Favourite comics: Challengers of the Unknown #82: Mike Nasser, Joe Rubinstein, Gerry Conway

One of my favourite comics from the mid/late 1970s was DC's revamp of the Challengers of the Unknown which featured art by then comic book newcomers Keith Giffen, Jim Sherman, Mike Nasser ( Netzer) , and Joe Rubinstein. Nasser only drew 2 issues (82 & 83) before taking a break from regular comic work, but his two Challengers issues contained some of his best art and one of his best covers.

The cover blurb was a bit misleading in noting that it featured the Swamp Thing as the character only appeared in a flashback sequence. However, it did feature a single panel inked by Swamp Things co-creator Bernie Wrightson ( below), which at the time I found fascinating.

Mike Nasser (later changing his name to Netzer) left regular comics work in late 1977 and moved to Israel. In 1991 he began working with Neal Adams Continuity Comics which would later result in Netzer taking legal action against Adams over the intellectual property rights of Ms Mystic , a character created in 1977. The lawsuit was dismissed in 1995.