FOR FECK'S SAKE! IT'S FRANKIE STEIN - AGAIN!

From WHAM! #126, November 12th, 1966.  Copyright REBELLION

Who doesn't love KEN REID's FRANKIE STEIN?  Just as I expected - total silence, because everybody with any taste adores the friendly monster from the pages of WHAM!, published by ODHAMS PRESS between mid-1964 and the beginning of '68.  Seeing, therefore, that you're such discerning fans, I thought I'd bestow upon you (purely out of the goodness of my heart, naturally) a couple of pages of grumpy ol' PROFESSOR CUBE's laboratory-created offspring. Comments of appreciation would be, er... appreciated.  Ta!

(Incidentally, I used to own the original art to the above page - and still possess an actual-size, high-quality laser-scan of it, which captures Ken's art in all its finely-crafted detail.  Below is a close-up of part of it for you to salivate over!  Click to enlarge, then click again.  Absolutely bleedin' brilliant, innit?)

From WHAM! #159, July 1st, 1967

JACK KIRBY'S CHALLENGERS Of The UNKNOWN COVER & SPLASH PAGE GALLERY (EXPANDED) - PART ONE...

Images copyright DC COMICS

What's wrong with the above cover illustration?  For a start, the Challenger (ACE MORGAN) hitting the egg with Thor's spare hammer (allegedly) is standing too far away to even connect with it.  Secondly, whatever it is that's emerging from the egg is just way too big to be in there to begin with.  (Yeah, okay - maybe it's expanding on contact with air, but I don't buy it!)  Thirdly, it's hardly one of JACK KIRBY's better cover compositions, what with the other three Challs clumsily positioned behind a wall to avoid them 'merging' into their colleague.  And thus the CHALLENGERS Of The UNKNOWN made their debut in SHOWCASE #6 in 1957.

They made another three appearances in Showcase (#s 7, 11 & 12) before being awarded their own mag in '58.  For part one of this cover and splash page gallery we present a triple dose of those first Challengers try-out tales.  (Part two will feature Showcase #12, plus Challengers #s 1-3, so don't miss out!)  The title continued for another 46 issues after Jack's departure, but it's only the ones with which he was involved that will fall within the purview of these palpitating posts.

Now - let's brave the unknown together!