Written By: Mark Waid
Art By: Humberto Ramos, Victor Olazaba, Edgar Delgado, Nolan Woodard
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: May 3, 2017
Publisher: Marvel

*Non Spoilers and Score At The Bottom*

Boy… Champions really fizzled out didn’t it? I mean, this was supposed to be the big new comic in Marvel NOW! 2.0 but it just seems to have faded into the background. That being said, I’m still reading this series and overall I enjoy it. I felt very frustrated by the first couple issues as I felt that it was more episodic rather than giving me an ongoing story that I can really sink my teeth into. We’ve finally begun to do that with the recent fight with the Freelancers and we left with the Champions logo being copyrighted by another company. So, yes the Champions have begun to tell an ongoing story but it’s been a bit light so far. However, I could always be proven wrong. Lets just jump right into this.

We see an image of Champions merchandise being in a store front and as we turn the page we see Miles Morales using his webs to tie up Ms. Marvel who has grown giant at this point. She seems to be in a rage when Nova arrives on the scene. She demands that Nova fly her to California as she is on the warpath to take care out the company that stole their symbol. However, after calming down just a bit she comes to her senses. She is frustrated because she made a mistake. She even dealt with this very same issue before but failed to prevent it a second time. She is saddened to see a symbol that once stood for justice and the fight for good be turned into a corporate symbol to gain profits from. In her sorrows though, Nova tells her that she is being foolish and flies off.

Meanwhile, internet forums and fan sites have begun to show their disgust for the Champions as they believe that they have sold out. Things are coming to a head and we cut to Austin, Texas where Cyclops is facing the Avengers. They are scolding him for allowing such a thing to happen. Cyclops could have thought of every contingency but he didn’t and Cyclops is doing his best to hold his own when Vision suddenly begins to distort. Cyclops calls cut and it turns out that Viv was using her powers to give him a small simulation. However, it seems that Viv has been going through some rough times after the death of her mother and brother and that has caused her to suppress her emotions. However, she wants to work on this. Amadeus overhears this and remembers the kiss that the two shared before and he interrupts the two and tells Cyclops to scram.

Amadeus asks if she ever thinks about the time they kissed and although she puts it a bit bluntly, she does say that she has thought about it. Amadeus asks if she wants to continue what they were doing but she tells him that she has been thinking about it because she wants to understand her emotions better and though she isn’t sure how she defines herself, she doesn’t find any attraction to boys within her. She doesn’t want to hurt Amadeus but he hugs her and tells her that he is happy for her and wants her to be happy going forward. The two are interrupted by the Vision suddenly. He speaks with Viv about her not coming home in quite some time and she claims that she has been needed with the Champions but Vision isn’t having it. We cut to Cyclops who is joined by Amadeus and the two talk about how the Champions might be finished. However, they eventually come to common ground and decide that they are indeed friends and they begin working together on new moves and strategies.

The next day the team meets on a rooftop and they see a group of people burning Champions merchandise. The group feels like they are hated when Nova suddenly arrives and tells them that he told people to burn the merchandise. He let out a message about how their symbol has been used by a corporation to make money and he asks the people not to support this company. Turns out that they people are burning the merchandise in rebellion against the corporation, not the Champions. Ms. Marvel is beyond happy and the team meets up with some of their fans but Viv decides it is time to go home. However, once she returns to her room, a sudden contraption surrounds her, locking her in her room. This is when a hologram of the Vision shows up and tells her that she cannot phase through these walls. Vision has decided that he must punish Viv by grounding her. This is where the issue leaves us.

While I enjoyed the interactions between our team members, this series has just slowed way down in terms of excitement. We finally got a resolution to the Amadeus and Viv situation but ultimately nothing really changed from it. We finally saw Cyclops and Hulk get along and we got a resolution to the copyright issue. However, not a whole lot actually happened this issue. Don’t get me wrong, seeing conversations like these are important but I feel like it could have done better. Finally, I want to say that I feel a bit odd that Viv has been such a focus in this series so far. She always seemed to be the oddball out due to the fact that she is a far darker character than the rest of the team and seeing her pal around with the Champions has been strange. Maybe that’s just me though. My mind could always be changed. It could always become a dark beginnings lead to a brighter future situation but I just think it’s odd.

Bits and Pieces