Comic Cards Project: Day 20 • Challengers of the Unknown

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Although the Challengers of the Unknown didn’t have super powers or secret identities, they were a big part of comics in the late 50s and 60s. The Challengers traveled to exotic locations and often took on aliens, monsters, and dinosaurs—adversaries typically found in sci-fi B-movies of the era.

The Challengers were all white guys, each conveniently sporting their own hair color so you could tell them apart. The blonde was Ace Morgan, “war hero and fearless jet pilot.” Prof. Hale was the brunette and a “master skin-diver”. Redhead Red Ryan was a “circus daredevil,” and black-haired Rocky Davis was an “Olympic wrestling champion.”

I had originally planned for each of the Challengers to have their own card but I just couldn’t bear to devote 4 cards to those boring purple outfits. Now I’ve got three cards up for grabs. If you have any ideas of characters to propose for these cards let me know. Remember, they have to be found in DC Comics from 1957-1967 to fit my guidelines.

Illustrating one playing card a day using characters found between 1957-1967 in DC Comics. Monday: Wonder Woman!

Comic Cards Project: Day 19 • Mera

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I guess we’ll probably never know why Aquaman’s wife Mera only went by her given name and not something a little flashier like Aqua Lady. She was queen of an underwater world in another dimension but married Aquaman and became queen of Atlantis. Shortly after the wedding they had a baby, making Aquaman the first superhero to have a family.

They were a modern couple, often going on missions together, with Aquaman more or less treating Mera as an equal. Although she couldn’t talk to fish like her husband, she had the unique ability to transform water into solid objects. It wasn’t unusual to see her saving Aquaman with one hand while holding Aquababy in the other. She was definitely the first “working mom” in superhero comics.

Illustrating one playing card a day using characters found between 1957-1967 in DC Comics. Tomorrow: Ace Morgan of the Challengers of the Unknown.

Comic Cards Project: Day 18 • Negative Man

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Negative Man was one of the founding members of the whacky group The Doom Patrol, along with Elasti-Girl, Robotman, and The Chief. An exposure to radioactivity gave him the power to release an “energy being” from his body which could fly and exert super strength among other things.

The energy being was represented as a silhouette surrounded by an electric field and caused Negative Man to collapse when it left him. Although leaving him weak and defenseless, the energy being was still under Negative Man’s control and had to return to him within 60 seconds or he would die. How’s that for a convoluted super power?

Negative Man had to wear specially-treated bandages over his entire body to protect others from his radioactivity. No wonder, like the other members of the Doom Patrol, Negative Man saw his super power as less of a blessing than a curse.

Illustrating one playing card a day using characters found between 1957-1967 in DC Comics. Tomorrow: Aquaman’s wife, Mera!

Comic Cards Project: Day 17 • Jimmy Olsen

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Believe it for not Jimmy Olsen starred in his own comic book for 20 years. That’s quite a run for someone who’s only claim to fame was being Superman’s pal. If you ask me, though, Superman could have made better friend choices.

Superman could have been buddies with anyone in the world so it always baffled me why he would settle for someone who was perpetually showing huge errors in judgment, always trying to trick him into revealing his secret identity, and often seemed to be on the verge of being mentally challenged.

In a time famous for oddball stories Jimmy’s were some of the oddest. He was the object of many bizarre transformations such as giant turtle-man, human porcupine, and werewolf to name a few. I bet Superman was hoping someday he would transform into a competent adult.

Illustrating one playing card a day using characters found between 1957-1967 in DC Comics. Tomorrow: Negative Man of the Doom Patrol!

Comic Cards Project: Day 16 • Green Lantern

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Green Lantern was the next character to get a reboot in the 60s following the success of the Flash. As Hal Jordan, he was a test pilot who’s boss was also his girlfriend, a somewhat progressive arrangement for the time. His young Inuit co-worker (with the un-PC nickname “Pieface”) served as a non-costumed sidekick who also knew Hal’s secret identity.

Green Lantern’s power ring enabled him to fly or do just about anything really but was useless against anything yellow. Weird, huh? I’ll never figure out why his enemies didn’t all just wear yellow. Is it me? Maybe it’s hard to look sinister dressed in lemon.

Illustrating one playing card a day using characters found between 1957-1967 in DC Comics. Tomorrow: Superman’s Pal, Jimmy Olsen!

Comic Cards Project: Day 15 • Plastic Man

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I originally encountered Plastic Man when he appeared as the first guest-star on the Saturday morning cartoon Super Friends. “What?!? You mean there are more heroes besides Batman and Robin, Superman, Wonder Woman, and Aquaman?” I remember thinking he was pretty cool and wishing I could see more of him.

Actually, it would be indecent to see much more of him—that’s an awfully skimpy outfit especially by male hero standards. Sure it’s weird, but it’s also eye-catching and memorable, an example of brilliant character design. As a result, Plas hasn’t changed at all since his introduction in the 40s when his adventures were written and drawn by creator Jack Cole.

Today, many consider Cole’s goofy and surreal stories to be masterpieces of comic art. At the very least, they make it obvious why Plastic Man was a logical choice for an animated adaptation .

Illustrating one playing card a day using characters found between 1957-1967 in DC Comics. Monday: It’s Green Lantern!

Comic Cards Project: Day 14 • Platinum

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Platinum is the only “female” among the six heroic robots known as The Metal Men and the only one with a crush on their inventor, Dr. Will Magnus. Despite his protests that it was impossible, Platinum insisted she was in love with the Doc, making herself a nuisance and complicating his attempts at romance with “real” women.

But these problems were at least partially of his own making. Platinum alone received a human nickname (Tina) and Magnus was extremely overprotective and condescending to her—just the way most of the men of his era behaved when dealing with the opposite sex. Just goes to show that even brilliant scientists aren’t always all that smart.

Illustrating one playing card a day using characters found between 1957-1967 in DC Comics. Tomorrow: Plastic Man!

Comic Cards Project: Day 13 • Doc Magnus

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Scientific genius and inventor Dr. Will Magnus created a team of kooky robots known as The Metal Men. Each of the six robots’ abilities and distinct personalities reflected the properties of their namesake metallic element. Gold, Iron, Mercury, Lead, Tin, and Platinum constantly aggravated Doc Magnus with their displays of emotion, a result, he claimed, of the faulty “responsometers” he had installed in them. But no matter how many times the Metal Men were destroyed and rebuilt in the course of their adventures, their human traits (and Doc’s annoyance) never diminished.

Illustrating one playing card a day using characters found between 1957-1967 in DC Comics. Tomorrow: The robot with a crush on Doc Magnus—Platinum!

Comic Cards Project: Day 12 • Beast Boy

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Beast Boy was a teenaged orphan who could change himself into any animal. His court-appointed guardian embezzled money from his estate and plotted to kill him but was thwarted by The Doom Patrol—a small group of oddball heroes. He became a junior member of the team and was eventually adopted by Elasti-Girl and her husband, Mento. He was kind of cute, too, with his green hair and skin and rebellious attitude. He would make an adorable combination boyfriend and pet.

Illustrating one playing card a day using characters found between 1957-1967 in DC Comics. Tomorrow: Doc Magnus!

Comic Cards Project: Day 11 • Green Arrow

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Green Arrow was in many ways a copycat of Batman. Batman was a millionaire playboy. Green Arrow was a millionaire playboy. Robin was Batman’s adopted sidekick. Speedy was Green Arrow’s. Batman had the Bat-Cave, Bat-Mobile, Bat-Plane, and Bat-Signal. Green Arrow had “Arrow” counterparts for each. Even his signature trick arrows were a mimic of all the gadgets in Batman’s utility belt.

Despite his unoriginality, Green Arrow was one of the handful of characters published uninterrupted from the 40s to the 60s. Though he was smart to take his cues from one of the best, he never quite copied Batman’s success.

Illustrating one playing card a day using characters found between 1957-1967 in DC Comics. Tomorrow: Beast Boy!