Noteworthy Issues: DC Challenge #5 (March, 1986)

So, last time in this bonkers series, there were aliens getting ready to execute some alien heroes while Jimmy Olsen and some really obscure nonpowered characters ended up in a limbo dimension with only Deadman for protection.  This is a series where Aquaman bit into a vulture’s neck to use its blood to give him the needed water to stay alive in the middle of a desert.  It doesn’t have to make sense.

Issue:  DC Challenge #5, March 1986

Writer:  Mike W. Barr

Artists:  Dave Gibbons and Mark Farmer

The Plot:  Heroes punch bad aliens.

Commentary:  OK, as a reminder, this was a mini-series where each issue would have a new creative team, no teams would consult each other, and any DC character was up for grabs except ones the issue’s creative team already wrote for regularly unless someone else already introduced the character.

So, what happens here?  Well, since aliens are invading Earth (and demons are invading Rann), a whole lot of heroes show up to beat up bad guys.  Dr. Fate!  Captain Marvel AKA Shazam!  Peter Canon, the Thunderbolt!  The Blackhawks!  Captain Comet!  Adam Strange!  Uncle Sam!  J’emm, Son of Saturn, saves the other alien heroes from the trap holding them!  There’s, like, weeks worth of Misplaced Characters articles right there.

And…yeah, that’s about all this issue is.  Lesser-known DC heroes show up to punch aliens.  There’s a plan there, and the multiverse is still a thing, so Dr. Fate has to retrieve (and repower) Captain Marvel from Earth-S to start things off.  He and Marvel meet one nasty customer on the last page while Captain Comet and Adam Strange meet another, and the issue is the usual sort of batspit insane that is this series.  Are there answers here?  How the hell should I know?

Grade:  B