The word is out. And that word is Champions -- The Champions. This modern incarnation was first seen in Civil War #6 and later in this week's finale, but those glimpses are proven to be just that with the announcement of their new series from Marvel here at New York Comic Con.
Written by Matt Fraction (Immortal Iron Fist, Punisher War Journal) and drawn by the newly exclusive Barry Kitson (Legion of Super-Heroes, read more about this Marvel exclusive deal ), the book, from the announcement, promises to be connected to the Champions of old in name alone.
The Champions are the California-based superhero team set into motion by the 50 State Initiative. Put together personally by Tony Stark himself, the team is a kind of social experiment for Stark – a chance to offer redemption to people that deserve it. Everyone on the team has had some sort of brush with frame and/or heroism in their pasts, but have all lost it somehow. The line-up as seen in Civil War #6 includes new characters named Hercules, Hephestos, Aphrodite, Hermes and Poseidon. But making the team doesn’t mean the hard part is over – there's a catch.
"It's competitive continuance and it only lasts a year." Said Fraction. "Let me explain."
"The Champions are a team like the Yankees are a team-- just because you play 3rd base doesn't mean there aren't 3 other guys warming up to take over for you when your knee blows out. Team members get hurt, they get mad and quit, or they can be asked to leave, and they'll be replaced by new characters playing similar positions. There's a rigid code of conduct and performance everyone's expected to adhere to, and they're expected to adhere to it in extreme circumstances and under intense pressures. Failure to do so means Stark is done spending money and time on you. Don't get too attached to anyone. And, on top of all that, in 12 months, the power-giving process is reversed, the Champions experiment is over, and our cast will be returned to "normal human" status."
Inside the costumes and the mytholocial names, all the members of The Champions are (or were) human. The mythological names refer to positions on the team – if, for example, the person in the role of 'Hermes' fails the rigid code of conduct or a performance benchmark, a new player is brought in as the new 'Hermes'. " Just as in a professional sports set-up, there’s also whole strata of characters that surround the first-team players," explains Kirtson. "An infrastructure [is] involved with The Champions – support systems, promotional considerations, powers trainers, black-ops instructors – a real dichotomy between the public Champions’ persona and their ‘give-no-quarter’ superhero activities."
The name 'Champions' is one that carries some history with it in the Marvel Universe. Debuting it's own short-lived 1975 series, Champions, it was noteworthy as Marvel's first team to be based on the West Coast.
"There's a history there, as a brand, and there's an organizational concept to the notion of the pantheon of gods that the team is built around," explained series writer Matt Fraction. "Each member plays their part in the pantheon, and Tony's deliberately wanting to tap into the pre-awareness that comes along with the old team and the, erm, really old team."
While Tony Stark will remain in an oversight capacity of the team he founded under the moniker of 'ZEUS', his new duties post-Civil War have made it so he needs someone in place with the Champions to be more directly involved. The man in the 'HERA' position is an old friend of Tony's, an actor that used to play Iron Man on a television series. "He and Stark were kind of like the Cary Grant and Randolph Scott of the Marvel U, you know? Party pals. And now that the party's over for each of them, Tony's reached out to his old friend to be a Champion," Fraction said.
In the coming months, Marvel will release more information on the series, but if we were to judge the series' excitement factor by the excitement on the two creators' faces, then it would be high. Very high.
"I feel it’s a fantastic opportunity to create something unique for the Marvel Universe with someone I consider to be one of the most exciting talents in the business," gushed artist Barry Kitson. "When I read the pitch and got to speak to Warren Simons, the editor, I was bowled over that they should want to offer me the job! A brand new series right at the heart of events in the Marvel Universe (spinning as it does straight out of the Civil War phenomenon) - what more could I ask for?"
"It is arguably much more a ‘cutting-edge’ project than I’ve been associated with generally, so I’m really relishing the thought of the new challenges. As you probably know, I enjoy team books anyway – and this is such a fresh take on the whole concept I was hooked instantly!"
