Challengers of the Unknown Part I

The Challengers of the Unknown were the first of five non-superhero teams that DC Comics created between January 1957 and September 1960. All premiered in either Showcase or The Brave and the Bold.

Challengers of the Unknown - Showcase 6 January-February 1957
Rip Hunter, Time Master - Showcase 20 May-June 1959
Suicide Squad - The Brave and the Bold 25 August-September 1959
Sea Devils - Showcase 27 July-August 1960
Cave Carson Adventures Inside Earth - The Brave and the Bold 31 August-September 1960.

Three teams were successful enough to have their own books - COTU, Rip Hunter and Sea Devils. COTU lasted longest and has been reprinted in DC Archives (first 12 books) and DC Showcase Presents (first 41 books). But reprints before these collections were few and far between.

Two examples are stories from COTU 12 (Feb-Mar 1960) and 14 (Jun-Jul 1960), reprinted in The Brave and the Bold 115 (Oct-Nov 1974) and The Brave and the Bold 113 (Jun-Jul 1974) respectively. The earliest reprint of COTU is Secret Origins Giant 1 (1960) which reprinted the origin from Showcase 6. But only the first of four chapters. The cover below is from COTU Archives Volume 1 (DC Comics, 2003).