The Champions and The Ray

 

the MCU is supposedly going to concentrate more on the "big gun" heroes and teams for a while going forward, so I guess I won't be holding my breath for a Champions movie announcement any time soon.  It's too bad, they finally have the rights to all the characters! 

Wonder Woman and The Champions

 

Bees have always creeped me out. I can only imagine how much worse giant mechanical bees would be.  Hopefully this would turn out to be a buzzworthy issue.

The Champions Vs. The Justice League of America

 

For this Anniversary Issue, I thought I would go for a full length free for all featuring two of my favorite teams.  I'm surely not alone in my love for the JLA.  The Champions, in this their first incarnation, never quite hit it big, but I always got a kick out of the oddball line up that they had.  A super-spy, a Demigod, a possessed stuntman and a trio of mutants filled out their ranks, and I enjoyed seeing these disparate heroes find a way to work together. 

Green Lantern and The Champions

I see that Marvel is once again reviving the Champions name for a new team.  This group will consist of a handful of the new teen versions of classic heroes that have hit the scene in recent years (Hulk, Spider-Man, Nova, Cyclops, Ms. Marvel, and The Vision), which is a pretty cool mix and could be interesting as a group if they have any kind of staying power.  Who knows with the pace that Marvel starts up and abandons new teams these days.  Whatever happens, I still prefer the Champions of the 70's, such an oddball grouping of heroes that somehow still worked for me.

Queen and the Champions

I remember seeing the artwork on Queen's News of the World album cover and being transfixed by it.  This was in a time before painted comics were a common occurrence, so the image of a giant robot scooping up the band members was one of the coolest scenes that I had ever seen illustrated.  I loved the expression that artist Frank Kelly Freas gave the robot, making him look more curious than menacing, which made him seem all the more creepy to me.

Brainiac Conquers The Marvel Universe

I am usually not a fan of character redesigns that completely overhaul what has gone before.  One exception was with Brainiac.  When the "new" Brainiac was revealed in the 80's, I was a big fan of the robotic look.  Sure it was a huge change from the green-skinned, pink-shirt wearing villain I had come to know, but I thought it was much more imposing and made sense for the character.  Later incarnations veered back closer to the original design, but there must still be a lot of fans of the 80's look, as it continues to show up in Brainiac's skull ship and robotic minions.

Booster Gold and the Champions

I love the idea of Booster Gold as a guardian of the timeline.  It gives him the chance to have adventures anywhere and anytime and explore all the corners of the DCU.  Hopefully Booster will be brought back in that capacity soon.  The only thing better would be if he could investigate timeline disruptions for other universes in addition to his own...

Batman and The Champions

I always loved The Champions because of their cool roster. Two X-Men, a super spy, a Greek God, and the Spirit of Vengeance... I would never have thought to put them together, but they made for one of  may favorite teams ever.  Their series didn't last long, and perhaps  part of that was due to the offbeat line-up.  I loved how they interacted with one another and would love to see them work together as a team on a regular basis again.  Marvel seems not to give up on The Defenders, giving them another relaunch every couple of years - I think it's time they gave The Champions the same chance!