While I think your rating is overly harsh, you have incisive critiques. This whole volume has been non-stop disasters for the Champions and it reflects poorly on them individually and as a team.
• Fear, doubt, and deception...The Champions' ideals are about to be tested, and not everyone will make the grade.
• Plus, the return of the Freelancers and the fate of Sam Alexander!
Rated T+
As we near the end of this volume of Champions, this issue provides some fun, vibrant action, some advancement for Sam, and some wonderful teen-superhero banter! I just wish the creative team had a couple more issues to work with, so the inevitable close doesn't feel so rushed. Read Full Review
Champions #8 brings the return of Sam Alexander and Nova to a close. Considering how the next two issues look based on the covers, we all pretty much knew that this was going to be the return of Nova. However, the devil is in the details and fortunately that did not betray us in this issue. It was fun, chaotic, and enlightening for the direction that this team is now taking. Read Full Review
Together Zub and Cummings elevate what could have been a fairly pedestrian fight and, through careful plotting, attention to detail and deft characterization, make it into something genuinely exhilarating. Sam Alexander gets some hard-earned character development, and the final page alone provides a compelling reason to pick up the next issue. In short, this issue is well worth your time. Read Full Review
Sam Alexander has never been better, which helps a lot in the absence of Kamala and Miles. Read Full Review
Champions #8 is a visually striking issue, full of character development and changes to keep fans occupied. Read Full Review
While the current heroes of the Champions might not acknowledge it too much, the absence of the core members is felt. One question that concerns me is how Sam will react once he gets caught up to speed on everything that has happened. Next issue looks like it might be a good test for the remaining heroes on the team. Read Full Review
I am really, really sad to learn this series was canceled because month in month out Zub and Cummings continue to amaze me. Sam finally gets his helmet back, Kaldera is defeated and turned into the Nova Corps, and Ironheart takes out Viv Vision. My guess is that Riri is infected by Mephisto or something. Good to see the Freelancers again as well
"This isn't a game Kaldera. You're a murdere. that's more important than your honor or my pride."
Solid issue.
Maybe a little rushed, I dunno, it was fine.
I'm gettin' pretty tired of Scott Adsit and his whole "what if the Nova Corps was run by a George Costanza type" premise. Here, it joins a too-long roster of obnoxious elements that straddle the border between "funny bad" and "annoying bad." Others = Power Man's jerkitude, Kaldera's Manic Pixie Dream Klingon act, and the Freelancers' hackneyed dialogue. Jamming all that into 20 pages hits a Lemony-Snickety critical mass; no matter how ironically self-aware it is, it's too much awfulness for one comic.
Sam finally gets his powers back! He didn't do anything to deserve them or earn them back, he just attacked a Nova corp ship, then led a space psycho into attacking an Earth military facility and stole it back in the confusion. Its hard to think of a worse way this could have gone down. The B-squad Champions still barely work as a team and look pretty incompetent. Viv doesn't even get to shine as a new leader, because she's immediately taken out by some kind of shapeshifter disguised as Ironheart.
Its no surprise that this is getting cancelled. Zub's incredibly bad writing has created a series where the unintentional theme has been that the Champions don't work well together, are generally immature and incompetent, make bad d more