DC Teases New Version of a Fan-Favorite Team

It sounds like DC's relaunch of The Outsiders will reintroduce a fan-favorite team. As part of DC's December 2023 solicitations, which were unveiled on Friday, the first details were revealed around The Outsiders #2 from Collin Kelly and Jackson Lanzing with art from Robert Carey. The synopsis for the issue teases that Kate Kane / Batwoman and Luke Fox will encounter the "New Challengers of the Unknown", who have become "the monster-hunting specialists of the DC Universe." There's no telling at this point which characters will make up this incarnation of the Challengers, but fans will certainly be excited to see the team exist once again.

OUTSIDERS #2

• Written by JACKSON LANZING and COLLIN KELLY
• Art by ROBERT CAREY
• Cover by ROGER CRUZ
• Variant cover by DAVID MARQUEZ
• 1:25 variant cover by SERG ACUÑA
• $4.99 US | 32 pages | Variant $5.99 US (card stock)
• ON SALE 12/12/23
• "Monsters of the Unknown."
• What hidden tragedies lie inside the Forever Storm of the Enlil Triangle?
• On January 1, 2000, a storm kicked up near the Enlil island chain in the mid-Atlantic. And it never stopped. As a West Point cadet, Kate Kane encountered something monstrous in those turbulent waves…and now, she is returning to face it alongside the Outsiders! But can she control her desire for revenge in the service of Luke Fox's mission of understanding? What secrets will they discover deep beneath the monster-filled waves of the Enlil Triangle? And how will the Outsiders survive their encounter with the monster-hunting specialists of the DC Universe: the New Challengers of the Unknown? This new, boundary-breaking dive into the secret history of the DC Universe is just beginning!

Who Are DC's Challengers of the Unknown?

Created by Jack Kirby (as well as possibly Dave Wood or Joe Simon), the Challengers of the Unknown debuted in the pages of DC's Showcase in 1957. The team of adventurers consisted of Kyle "Ace" Morgan, Matthew "Red" Ryan, Leslie "Rocky" Davis, Walter Mark "Prof" Haley, and later June Robbins, all of whom are inspired to go on larger-than-life adventures after a near-death plane crash makes them realize they are living on "borrowed time." The group faced many unconventional threats over the years, all while dealing with the allure of celebrity.

The Challengers of the Unknown were subsequently revived over the years, both in their own title and in DC anthology books, with the most recent incarnation of the team being relaunched as New Challengers in May of 2018. The team also became the subject of a joke in 2018's Teen Titans Go! To the Movies, even appearing in the film's post-credits scene.

What Is The Outsiders About?

The Outsiders will be led by Kate and Luke, both of whom become disillusioned with crimefighting in Gotham in the aftermath of the forthcoming Batman/Catwoman: The Gotham War event. The duo will leave Gotham, and begin operating as "super-archeologists" who look into the history of the DC Universe.

"DC has had so many crisises, but that is universes that have fallen apart," Kelly said during the panel. "But what could have survived? What could have fallen in the cracks?" 

What do you think of The Outsiders introducing the New Challengers of the Unknown? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!