Showcase #6

(January-February 1957)

The Secret of the Sorcerer's Box [Chapter 1] (Table of Contents)

Challengers of the Unknown / comic story / 6 pages (report information)

Credits

Script:

Jack Kirby (plot, script); Dave Wood (script)

Pencils:

Jack Kirby

Inks:

Jack Kirby ?; Roz Kirby (blacks)

Colors:

?

Letters:

Ben Oda

Content Information

Genre:

Adventure

Characters:

Challengers of the Unknown [Ace Morgan; Prof Haley; Red Ryan; Rocky Davis] (first appearance; origin); sailors; citizens; VILLAIN: Mr. Morelian (first appearance; dies)

Synopsis:

Four heroes are being flown to appear on the radio show "Heroes" when their jet crashes in a storm. Miraculously, all four survive unharmed, even down to a working watch. Since they are "living on borrowed time", they vow to make the best use of it, taking risks to benefit others, challenging the unknown. (Origin, introduction, and first appearance of the team.) In their first official case, they are summoned by Morelian, a descendant of Merlin, to open four chambers of a dangerous alchemist's box and "witness things not seen on this Earth since the dawn of Man!"

Reprints: show reprint note before migration

• in Secret Origins (DC, 1961 series) #1 (Summer 1961)
• in Challengers of the Unknown (DC, 1958 series) #64 (October-November 1968)
• in The Greatest 1950s Stories Ever Told (DC, 1990 series) #[nn] ([October] 1990)
• in The Greatest 1950s Stories Ever Told (DC, 1992 series) #[nn] ([October] 1990)
• in The Essential Showcase 1956-1959 (DC, 1992 series) #[nn] (1992)
• in Secret Origins Replica Edition (DC, 1998 series) #1 (1998)
• in Challengers of the Unknown Archives (DC, 2003 series) #1 ([July] 2003)
• in Showcase Presents Challengers of the Unknown (DC, 2006 series) #1 ([October] 2006)

Indexer Notes

First appearance of the Challengers of the Unknown. According to Joe Simon and Jack Kirby historians, Jack Kirby brought the proposal for the Challengers to DC. DC bought the concept and folded it into Showcase.
Credits updated 10/06 by Bob Hughes. Previously inker listed as Marvin Stein. Per Stein's conversations with Greg Theakston, he did not ink any Challengers stories.
An epilogue occurs in Secret Origins 12 (1987), when the Challengers are reunited with the box to solve its final mystery.
Letters credit from Rodrigo Baeza via the editor e-mail list on March 5, 2007.

["Whew! That sun is hot!"] (Table of Contents)

Shorty / filler / 0.67 page (report information)

Credits

Script:

Henry Boltinoff

Pencils:

Henry Boltinoff

Inks:

Henry Boltinoff

Colors:

?

Letters:

Henry Boltinoff

Content Information

Genre:

humor

Whistle Magic! (Table of Contents)

filler / 1 page (report information)

Credits

Script:

Mort Drucker

Pencils:

Mort Drucker

Inks:

Mort Drucker

Colors:

?

Letters:

Mort Drucker

Content Information

Genre:

fact

Reprints: show reprint note before migration

• from The Phantom Stranger (DC, 1952 series) #1 (August-September 1952)

Dragon Seed! [Chapter 2] (Table of Contents)

Challengers of the Unknown / comic story / 6 pages (report information)

Credits

Script:

Jack Kirby (plot, script); Dave Wood (script)

Pencils:

Jack Kirby

Inks:

Jack Kirby ?; Roz Kirby (blacks)

Colors:

?

Letters:

Ben Oda

Content Information

Genre:

Adventure

Synopsis:

The Challs relocate the box to a tropical island and draw straws. The first chamber releases a "Dragon's Egg" that hatches a stone giant of legend. It wreaks havoc on ships, even resisting an atom bomb. What to do? While back on the island, Rocky's ready to crack the next chamber.

Reprints: show reprint note before migration

• in Challengers of the Unknown (DC, 1958 series) #64 (October-November 1968)
• in The Greatest 1950s Stories Ever Told (DC, 1990 series) #[nn] ([October] 1990)
• in The Greatest 1950s Stories Ever Told (DC, 1992 series) #[nn] ([October] 1990)
• in The Essential Showcase 1956-1959 (DC, 1992 series) #[nn] (1992)
• in Challengers of the Unknown Archives (DC, 2003 series) #1 ([July] 2003)
• in Showcase Presents Challengers of the Unknown (DC, 2006 series) #1 ([October] 2006)

Indexer Notes

Credits updated 10/06 by Bob Hughes. Previously inker listed as Marvin Stein. Per Stein's conversations with Greg Theakston, he did not ink any Challengers stories. Letters credit from Rodrigo Baeza via the editor e-mail list on March 5, 2007.

Buzzy's Famous Books Quiz (Table of Contents)

public service announcement / 1 page (report information)

Credits

Script:

Jack Schiff

Pencils:

Ruben Moreira

Inks:

Ruben Moreira

Colors:

?

Letters:

Ira Schnapp

Content Information

Genre:

fact

["This is getting very uncomfortable."] (Table of Contents)

Moolah the Mystic / filler / 1 page (report information)

Credits

Script:

Henry Boltinoff

Pencils:

Henry Boltinoff

Inks:

Henry Boltinoff

Colors:

?

Letters:

Henry Boltinoff

Content Information

Genre:

humor

The Freezing Sun! [Chapter 3] (Table of Contents)

Challengers of the Unknown / comic story / 6 pages (report information)

Credits

Script:

Jack Kirby (plot, script); Dave Wood (script)

Pencils:

Jack Kirby

Inks:

Jack Kirby ?; Roz Kirby (blacks)

Colors:

?

Letters:

Ben Oda

Content Information

Genre:

Adventure

Synopsis:

Picked up by sailors, Red returns to the island to find the second chamber open and Rocky frozen stiff. The menace is a sentient freezing sun from parts unknown that sucks up all heat, freezing people. Alone, Red cobbles a vacuum chamber and lures the sun inside, trapping it. Meanwhile, out on the water, Prof realizes that, since the Dragon Seed Giant can't be harmed by anything, it must be a thought, so he "thinks" it out of existence. All the while, Morelian flies overhead, watching.

Reprints: show reprint note before migration

• in Challengers of the Unknown (DC, 1958 series) #65 (December-January 1969)
• in The Greatest 1950s Stories Ever Told (DC, 1990 series) #[nn] ([October] 1990)
• in The Greatest 1950s Stories Ever Told (DC, 1992 series) #[nn] ([October] 1990)
• in The Essential Showcase 1956-1959 (DC, 1992 series) #[nn] (1992)
• in Challengers of the Unknown Archives (DC, 2003 series) #1 ([July] 2003)
• in Showcase Presents Challengers of the Unknown (DC, 2006 series) #1 ([October] 2006)

Indexer Notes

Credits updated 10/06 by Bob Hughes. Previously inker listed as Marvin Stein. Per Stein's conversations with Greg Theakston, he did not ink any Challengers stories. Letters credit from Rodrigo Baeza via the editor e-mail list on March 5, 2007.

I Fought the Phantom Planes (Table of Contents)

text story / 2 pages (report information)

Credits

Script:

?

Pencils:

?

Inks:

?

Colors:

?

Letters:

typeset

Content Information

Genre:

war

The Whirling Weaver! [Chapter 4] (Table of Contents)

Challengers of the Unknown / comic story / 6 pages (report information)

Credits

Script:

Jack Kirby (plot, script); Dave Wood (script)

Pencils:

Jack Kirby

Inks:

Jack Kirby ?; Roz Kirby (blacks)

Colors:

?

Letters:

Ben Oda

Content Information

Genre:

Adventure

Synopsis:

The third menace is a tube that releases a whirling weaver. Out of control, it spins ribbons that snarl entire cities. The Challs pursue, then discover a dial on the weaver's tube and slow it to a halt. Returning to the island, they find Morelian has opened the fourth chamber for his own selfish reasons. He got a diamond ring of immortality: he'll live forever. Except the inscription on the box is vague, "contained in me, find immortality". Morelian flies off, but his plane stalls and crashes, killing himself and destroying the box. The box granted immortality: the ring was certain death. The Challengers fly off, asking, "I wonder what what's ahead of us now?"

Reprints: show reprint note before migration

• in Challengers of the Unknown (DC, 1958 series) #65 (December-January 1969)
• in The Greatest 1950s Stories Ever Told (DC, 1990 series) #[nn] ([October] 1990)
• in The Greatest 1950s Stories Ever Told (DC, 1992 series) #[nn] ([October] 1990)
• in The Essential Showcase 1956-1959 (DC, 1992 series) #[nn] (1992)
• in Challengers of the Unknown Archives (DC, 2003 series) #1 ([July] 2003)
• in Showcase Presents Challengers of the Unknown (DC, 2006 series) #1 ([October] 2006)

Indexer Notes

Credits updated 10/06 by Bob Hughes. Previously inker listed as Marvin Stein. Per Stein's conversations with Greg Theakston, he did not ink any Challengers stories. Letters credit from Rodrigo Baeza via the editor e-mail list on March 5, 2007.