Champions Appreciation 2020

[Digifiend]

Robbie won't be joining the Champions in the near future, because he's an Avenger. It's not a downgrade to go to the Champs though - there's already been six ex-Avengers on the team (Ms. Marvel, Spider-Man, Nova and Wasp from Waid's Avengers, Amadeus Cho from Dark Reign era Mighty Avengers, and Power Man from Al Ewing's Mighty and New Avengers), and when Aaron's run ends and the new roster inevitably doesn't include him, he could come over then, or join the Young Avengers if that team gets revived. It'll be a year or two before Aaron's Avengers ends though.

The team's already crowded anyway. Between Zub's Champions #10 and Outlawed #1, three members apparently left (they weren't in Outlawed) - Amadeus (moved to Agents of Atlas), Dust (went back to the X-Men), and Patriot (they stopped pushing him because Marvel Rising has ended and they can use the previous Patriot again). That still leaves 12 members, though most of them are currently dispersed. Current status:

Ms. Marvel - incapacitated but will be back before Champions #1
Spider-Man - active
Nova - active
Viv Vision - incapacitated
Ironheart - inactive (confirmed by her Iron Man 2020 tie-in, which should've been released after Champions #2)
Wasp - status unknown
Snowguard - arrested
Locust - arrested
Falcon - status unknown
Bombshell - status unknown
Power Man - status unknown
Pinpoint - status unknown

Clearly, Champions #1 will probably answer those unknowns. There's probably more that have been arrested and members who have quit because of the law.

And then there's the Reinforcement Roster Zub introduced but never properly got to use...

Honey Badger - now called Scout, she's with the X-Men
Silk - actually doesn't fall foul of Kamala's Law (she's Peter Parker's age, and probably the second oldest Champion after Cyclops), but unlikely to want to risk arrest for aiding underage vigilantes. Also, she's an Agent of Atlas anyway, so probably walked when Amadeus did.
Prodigy - we never knew which one Zub meant this to be. One of them is an X-Man though and is now with X-Factor.
Moon Girl - either arrested or on the run. We saw CRADLE raid her home in Outlawed.
Cloud 9 - considering her ending when Dark Reign ended, highly likely to have gone back into retirement as she did then.
Red Dagger - status unknown. Saladin Ahmed hasn't been using him in Ms. Marvel, where he originates from.
Hummingbird - the only Reinforcement that did appear (in issue 6, apparently having just been recruited before War of the Realms, hence why she wasn't in Viv's original list), however, she's a former New Warrior, and the Warriors sided with the law (of course so is Nova, so Sam should be feeling betrayed, will be interesting to see New Warriors #3 which guest stars the Champs, for that reason alone).
Cyclops - the X-Men should be his top priority, but it does sound like he'll be helping out considering the solicit for issue 3 mentions them turning to "the one adult they know they can still trust".

So what we need to know is, how many of these kids are out of action, and does that leave space for new members?

[Frontier]

Robbie won't be joining the Champions in the near future, because he's an Avenger. It's not a downgrade to go to the Champs though - there's already been six ex-Avengers on the team (Ms. Marvel, Spider-Man, Nova and Wasp from Waid's Avengers, Amadeus Cho from Dark Reign era Mighty Avengers, and Power Man from Al Ewing's Mighty and New Avengers), and when Aaron's run ends and the new roster inevitably doesn't include him, he could come over then, or join the Young Avengers if that team gets revived. It'll be a year or two before Aaron's Avengers ends though.

The team's already crowded anyway. Between Zub's Champions #10 and Outlawed #1, three members apparently left (they weren't in Outlawed) - Amadeus (moved to Agents of Atlas), Dust (went back to the X-Men), and Patriot (they stopped pushing him because Marvel Rising has ended and they can use the previous Patriot again). That still leaves 12 members, though most of them are currently dispersed. Current status:

Ms. Marvel - incapacitated but will be back before Champions #1
Spider-Man - active
Nova - active
Viv Vision - incapacitated
Ironheart - inactive (confirmed by her Iron Man 2020 tie-in, which should've been released after Champions #2)
Wasp - status unknown
Snowguard - arrested
Locust - arrested
Falcon - status unknown
Bombshell - status unknown
Power Man - status unknown
Pinpoint - status unknown

Clearly, Champions #1 will probably answer those unknowns. There's probably more that have been arrested and members who have quit because of the law.

And then there's the Reinforcement Roster Zub introduced but never properly got to use...

Honey Badger - now called Scout, she's with the X-Men
Silk - actually doesn't fall foul of Kamala's Law (she's Peter Parker's age, and probably the second oldest Champion after Cyclops), but unlikely to want to risk arrest for aiding underage vigilantes. Also, she's an Agent of Atlas anyway, so probably walked when Amadeus did.
Prodigy - we never knew which one Zub meant this to be. One of them is an X-Man though and is now with X-Factor.
Moon Girl - either arrested or on the run. We saw CRADLE raid her home in Outlawed.
Cloud 9 - considering her ending when Dark Reign ended, highly likely to have gone back into retirement as she did then.
Red Dagger - status unknown. Saladin Ahmed hasn't been using him in Ms. Marvel, where he originates from.
Hummingbird - the only Reinforcement that did appear (in issue 6, apparently having just been recruited before War of the Realms, hence why she wasn't in Viv's original list), however, she's a former New Warrior, and the Warriors sided with the law (of course so is Nova, so Sam should be feeling betrayed, will be interesting to see New Warriors #3 which guest stars the Champs, for that reason alone).
Cyclops - the X-Men should be his top priority, but it does sound like he'll be helping out considering the solicit for issue 3 mentions them turning to "the one adult they know they can still trust".

So what we need to know is, how many of these kids are out of action, and does that leave space for new members?

Champions #1 has a teen hero meeting that gets raided by CRADLE.

Bombshell is on the cover of #3 talking to some reporters but it's hard to gauge the exact context for it.

I think solicits and covers have done a good job keeping it vague which members have been captured or retired. Especially since we haven't seen any other art for the story.

[Digifiend]

Actually, we did see a preview for Champions #1 before lockdown.

[Grimm911]

From the cover of Issue #3 we know that Riri is on the run with Kamala, Miles, & Sam (presumably she has become Ironheart again.). Amka and Fernanda (Snowgaurd and Locust) were captured and are now in some weird C.R.A.D.L.E. detention/classroom facility. Starling may make a cameo in the issue and as for the solicit on who one adult the Champions now they can trust? Looks like their next stop is a trip to Krakoa. The solicit and cover was posted before but here's a little refresher.

Also I pray that Marvel kept Toni Infante on as the cover artist for the series.

And that Simone Di Meo was able to complete the art for the first arc or 2 before joining Al Ewing for their creator owned comic.

The Champions are on the run! Ms. Marvel, Spider-Man, Nova and Ironheart race to stay one step ahead of C.R.A.D.L.E., but someone keeps leaking their location, and they're running out of places to hide. With a spy in their midst and their allies locked up in a disturbing correctional school, they'll turn to the one adult they know they can still trust.

[Frontier]

Actually, we did see a preview for Champions #1 before lockdown.

I meant other art past the first issue.

From the cover of Issue #3 we know that Riri is on the run with Kamala, Miles, & Sam (presumably she has become Ironheart again.). Amka and Fernanda (Snowgaurd and Locust) were captured and are now in some weird C.R.A.D.L.E. detention/classroom facility. Starling may make a cameo in the issue and as for the solicit on who one adult the Champions now they can trust? Looks like their next stop is a trip to Krakoa. The solicit and cover was posted before but here's a little refresher.

Also I pray that Marvel kept Toni Infante on as the cover artist for the series.

And that Simone Di Meo was able to complete the art for the first arc or 2 before joining Al Ewing for their creator owned comic.

The Champions are on the run! Ms. Marvel, Spider-Man, Nova and Ironheart race to stay one step ahead of C.R.A.D.L.E., but someone keeps leaking their location, and they're running out of places to hide. With a spy in their midst and their allies locked up in a disturbing correctional school, they'll turn to the one adult they know they can still trust.

Maybe they get Riri to come back with the promise of finding out what happened to Viv (or she finds a situation that forces her to put the suit back on and she's forced on the run.

[TheMaker1610]

Man.. The Champions as a team have gone through really difficult stuff.. I really really wish for them to be able to overcome all this, and for things to get better for them, for everyone !

I was also reading through some past stories, and man.. Issue #5 of Zub's run (and this particular scene), really hit me in the feels.. What they do, MATTERS ! Never forget that..
#LongLiveTheChampions !

[Snoop Dogg]

That is the best Zub issue. Ramirez art helps, too.

[Digifiend]

Zub's admitted that the relaunch in the middle of his run was a mistake.
https://twitter.com/JimZub/status/1280827724609794049

I gave Champions my all to try and bridge classic Marvel teen comics with the progressive modern take Mark and Humberto launched with.

It worked for a bit, but the relaunch mid-stream hurt our overall sales momentum and long term planning.

I won't get another chance on it.

My hope was to try and "architect" long term plans and growth for Marvel's teen characters, bringing old favorites back into the spotlight and creating new Marvel characters all over the world.

For a while I was really torn up about that not working out, but life goes on.

I hope Eve and the other creators now contributing to these characters carry them to new heights and that, when they innevitably ripple out to the larger mainstream as Marvel's next generation of heroes, my Champions issues hold up well.

When you're in the midst of these amazing projects you have to invest yourself or it won't mean anything and readers will sense that.

When they end, you have to step away without regrets.

It would be nice if it was just a switch you could flip, but it's not.

We built a bunch - Snowguard and Pinpoint, Ironheart's new armor, adventures in Weirdworld, and the school shooting issue many of us thought wouldn't make it to print, but did and had some impact.

All of that along with friendships formed on our creative team.
I'm thankful.

[Frontier]

Zub's admitted that the relaunch in the middle of his run was a mistake.
https://twitter.com/JimZub/status/1280827724609794049

This is a pretty reasonable take. It's a shame Zub didn't get to continue on the book.

[Drops Of Venus]

Zub's admitted that the relaunch in the middle of his run was a mistake.
https://twitter.com/JimZub/status/1280827724609794049

Poor Zub can't catch a break. Most of his titles keep getting screwed over. It kind of reminds of Al Ewing a few years back, before the smashing hit that was Immortal Hulk. Let's hope Jim can find similar success in the future.

And Champions is just not in a good place right now. Marvel is more or less returning to normal, and they're still in limbo. The artist moved on to another book, which clearly shows Marvel was in no hurry to prioritize the book. At this point I don't think Eve's run will even last as long as Zub's relaunch, unfortunately.

[Grimm911]

Poor Zub can't catch a break. Most of his titles keep getting screwed over. It kind of reminds of Al Ewing a few years back, before the smashing hit that was Immortal Hulk. Let's hope Jim can find similar success in the future.

And Champions is just not in a good place right now. Marvel is more or less returning to normal, and they're still in limbo. The artist moved on to another book, which clearly shows Marvel was in no hurry to prioritize the book. At this point I don't think Eve's run will even last as long as Zub's relaunch, unfortunately.

To be fair to, Simone Di Meo he announced a month before his Champions run with Eve was supposed to premier that he was going to jump onto art duties with Al Ewing for their creator owned series. So even before issue #1 was supposed to come out in April we knew that he was only going to be on art duty for Champions for at least the first arc or two.

[Digifiend]

Poor Zub can't catch a break. Most of his titles keep getting screwed over. It kind of reminds of Al Ewing a few years back, before the smashing hit that was Immortal Hulk. Let's hope Jim can find similar success in the future.

And Champions is just not in a good place right now. Marvel is more or less returning to normal, and they're still in limbo. The artist moved on to another book, which clearly shows Marvel was in no hurry to prioritize the book. At this point I don't think Eve's run will even last as long as Zub's relaunch, unfortunately.

Since both Ms. Marvel and Miles Morales were solicited for September, I'll be surprised if Champions isn't launching in October. I'm not so sure about New Warriors and Power Pack though.

And you're right about Zub. He just confirmed Agents of Wakanda is finished too. Personally I think that should've had Avengers in it's name instead of Black Panther. Panther can't support multiple books and the book spun off from Aaron's Avengers and not Coates' Black Panther anyway.

This is a pretty reasonable take. It's a shame Zub didn't get to continue on the book.

Would've been nice if he'd been allowed to at least do one more arc. Four issues from November to February, meaning no gap before Eve's run started with Outlawed in March (Incoming would've been the same as it was - it was set immediately before Empyre).

[Drops Of Venus]

To be fair to, Simone Di Meo he announced a month before his Champions run with Eve was supposed to premier that he was going to jump onto art duties with Al Ewing for their creator owned series. So even before issue #1 was supposed to come out in April we knew that he was only going to be on art duty for Champions for at least the first arc or two.

The thing is... I'm not sure if he was able to finish the entire first arc, let alone two. The preview that we got for Champions #1, not long before the title was paused, wasn't even colored yet. Unless he was working on the book for a very long time, it just seems like the plug was pulled before most titles could finish their current arcs. For example, the Runaways writer said the book only had 2 issues completed out of 7. I don't know, maybe it's wrong to compare Champions with Runaways and maybe schedules were just that different for those two different books... but I just can't shake the feeling.

[Frontier]

The thing is... I'm not sure if he was able to finish the entire first arc, let alone two. The preview that we got for Champions #1, not long before the title was paused, wasn't even colored yet. Unless he was working on the book for a very long time, it just seems like the plug was pulled before most titles could finish their current arcs. For example, the Runaways writer said the book only had 2 issues completed out of 7. I don't know, maybe it's wrong to compare Champions with Runaways and maybe schedules were just that different for those two different books... but I just can't shake the feeling.

It seems like all the Outlawed books were at least up to their second issue production-wise. I know they showed a sketch preview of the second issue of Power Pack, and they had a colored preview of the first issue with dialogue and everything.

[mreddie]

I do hope we get the books for October but I dread Marvel might start the Knull stuff and this will be pushed to the backburner which would stupid for books like Miles and Ms. Marvel.