Sometimes, an idea works – other times, in other circumstances, the same idea can fall completely flat. The idea of taking a mostly-forgotten character or characters, and doing a fresh take on them that’s equal parts retro and reinvention is not a new one – in fact, its not new to either of the creators on this book. Jerry Ordway was extremely successful with the concept with The Power of Shazam! in the ’90s, and Dan Didio was somewhat less successful with the recently-cancelled OMAC. The key component in being able to tell these kinds of stories is in knowing your audience, and this, unfortunately, is not something Didio was able to do with either of his recent retro-modern tales.
The New 52 initiative was really designed with one purpose in mind – to get an influx of new readers. Really, that’s what all comic events are designed to do – the only difference here being that the New 52 was a bit more wide-reaching, and had a more specifically-targeted demographic in mind. Namely, DC was not trying to entice older consumers to start reading comics, or start picking up lapsed books – they were going after the 18-35 demographic, and Didio, who purportedly kicked off the initiative himself, evidently doesn’t realize that, for the most part, the 18-35 demographic has no idea who Jack Kirby is.
Now this is a really sad thing. It seems trite to say it now, because its been said so many times before, but one simply can’t overstate Kirby’s importance to comics. But kids these days aren’t familiar with his work, and when you try and emulate it without hanging a lantern on the fact that its purposefully retro, you end up with a bunch of confused readers, and abysmally low sales.
Now, looking at DCU Presents: Challengers of the Unknown as a fan? Absolutely excellent update of the characters, bringing them in line with modern times, while still keeping the childlike wonder and imagination that was the core of their original appeal. The concept and subtle creep-factor of turning the Challengers into contestants in a Running-Man-esque game show up the coolness factor even further. But looking at it from a business perspective? It just was not the right move or the right time – and neither was OMAC. The people who’ve been brought in by the New 52 don’t want retro tales, especially when they don’t realize that’s what they’re reading. Its possible, I suppose, that Didio realizes this, and that’s the reason this series was only given three issues – get his pet project out of the way, then move on to better-selling stories. But that, of course, doesn’t really explain OMAC.
I’d like to personally encourage everyone who was confused or turned off by this story arc – stick with DCU Presents, and go out and buy some early Kirby work. Early Fantastic Four for Marvel and his Fourth World stuff for DC are both great places to start. Then come back to this with a better understanding of what Didio and Ordway were going for, because believe it or not, they succeeded. I’d like to think that someday we might see a continuation to this story, but its unlikely. If the arc’s sales at Ground Zero Comics were any indication of how it did worldwide, this is the last time we’ll be hearing from the Challengers any time soon, and that’s a real shame.
Be sure and check out DC’s official page for the book here: http://www.dccomics.com/comics/dc-universe-presents-2011/dc-universe-presents-8 and you can purchase the issues digitally from Ground Zero here: https://comics.comixology.com/ret/383/Ground_Zero_Comics_DC_Comics_Digital_Store/#/issue/23550/DC-Universe-Presents-2011-8
As published on examiner.com
