New Champions Appreciation 2018

[Digifiend]

Anonymous asked:
Hey jim! During NYCC just before the champions announcement, cebulski said to a young avengers fan theyd be back in 2019 (which made a lot of us think they'd be joining the champions) is it safe to assume the YA news is something unrelated to the relaunch?

That’s correct. Young Avengers is unrelated to the Champions relaunch.

I don’t know if any of the Young Avengers cast will show up in Champions at any point, and I don’t know anything specific right now about plans to relaunch YA. I’m forging ahead with my own Champions plans and trust that editorial will tell me if it’s something I need to know about.

So for the short term, that's all of the Young Avengers ruled out as members or guest stars in Champions.

Anonymous asked:
In terms of power set who do you consider to be the strongest Champion in the current team?

It depends on what you mean by “strong.”

Physical strength? Brawn.

Overall power? It would have been Nova before, but now that he’s lost his helmet it’s probably Viv since she can phase, fly, is super durable, can shoot beams from her forehead and has a super synthezoid brain connected to the internet. That’s a really flexible and useful power set that would give her an advantage in most scenarios and it’s not something she wears that can be taken away from her like Nadia’s outfit or Riri’s armor.

Tell that to High Evolutionary, who did just that!

[King_Thor13]

So for the short term, that's all of the Young Avengers ruled out as members or guest stars in Champions.

Damn. I figure it is/was the best place for them to show up outside of a relaunch. Pretty sure Kelly Thompson doesn't plan to bring in any other Young Avengers outside of Kate, America and Noh-Varr in West Coast Avengers.

[Digifiend]

That question to Zub was prompted by Bleeding Cool's report that there were plans for them, so a relaunch may be in the works. But since it would take a few characters off limits for Zub, he'd need to know, so it won't be before the summer, I think.

I agree that barring a YA relaunch, this is the best place they could've shown up, with one exception - Cassie. Nadia's just had a mini-series with Scott Lang and didn't meet Cassie, even though she was mentioned and he took Nadia to see a baseball game at the end - that's suspiciously like father-daughter time, something he should be doing with Cassie. I think that was a missed opportunity for them to meet, and so maybe they could do that in Unstoppable Wasp.

[CrimsonEchidna]

And? it wont stop people shipping them and you know what? it's not canon so let them write fanfics about Kamala and Miles, people is in their right to ship whoever they want.

Yeah, it kind of comes across as "old man yells at cloud" getting bent out of shape at people shipping a pairing you don't like. Unless people are going out of their way to like harass creators in a bid to make their ship "canon," then they are literally harmless.

[Digifiend]

Anonymous asked:
Will Scott Summers ever be coming back?

There are no current plans to bring Scott Summers back to Champions. He’s busy with events underway in the Extermination series happening in X-Men.

Yeah, Extermination probably ends with him going to the past, and his adult self then gets revived shortly after (there a Cyclops focus annual solicited). So this response doesn't surprise me at all. Cyclops going forward will be the adult, and probably won't remember his time as a Champion.

wlwblckwidow asked:
Is Riri Williams non-binary?

I get asked this question relatively frequently here on Tumblr.

I get asked similar questions about the gender identity and sexuality of Viv, Nadia, and Amka (though not Miles, Amadeus, or Sam for some reason - go figure).

The reason I haven’t responded to it before is because I don’t have a definitive answer I can give at this time and this isn’t the kind of thing I want to be sarcastic or dismissive about.

Please understand that, yes, I’m the writer on Champions and am able to make certain story elements happen, but I’m also writing characters part of a much larger structure. There’s a lot going on behind the scenes that readers aren’t aware of.

So, in some ways the answer is simple, but it’s also complicated.

The reason he isn't asked about the boys is because they're confirmed to be heterosexual. Nadia and Riri they should be asking their solo writers about.

[Digifiend]

Well, I got that wrong...
spoilers:

Cyclops is dead.

end of spoilers

Someone asked Zub about the Kamala secret identity issue:

Anonymous asked:
Why do you think Ms. Marvel is so tight lip when it comes to revealing her identity to the other Champions? Won't that make them not trust her as much as they all seem to be willing to share their own identities to each other? If not with the current team what about the future members that will be joining?

It’s something I’ve thought about and am looking to address at some point in Champions, but beyond that I’ll leave it spoiler-free in terms of how I’m going to treat it.

Core three are focus of issue LGY#28:

Anonymous asked:
I'm a big fan of Miles, Sam, and Kamala. I like how they grew from All-new-all-different avengers to the bond they shared in Civil War 2 to founding the Champions together. I'm not seeking any spoilers but I was wondering if that bond will still exist in 2019 Champions?

Yup! Miles, Sam, and Kamala are the core of Champions and crucial to the first arc of the relaunch starting in January.

While Sparky has a significant role in issue 27, I guess that last instruction Viv left him comes into play:

amazingmrhipster asked:
Jim, all of the best comics dedicate an issue that shows a story told solely through the eyes of the book's lead canine. Should we expect an issue as told by Sparky the Synthidog during your run?

No plans for a Sparky-solo issue, but Sparky does have an important role to play in Champions #27, arriving in December.

[Digifiend]

Preview of #26:
https://www.cbr.com/preview-champions-26/

[Digifiend]

Now on sale in the UK:

That contains the first half of Worlds Collide along with Uncanny Avengers #28 and the classic Avengers #16. I think the next issue is the rest of Worlds Collide plus the end of Uncanny Avengers, and then after that they're onto No Surrender. I wonder if Champions will remain in Avengers Universe from now on (or at least, once NS is over)? After No Surrender there's only one Avengers book to run - Hawkeye replaced Champions in Mighty World of Marvel and they can't run West Coast Avengers until that's done.

[Ravin' Ray]

I can't help but feel that Riri and Miles are looking at a "WANTED" sign.

[Digifiend]

The latest updates from Zub:
Neither Champions nor Miles's solo will be dealing with his Earth-1610 past.
The Indian character will be the only new creation in the short term. (Right decision, since he already created Snowguard as well and they need room to develop).
No plans for House of Agon kids such as Luna Maximoff.
Is someone going to cross the line and get booted out? (I thought we had this storyline back in issue 5 with Gwenpool?)
No plans for Red Widow.
Gender ratio is discussed - it's not a factor when choosing new members.
No exact number set for total membership.
Dark times are coming....

[Nerwrax15]

Probably for the best to leave Miles' being from the Ultimate Universe alone from here on. That annual WAS A MISTAKE. He was from Earth 1610, now he is chilling on Earth 616, the end. Done and dusted.

Even what little they already tried to delve into has been more trouble than its worth. He's here now, lets run with that.

[Digifiend]

We got more news from Zub!

No plans for Polish hero Prodigy, or Turbine, Sapheara and Globalita (international custom promo comic characters).
A lot of teen heroes will show up in the War of the Realms tie-in.
A female mutant will appear in issue 3 or 4! Start guessing who!
No, Gwenpool is not a reserve Champion.
Goldballs not joining the team - yet. May happen later.
Expansion was done now because of the editorial decision to have a new #1. Good jumping on point but the story so far will remain relevant.
Miles and Kamala have the biggest role in the next arc.
No plans for Mania (Flash Thompson Venom's sidekick) and Poison (Ultimate Wolverine).

[Personamanx]

I'm betting that Nature Girl will be the guest mutant. I don't foresee any of the Young/New X-Men/Academy X characters being considered as they're all considerably older creations than the majority of the current Champions by up to Ten years. Amadeus Cho being the only Champion who was created at the same time. I would assume Jim would try pulling from the more recent teen X-Man book, which would be the short lived Gen X relaunch. Nature Girl.

[Digifiend]

Lin is actually ruled out I think - she's involved in Age of X-Man.

Popular consensus over in the X forums seems to be Surge, Pixie, or Honey Badger.

[Johnrevenge]

Lin is actually ruled out I think - she's involved in Age of X-Man.

Popular consensus over in the X forums seems to be Surge, Pixie, or Honey Badger.

I would love to see Surge or Pixie in Champions. Another character I would love to see and I think would fit well would be Dust