Champions (comics)
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- For other uses, see Champion (disambiguation).
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The Champions were a short-lived Marvel Comics superhero team, which first appeared in Champions #1 (October, 1975).
The team’s full title is the Champions of Los Angeles and is noteworthy as Marvel's first team to be based on the West Coast; most of Marvel’s heroes are based in the company’s home of New York City.
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[edit] Publication/fictional history
Originally, writer Tony Isabella wanted The Champions to be a two-man group consisting of former X-Men, Angel and Iceman, but editor Len Wein insisted the team contain at least five members and Isabella added several previously-established heroes: Russian spy Black Widow (who serves as the team’s leader), the Greek god Hercules and the supernatural avenger Ghost Rider. Another Russian hero, Darkstar, joins after participating in an attempt to kidnap the Black Widow.
Had the series continued, the team reportedly was to expand to include Black Goliath and Jack of Hearts.
The Champions lasted only seventeen issues, despite art from future superstar John Byrne. The group appears also in Super Villain Team-Up #16, Ghost Rider (vol. 2) #17, Godzilla (vol.1) #3, Iron Man Annual #4, Avengers (vol. 1) #163 and Hulk Annual #7 (1978). The story of its dissolution was told in flashback in two early issues of Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man which pitted Spidey, Angel, and Iceman against Champions villain Rampage.
In Uncanny X-Men #332 (1996), Iceman calls the team an embarrassment and remarks, “Do you know how hard it is to find supervillains in Los Angeles?”. The Champions are also referred to in New Avengers #4 (2005), where they are cited as an embarrassment when Spider-Man stating that he would refuse to join the Champions, although the offer is not actually made (instead, Captain America explains that he holds a Champions-license with S.H.I.E.L.D., meaning that he can assemble any team of heroes to his own parameters).
In Marvel Team-Up (vol 3) #12, Spider-Man refers to the hastily assembled superteam as "the Avengers, or the Champions, or whatever we are", to which Ms. Marvel quickly replies "We are not the Champions."
The group briefly reunited in 1998’s X-Force/Champions Annual '98, teaming-up with Marvel's then-current West Coast team. They have not appeared again since in present continuity.
Giant-Size Hulk #1 (2006) includes a flashback (slightly retconned to make it seem like the events took place during Clinton's rather than Carter's era) to an earlier time in which the Champions fight the Hulk, a battle that almost costs the life of Jennifer Walters (who later becomes the heroine She-Hulk), who the Hulk was trying to transport to a hospital. Learning of their mistake the Champions express remorse, but the Hulk wants nothing of it. Hercules later expresses a need for a time in which they can make amends.
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[edit] Membership
| Character | Alter ego | Joined in |
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| Black Widow | Natalia Alianovna Romanova | Champions #1 |
| Hercules | Heracles | Champions #1 |
| Angel | Warren Kenneth Worthington III | Champions #1 |
| Iceman | Robert "Bobby" Louis Drake | Champions #1 |
| Ghost Rider | Johnny Blaze | Champions #1 |
| Darkstar | Laynia Sergeievna Petrovna | Champions #11 |
[edit] Collections
The Champions was not reprinted as a collection until 2006.
- Champions Classic vol. 1. (collecting The Champions #1-11, 1975-1977, paperback, ISBN 0-7851-2097-1): "Okay, a god, a demon, a spy and two mutants walk into... resulting in some of the strangest scenarios of the '70s! It's gods vs. heroes in the City of Angels! With mad scientists, Russian super-spies, and guest stars from Marvel's western and horror eras! Plus: the secrets of the Black Widow! Featuring Hawkeye!"
The remaining six issues are not currently available as a collected edition.
[edit] Other "Champions" teams
- Nova once teamed up with Powerhouse and a few other heroes to form the Champions of Xandar.
- Heroic Publishing has another, different superteam, currently known as The League of Champions.
- Champions (role-playing game) includes a similarly-named team.
- Recently, the Great Lakes Avengers have taken the moniker of Great Lakes Champions (despite protests from Hercules) after Flatman won the first Superheroes Poker Tournament (as seen in The Thing #8), as the original name (as well as Great Lakes X-Men and Great Lakes Defenders) being refused to them by those groups' members.
