A Team Fractured And At War In Champions #5
by Josh Davison
[*Mild Spoilers Ahead!]
Spider-Man Miles Morales is visiting Faridah’s mom in Dubai when Malekith’s invasion arrives on Midgard. The Champions, led by Ms. Marvel and consisting of Viv Vision, Dust, Patriot, Power Man, Bombshell, and Pinpoint, respond to the threat. They use Pinpoint’s teleporting abilities to respond to hotspots around the globe, including New York where they run across Cyclops’ new team of Uncanny X-Men. Ms. Marvel doesn’t expect Scott to remember his time with the Champions, but he does. This leads to a Champions reunion, where Cyclops helps the young heroes hold off the worst of Malekith’s army.
Champions #5 is a surprisingly heartfelt reunion between Cyclops and the team. The comic takes the threat presented by War of the Realms very seriously (arguably more seriously than the comic itself), Jim Zub brings the reader a harrowing war tale where our young heroes are exhausting themselves just trying to save everyone they can.
The team is fractured, to make matters worse. Ms. Marvel worries that she can’t trust Miles anymore, Brawn has left the team, Viv is secluding herself, Ironheart is nowhere to be seen, the Wasp suffered a severe breakdown, and Sam Alexander returned to space to retrieve his Nova powers. This leaves Ms. Marvel in a precarious state.
Cyclops helps bring her out of that rut though, and the resulting comic is a powerfully emotional reunion of heroes trying to save their world.
Juanan Ramirez’s artwork brings the action and visceral emotion the comic needs. Many pages are show the Champions battling it out against trolls, elves, and giants. The scene where Ms. Marvel meets Cyclops again is tense and weighty. The comic looks great and conveys its story excellently. Marcio Menyz brings a dynamic and well-balanced color palette that brings the visuals together nicely.
Champions #5 is another great issue for this team of young heroes. War of the Realms finds them fighting with everything they have wherever they can, but it may wear fearless leader Ms. Marvel down to nothing. This comic gets a recommendation. Give it a read.
Champions #5 comes to us from writer Jim Zub, artist Juanan Ramirez, color artist Marcio Menyz, letterer VC’s Clayton Cowles, cover artist Kim Jacinto with Rain Beredo, and variant cover artist Maxx Lim.