Champions (2016 team)
The Champions are a team of teenage superheroes appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The team first appears in Champions #1 (October 2016) and was created by writer Mark Waid and artist Humberto Ramos.
Champions | |
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Cover of Champions Vol. 2 #1 (October 2016) Art by Humberto Ramos | |
Group publication information | |
Publisher | Marvel Comics |
First appearance | Champions Vol. 2 #1 (October 2016) |
Created by | Mark Waid Humberto Ramos |
In-story information | |
Type of organization | Superheroes |
Base(s) | Champions Mobile Bunker, 616 Hickory Branch Lane, Cherrydale, Arlington, Virginia.
formerly Olympus Group Secret HQ ATX001, Texas. |
Leader(s) | Ms. Marvel formerly Viv Vision |
Roster | |
See: List of Champions members | |
Champions | |
Series publication information | |
Format | Ongoing series |
Publication date | (Volume 2) October 2016 - December 2018 (Volume 3) January 2019 - October 2019 (Volume 4) April 2020 - present |
Number of issues | (Volume 2): 27 (Volume 3): 10 |
Creator(s) | Mark Waid Humberto Ramos |
Publication History
In July 2016, Marvel announced the debut of the Champions, a team of teenage superheroes who became disillusioned with their predecessors and split off from the Avengers following the events of Civil War II. The team was created by writer Mark Waid and artist Humberto Ramos.[1][2] Executive Editor Tom Brevoort stated that the purpose of the team is to "reclaim and redefine in a classic sense what being a superhero should mean. Rather than seeing the previous generation as these icons that came before them, now they've interacted with them on a one-to-one basis and learned they aren't better or worse than anybody else."[3] Brevoort explained that the characters chose the name Champions to distance themselves from the Avengers and wanted something decidedly upbeat..[4] Brevoort also revealed that he had a list of several other names in case the trademark dispute with Heroic Publishing, who owned the name, fell through.[3]
The first issue of the series was published on October 5, 2016. It sold 328,000 copies and was the second most sold book that month.[5][6] It has been well received by critics and fans alike with an average score of 7.9 and 7.5 respectively on Comicbook Roundup.[7]
The series was relaunched in January 2019 under a new creative team with Jim Zub as writer and Steven Cummings as artist,[8] and ended in October 2019 with issue #10.[9] This series is focused on the core trio of Miles Morales, Sam Alexander, and Kamala Khan, who had started operating globally along with the expanded lineup.[10]
The series was scheduled for another relaunch in April 2020 with writer Eve L. Ewing and artist Simone Di Meo following Outlawed event,[11] but was disrupted due to COVID-19 pandemic.[12]
Fictional Team Biography
Origin
The Champions were formed following the departure of Ms. Marvel (Kamala Khan), Spider Man (Miles Morales) and Nova (Sam Alexander) from the Avengers, when they became disillusioned by the behaviour of their elders, specially in regards to the second superhuman Civil War II. The young heroes desired to rectify the state of distrust by the people towards superheroes in general, and soon recruited other teenagers with similar ideals, the new Hulk (Amadeus Cho), and Viv Vision, daughter of the Vision.[13]
After their first joint mission rescuing a group of girls being trafficked by Pagliacci, the young heroes revealed themselves to the public and Ms. Marvel proclaimed the team's mission to foster a better tomorrow through hope and wisdom rather than unjust force. Her speech became viral on the Internet, and the team was dubbed the "Champions" in social media. One of the superhero encouraged by Ms. Marvel's speech was the time-displaced Cyclops (Scott Summers), who was admitted into the Champions' ranks after requesting membership.[14]
Early Missions
In their further early adventures, the Champions traveled to Sharzhad and helped a young girl named Amal stop militant fundamentalists from enforcing a gender apartheid.[15] They were confronted by an Atlantean colony while cruising over their waters.[16] Champions were joined by Gwenpool in fighting the xenophobic head of Daly County's police, Sheriff Studdard.[17]
During Monsters Unleashed storyline, the Champions crossed paths with the Freelancers, a group of teenage mercenaries, who were at the time working for Roxxon to silence protesters. The Freelancers' employers would make efforts to discredit the Champions, framing the young heroes for attacking homeless people, and later trademarking the Champions' logo. The Champions managed to clean the name, and Nova started a countermovement to reject the Champions-branded merchandise.[18][19] [20]
Secret Empire
When Hydra assumed control of the United States of America in the Secret Empire storyline, the Champions responded to Iron Man's distress call to protect Washington, D.C. alongside other American superheroes,[21] all of whom were soundly defeated when Captain America wielded Mjolnir. The Champions retreated, ultimately regrouping at Olympus Group Secret HQ ATX001 after becoming separated from Ms. Marvel, who worked with the Secret Warriors to fight off Inhuman internment camps;[22] [23] and Scott was displaced to New Tian with America's mutants; [24] and Nova was trapped beyond the Planetary Defense Shield in Earth Orbit.[25]
Hulk, Viv, and Spider-Man eventually joined the Underground where they associated with Ironheart (Riri Williams), Wasp (Nadia van Dyne), Falcon (Joaquin Torres), and Patriot (Rayshaun Lucas)[26]
After Hydra leveled Las Vegas, Black Widow set out to assassinate Captain America. Spider-Man joined her, having decided to stop running away from his supposed destiny to kill Captain America, as prophesied by the Inhuman precog Ulysses Cain. The remaining Champions, alongside Falcon, Wasp and Ironheart followed him to offer their support, thus joining Black Widow's Red Room[27] and got training from Black Widow. The teenagers were eventually captured by Hydra after Widow's assassination attempt failed and resulted in her death. Spider-Man almost killed Captain America, but Wasp convinced him not to, since they had learned Black Widow tried to kill Rogers herself to prevent Miles from becoming a killer. The teenagers were subsequently arrested.[28]
When a contingent of America's remaining superheroes launched a desperate attack on Hydra, Hydra allies Taskmaster and Black Ant decided to switch sides in light of Hydra's eventual defeat, and freed the teenagers from their cell to be in the heroes' good graces. The Champions were reunited during the final battle,[29] which saw the return of the real Captain America and fall of Hydra.[30]
Post-Secret Empire
A short time following Hydra's fall, the Champions saw themselves forced into an uneasy alliance with the Avengers[31][32] to stop the High Evolutionary from causing a collision between the Earth and his Counter-Earth. After being turned into an ordinary human by the High Evolutionary [33][34] Viv became trapped in another plane of existence while operating a device to foil the villain's plans. The Vision built a Viv 2.0 to cope with Viv's apparent death before Viv found her way home.[35]
Taking into account Viv's feelings, the Champions refrained from welcoming Viv's twin into the team. Viv rejoined the Champions' rank after her twin sister went haywire and she was forced to kill her in self-defense. The Vision and Wasp managed to repair the body, and since they couldn't bring back her mind, Viv transferred his consciousness to the synthetic body as a way to both regain her powers and ensure her sister lived on through herself.[36]
Following Viv's return to the team, Cyclops saw himself forced to leave the Champions due to a call to arms from his fellow time-displaced X-Men.[37]
After joining the ranks of the Champions full-time, Ironheart and the Wasp helped Amadeus Cho create the Champions Mobile Bunker (C.M.B.), a new moving headquarters. Each of the Champions had a private room in the bunker, with the exception of Spider-Man and Nova.
During an investigation in Nunavut, Canada,[38] the Champions stumbled into the machinations of Master of the World,[39] and uncovered his capture of a local teenager named Amka Aliyak, who is bestowed shapeshifting powers after becoming infused with the Inua spirit Sila, from whom Master of the World was leeching off energy for his machinery. Amka escaped from Master of the World's captivity and joined forced with the Champions and Alpha Flight to defeated Master of the World. She later joined the Champions as Snowguard.[40]
Infinity Countdown
Later, Champions, gained knowledge of an assault on the Nova Corps. Discovering it was the Chitauri Empire, led by Warbringer, Nova's old foe, they took the Bunker into space, where they found that the Warbringer's goal was to attack Thanos, Nova eventually realized that Thanos' army never moved, not even to defend themselves, and the team knocked out Warbringer, leaving his Chitauri without a leader, subsequently stopping the massacre.
Thanos then annexed Warbringer's army into his own, and thanked the Champions for the show. Furious, Ironheart ignored the others, and charged at him, before being caught by the throat, and her armor was swiftly destroyed. Thanos let her be, and the team took Warbringer back to the Nova Corps; however, Commander Scott Adsit took Sam's helmet, as he was not officially recognized as a Nova, then teleported the team back to Earth, much to Sam's horror.[41]
During this period, Amadeus had a new form after his recent antics,[42] and had now renamed himself "Brawn." Riri, after her run in with Thanos, revealed her Mk 3 Armor, with a new design and color scheme; however, now depowered, Sam couldn't feel anything but rage at everything and is depressed.
While helping a Tanzanian village suffering of water poisoning, the Champions discovered the Man-Thing inhabiting their swamp. The creature instinctively opened the portal, sending Sam and the Wasp to the otherwordly Weirdworld.[43] The two were later tracked down by the Master of the World, who had been keeping an eye on the Champions since his defeat in Canada. He found Sam and Wasp amnesiac and mutated by Weirdworld's magic.[44] He took them under his wing to use their new powers to conquer land.[45]
When the rest of the Champions travelled to Weirdworld with the help of Inua spirit Sila. The Champions were scattered and transformed, though only Ironheart retained the memories of her past life due to her traumatic experience when fighting Thanos, and managed to reunite the team. [46] Champions again defeated Master of the World and returned to their home. [47]
Operating Globablly
Champions started operating globally after giving full membership to Falcon, Patriot, The Locust (Fernanda Rodriguez), Bombshell (Lana Baumgartner), Pinpoint (Qureshi Gupta) and Power Man (Victor Alvarez).[48]
When the Champions were fighting Zzzax, Ms. Marvel and Viv Vision were killed in the process. Mephisto arrived and offered to rewind back time in to save their teammates. Miles accepted Mephisto's offer, and the demon reversed time resurrecting their dead teammates but unwittingly allowing a girl he saved previously die. This led to Spider-Man quitting the team.[49]
Sam also left the team to retrieve his helmet with his nemesis, Kaldera, who desired true fight with him as Nova.[50] While Brawn and the Wasp started working simultaneously with Agents of Atlas[51] and G.I.R.L.[52] respectively.
During The War of the Realms, the Champions fought with Rock Trolls in Australia. Meanwhile Power Man and Pinpoint meet Cyclops who later took charge in leading the Champions against the Rock Trolls. Cyclops revealed Ms. Marvel that his younger self's memories are merged with his own and gave her the inspiration to control of the team. Ms. Marvel asked Dust (Sooraya Qadir), who had allied herself with the Champions to join them after Cyclops vouched for her.[53][54]
Meanwhile Sam and Kaldera found Commander Scott Adsit and learned the helmet had been stolen by the Thieves Guild of New York and returned to Earth. Sam managed to find helmet and rejoined Champions as Nova before imprisoning Kaldera to Nova Corps.[55]
Being held by Mephisto, Blackheart became privy to his father's latest scheme and begun corrupting members of the Champions, starting with Ironheart, who had been pushing away Viv due to the synthezoid apparently having feelings for her.[56] Spider-Man was rejoined the team to help his friends. He, along with Ms. Marvel, also revealed their identities to Nova in order to free him from Blackheart's corruption. Blackheart, tried to use the deal that Miles made with Mephisto but Riri snapped out of his control due to Viv's affection. The Champions freed their teammates united to defeat Blackheart, who was taken down by his father since he ruined his plans.[57]
Outlawed
Team Roster
- Bold indicates current member
Founders
All of these members helped to form the team in Champions Vol. 2 #1 after becoming disillusioned with their predecessors and split off from the Avengers following the events of Civil War II.
Character | Real name | Joined in | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
Ms. Marvel | Kamala Khan | Champions vol. 2 #1 (October 2016) | Team leader. |
Nova | Sam Alexander | Lost his Nova power in Infinity Countdown: Champions #2. Temporarily left the team in Champions vol. 3 #4 and return as Nova in Champions vol. 3 #8. | |
Spider-Man | Miles Morales | Left in Champions vol. 3 #4 and rejoined in Champions vol. 3 #10. | |
Brawn | Amadeus Cho | Formerly known as Hulk. Takes up the name of Brawn in Champions vol. 2 #22. Currently working simultaneously with Agents of Atlas. | |
Viv Vision | Daughter of Vision. Co-existing with Viv 2.0. Temporary leader of the team. | ||
Cyclops | Scott Summers | Champions vol. 2 #2 (November 2016) | Displaced teenage version. Left the team in Champions vol. 2 #18 for a big X-Men mission. |
Post-Secret Empire Recruits
Character | Real name | Joined in | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
Ironheart | Riri Williams | Secret Empire: Uprising #1 (June 2017) | Associate during the Secret Empire event. Officially joined the team in Champions #19. Temporarily left the team in Champions vol. 3 #1 and rejoined in Champions vol. 3 #10. |
Wasp | Nadia van Dyne | Associate during the Secret Empire event. Officially joined the team in Champions vol. 2 #19. Currently working simultaneously with G.I.R.L. | |
Snowguard | Amka Aliyak | Champions vol. 2 #21 (June 2018) | From Nunavut, Canada. |
2019 Recruits
Character | Real name | Joined in | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
Falcon | Joaquin Torres | Champions vol. 3 #1 (January 2019) | Associate during the Secret Empire event. Officially joined the team in Champions vol. 3 #1 |
Patriot | Rayshaun Lucas | ||
The Locust | Fernanda Rodriguez | Formerly Associate. Officially joined the team in Champions vol. 3 #1. | |
Bombshell | Lana Baumgartner | ||
Pinpoint | Qureshi Gupta | From New Delhi, India. | |
Power Man | Victor Alvarez | ||
Dust | Sooraya Qadir | Champions vol. 3 #5 (May 2019) | Associated with the team in Champions vol. 3 #3 and #4, before officially joining the team in #5. |
Reserve Members/Associates
These are either associates or reserves (Champions Reinforcement) of the team.
Character | Real name | Joined in | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
Gwenpool | Gwen Poole | Champions vol. 2 #4 (January, 2017) | Associate during Champions vol. 2 #4-5 |
Champions Reinforcement Roster | |||
Cloud 9 | Abigail Boylen | Champions vol. 3 #1 (January 2019) | |
Honey Badger | Gabrielle Kinney | ||
Moon Girl | Lunella Lafayette | ||
Prodigy | David Alleyne | ||
Red Dagger | Kareem | ||
Silk | Cindy Moon | ||
Hummingbird | Aracely Penalba | Champions vol. 3 #6 (June 2019) | Associate during the War of the Realms |
Collected Editions
Volume 2
# | Title | Material collected | Pages | Publication Date | ISBN |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Change the World | Champions #1-5 | 136 | May 16, 2017 | 978-1302906184 |
2 | The Freelancer Lifestyle | Champions #6-12 | December 26, 2017 | 978-1302906191 | |
3 | Avengers & Champions: Worlds Collide | Champions #13-15 Avengers #672-674 | 144 | February 20, 2018 | 978-1302906139 |
4 | Champion for a Day | Champions #16-18, #1.MU | 112 | August 21, 2018 | 978-1302906207 |
5 | Northern Lights | Champions #19-21, Infinity Countdown: Champions #1-2 | November 20, 2018 | 978-1302909826 | |
6 | Weird War One | Champions #22-27 | 176 | January 29, 2019 | 978-1302915056 |
Volume 3
# | Title | Material collected | Pages | Publication Date | ISBN |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Beat the Devil | Champions #1-6 | 112 | August 20, 2019 | 978-1302916718 |
2 | Give and Take | Champions #7-10 and Nova (2015) #1 | December 17, 2019 | 978-1302916725 |
In Other Media
A Champions table was released as part of the "Women of Power" DLC pack for Zen Pinball 2 and Pinball FX2.[58]
The Champions appear in Lego Marvel Super Heroes 2.
The Champions have their own small box expansion for Marvel Legendary deck-building game. It features Viv Vision, Totally Awesome Hulk, Nova, Ms. Marvel, and Gwenpool as playable characters.
The Champions appear in Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order, consisting of Miles Morales, Ms. Marvel, and Spider-Gwen.
References
- "Marvel NOW! Hear This: Champions". Marvel.com. July 5, 2016. Retrieved September 28, 2016.
- Holub, Christian (July 5, 2016). "Marvel's young superheroes channel their activist sides in new series Champions". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved July 5, 2016.
- Schedeen, Jesse (September 6, 2016). "6 Things We Learned About Marvel's New Champions Comic". IGN. Retrieved July 29, 2016.
- McMillan, Graeme (July 5, 2016). "Marvel Skews Young With New 'Champions' Comic Book Series". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved July 29, 2016.
- "Actual October Sales: Champions #1 and the Loot Crate effect". The Beat. 2016-11-14. Retrieved 2017-08-20.
- "Marvel Are CHAMPIONS Again on October 2016 Comic Book Sales Charts". Newsarama. Retrieved 2017-08-20.
- "Champions Reviews". ComicBookRoundup.com. Retrieved 2017-08-20.
- Marston, George (2018-10-06). "CHAMPIONS Relaunching in 2019 as 'Legion of Superheroes for MARVEL'". Newsarama. Retrieved 2019-08-03.
- Nolan, L.D. (2019-07-28). "Marvel Comics Ends Champions with #10". Comic Book Resources. Retrieved 2019-08-03.
- Champions vol. 3 #1-10. Marvel Comics.
- https://www.newsarama.com/48559-champions-are-fugitives-in-post-outlawed-relaunch.html
- "Largest US comics distributor won't ship new books 'until further notice' due to coronavirus". Polygon. March 23, 2020. Retrieved April 14, 2020.
- Champions Vol. 2 #1. Marvel Comics.
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- Champions Vol. 2 #4. Marvel Comics.
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- Champions Vol. 2 #1.MU. Marvel Comics.
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- Champions Vol. 2 #10. Marvel Comics.
- Secret Warriors Vol. 2 #1. Marvel Comics.
- X-Men: Blue Vol. 1 #7. Marvel Comics.
- Secret Empire Vol. 1 #3. Marvel Comics.
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- Secret Empire Vol. 1 #7. Marvel Comics.
- Secret Empire Vol. 1 #9. Marvel Comics.
- Secret Empire Vol. 1 #10. Marvel Comics.
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- Avengers Vol. 1 #673. Marvel Comics.
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- Champions Vol. 2 #18. Marvel Comics.
- Champions Vol. 2 #19. Marvel Comics.
- Champions Vol. 2 #19. Marvel Comics.
- Champions Vol. 2 #21. Marvel Comics.
- Infinity Countdown: Champions Vol. 1 #1-2. Marvel Comics.
- Incredible Hulk Vol. 1 #717. Marvel Comics.
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- Champions Vol. 2 #26. Marvel Comics.
- Champions Vol. 2 #27. Marvel Comics.
- Champions Vol. 2 #25-27. Marvel Comics.
- Champions Vol. 2 27. Marvel Comics.
- Champions Vol. 3 #1. Marvel Comics.
- Champions vol. 3 #2. Marvel Comics.
- Champions vol. 3 #4. Marvel Comics.
- Agents of Atlas Vol. 3 #1. Marvel Comics
- Unstoppable Wasp vol. 1 #2. Marvel Comics.
- Champions Vol. 3 #4. Marvel Comics.
- Champions Vol. 3 #5. Marvel Comics.
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- Infinity Countdown: Champions #2. Marvel Comics.
- Champions Vol. 3 #8-10. Marvel Comics.
- "Marvel's Women of Power Pinball Pack Hits Zen's Pinball Platforms Today". Gamasutra. September 27, 2016. Retrieved September 28, 2016.
External links
- Official website
- Champions at Marvel Wiki