This opening arc of Champions has been incredibly intriguing, emotionally charged and filled with fun surprises! This issue cements why Jim Zub, Steve Cummings and Marcio Menyz are such a great fit for this series and opens the door to so many cool potential stories! Read Full Review

At the end of this issue, it's clear that the team is broken in some ways. It's how they come back together that I'm interested in. With this new run on Champions, it seems like Zub is putting our heroes through their biggest test yet. There is definitely a less cheerful tone to this story and more of a "breaking our heroes down to see who they really are" type of feeling. One thing is clear, Mephisto is not done with the team and while Champions has definitely moved into new territory, it's still a great read. Read Full Review

If you've been following this title, this issue is it. You need to read it, if only for the peace of mind. It's necessary if you want closure, much like these characters deserve. It's the blend of story and art lend itself to this charming 4 out of 5 star issue (pausing here to state that Kaldera is now my new favorite character because of this) that will only make you remember why exactly you love these fledgling heroes finding their footing so much. Read Full Review

Love the cast, love the slow-burn drama, love the teenage angst. The art is mostly good, with the occasional wobbly moment in facial expressions, but the total package is well worth the price tag. Read Full Review

The writing, art and character work are all up to snuff, but I wasn't able to personally connect with most of the heavy emotional moments. Read Full Review

Pain is weakness leaving the body...

Pain is weakness leaving the body...

Pain is weakness leaving the body...

...but dear god there is so much of it in my heart right now! I need to go read some Miles Morales: Spider-Man and The Magnificent Ms. Marvel as a method of pain medication.

This is a prime example of why Zub’s Champions is amazing. The dialogue is perfect and the action was great and exciting, yet he resolved the Miles/Kamala conflict in an interesting way that didn’t involve them fighting each other. Cummings’ art is perfect and month in month out Champions is a great series

Jesus, this is both dark and silly at the same time. Loving this book. Zub really shines here, and I really hope this book will manage to stay alive much longer.

I had a lot of fun with this one. With both stories. Different types of fun, mind you. I like seeing the Champions work as a team and I like seeing sad character moments like what we got here. And I hope this leads to something great.

Miles quits after explaining his devil's pact to Kamala, which shakes her to the core. And Sam grabs an incredibly dumb opportunity: Kaldera will help him retrieve his Nova helmet so she can then kill him honorably. The Sam thread is perfectly suited to the creators' style and comes off terrific. The Miles/Kamala thread lies a little outside their wheelhouse, visually and verbally. It's done well here, but I'm pretty sure it could be done even better.

Mad respect to Mephisto and how much he enjoys ruining things.

As the end to the first arc of the 3rd(!) relaunch of this series, it looks like there should be another relaunch. At best, its boring, and at worst, its character assassination.

The team expanded! But most members barely get a line. Very little character interaction, and a very rushed presentation. What should be a major moment for Nova is almost nonsensical, and makes Sam look like a moron.

The worst thing is everything with Miles. Why would anyone think having him make a deal with the devil would be a good thing from a writing perspective? Yes, there are some other circumstances, but still. That is the single worst thing that happened to Peter Parker, to the point that many won't read Spiderman AT ALL after it. Why repeat that with Miles? Its such a hack writing move.

The Champions is supposed to be a team of young heroes trying to make a difference in the world while avoiding the mistakes of the older heroes. Instead, they've had generic supervillian fights and "the team will never be the same!" moments. They've barely been a team at all, so why mess with the group dynamic so soon? And why have them make the same mistakes as the adults? That's not interesting or compelling; its depressing.

And now we have 2 months of War of the Realms tie-ins, so we can probably add the Mephisto and Nova plots to the abandoned over-arching plot pile. It can join the child slavery ring from Vol 1, the Master and Ultron plots from Vol 2, and the Viv and Riri plot from earlier this run. more