New Challengers #5 Review

Writers: Scott Snyder, Aaron Gillespie/ Artists: V Ken Marion, Sandu Florea, Dinei Ribeiro / DC Comics Five issues into the New Challengers and I think it’s about time we all accepted this book for what it is – balls to the wall, sci-fi adventure with absolutely no limits. Fighting zombies in scuba gear under the sea. Yes. Ripping a raptor’s head in two on the way up a prehistoric mountain. Yup. Fighting on the top of a semi-dead god’s head hurdling into space. Hell yeah. Scott Synder, you crazy for this one. This issue tells the tale of two professors … or another two professors. After the revelation of our other dimensional professor, the spotlight gets turned on him and what happened to his universe’s Challengers of the Unknown. Meanwhile, our New Challengers, who are probably just as confused as we are, look to find the truth behind the craziness of their new lives.

New Challengers is definitely a book you have to read over again just to get everything that is happening. That is both a criticism and a compliment. Everything happens really fast and it can be hard to keep up sometimes, especially when the setting and situations change so frequently. However, it’s those constant changes and the breakneck pace that the book moves in that make is such an enjoyable read. I only worry that Synder is throwing so much at us at once, making it hard for readers to understand the plot. The build-up of each character in the first four issues works in the books favor. By this point, i…