Champions #1 Review – A Revolution Has Begun

If the goal was to launch a new likable group of Avengers, Champions #1 succeeds. If it was to create a topical series that paints young heroes in a much better light, then Champions #1 still succeeds. In fact, Champions #1 is pretty much a success all around.

Mark Waid pulls the young core of Ms. Marvel, Spider-Man (Miles Morales), and Nova together once more. Not to form yet another new team, but rather form the foundations of a movement. The elder statesmen of the superhero world are often mired in problems of their creation, whether from infighting and disagreements or from their lack of attention to the civilian aftermath.

For Kamala, Miles, and Sam, the time for “leaving it to someone else” is over, and that urge to do something is infectious.

Waid surrounds the book’s topical touchstones with a familiar “get the team together” story build, but when you have the right cast of characters it still remains effective. It helps that Ms. Marvel, Spider-Man, and Nova have such astounding chemistry, and their back and forth is often hilarious and charming. When you throw someone like Amadeus Cho into the mix, things just get even better.

On the art side of things, Humberto Ramos and Edgar Delgado craft some amazing work in the inaugural issue, though there is a part of me that wishes the whole book had been drawn in the flashback style that shows up on the first two pages. Ramos’s art style suits the characters incredibly well, and the artist has always excelled at character expressiveness and his ability to make action sequences larger than life.

As the members of the group allude to, this is a call to action in many ways for a younger generation of heroes, who are tired of fighting the same unwinnable battles just because that’s how it has always been done. Champions #1 is a breath of fresh air and provides a much-needed shot in the arm to Marvel’s lineup.

Rating: 5 out of 5 Stars

Written By: Mark Waid

Pencilled By: Humberto Ramos

Inked By: Victor Olazaba

Colored By: Edgar Delgado

Champions #1 is in stores now.

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