Champions #10 review: Derailed by Secret Empire
By Alex Widen
The Secret Empire has spread across the Marvel Universe! Can the Champions make it through unscathed?
Champions #10
Writer: Mark Waid
Artist: Humberto Ramos
Colorist: Edgar Delgado
Inker: Victor Olazaba
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A crossover in a shared comic book universe can feel like an unwelcome and selfish friend. They come over, hog everything, and insist it all has to be centered on what they need. Obligatory tie-in issues of ongoing series see their main sagas derailed for months at a time. This can mean becoming a cog in a larger machine or riding out the wave. While Mark Waid struggles valiantly to pull off that hang ten with Champions, his landing with this issue is a little rougher than usual.
Image by Marvel Comics
As a result of a climatic battle in Washington D.C., Hydra has taken control of North America. They were led by Captain America, whose entire reality has been rewritten by a Cosmic Cube that was rigged by Red Skull. It sounds even more absurd if you actually read it. The Champions were present for this climatic battle, as shown in May’s Free Comic Book Day issue. They haven’t been the same since, consequently split apart just like much of the country has been by a fascist Cap.
If a Month Ends in a Letter, It’s a Crossover Month at Marvel!
In the main Secret Empire series, most of the Champions are being led by Black Widow. As a further showcase of Nick Spencer’s fondness for making every character morally reprehensible, Natasha’s restarted her own version of the “Red Room” to turn all the kids into killers. Fortunately, there is none of that here. Instead Mark Waid does his best to tell a story within the main crossover while still having it feel genuine for his cast and their usual motivations of social justice.
Image by Marvel Comics
Furthermore, Waid uses the crossover to better propel a story regarding internment camps. They’re an unfortunate part of America’s history, as roughly 120,000 Japanese-Americans were imprisoned from 1942–1946 as part of post Pearl Harbor hysteria. Demagogues have spoken of sending Muslims there frequently since 9/11. Waid touches on this issue by using one of the Marvel Universe’s science fiction stand-ins for minority groups — the Inhumans.
Image by Marvel Comics
Ever since Disney purchased Marvel in 2009 and took full control of Marvel Studios shortly after, there has been corporate saber rattling with Fox. Since Fox owns the film rights to the X-Men, neither they nor the term “mutant” can appear in any of the Disney-produced superhero films. This has led to Marvel Entertainment CEO Ike Perlmutter seeking to enhance the role of the Inhumans to fill this gap. He believes they are interchangeable. They aren’t, but Waid makes a valiant go of it.
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The Champions Come Face to Face with Ugly American History!
While the X-Men and the mutants have been shuffled off to their own “separate but equal” country by HYDRA, Inhumans have been rounded up en masse. Because this was already showcased in Secret Empire, Waid has an opportunity to take this to a logical and more disturbing conclusion. Since two of the Champions are a mutant and an Inhuman, this directly affects the team on a personal level, and adds to their current state of disarray. They have been split apart.
Image by Marvel Comics
Nova has been trapped outside of Earth’s atmosphere alongside Captain Marvel and most of the “space heroes.” In addition, Cyclops has been exiled to the sale distant lands as the rest of the X-Men. This leaves only Ms. Marvel unaccounted for to the rest of the team. Spider-Man (Miles Morales) is desperate to save his friend. Yet all he seems to get are dead ends from the two geniuses of the team — Amadeus Cho (Hulk) and Viv Vision. The trio vow to do all they can.
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As a result of Viv’s latest scan of the Internet, she learns of the existence of an Inhumans internment camp in New Mexico. Unfortunately, it’s a camp Cho knows all too well, since he helped SHIELD build it! Originally intended to contain Bruce Banner, it’s a fake city run and guarded by disturbingly friendly robots. Hydra has taken control of it and used it to imprison the Inhumans. Since Kamala Khan is herself an Inhuman, it seems like a logical assumption to make.
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Seems like This Camp Offers More Than Marshmallows!
Camp Echo-1 seems like a friendly enough place. All the Inhumans have their own comfortable homes and even a friendly mailman. They’re even allowed to garden! Yet all is not well in an internment camp. Two young Inhumans plan an escape, and quickly realize that the friendly robots are not so friendly after all. With heavily fortified walls and an armada of robots protecting them, it seems like a challenge to break in or out. But the genius Amadeus Cho only needs twelve seconds.
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Due to Amadeus’ smarts and clever use of their powers, the Champions manage to breach the camp fairly easily. Yet they quickly see that their situation is quickly larger than they expected. Seeking to find Ms. Marvel as soon as possible, they quickly find hundreds of Inhumans interned there. Their breach of the camp quickly sows chaos. Some of the Inhumns think they’re working for Hydra, others fight among themselves. But is Kamala Khan really imprisoned somewhere in the camp?
Image by Marvel Comics
While Mark Waid engages in a noble effort to claim others, the answer is no. All Spider-Man finds is another Muslim American teenage girl named Kamala who is dressed as Ms. Marvel. Now, to be fair, “Kamala” is a fairly common name for Hindu and Middle Eastern families. Since Ms. Marvel is easily the most well known Middle Eastern heroine out there, it makes sense for someone else to assume her costume. Yet all of this is really just for some crude misdirection.
Image by Marvel Comics
Miles Morales Finally Has Something to Do!
The real meat of the issue is seeing the Champions handle another situation with no easy answers. As Mrs. Dawood notes, the Inhumans there have few options. Those who escape would be fugitives, hunted and possibly killed. Those who remain are well cared for, but could suffer the wrath of angry Hydra soldiers due to any escapees. Furthermore, the Champions’ breach hasn’t gone unnoticed, and they have 24 minutes to figure out what to do before a raid overtakes them!
Image by Marvel Comics
The most positive angle is that Miles Morales gets the most to do in this issue. In most others, Miles seems like a straight man compared to many of the others. With the cast reduced to three, Miles is finally able to stand out. He’s less able to accept moral ambiguity or an unwinnable situation than Viv or Cho. Without Ms. Marvel there, Miles serves as the moral center of the team. He literally screams at one point demanding that they figure out how to score a “win.”
Image by Marvel Comics
The angle with the other Kamala is cute, but almost sickeningly so. It reminds me of 1967’s Amazing Spider-Man #50 when Peter Parker quits, only tomeet an old man who looks like his uncle Ben. As convenient as that is, this goes even beyond that. This kid has not only Kamala’s costume, but her name, and is set up to mislead the reader into thinking that Khan is there. Miles does bond with the kid, yet it feels like too blunt an attempt for a feel good moment.
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Making the Best of an Editorial Edict!
In addition, while the finale is intended as a half measure compromise, it falls apart from analysis. The incoming guards don’t even look like Hydra agents, who should have distinctive uniforms. Maybe this script was already half written or partly drawn when the crossover hit? Furthermore, considering they fight superheroes all the time, would they so easily dismiss a camp which seemed to vanish without a trace even for five minutes? Especially if led by Captain America?
Image by Marvel Comics
Humberto Ramos continues on his yeoman efforts on this title, which is his tenth straight issue. In an era where it seems like only Mark Bagley can maintain that sort of pace, it’s good to see a title maintain its main artist for so long. As usual, Ramos excels more with stranger looking character models like Hulk and the various Inhumans than baseline humans. At times, some of his anatomy and proportions are awkward, even for his style. Yet the colors pop and there is always emotion.
Next: Check out the time Viv met the Red Locust from #9!
In conclusion, Mark Waid manages to prevent Secret Empire from derailing his overall message. However, it still derails his overall arc on the series. It has forced him to split up his cast and deal with a fascist Hydra world for several issues. Many crossovers are timed to boost sales for involved titles, but this strategy has failed to work well for years now. In fact, fans of the book could bolt due to confusion or inconvenience. While hardly a bad issue, this installment is not its best either.