And that means just one thing.
That, just as Santa Claus will soon do, I've been travelling the world.
Unlike Santa Claus, I've done it without the aid of a chimney.
I've done it via a mega-chimney. The mega-chimney of knowledge that is the internet. And so, yet again, my blundering around has brought me across a comic that I once owned but had totally forgotten I ever had.
In this case, it's The Champions #12.
As I may have said before, somewhere or other on this blog, I would claim that the Champions always seemed a strange concept for a super-team, except that I don't have a clue what the concept actually was
It comes across like Marvel just decided to use up whatever heroes they had who couldn't support their own title and didn't have a berth in any established team.
And so it was that we got the unlikely alliance of Hercules, the Black Widow, the Angel, Iceman and, least likely of all, Ghost Rider. I may be mistaken but I do believe that, just to make the mix even more random, we later got the addition of Black Goliath.
Other than what's shown on the cover, I don't have a clue what happens in this comic but it seems unlikely to me that the Champions could possibly be powerful enough or organised enough to defeat a being as mighty as the Stranger. I therefore have no choice but to conclude that they must all get killed in this issue and subsequently continue their careers as a team of ghosts.
Admittedly that would mean Ghost Rider would have to be renamed Ghost-Ghost Rider which would instill into his name a certain degree of redundancy.
On the other hand, it would mean we also got the adventures of Ghost Hercules.
I mean. Come on. Ghost Hercules. Who wouldn't want to read the adventures of Ghost Hercules?
Granted, Hercules might not. But I would and when it comes to comics, once I've handed over my thirty cents, I'm all that matters.
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8 comments:
This was the final issue of Champions I saw in the shops.I loved Byrne's style and the mish-mash of heroes interested me - except GR, who was a terrible fit. If they had called it, oh, West Coast Avengers, it might have lasted longer.
The couple of Byrne drawn issues of Champions were the only memorable ones in the series. At least I still remember Swarm who was a villain made of bees! I don't remember #12 at all.
And wasn't Black Widow the official team-leader ? And Hercules was fine with that...? Merry Christmas, Steve :D
Merry Xmas, Steve!
I liked some of the George Tuska issues of the Champions - I get the feeling they published this comic to get a copyright on the name for a superhero group although I had that first as it was one of my "home grown" comic titles - maybe i should sue Marvel.
Have a great Christmas and hogmanay when it comes
Thanks to all of you and a Merry Christmas to you all and to all who visit this site.
Don't see how the Champions was a stranger concept than any other super team; it was just badly written. How else could a comic with both the Black Widow and Ghost Rider in it be anything other than great?
Mind you, the inclusion of a pair of dud ex-X_Men didn't help either.
Anyway, I'm not big on Christmas, Steve - bah, humbug! - but if you are, have a good one.
-sean
When Marvel assembled a team of superheroes who could not support their own solo titles, it was called, with more optimism than accuracy, The Champions.
In DC's war comics, when the "Captain Storm," "Johnny Cloud," and "Gunner & Sarge" solo strips were cancelled, the characters were teamed together in the lead feature in Our Fighting Forces. The series was called The Losers. Maybe DC believed in Truth In Advertising.
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