Sometimes a team is made because what else are you going to do now that you’ve worked together once before? Might as well stick together and become stronger than the sum of their parts. The Champions have been different people realizing this at different times. So who are the Champions and what’s this about different times? Let’s find out!
Similarly to the Avengers, the Champions began when Black Widow, Hercules, Ghost Rider, Angel and Iceman would team up to fight the Roman god, Pluto, sometimes you just have to take down a villainous god. When all was said and done, they decided to stay together and work in California as the first West coast team of heroes. Often getting into spats with each other as they do villains.
While they would game some additional members, the team felt uncomfortable with each other over time. They wouldn’t last and even found their time as a team to be embarrassing. The team has been recently overshadowed by the new team that were given this name by the public. The new team has no ties to the original, people just seem to like the name.
The Champions of recent years are teen heroes, disillusioned with their time in the Avengers, they decided to start a new team that wanted to focus on the issues they found important. Ms. Marvel, Spider-Man, and Nova would gather with Viv Vision, Brawn (Amadeus Cho), and the time-tossed Cyclops to help the world they saw hurting.
Soon, the team were making waves with their aide to youths in trouble across the planet. Social media caught on to their efforts and dubbed them the Champions, the name stuck. More teen heroes were either learning of the teams work or being helped by them directly and wishing to join them, the team was growing day by day. Ms. Marvel was now leading multiple teams from all over the planet.
Staying their own entity, they did find it awkward to work with the Avengers when that team’s decisions are what lead to the creation of the Champions to begin with. They were still able to work together when Hydra took over the United States, despite the Champions being torn apart due to all the chaos that ensued. It would be former original Champions leader, Black Widow who would help the new Champions find and reunite with one another to fight back against Hydra and save the day.
The team is still a haven for teen heroes seeking to help one another and the people of the world. Trying their best to make sure heroes in masks and costumes are still seen as someone worth hoping for. That the world can still be saved if everyone pitches in as best they can however they can.
There you have it! The Champions have been several teams, even a brief government funded team for California. While many members of the older team have been on the big and small screen, so many of the newer Champions are so fresh-faced, they haven’t had as many chances to be on either. Hopefully they will become more prominent as time goes on. See you next time!
Suggested Reading
The Champions Vol. 1-3
Dr. Bustos
drbustos@comicattack.net
