Champions #13 Review - Marvel Monday

We are the Champions

Writer: Mark Waid
Artist: Humberto Ramos
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Release Date: October 18, 2017
Cover Price: $3.99

The Champions title from Marvel has quickly found its way into my Monthly essentials list, and I have enjoyed what has been a consistently good series up to this point. With the Legacy change I became a bit nervous as to the direction Marvel would take this team. Will this issue, the second part of an Avengers crossover, appease my fears? Let's dip in and find out.


Basically the last issue can be summed up by relaying the fact that there has been a High Evolutionary attack, the teams have divided up between themselves and have formed small groups which are a mix and match of Champions and Avengers. This is a good set up as we get a few jokes built into it, and as usual we get some great exchanges that made me laugh. This to me is the true legacy of Marvel, the ability to deliver the clever funny lines and witty character dialogue. Waid nails this in this issue as effectively as in the rest of this series.

Another bit of trepidation I had for this issue was whether the art style, which is very stylised towards a teen comic would translate to the adult Avenger team. I needn't have worried; the art in this issue is great and translates perfectly well to the Avengers. Both teams are rendered brilliantly by Ramos, whose style is one of my favorites in the current Marvel roster.

Look, its like this. This is still the start of a crossover story, so it does what it needs to do. It is not the most gripping of stories which involves the teams stabilizing a lot of wobbly skyscrapers. The ending gives us a set up that promises a slightly more intriguing follow-up installment. The teams get along quite well together and there is none of the tension one might expect from The Champion's discussions about the Avengers in the initial arc of this title, and their founding philosophy.


Bits and pieces:

All in all this is a solid issue and while this reader would prefer The Champions without the Avengers, I'm just happy that the Champions have (so far) survived the Marvel Legacy shake-up. Plus there is a really funny moment between Vision, Spidey and Cyclops that was the highlight of my comic week.

7.5/10