By Matthew Sunrich
"I guess there must be a fracus [sic] in
the wind."
What do Hercules, Black Widow,
Iceman, Angel, and Ghost Rider have in common?
If you answered "not much,"
I'd be inclined to agree with you.
Yet once upon a time they came
together as a team and kept things going for an impressive seventeen issues and
a handful of guest appearances.
How on earth did this happen, you
ask?
Well, it's not something that's
easy to pin down, but perhaps we can shed some light on it by examining what
was going on with the individual characters at the time.
In 1975, a new crop of mutant
superheroes were introduced in the pages of one of the Bronze Age's most
groundbreaking books: Giant-Size X-Men
#1. These new members, including Wolverine, Colossus, Storm, and Nightcrawler,
revitalized the team and famously rescued the title from reprint limbo. One of
the unanticipated consequences of this was that three of the original X-Men,
viz. Beast, Iceman, and Angel, wound up striking out for greener pastures.
Beast joined the Avengers, while
Iceman and Angel decided to give college a go.
Originally a villain, Black Widow
changed her ways and became an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. and a member of the
Avengers during the Silver Age. In Amazing
Spider-Man #86 (1970), her appearance was overhauled into the one we recognize
today (i.e., red hair and black bodysuit). Next, she split billing with the
Inhumans in the first eight issues of Amazing
Adventures before taking a spin in the pages of Daredevil.
Having debuted in Marvel Spotlight #5, Ghost Rider, the
hell-spawned stunt cyclist, proved popular enough to earn his own title in 1973.
There's not much else I can say about him other than the fact that a character
with a flaming skull for a head gets people's attention.
The Champions was the brainchild of writer Tony Isabella and artist
Don Heck, and, though decidedly oddball, it's one of the strongest titles of the
Bronze Age, thanks in large part to the dynamic art of George Tuska, Bob Hall,
John Byrne, Bob Layton, and Pablo Marcos (with outstanding covers by Gil Kane,
Rich Buckler, Dave Cockrum, Ernie Chan, and Jack Kirby). Most of the team's
adventures were written by Bill Mantlo, who is perhaps best known for his resplendent
five-year run on Incredible Hulk. The
comic's relatively short lifespan can be at least partially attributed to its
simply being overshadowed by Marvel's other team books (Avengers, Defenders, X-Men, Fantastic Four), which, unlike Champions,
featured first-tier characters, because everyone involved in its creation
brought his A game to every single issue.
The impetus behind the team's
formation is rather strange but is perfectly fitting for the era.
Iceman (Bobby Drake) and Angel
(Warren Worthington III) are wandering around UCLA, discussing whether or not
college was the right choice for them, when a portal opens in midair, from
which a bevy of hideous, green-skinned harpies emerge. The monstrous women
threaten passersby, demanding to know where "Venus" is. Bobby and
Warren waste no time in assuming their superhero identities and attempt to
subdue the attackers.
Meanwhile, on another part of
campus, Black Widow (Natasha Romanoff, for those of you might have forgotten)
waits nervously to interview for a job as a Russian-language instructor. Suddenly,
another portal opens, unleashing a battalion of Amazons, similarly demanding
the whereabouts of Venus. Just then, lovely humanities professor Dr. Victoria
Starr appears, intent on meeting Natasha, and is shocked to find the room
filled with warrior women. The warriors instantly recognize her as the woman
they seek in mortal guise, and Natasha grabs her and leaps out the window
(grasping a rope attached to something).
The scene changes to yet another
part of the campus, where Johnny Blaze is riding his motorcycle for some
reason. It becomes apparent that something bad is going on, and he races to
address the situation, allowing the hellfire to burn his flesh away as he transforms
into the Ghost Rider. He discovers that the source of the commotion is Cerberus,
the mythical hellhound, in humanoid form. He blasts the creature with his
infernal flame, and it changes into the more familiar form of a dog (albeit
with one head) and pursues him, its huge, terrible jaws agape.
It just so happens that Hercules
is also there as a guest lecturer. As he discusses matters with the lecture
coordinator, an army of "mutates" appears, apparently out of another
portal, and attempts to seize him. During the fight, the wall gives way, and
the demigod plummets to the ground, taking several of the monsters with him. The
hellhound still—ahem—hot on his heels, Ghost Rider stops long enough to
convince Herc to climb onto the back of his bike, and within moments they
encounter Black Widow, Venus, Iceman, and Angel, still dealing with their own
threats.
Herc pummels the hellhound, Ghost
Rider blasts the harpies, Iceman seals the Amazons in blocks of, well, ice, and
Venus uses her overwhelming sex appeal (or something) to subdue the mutates. Before
the heroes can sort out what's going on, they are caught in an enervating
blast, the source of which turns out to be Pluto, ruler of the underworld. Flanking
him are Ares, god of war, and Hippolyta, queen of the Amazons, who are to wed
Venus and Herc, respectively, or THE UNIVERSE DIES.
Quite a setup for a first issue,
huh?
Stay tuned for more.
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