CHALLENGERS OF THE UNKNOWN #69-74: The brief, exciting life of Miss Corinna Stark

 

"NOW do you admit I can take Wonder Woman's place?" asks a female voice on the cover of JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #75. The image is dominated by her fishnetted legs as at her feet lie the battered and bruised figures of Batman, Superman, The Atom and Green Arrow. The impression given is that this super-charged lady has dealt out a pasting to the assembled JLA (of course nothing of the sort happens in the story). In the storyline leading to this issue Black Canary of the JSA finds a reason to leave her own dimension and take up residence in another (although I understand this didn't turn out to be exactly the case in a bit of retconning many years later, but this is the story as told in 1969/1970). The afore-mentioned Wonder Woman was undergoing an experimental new look, a la Emma Peel (of UK TV series THE AVENGERS).

Only a couple or so months earlier something fairly similar had taken place in another DC title. A highly skilled woman had joined a long-standing team of superheroes, her introduction heralded by a cover showcasing her femininity while the male heroes appear to be powerless and belittled-- CHALLENGERS OF THE UNKNOWN. Until a few weeks ago I had never heard of this title. My researches hace revealed to me that the characters have been revived several times over the decades that followed, but I approached the original series knowing absolutely nothing about them. Having found out that Denny O'Neill was writer on the series at the dawn of the Bronze Age, I sought out the issues corresponding to that period. 

"This is the END of the Challengers!" wails one of the four guys clad in red and yellow superhero suits on the front cover of #69. Three of them are standing in what appears to be a dungeon while the fourth lies lifeless at their feet. A giant shadow of a woman looms over them. "Wrong!" she is saying, "I'm your new Challenger!" The shadow suggests menace, since it dominates the image as would the later depiction of Black Canary on the cover of JLA #75. And just as the later image made clear this was a woman towering over the weakened men by focusing on her legs, the shadow on COW #69 is  undoubtedly female with its flowing long hair, long-nailed fingers, and the unmistakable outline of a breast, the peak of which just happens to be at the dead centre of the picture.

The Challengers are rather a surly bunch of male specimens, all short-haircuts and bull-necks. I can't say I feel especially inclined to seek out their previous adventures. They spend a lot of time arguing and grappling with each other in a sort-of laddish locker-room manner with obvious homoerotic overtones. And their yellow matching outfits do tend to make them look a decade out of date. In the previous issue, one of their number, The Prof, has his mind taken over by a malignant force which prompts him to try killing the others.

And so just before the end of the issue a woman suddenly appears, introducing herself as Corinna Stark, daughter of the story's baddie. Artist Jack Sparling accentuates her femininity from the outset, dressing her in a figure-hugging catsuit such as the aforementioned Mrs Peel might wear, a metallic belt slung diagonally across her curvaceous hips in a way that instantly recalls Cat-Woman as performed by Julie Newmar in the BATMAN TV series. 

She immediately reveals herself to be in opposition to her crazed father, helps defeat him and takes charge when Prof is shot in the skirmish, putting his body in suspended animation to prevent him dying. 

The final page is the real turning point for this team. One of the Challengers, Rocky removes his shirt and tears it apart, so grief-stricken is he. He is effectively declaring the super-team to be finished. 

But Corinna comforts him and encourages him not to give in to his anguish. And then out of the blue she announces her intention of joining the team in Prof's place. 

And so, in an alternative comics history, a title which has possibly just about past its sell-by date, is revitalised. The introduction of Corinna Stark gives it a whole new lease of life through a female character who is as assertive and calm as she is modern, cool and sexy. The team is given a new dynamic as an on/off love-story develops between Corinna and Ace. And to add a bit of extra tension there's the infatuation with Corinna that Rocky experiences, perpetually thwarted in his attempts to get her to notice him as something more than just a big dependable lunk. 

And the series goes from strength to strength and Corinna Stark becomes one of comicdom's great female characters. Well, that's what happens in the alternative universe at least. In our reality things are slightly different. All of the above does actually happen in the subsequent issues, all apart from the series' continued success and Corinna Stark's indisputed place in the DC pantheon alongside Black Canary and Wonder Woman.

The series was assigned a new artist, George Tuska, within a few issues, much heralded in the editorial page of #72. And, for reasons I am not yet aware of, Tuska seems only to have completed two stories before the title was taken over by reprints from its early years, then abruptly cancelled. In short, the introduction of Corinna Stark coincided with the death gasps of CHALLENGERS OF THE UNKNOWN vol 1, despite the big plans for her future that the creative team clearly had at the time.

Corinna's first action as a Challenger is to kit the others out in completely different outfits. The wording on Neal Adams' cover of #70 directly refers to this, suggesting she has designed the costumes herself. The influence of THE AVENGERS is obvious, Adams depicts Corinna standing prominently in a power-pose dressed in what looks unmistakably to be a Mrs Peel catsuit complete with stripes on its arms and legs. 

The men are dressed the same, and  in the story itself we learn that these are special suits she gives them to protect against the extreme weather conditions outside.

Already one of the team is suspicious of Corinna. The cover has already revealed to us that Red will question her loyalties this issue and from the outset of the story itself he does not take well to her assuming their fallen comrade's place, let alone changing their image. 

His contemptuous mistrusting tone continues throughout the issue, but Corinna is presented as being more emotionally mature than he is, responding to his comments more with kindness and understanding. In fact, as well as being adept at conflict management, with each passing issue Corinna reveals or develops seemingly new abilities and skills -- telepathy, hypnotism, spirit mediumship, seamstress-- the list goes on.  Her auto-didactic accomplishments ensure that whatever problem the Challengers encounter, she can conveniently and calmly provide the solution.

Red's antagonism continues into the next issue, Red making insensitive comments about Corinna's dead father, prompting Rocky to stick up for her. But Miss Stark reveals herself to be made of stronger stuff than these outdated men might assume. She responds by stating coldly that she is not offended and that he is "probably better off dead". She is drawn prominently in the frame, the implication being that she is firmly pushing these guys into the background. 

In fact artist Jack Sparling presents Corinna as if in a leadership role from the start, drawing her climbing out of the frame on the first page while her male companions follow uncertainly behind. It's a bold statement-- Just a couple of issues previously the character didn't exist. Now she's taking charge. 

Matters come to a head when Red loses sight of his only good eye. "Let me guide you," Corinna says to him. His answer is marked by resentment.

Red asserts that he doesn't like Corinna and seethes with self-pity now that his eyesight is gone. But rather than abandon him, she shows a compassionate nature, telling him he is "too fine... too strong" to give up. 

Of course by the end of the issue the couple are kissing, as the poor dejected Rocky looks on jealous that he is unlikely to find himself in such an embrace with the object of his infatuation. 'A new beginning for The Challengers!' promises the caption closing the story, the message being that Corinna Stark is here to stay.

The following issue, #72, again places Corinna front and centre in another Neal Adams piece, the design of which presents each of the Challengers diminishing in size as the perspective pushes them deeper and deeper into the background. 

Artists this time are Dick Dillin and Frank Giacoia and despite the fact they are no longer facing unfavourable weather conditions, the team retain the Emma Peel inspired outfits. Well, the men are-- Corrina is depicted throughout the issue wearing very different clothes, a modish polo-necked outfit with a beaded necklace. Again she shows her compassionate side, worrying about Red and at the hospital and suggesting they visit Prof before they leave.

And her value to the team as a woman is revealed too, in some fashion-- when the story's antagonist uses an 'alchemical mist' to fool the men into mistaking him for a glamorous woman, Corinna is unaffected and has to set them straight that what they saw was no "beautiful southern belle". 

By the end of the story Corinna is now flirting with Ace, watched sadly be a dejected Rocky. Red grudgingly admits Corinna "didn't do bad-- for a girl" the poor guy still holding a torch for Prof. And so Corinna seems to be fitting comfortably into the role of so many women in comics, to be smart and strong and good in a fight, but also to be eye candy for the other characters, and many of their readers too.

The letters in #72 suggest that such readers' initial response to the character was to question her validity in the role of a potential Challenger, by #73 the editorial comment describes her as being a popular addition to the team with readers, declaring: 'seems everybody's glad to have a groovy chick like her aboard.' Whether or not Corinna will continue as a member of the team is not officially confirmed at this point.

The cover of that issue, this time by artist Nicholas Peter Cardy, suggests very much she is here to stay, as once again Corinna is the focus of the image. The team seem to be in the midst of a seance, a ghostly shape manifesting behind them. Corinna looks to be in a medium's trance as she speaks directly to the spirit, ordering it to stay away. Yet again she is being presented as an assertive dominant character, while the males are shown to be passive and far less prominent within the frame.

Art this issue is by George Tuska, his work described as 'wonderfully weird' in the editor's note back in #72. I am not very familiar with Tuska's other work, but based on the evidence of this issue I am not sure I completely agree with that description. His artwork is competent, to be sure, with clean lines very different to some of the artists in the preceding issues. But I have seen many artists over the years - Bernie Wrightson, Charles Burns, Robert Crumb, Kevin O'Neill, Brendan McCarthy, Jamie Hewlett, Mike McMahon, Simon Bisley - whose work I would without hesitation consider 'wonderfully weird', but the artwork in CHALLENGERS OF THE UNKNOWN #73 I would not describe in such a way. And that is in no way a criticism of it, it's unquestionably fine work and the confidently delicate hatching in, for instance, the panels showing Corinna at the seance remind me very much of later artists like Brian Bolland.

I very much like the way Tuska depicts Corinna at the start, robed now in a stylish spotted dress,a vision of calm striking a pose, in contrast with Red's angry snarling visage.

Tuska ensures that she also looks rather fetching later in her official Challengers catsuit.

And in a snazzy spacesuit.

In fact, Tuska seems the ideal artist for Corinna, the cleanness of his lines starkly contrasting with the scratchy portrayals offered by her originator, Jack Sparling, he captures her grace as well as her strength, and it's a shame his work on this character was so short-lived.

Red's dissatisfaction with Miss Stark is sharpened in this issue by the resurrection of Prof. He openly expresses his contempt for her like a spoilt, petulant child. Her sideways glance out of frame to the reader is magnificent. You can read her thoughts in a way that I doubt her previous artists would been so successful in conveying. And you really feel like it's only a matter of time before loudmouth Red gets what's coming to him.

And so we move to #74 and the last appearance of Corinna Stark before the reprint issues. This is an issue featuring Deadman, and art duties are shared by Tuska with Neal Adams. Tuska's artwork seems a little looser this issue, perhaps because of the macabre narrative involving a little girl's soul trapped in a miniature coffin by a malicious ghost. There are wraiths and a hanged man and a hunchback servant at a spooky mansion. And Corinna remains in the foreground, Tuska clearly enjoying presenting her in ever-changing outfits and hairstyles.

One panel stands out for me though amidst all the fireworks, a relatively simple portrait of Corrina's face as she and the others drive to the mansion at night. Her eyes are wide and staring into emptiness and her face is lit only by pale moonlight. It's utterly chilling.

The story closes with pages drawn by Adams, meaning that he is the last artist to depict the character of Corinna Stark in her original Challengers role. It's a small contribution to her brief span in this comic's pages, but the artist of course captures her allure, drawing her in the short cropped bob as illustrated by George Tuska in this his second and final issue of the title. 

As stated earlier the title was taken up with Jack Kirby reprints for the next few issues before being put on hiatus. While trying to avoid spoilers myself I am aware that the title was revived in the early 90's, and I have already gathered that Miss Stark has a role to play in that revisionist 8-issue mini-series. The short period in which the character appeared in the original series must surely be seen as an interesting experiment, an attempt to bring the series kicking and screaming into the new age, with its new costumes and new team-member and new regular artist. But, as is so often the case in these matters, it was an experiment that did not succeed. And I feel a bit sad about that.

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