An Obscure DC Villain Could Save the Entire Multiverse

[[{“value”:”

A long-lost villain might just be the answer to the DC Universe’s Darkseid problem.

Challengers of the Unknown #2 takes readers back to the not-so-distant past, charting the story of June Robbins’ greatest creation — Ultivac. Tragically, this living machine became obsessed with death as the one true absolute in the universe, and as such, the Challengers of the Unknown were forced to destroy it. As it turns out, however, Ultivac is far from gone. All it takes is one startling encounter with June and Batman for the situation to shift drastically, making it perfectly clear that Ultivac has even taken on a whole new mission. This time, Ultivac is working to stave off the death and destruction it used to see as inevitable, and finding Darkseid is the first step towards doing just that.

Written by CHRISTOPHER CANTWELL

Art by JORGE FORNÉS, SEAN IZAAKSE, and AMANCAY NAHUELPAN

Colors by ROMULO FAJARDO JR. and MATT HERMS

Letters by HASSAN OTSMANE-ELHAOU

Main cover art by SEAN IZAAKSE & ROMULO FAJARDO JR.

Variant cover art by TRAVIS MERCER & MATT HERMS

The Challengers of the Unknown are a classic DC superteam, with their first appearance taking place all the way back in 1957’s Showcase #6 by Dave Wood and Jack Kirby. Originally brought together by chance for an appearance on a hit radio show, the core lineup of Red Ryan, Prof Haley, Rocky Davis, and Ace Morgan became a proper team after their plane went down in an unexpected storm. This adventure kicked off a decades-long career of such exploits, with the Challengers roster only expanding as time went on.

Both the genius inventor June Robbins and the towering, artificially intelligent Ultivac were introduced just one issue after the Challengers themselves. In its initial incarnation, Ultivac almost immediately turned against its creators, building an army of robots of its own to lead into battle against humankind. Fortunately, Ultivac formed a profound attachment to June, which gave the Challengers the chance to both talk the mechanized menace down and deal a devastating blow that took it out of the fight. This was far from the end for Ultivac, though the character still only made a handful of appearances throughout the course of its comic book career.

The Challengers of the Unknown have come into prominence once more in recent months, specifically to investigate the various Darkseid Anomalies that have cropped up all over the globe in the wake of Darkseid’s apparent destruction. After forcefully merging with the Spectre, Darkseid launched an all-out assault on the Justice League Unlimited’s Watchtower. Though Darkseid was seemingly destroyed by Superman, the villain’s consciousness ended up transporting to and bonding with the very fabric of the reality now known as the Absolute Universe. For whatever reason, this also led to the emergence of strange, glassy artifacts on Earth, which have since come to be known as Darkseid Anomalies.

Challengers of the Unknown #2 is on sale now from DC Comics.

Source: DC Comics

“}]] One of the DC Universe’s most obscure villains might just hold the key to solving the Justice League’s mysterious new Darkseid problem.  Read More