This October, Marvel’s The Champions are getting an action-packed and dramatic spotlight with a brand-spankin’ new relaunch. The series will further delve into the adventures of this team of rebellious young superheroes, even if the government has turned their backs on them.
Eve L. Ewing (Ironheart) and Simone DI Meo (Mighty Morphin Power Rangers) are the creative team behind the new #1 issue which springs from the recent Outlawed comics event. That comic saw a law passing that banned anyone under the age of 21 from pursuing super-heroics or practicing any sort of vigilantism in the Marvel Universe.
The events, of course, echo the major Marvel crossover event Civil War… a crossover which pitted hero against hero after the Superhuman Registration Act came into play. The Registration Act was a direct result of public opinion turning against superheroes – the New Warriors, another group of teenage and young adult superheroes, had recklessly fought a team of supervillains, causing an explosion that took the lives of over 600 civilians. Authorities have had enough.
This summer’s one-shot issue Outlawed #1 depicted superhero Ms. Marvel risking her life during a rescue attempt, leaving her hospitalized in a coma. 'Kamala’s Law,' the new bill outlawing Underage Superheroes (and as luck would have it, named after Ms. Marvel’s true identity) allowed for the formation of an anti-teen-hero task-force named C.R.A.D.L.E. (Child-Hero Reconnaissance and Disruption Law Enforcement) to implement it. But The Champions will not go down without a fight: they are not The New Warriors, they aren’t media hounds, they are responsible, and have the blessing of The Avengers. Little do they know there is a spy amongst their midst.
The Champions were originally formed by writer Mark Waid (Daredevil) and artist Humberto Ramos (Amazing Spider-Man) in 2006’s The Champions #1, an outcome of the events depicted in – ironically enough – Civil War II. The current team is an eclectic bunch of super-powered adolescents, which includes founders: Miles Morales (the black Hispanic Spider-Man), the Muslim Inhuman Ms. Marvel, “Nova Force”- endowed Nova, as well as Tony Stark protégé Ironheart, the dimension-hopping Ghost-Spider (Gwen Stacy from an alt-reality in which she gained spider-powers), and Viv Vision, the manufactured daughter of the Avengers’ Vision - none who are strangers to feeling like outcasts.
Ewing mentions that the relaunch will create a new status quo in the Marvel Universe, as the events in The Champions #1 will likely affect many interconnected series. The now-fugitive Champions will attempt to bring order to the Marvel Universe as they’re tracked down by C.R.A.D.L.E., hopefully proving to the powers that be that the world needs heroes, no matter their age. The book is due out in October.