Challengers of the Unknown Week: The Challengers

Like the sands through an hourglass, so are the days of our lives. Or so the old saying goes. However, these twin teams today made the hourglass... crusading on borrowed time...their team's themes.

For the Challengers of the Unknown from Earth-One, this team was composed of genius underwater expert Prof Haley, mountain climbing daredevil Red Ryan, ex-boxing champion Rocky Davis, former test pilot Ace Morgan, and scientist June Robbins. June was added after the four guys first met while the sole survivors of a plane crash. Believing they live on borrowed time, they pool their resources to found this adventure team to aid humanity. These troubleshooters would face all manners of threats, both normal and super powered, yet despite personal tragedies from time to time they always would regroup eventually. One unnatural element they would encounter is "liquid light" created by their arch enemy Multi-Man, which could imbue one with superhuman abilities for limited periods of time.

Meanwhile, in the golden age there was the team known as the Minute Men of America. A team of teens who sought the help of their hero and role model, Hourman, they had several adventures alongside the caped crusader. Hourman was chemist Rex Tyler, who discovered the Miraclo vitamin which gave him a superhuman physique for one hour each time. As Hourman, Tyler was a charter member of the Justice Society of America, and later joined the Freedom Fighters and All-Star Squadron. He would early in his costumed career recruit lads just as Jimmy Martin, Thorndyke Tompkins, and Les Watts. Also, Les' best friend and fellow radio operator Joe Magee would've been a distant Minute Man.

Each team faced various criminal scientists and world endangering scenarios. Professor Haley had himself experienced both professional successes and personal failure from scientific discoveries he had made and was effect by throughout the years. As the more stoic and thoughtful of the Challengers, his measured leadership was typically what brought about success in his team's endeavors.

The Challengers fought numerous threats to humanity including the League of Challenger-Haters which included Multi-Man and frequent foes Drabny, Kra, Volcano Man and the robotic Multi-Woman. On each occasion despite seemingly being overpowered, the Challengers always defeated these villains and incarcerated them within their Challenger Mountain.

The leader of the Minute-Men, Jimmy Martin, was the cosmic twin of Red Ryan, both young men fearless in their fortitude and inspirations to others around them. Each had brothers, with Red's aiding the Challengers on numerous adventures while Jimmy's brother sadly passed away.

Another Minute Man, Thorndyke Tompkins aka "Second Sweep" who, like his counterpart Rocky Davis, was a muscular bruiser who led with his fists. Aided by the Miraclo in his system, Thorndyke would have been more than a match for Rocky albeit only for limited periods of time.

Then there was the remote Minute Man, Les "Sparks" Watts who was a radio amateur on the western side of the United States opposite where Hourman and most of the Minute Men lived. Although aiding them on occasion, Les mostly had his own adventures stretching from his hometown of Willowpoint to remote locations such as Alaska and Guyana. Like his counterpart Ace Morgan, Les Watts was able to traverse large distances around the globe thanks to his expert piloting skills. Les' pal Joe Magee and Red's brother Tino Manarry also aided the Challengers and Minute-Men from behind the scenes.

The Challengers made names for themselves both on their own cases and teamed up with other heroes of Earth-One such as the Sea Devils, Doom Patrol, Batman and Superman... among others. In fact, they were among the assembled heroes during the initial debut of the Justice League of America, when that team and they faced an invasion from Mars.

As for Hourman, his membership with the Society and Squadron was concurrent with his stewardship of the Minute-Men. Aside from Jimmy, these lads were plain clothed and didn't adopt a similar uniform to that of their mentor while engaged in their adventures. But the Minute-Men were every bit the hero in their own individual way as was their mentor

On one occasion, during the first meeting of the Justice Society, Rex recalled when he encountered a gang of crooks wearing uniforms identical to his caped costume. This "Hourman Gang" was short-lived, and a although they were all grown men, they were far less manly then the Minute-Men boys.

Alongside Regina Bannerman, who like Corinna Stark, was both an eyewitness and ally during several of her boyfriend's tales, Tyler as Hourman was able to defeat a cadre of criminals during the early part of the 1940s. Eventually, Les Sparks and the other members of the Minute-Men disbanded, leaving Jimmy to adopt the guise of "Minute Man" Martin as Hourman's sidekick. When the lad left town with his mom, it fell to the last Minute-Men, Thorndyke "Second Sweep" Tompkins to carry on the tradition until just prior to Rex retiring from superheroics for the next fifteen years.

While possessing brilliant minds which their teammates relied on, Haley and Tyler had personal demons they had to battle from within. Prof was mentally manipulated by an alien entity, which briefly turned him against his fellow Challengers. Hourman succumbed to Miraclo addiction with adverse physical side effects, causing him to briefly retire both his costume and his stewardship of the Minute-Men until he invented his black ray which stabilized Miraclo in his body.

Years later, Rex would see his son Rick succeed him as Hourman, while the other Minute-Men eventually retired. Other Challengers such as Red's little brother and Corrine as well as their future children would have careers mirroring those of the other Minute-Men of Rex Tyler, Jimmy Martin, Thorndyke Tomkins and Les "Sparks" Watts and their other young companions during the golden age of superheroes.