback scenes, including one page featuring the Justice League that, while brief, is very cinematic in scope. The character designs for the New Challengers themselves are all good, representing standard archetypes that are all instantly recognizable and easy to distinguish on the page (the female care-taker, the nerdy computer guy, the big oaf type, etc.). Anderson’s colors add a sense of moodiness to the scenes, especially ones that focus on the computer-generated holograms of past Challengers, and also during the opening few pages which take place during a dark thunderstorm.
New Challengers has an interesting concept and a few compelling characters, combined with some great art and coloring. However, it is missing the sense of fun and adventure that made the original Challengers of the Unknown a classic, instead copying the same dark and grim themes that other DC publications currently have. There was a chance for New Challengers to stand out from the pack, but it goes back to the same well and gets lost in the wave of the New Age of Heroes titles.
Martin Thomas
martin@comicattack.net
I’m a huge Kubert fan but didn’t even know about this title coming out. Sad thing is that I haven’t liked most of these except for Sideways and Silencer so most likely I tuned out.
Thanks again for your comment! The “New Age of Heroes” line has been pretty hit-and-miss so far, which is to be expected. Not everything can be pure gold. I have also enjoyed Silencer (one of the few New Age titles I’m still reading, along with the Terrifics, The Immortal Men, and Curse of Brimstone, and I’ll definitely give New Challengers another chance). I found Sideways to be a bit too derivative of Spider-Man and just not offering enough that was “new.” I’ll most likely drop “Brimstone” pretty soon also, although I did like its different, more rural setting.
For the most part, I think the New Age series has at least been worthy of a look at the first issue for each series, but I also was able to get a big discount at my shop by pre-paying for them!