Review of Champions #3

This issue of Champions continues where we left off in issue #2 but here we get to see the new team engage in their first battle. They head to Sharzhad to support the women there who are trying to stand up for their rights against a bunch of terrorists.

Issue: Champions #3

Name: Change The World: Part 3

Published: 2016 by Marvel Comics

Blurb:

Creators:

Writer: Mark Waid

Artist: Humberto Ramos

Inker: Victor Olazaba

Colorist: Edgar Delgado

Letterer: Clayton Cowles

Characters:

The Good: Hulk (Amadeus Cho), Viv Vision, Ms. Marvel, Cyclops, Nova, Spider-Man (Miles Morales)

The Bad: Terrorists

My Reading:

We left off issue #2 with Viv and Hulk making out…well, that’s exactly where we start in this issue. For Viv, it was just an experiment but there could be some tension brewing among the male members of the fledgling team as we saw Nova indicated he kinda liked Viv in last issue. Regardless, Viv’s been keeping an eye on social media and hears about a bunch of terrorists who are gunning down children in Sharzhad. This is what the team was formed to combat so they jump into Hulk’s flying food truck and zoom to South Asia.

And it’s on the way to confront the terrorists that we see how this team is still working out the kinks since an argument breaks out about who’s gonna be the leader of the Champions. Kamala, Amadeus, and Scott all make valid claims to lead the team but they get to Sharzhad without a decision made.

The terrorists have been denying the human rights of the women, stopping them from accessing medical care or education and this is just not right! But the women don’t just want to run to protection nor do they want to hide behind the Champions. Instead they want to make a statement by gathering all the women in the area who what to learn and want to throw off the oppression so they rally to stop the suppression of their rights.

When the terrorists arrive to stop the rally, the Champions, who’ve tunneled under the town square open up the ground and pull the soldiers down. They want to allow the women and girls to stand up for their rights and make their statement with the Champions only stopping violence from the shadows. How can these mighty terrorists say they were defeated by a bunch of girls as the videos show? Obviously they can’t so they’ll let the women protest in peace.

The ploy seems to work but as the team heads out in the flying food truck, someone shoots a missile at it and things don’t look good for the Champions.

What did I learn:

• Being a superhero in 2016 is pretty complicated.
• People don’t just want to be saved by heroes anymore they want to look like they’re able to stand up for themselves.
• Social media is gonna continue to be a big part of this title.
• The team never did figure out who was gonna be the leader and I wonder if there will be a consistent leader anyway.

My Thoughts:

I continue to really enjoy this series. The teen heroes have a fresh take on what it means to be a superhero and it seems to fit in the world they’re living in. And I think the fact that the first mission they go on is to protect and support the human rights of women in South Asia sets a tone that this series is gonna have a worldwide focus on making the world a better place for everyone.

The conflict that seems to be surfacing about team leadership could cause some serious issues down the road if the heroes start taking things personally and try to define themselves as their role. If they are able to recognize this potential problem and simply consider themselves as valuable contributing members of the team they’d be much better off. As we saw in this issue, there really doesn’t need to be a leader but each hero should defer to those who have better aptitude in relevant areas – if Amadeus is so smart he can work out strategy better than the others, let him do that, but if Kamala shows more courage to take risks, let her do that. They can be a really good team if they stop letting their egos run things and truly work as a team.

My Rating: B+

This comic can be found on Marvel Unlimited, Comixology or at your local comic book shop.

Daily Ramble 278.3 | Comics – Wekely Marvel – Champions #3