In 1945, a short-run comic book called The Challenger hit newsstands — created by an interfaith coalition of artists, clergy, and educators. One of its lead illustrators, E.C. Stoner, was among the first Black comic book artists in America.Their mission was simple:
“To fight prejudice, discrimination, and all other forms of fascism in North America.”Only four issues were printed. But the idea stuck.The Challenger Club picks up that thread — not as a political movement, not as nostalgia, but as a cultural pulse. A grassroots signal. A quiet, underground resistance to tyranny, fear, and extremism — wherever they show up.

This isn’t about slogans or spectacle. It’s about conviction. For now, it’s restoration work. It’s reclaiming what mattered, and using it.Every shirt, patch, and print helps fund the project — scanning, cleaning, and restoring this forgotten work for a free digital archive. No big operation. Just an honest way to keep the lights on.

PRESERVE THE ORIGINALS

We’re actively sourcing and restoring high-res scans of all four Challenger issues. Each one will be made available to read online for free - Print is down the road.

Grow the Club

As we stabilize the foundation, we’ll expand into essays, contributor projects, interviews, and eventually social policy, advocacy, and organizing.

Start a Fire, Not a Brand

This isn’t about nostalgia. It’s about tapping into a shared legacy of standing up to tyranny in all forms — and using that to challenge the culture, not retreat from it.

We’re building something here — a small, steady coalition of people who believe that courage doesn’t have to be loud, and that resistance doesn’t have to be performative.

ISSUE NO. 1 (1945)The first issue of The Challenger came out swinging — featuring early work by E.C. Stoner, one of the first Black artists in American comics. It opens with Rev. Ben Fighter of Fascism, a story as bold as its title, followed by war-era stories that punch hard at bigotry and dehumanization. We’re actively sourcing high-resolution scans of this issue and will update the archive as we restore and clean each page.

ISSUE NO. 2 (1945–46)
Early artwork by a young Joe Kubert is believed to appear here, alongside more stories aimed at undermining fascist ideology and humanizing the “enemy.” Copies do appear frequently at auction — and we’re currently tracking down a readable scan to share with readers, historians, and anyone hungry to see what resistance looked like in four-color print.

ISSUE NO. 3 (Summer 1946)By Issue No. 3, the mission of The Challenger was printed loud and clear: to challenge race prejudice, discrimination, and “all other forms of fascism in North America.” With 68 pages of illustrated features, biographies, and call-to-action essays, this was the high point of the series — and the clearest articulation of its cultural vision. This one’s been sourced and will be made fully readable in our gallery soon.

ISSUE NO. 4 (Fall 1946)The final issue of The Challenger closed the series with the same force it started — a defiant note against hate, issued just as postwar America was shifting into a new, more complicated era. Details on contributors are still being compiled, more to come.