Indie Squid Kid

Showcase #12 (Feb. 1958) ©DC Comics

The Challengers of the Unknown are a team of adventurers from the Silver Age of DC Comics. They were created by the legendary Jack Kirby (possibly co-created with writer Dave Wood) and debuted in Showcase #6 (Feb. 1957). The Challengers would appear three more times in that anthology series (#12, shown here, was the last) before moving on to their own title, which ran for 80 issues and was canceled in 1973. (Kirby would leave the series after 12 issues to go work for Marvel Comics, where he would help create, among other things, the Fantastic Four.)

The original team roster was made up of Ace Morgan (test pilot), Red Ryan (daredevil), Rocky Davis (prize fighter), and Prof Haley (scientist). In later issues, June Robinson (computer genius and archaeologist) would often join the team on adventures.  In their first story, all four men survive a plane crash and, because they are now “living on borrowed time,” they decide then and there to devote their life to danger, adventure, and heroism. Their escapades would pit them against both common criminals and supernatural beings. Monsters, aliens, time-travelers, and superheroes were all par for the course. Like their fellow Silver Age adventurers the Sea Devils, the Challengers of the Unknown have no super powers. And also like the Sea Devils, they would occasionally be menaced by giant cephalopods.

The “Challs” (as they are known to their fans) still show up from time to time in the modern DC Universe, and their most notable recent appearance is a story arc from the 2007 revival of The Brave and the Bold. They were also featured prominently in Darwyn Cook’s masterful mini-series DC: The New Frontier (2003-2004). DC has reprinted two volumes of the Challengers’ Silver Age stories for Showcase Presents, a line of inexpensive black and white trade paperbacks. The cover of Volume 1 (below) is a recolored version of the Kirby’s original cover of Showcase #12. Here the giant orange octopus has been given demonic glowing eyes, making its destruction of the Challs’ sporty wood-paneled motor boat seem even more malevolent!

©DC Comics (2006)

©DC Comics

Batman Confidential #36 (November, 2009)

Story by Royal McGraw
Art by Marcos Marz

If anyone can out-Hellboy Hellboy, it’s Batman!

1967 Aquaman board game by Hasbro.

Sighted by Ryn (via The Idol-Head of Diablou)

North 40 is a mini-series published by Wildstorm (an imprint of DC Comcis) and written by Aaron Williams with art by Fiona Staples. It debuted earlier this year, and the sixth and final issue hit the comic shop shelves last week. I’ll have to admit that I haven’t read this series yet, but I am in love with Fiona Staples’ covers. I definitely intend to pick up the trade paperback once it comes out. (Although at this time no publication date for this has been announced.)

Set in fictitious Conover County, somewhere in the American Midwest, North 40 brings Lovcraftian horror to the heartland. Given that I plan to read the series eventually, I have deliberately avoided reading very many details about the story, but what little I know intrigues me—mysterious characters, terrifying monsters, and, of course, tentacles.

Aaron Williams’ official website

Fiona Staples’ official website

#1

#2

#3

#4

#5

#6

Adventure Comics #227 (August, 1956)

ISK will be taking the rest of the week off as we recover from the Fabulous Festival of Food that is the American Thanksgiving holiday. If you celebrate, I hope it’s not alone on some fishy reality show like our pal Aquaman here.

Also, an octopus wearing a bow tie…not something you see every day.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Wonder Woman #75 (June, 1993)

Wonder Woman was created by psychologist William Moulton Marsten (who was also the inventor of the lie detector) and first appeared in All Star Comics #8 (1941). She has been in continuous publication (by DC Comics) ever since, and today is the world’s most iconic superheroine. Wonder Woman is one of the most powerful characters in the modern DC Universe, so this must be one strong octopus!

Brian Bolland drew the cover of this issue, and the story (called “The Last True Hero”) was written by Bill Messner-Loebs with pencils by Lee Moder. I’ve been unable to find a plot summary, but I have to assume that it contains at least one bout of sexy octopus wrestling. Exactly why Wonder Woman decided to soak her satin tights with a trip “Into The Depths!” will have to remain a mystery. At least for the time being…

The Brave and the Bold #24 (July, 1959)

The first incarnation of DC Comics’ The Brave and the Bold ran for 200 issues from 1955-1983. Originally it was an anthology series featuring adventure tales set in ages past and starring characters like the Silent Knight, the Golden Gladiator, and this guy—the Viking Prince. Issue 24, which featured two Viking Prince stories, would be the last to follow the original swashbuckling format. The title’s next 25 issues were used to test out new characters and concepts (such as a little team called the Justice League of America, which debuted in Brave and the Bold #28), and after that it featured a rotating roster of superhero team-ups.

So back to issue #24, the cover (drawn by comics legend Joe Kubert) depicts Jon, aka the Viking Prince, and his wife Asa struggling against a giant cephalopod of indeterminate identity. Considering that the Viking Prince stories were set in 10th century Scandinavia, I think it’s safe to describe this monster as a Kraken. I don’t know if this is a scene from one of the stories in the issue or if it was created just for the cover…it can be difficult to track down detailed information on these old comics.

The Viking Prince still shows up every now and then in modern DC continuity, most recently in the 2008 mini-series The War That Time Forgot.

The Sea Devils (not to be confused with the Doctor Who foes of the same name) are a team of marine adventurers from the Silver Age of DC Comics. They were created by writer Robert Kanigher and artist Russ Heath, and the team first appeared in 1960 in three issues of Showcase (#27-29). This was followed up by their own series, beginning in the Fall of 1961.

Sea Devils #1 (October, 1961): Sea Devils vs. The Octopus Man!

The series would run 35 issues before being canceled in 1967, but they have continued to appear sporadically in DC continuity ever since—most recently in Aquaman: Sword of Atlantis #42 (July, 2006). At this time, DC has yet to offer any of the Sea Devils’ Silver Age stories in reprint collections.

Sea Devils #21 (February, 1965): The Forty-Fathom Doom!

The original team was made up Dane Dorrance (the handsome and intelligent leader), Judy Walton (Dane’s girlfriend, eventual wife), Nicky Walton (Judy’s kid brother), and Biff Bailey (the lovable tough-guy). Fans of Marvel Comics may find this team demographic eerily familiar, but it is worth noting that Fantastic Four #1 came out a little over a year after the Sea Devils’ debut. Unlike the more famous Marvel foursome, the Sea Devils have no powers. They are normal human adventurers…who just happen to encounter sea monsters, aliens, marine gorillas, and giant cephalopods with alarming frequency.

Sea Devils by Marc Laming

Welcome to the first installment of Wednesday Comics, the newest Indie Squid Kid weekly(ish?) theme day! You may not know this, but all across this great land of ours, Wednesday is New Comic Book Day—the day that comic shops get their weekly shipments of new titles. Cephalopods have been a mainstay of comic books pretty much since the beginning of the genre, as demonstrated in the following images from DC Comics’ Golden Age that all feature classic superheroes battling giant octopuses.

The Flash vs. octopus: Flash Comics #44 (1943)

Via Poulpe Pulps, an impressive archive of vintage covers of comics, pulp magazines, and sci-fi novels that all feature cephalopods.

Captain Marvel vs. octopus: Whiz Comics #115 (1949)

Via Everyday Is Like Wednesday, the home of the occasional Monday Morning Man vs. Cephalopod.

Starman vs. octopus: Adventure Comics #65 (1941)

Via The Absorbascon, your online source for sweet, sweet octopus love.