Obscure super team Sunday: an ill conceived notion

In the dark days of comics known as the late 70s, it crawled mysteriously off of the drawing boards of the Marvel Bullpen.  Caught somewhere between creative vision and corporate bureaucracy exists a middle ground of crappy conception and poor execution, it is the supper team known as the champions.

It was a group of heroes with nothing in common taking on the strongest villains on the "C" list of marvel villains.  It wasn't cool enough to be the Defenders although most of its members went on to be Defenders.

Ladies and Gentleman, from the depts of obscurity...The Champions (of Los Angeles)

Writer Tony Isabella developed the concept of a new team of superheroes and originally wanted the roster to consist of former X-Men Angel and Iceman, and the newly created Black Goliath.[1] Black Goliath became unavailable when the character debuted in his own title, forcing Isabella to rethink the concept. Editor Len Wein insisted on at least five members, and Isabella added three established heroes: Russian spy Black Widow (team leader), the Greek godHercules, and the supernatural avenger Ghost Rider. Captain Marvel, Power Man, and the Son of Satan were all considered for the final place on the roster before selecting Ghost Rider. Writer and publisher David Anthony Kraft is credited with naming the team, with the title originally intended to be published in Giant-Size format as Giant-Size Champions. Production difficulties, which caused a three-month delay between the first and second issues, prevented this.[1] The title was eventually published as The Champions, and ran for seventeen issues from October 1975 to January 1978. In addition to Don Heck, artists who drew the series include George Tuska, Bob Hall, and John Byrne.

The team battled established Marvel villains such as Pluto; the Griffin; the Titanium Man and Crimson Dynamo; Warlord Kaa; the Stranger; Kamo Tharnn; and new foes such as Rampage and Swarm. Russian heroine Darkstar joins the team, and Black Goliath eventually guest stars in the title.m The second-to-last issue continued a story involving a power struggle between villains Doctor Doom and Magneto from the title Super-Villain Team-Up. The last issue's storyline involving an attack by the Sentinels. is referenced in the title Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man, which explains in flashback how the team disbanded.

The Champions guest-starred in several other Marvel titles, including Ghost Rider #18;[22] Iron Man Annual #4; The Avengers #163; and Godzilla #3.

The group briefly reunite in a X-Force/Champions Annual. In a humorous issue of the second volume of The Thing, the character Flatman — a member of the misfit team the Great Lakes Avengers — wins a poker tournament and renames his team the Great Lakes Champions, despite protests from Hercules. An issue of The Incredible Hulk features a flashback to a period when the Champions were still together. The team mistakenly attack the Hulk, with the delay almost killing a gravely ill Jennifer Walters.
Trademark dispute


Since 1987, Heroic Publishing has used the name "The Champions" for a role-playing game series which has been adapted into comic books. The United States Patent and Trademark Office has ruled that Marvel abandoned its trademark of the name and can no longer use "The Champions" as the name of a comic book series. A planned 2007 revival of the series was renamed The Order.



Members




Angel

Warren Worthington III is Archangel, a mutant and member of the X-Men. He sports some nifty wings which allow him to fly. Recently his blood allows him to heal others.




Black Goliath

Brilliant and tough, Goliath fought evil using a variation of the Pym Particles. He was killed during the Civil War by Ragnarok, a clone of Thor. He was succeeded by his nephew, Tom Foster.



Black Widow

Black Widow was leader of the Champions but the group disbanded after it became bankrupt.




Darkstar (Petrovna)

The first Darkstar, Laynia Petrovna is a mutant capable of manipulating an immeasurable amount of darkforce energy. She lived and died in service to her mother country Russia, but was later resurrected in the body of the previous Darkstar, Reena Stancioff, when Reena was transformed into a Dire Wraith.



Ghost Rider (Blaze)

The Champions were a little used super group based out of Los Angeles and meant to serve as a west coast team to offset Marvel's New York influences. The team was led by the Russian Spy Black Widow but was disbanded due to bankruptcy.





Hercules

Hercules was, perhaps, the pivotal factor determining the Champions formation as it was his enemy Pluto who attacked him while he prepared to give a seminar on Greek Gods and Myth at the UCLA campus. When Pluto's minions attacked Hercules, he was not alone in facing them. Fellow former Avenger the Black Widow, the Ghost Rider (Johnny Blaze) and two former X-Men, Angel and Iceman were all in the vicinity and came to the aid of the endangered mortals and Hercules, too. Hercules and his newfound friends were able to eventually defeat Pluto, along with other Olympian threats like Ares and Hippolyta. The five of them then decided to stay together as a team of superpowered heroes/adventurers and called themselves "The Champions!" Unfortunatley, the team was short-lived in duration due to a lack of chemistry and cohesion amongst it's members. However, it was during their time as Champions that Hercules and the Black Widow began a passionate romance which lasted well after the team had disbanded.





Iceman
The coolest member of the X-Men