Jack Kirby reinvented the superhero genre with his sprawling saga of the Fourth World—a bold storytelling vision that was decades ahead of its time. In honor of this extraordinary talent’s centennial, DC Comics is proud to re-present the groundbreaking work of the King of Comics in a brand-new series collecting his classic DC titles in all their four-color glory! After walking away from a seemingly un-survivable plane crash, test pilot Ace Morgan, mountain climber Red Ryan, heavyweight boxing champ Rocky Davis and underwater explorer Prof Haley make a pact to continue defying death and seeking out mystery around the world. Their motto is “Dare Anything,” and their assignments are the most unusual and incredible tasks ever encountered! There is no danger that they fear, or risk that they will not accept! They call themselves…the Challengers of the Unknown! Discover some of comics’ most daring writing and dynamic art—and thrill to the imaginative power of one of the medium’s greatest masters—in CHALLENGERS OF THE UNKNOWN BY JACK KIRBY, collecting all of the King’s stories from SHOWCASE #6-7 and 11-12 and CHALLENGERS OF THE UNKNOWN #1-8, accompanied by illuminating essays from former DC editor Paul Kupperberg and acclaimed Kirby historian John Morrow.

Four years before Jack Kirby and Stan Lee created Marvel's Fantastic Four, there was another adventurous foursome co-created by Kirby that set forth to challenge the unknown.

ÒThe Man Who Tampered with Infinity.Ó A mad scientist uses an Òinfinity machineÓ to teleport monsters from other dimensions. ÒThe Human Pets.Ó An alien boy collects Òanimals.Ó

ÒTHE CREATURE FROM THE END OF TIME!Ó A giant box appears in Toronto, and the Challengers, accompanied by Swamp Thing and Deadman, investigate. When Deadman tries to enter the box, it opens and releases a monster. After they kill the monster, the Challengers haul the box and carcass to Challengers Mountain, where tests indicate the box is from the future. The heroes fly to Rip HunterÕs desert lab, which appears abandoned. Swamp Thing pushes a button and RipÕs Time Sphere appears with a skeleton inside. They use the time sphere to travel to 12,000,000 AD. Amidst crumbling ruins, they are surrounded by future-men and Rip Hunter in rags and a crown.

"Originally published in single magazine form in Secret Origins, 80 Page Giant 8 (more Secret Origins), Even More Secret Origins and Weird Secret Origins."

The Reagan Administration pushed hard for NASA to launch shuttle mission 51L, before it was ready. 73 seconds into the launch, the shuttle exploded, killing seven and leaving a nation traumatized. Richard Cook, lead resource analyst at NASA for the Solid Rocket Boosters, was the first to warn of possible catastrophic failure. His memo, detailing astronaut concerns and warnings from the shuttle builders at Morton Thiokol, was ignored by top NASA officials and members of the Reagan administration. In the aftermath, NASA launched an investigation to "discover" the cause of the disaster. Though within NASA there was absolute certainty about the O-ring failure, they began a cover-up by publicly proclaiming that the cause was unknown. A Reagan administration Commission perpetrated the same lie. When Cook realized that the Commission was not interested in the truth, he leaked the original documents to the New York Times, setting off a cascade of disclosures, including revelations by Morton Thiokol engineers that they had tried to stop the launch.--From publisher description.

"Originally published in single magazine form in Deadman 1-4, Strange adventures 205-216, The Brave and the Bold 79, 86, 104, 133, Aquaman 50-52, Challengers of the unknown 74, 84-87, Superman family 183, DC super-stars 18, DC special series 8, Adventure Comics 459-466, DC Comics presents 24, Detective Comics 500, Secret origins 15, Who's who: the definitive directory of the DC Universe 1, 13, 20"--Copyright page.