![Challengers of the Unknown by Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale #[nn] cover](https://comicbooks-covers-449901518064-us-east-2.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/covers/isbndb/9781401278854.jpg)
Challengers of the Unknown by Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale #[nn]
In "The Challengers Must Die!", the surviving members of the original team—Ace, Red, Rocky, and Harold Moffett—confront the aftermath of Challenger Mountain’s destruction, only to be drawn into a surreal and terrifying new reality. As they regroup in a decaying Challengerville and reclaim their legacy with a new look and purpose, their journey leads them to a farmhouse that defies logic, where Prof and June greet them with a chilling revelation. With Jeph Loeb’s sharp, atmospheric storytelling and Tim Sale’s haunting, noir-inspired art—both in full force—this issue redefines the team’s mythos in a single, unforgettable descent into the unknown.
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Ace, Red, Rocky, and Harold Moffett gather at the graves of Prof and June. Now what? Moffett explains Duncan Pramble blew up Challenger Mountain. The guys saddle up. They find Challengerville a mess. Rocky figures they'll need their stuff. At a warehouse piled with their old gear, they pull out weapons and tools, and adopt new "uniforms": civvies with just a red-yellow hourglass logo. Rocky will lead The New Challengers of the Unknown. By night they fly for Challenger Mountain, but Ace is possessed by snarky little demons. They bail out as the aircar hits the mountain. A newscopter fires bullets. Rocky covers with a smoke grenade. Climbing, they finally see the ruins of Challenger Crater. All the locals have gone nuts, carousing, raping, and worshipping at an altar. Gunfire chases off the locals. Ace thinks the altar holds a tear in reality. He tries to patch it, and the Challs get sucked to farm country in broad daylight. They ring the farmhouse door. Prof and June welcome them. Except they're ghosts, though June looks eight months pregnant. So... are they dead? "Not exactly." Panning back reveals the farm in a fishbowl. Looming over them, larger than a mountain, is a wild-eyed demon named N'Zrath. "Welcome to Hell!"
Plot details indexed by the Grand Comics Database (CC BY-SA).