DC Universe Presents (2011-2013) Vol. 1: featuring Deadman & Challengers of the Unknown

I live the idea of this series, short cameos for more minor characters in the DC Universe without having to build big arcs. The format certain works here. The 1st half of the book is Deadmans aka Boston Brand and explores his 'mission' in the DCU. It works well and the art is good. I'm not sure I'd buy into an new ongoing Deadman series but it helps flesh out a character thats popped up in Swampthing and Justice League Dark, worth buying for this story alone.The 2nd part of the book is where things fall down. The Challengers of the Unkown is a story of reality TV stars who get involved in a real mystical event that ties into the rest of the DCU. But.... it's just not engaging or interesting for me. The characters are pretty thin and I never really cared much for what happened to them.Deadman gets a 4 maybe 4.5, Challengers of the unknown a 2 at best.It's still worth it for the Deadman story though.

Really wanted to keep reading this, shame it was cancelledI know he is in the JLA Dark but I loved these kinda stories, they could have ventured into the dead realms of so many cultures, so why was it cancelledLoved the Son of Morning scene

I bought this because I'm reading Justice League Dark and Deadman is my absolute favourite character in that. But I had never even heard of him before so when I saw this origin/background story about him I was so excited. It didn't exactly live up to my expectations but was an ok story. The art was great though and looking at all the great illustrations of Deadman kept me reading. (3/5)The second part of this book is about the "Challengers of the Unknown" whom I've never heard of and wasn't really keen on reading but since it was included here, went ahead anyway. And I ended up enjoying way more than the Deadman story! Even though the basis sounded cheesy with the TV Reality Show set-up it ended up being a really good space quest adventure. The team travels around trying to find seven medallions, it turns out they've been "chosen" for this task. Several members get killed during the task and the story ends "For Now..." but I can't find that the characters have been picked up anywhere in the 'verse since. (4/5)

Like others have said on Amazon.com, the Deadman story is excellent, well worth your time if you've got some to spare; the other half a the book though... just, don't. The Challengers of the Unknown is hoe-hum at best, and reading it after the awesome Deadman book makes it even worse. It's just not very good.So, get it for Deadman (and just ignore the other one).