Champions #1 Review: Some New Warriors For The 21st Century

A group of dissatisfied teenage Marvel heroes have taken on the mantle of the Champions. Will they have better luck than the last two versions of the team?

Champions #1

Writer: Mark Waid

Artist: Humberto Ramos

Inker: Victor Olazaba

Colorist: Edgar Delgado

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A team name can say a lot about the motives of those organizing it. It can also be a method of trademark enforcement. This may explain why the debut of a new team of teenage superheroes from Marvel has this name instead of any others. From the attitudes of the involved characters to their whirlwind popularity due to catching the attention of modern media, they’re the second coming of the New Warriors.

The parallels are striking. Both squads involve teenage superheroes who were dissatisfied by their treatment by the Avengers. The presence of the media is instrumental in both of their founding. In 1990, TV news gave the New Warriors their name. In 2016, the Champions owe it all to Twitter. Both teams have an incarnation of Nova on their rosters, as well as a cast who represent different power-sets. This series spirals the events of Civil War II and All-New, All Different Avengers.

Image by Marvel Comics

Yet another public war among superheroes has taken a toll in unexpected ways. Iron Man’s latest incarnation of Avengers lost two of their youngest members after the brawling ended. As this issue begins, Kamala Khan (their staunchest member) throws in the towel after a fight with the Wrecking Crew. Add in her recent struggles with her mentor in her own book, and Ms. Marvel is dissatisfied with what she sees as adult superheroes having no regard to civilians beyond rescues.

Call Them The “Ex-Avengers”!

Image by Marvel Comics

Kamala is still friends with Nova (Sam Washington) and Spider-Man (Miles Morales). When she arranges a meeting with them, they think she’s there to try to pitch the Avengers to them again. At least for the moment, Kamala’s character development is holding, and she’s growing up. Rallying them to work for something better, the rest of the comic involves the youths finding other like minds and getting them to join their new crew.

Image by Marvel Comics

By virtue of a random guest appearance in Totally Awesome Hulk at the start of the year, Miles recommends Amadeus Cho. The Hulk’s latest teen sidekick now has all of the gamma power (and rage burden) himself. They turn up in Kentucky where the Hulk is trying to rescue some trapped miners after a cave in. Through a mixture of brains and brawn, they prevail and capture the attention of a news camera crew. Is this yet another nod to the New Warriors?

Image by Marvel Comics

Amadeus not only brings great intelligence and brawn, but his own contact. Through the magic of online gaming, he knows Vision’s daughter, Viv. Considering all of the dark events going on in The Vision right now, she’s as thrilled as a robot can be for company. Her mom just ate her dog, and her uncle killed her brother, after all. Viv’s ability to instantly be connected with the entire internet at all times (like most teenagers) allows them to pick up on a crisis and react immediately.

Image by Marvel Comics

This Is One Clown It’s Okay to Hate!

Most superhero teams tend to be founded by a “rallying incident”, usually an opponent they all turn up to pummel. For the Avengers, it was Loki. For the Justice League, it was Starro. And for the New Warriors, it was Terrax. For these new Champions, it’s Pagliacci, a minor villain who led a gang of assassins in 2011’s Power Man and Iron Fist mini series. He’s graduated to trafficking women for sexual slavery in shipping containers, and the Champions show up to save them.

Image by Marvel Comics

Pagliacci may be no match for the combined efforts of the team, but he makes up for it in viciousness. As the heroes focus on saving his victims from drowning, Pagliacci tries to take a bystander hostage. When Viv finds that one of his victims died during her captivity (hours before they arrived), the Hulk and the crowd calls for Pagliacci’s death. Kamala ends up giving a speech about forging a new destiny free of abusing power inappropriately, and it goes viral worldwide.

Image by Marvel Comics

Two teams have used the name Champions before. The first was in 1975 and it was comprised of Iceman, Angel, Hercules, Black Widow, and Ghost Rider. Their series ended in 1978, and in 1987, Marvel lost the trademark to the name to Hero Games, which had used it for a tabletop RPG. The second team were in fact the Great Lakes Avengers, who won the “right” to use that name by winning a poker tournament in 2008. Marvel likely want to keep the trademark fresh this time.

They Are the Champions of the World!

Humberto Ramos brings all of his artistic flair from Amazing Spider-Man to his work here. His style is one of exaggerated poses and minimal anatomy, and always has been. It isn’t a style for everyone, especially those who prefer more classic comic illustration akin to Sal Buscema. He works best with inhuman figures like the Hulk and Viv, and Pagliacci never looked creepier (or more like the Joker). The action sequences all have a lot of pop and energy to them, too.

Image by Marvel Comics

Mark Waid writes a better debut issue for this series than he did for All-New All Different Avengers. That intro stretched a basic story into about four issues. This over sized issue delivers the entire premise and continues on Kamala’s development. Wanting to be like her favorite superheroes helped her become Ms. Marvel, but being her own hero will make her better. The rest of the cast are all used swimmingly too. Only the time-flung teen Cyclops failed to show, for now.

Next: See how Kamala's journey began in Ms. Marvel #11!

Marvel Comics have always had teams full of teenage superheroes, much as DC has. The X-Men started out as that before New Mutants and Generation X followed suit. Besides the New Warriors, there have been several incarnations of Young Avengers and even the Young Allies. Champions #1 represents a new era for Marvel’s teen heroes, one in which they draw a harder line in the sand against their mentors. It is long overdue, and should make for some great reading.