Marvel Comics’ New Series ‘Champions’ – Mark Waid And Humberto Ramos Discuss The Details


Marvel Comics has been causing a lot of uproar with fans lately, most recently there was the Captain America controversy. There is also the current atmosphere of social activism that has been steadily gaining more and more exposure over these last couple of years. These sound like some ideas and themes that writer Mark Waid and artist Humberto Ramos will touch on in their new Marvel Comics series Champions.

Both Waid and Ramos recently did an interview with Entertainment Weekly, talked about this new series and how its leading characters will be more activist-minded, as opposed to their older superhero counterparts. The name Champions is actually the name of an old superhero team, created in the 1970’s, that was never used at the time and sort of faded away. Now, Waid wants to revive that name and keep it alive.

“They are ultimately very socially conscious, very activist-minded,” Mark said, “and very positive about being superheroes, so the name had to feel like a really upbeat superhero name.”

[Image via Marvel Comics]
This new team full of young super-heroes, or “Champions,” includes Miles Morales/Spider-Man, Kamala Khan/Ms. Marvel, Sam Alexander/Nova, Viv Vision, Amadeus Cho/The Hulk and a younger version of Scott Summers/Cyclops. In the current continuity, Miles, Kamala and Sam have walked away from the All-New, All-Different Avengers, and Champions will go out of its way to distinguish itself from the Avengers. Waid brought up Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg being so young and yet having left such a massive impact on our current society, pop culture and technology.

Champions will be these young teens who are motivated to roll their sleeves up and fix what is wrong with the world themselves, rather than waiting around for the adults to do it. One of the additions to this team, Cyclops, is going to cause some friction within the group, which is understandable if you’ve been keeping up with the current X-Men comics and what present-time Cyclops is doing and has done.

In fact, when Miles, Kamala, Sam, Viv and Amadeus are all together, they’re going to have to decide whether or not it will be a good idea to let this young Cyclops join their team. However it looks like Scott’s younger self isn’t necessarily headed down the path that will lead him to where he currently is now. Young Cyclops is looking to go in a different direction and do some good in the world.

“Which is to say that when they get together and start to do this, what they’re doing is not just putting together a superhero team, they’re more like activists,” Waid says. “They’re making an inclusive statement that they mean to be for all members of their generation: it’s time to get together and stand up and fix the world. This is a message that goes out and people come in response to it.”

[Image via Marvel Comics]
The name Champions is also significant given the longstanding copyright issue between Marvel and Heroic Publishing. Marvel cancelled the Champions series in the 1980s, and Heroic Publishing created a tabletop RPG with the same name after the cancellation, according to Comicbook.com. Not only did a comic book series arrive due to the success of the game, but a Champions Online video game was created as well.

When Marvel wanted to revive their Champions series and use the name, they were challenged in court by Heroic Publishing, and Marvel lost. But now it seems the two companies have come to a compromise and understanding.

The first issue of Champions will be going on sale this fall. Does this sound like a superhero team that you would be interested in?

[Image via Marvel Comics]

Share this article: Marvel Comics’ New Series ‘Champions’ – Mark Waid And Humberto Ramos Discuss The Details
More from Inquisitr