DC had an idea that I love to this day and I feel it would have been HUGE if the internet was around to spread the idea. Let’s revisit something that would go big if done today.
The idea was a series of comics called CHALLENGE: CAN YOU SOLVE IT BEFORE WE CAN?
DC Challenge was a 12-issue comic book series produced by DC Comics from November 1985 - October 1986. It was a round robin experiment in narrative. The tagline was “Can you solve it before we can?”
I want to interject here real quick about when this came out. In 1985 - 1986 I was in college and the internet was just in it’s infancy. The fact is there really wasn’t one readily available. The only thing one could do is send messages to people across seas. I did it regularly. The issue was that you could send a message but it could take hours or days to get a reply. Because the login to the messaging site was so complicated, and there was no notification system that you got a message, people may never get back to you. So, there really wasn’t a way for great ideas to spread quickly like they do today. OK, now back to the story.
The series concept was conceived during the San Diego ComiCon in 1983 during a rooftop party. The full story can be found in the editorial section of the first edition of CHALLENGE!
The idea was that each chapter, or comic, would be written by a different author and illustrated by a different artist. Sounds simple right? Just wait. No consultation between authors and illustrators was allowed. Further, each chapter would end in a seemingly impossible cliffhanger from which that chapter’s author had to have planned a feasible escape, and the name of the next chapter would be provided. Authors could use any character or concept currently in the DC bullpen (at the time there were 50 years of characters to use) EXCEPT those whose appearance they were currently writing. The last issue would then be a collaborative effort by six of the twelve writers.
Again, let me interject. Think about this for a minute. The first writer and artists probably had it easy. Take some characters and go crazy with them by putting them into bizarre scenarios, and cook up a crazy cliffhanger, for the next team. The next team then had approximately 30 days to come up with a “response” comic. So, if you put yourself in the place of Team 2 you realize that they have to take what is given them, continue the storyline, then come up with their own twists and impossible cliffhanger ending. Imagine how difficult this really was. You are served up whatever the team before you can imagine and then you have to create a story with a different set of characters to make a feasibly connected storyline. Then, in the last issue, you had to tie all of the previous twists and turns together into a cohesive ending that made sense. Yikes. Personally I’d like to see that type of challenge again today. It truly lived up to the tagline “Can you solve it before we can?” because nobody, including the writers and artists, knew how it would end until...well...the end.
I won’t lay out each chapter and who was in it but I do want to give a shout out to the writers and artists who were involved in the incredible undertaking:
The writers were Mark Evanier, Len Wein, Doug Moench, Paul Levitz, Mike W. Barr, Elliot S. Maggin, Paul Kupperberg, Gerry Conway, Roy Thomas, Dan Mishkin, Marv Wolfman and Cary Bates.
On the artist side you had Tom Mandrake, Ross Andru, Frank McLaughlin, Steve Lightle, Stan Woch, Jan Duursema, Luke McDonnell, Denys Cowan, Dan Spiegle, Keith Giffen, Curt Swan, Terry Austin, Don Heck, Rick Hoberg, Dick Giordano, Gene Colan, Bob Smith, Chuck Patton, Mike DeCarlo, Carmine Infantino, Gil Kane, Klaus Janson, Dave Gibbons, Mike Farmer, Dan Jurgens and Joe Staton.
The featured characters involved a HUGE lineup and dug DEEP into the DC vault. The characters were Superman, Wonder Woman, Batman, Adam Strange, Riddler, B’wana Beast, Jonah Hex, Congorilla, Hawkwoman, Aquaman, Viking Prince, Hawkman, Martian Manhunter, Zatanna, Detective Chimp, Jimmy Olsen, Doctor Fate, Captain Comet, Captain Marvel, Uncle Sam, Blackhawks, Silent Knight, Deadman, Mister Mxyzptlk, Plastic Man, Woozy Winks, Orion, Enemy Ace, Lightly, Joker, Geo-Force, Metron, Son of Vulcan, Guradians of Oa, Tomar Re, Arisia, Vigilante, Phantom Stranger, Darkseid, Desaad, Green Lantern, Flash, Elongated Man, Vixen, Vibe, Firestorm, Spectre and Perry White.
Here are the covers from 1 - 12.
All total there were 12 writers, 26 Artists, and 48 characters. When has a 12 issue series had that many writers, artists and characters? If you haven’t read them, do so, they are a masterpiece of art and writing.
Dick Giordano was the original editor of the series but turned the job over to Robert Greenberger before the first issue was published.
My argument here is that in this day and age of social media and the internet a collaboration like this would have received much more fanfare, and a much higher distribution, than it did back then. Perhaps it’s time that DC take a look back at projects like this and reissue them so that the fans of today can enjoy them and give the writers and artists the credit they deserve for such an undertaking.
A special thanks to Wikipedia for the backstory, along with the editorial page in issue 1 of Challenge!
