Challengers of the Unknown #82

In "Chapter 1: The Lurker Below" from Challengers of the Unknown #82, the team races to save Prof as a deadly fungus spreads through his body, leaving them no time for distractions—especially not from the flashy Gaylord Clayburne, who claims to have found a cure. Ignoring his offer, they fly straight to Perdition, Pennsylvania, only to be met at the airstrip by a furious mob of farmers with pitchforks. Just as tension spikes, Doctor Monroe steps forward to calm the crowd and take charge.

In "Chapter 2: Legacy of the Damned," the Challengers uncover a town haunted by a forgotten demon summoning from seventy years prior, when a desperate man called forth a creature that turned the community into sacrificial cultists—until Swamp Thing sealed it away. Now, with Professor’s life in danger and a cure hidden behind the Iron Curtain, Red and Ace take off in the jet, leaving June and Rocky to face the eerie, still-festering remnants of that dark past.

In "Chapter 3: The Soul Predator," Red and Ace race through the skies over Borotavia, dodging enemy jets and securing a crucial blood filter machine, while Rocky and June, uneasy and searching Dr. Monroe’s occult-filled library, are thrust into a nightmare when they witness a tractor salesman’s horrifying sacrifice to a tentacled entity—only to be knocked unconscious before they can stop it.

In "Chapter 4: The Lurker Rises," Rocky awakens bound to a post, only to learn from Monroe that the creeping fungus is no mere disease—it's a manifestation of the ancient god M'Nagalah. As Monroe departs for another sacrifice, Rocky breaks free and reunites with Ace and Red, who’ve returned with supplies. But their relief turns to dread when they realize June is the next target, hidden somewhere in the church’s shadowed halls.