Champions #4 Review

Writer: Jim Zub / Artist: Steven Cummings / Marvel Comics Leave it to the devil to emotionally cripple and break one of the most positive and endearing teams in the Marvel universe. Why do you ask? Well, it seems that sweet, once hopeful young hero tears are tastier than honey and, to put it simply, because he could. We continue with Kamela confronting Miles about hiding the truth from her. More than any book, I give the Champions series a ton of credit for forming the relationship between Ms. Marvel and Spider-Man. Kamela and Miles are best friends and closer than any other members of the team. That’s why I think this issue and the scenes with the two of them work so well. It’s emotionally charged and heartbreaking to see Miles confess the deal he made to save her and Viv’s lives. If it weren’t the two of them and if Champions didn’t build their relationship as friends and leaders, I don’t think it would have had the same impact.

While Kamela and Miles’ falling out of sorts is definitely the highlight of the issue, we do get some action in the form of Kaldera going HAM on poor powerless Sam. Without Kamela and Miles, it’s actually kind of fun to watch the team scramble to try and save Sam. They aren’t exactly powerless, but there is definitely a loss of direction without Kamela in charge. Cummings artwork was practically made for explosive action scenes that look damn good in every panel. It also helps that he gets to play with a lot of the teams’ different powers and abili…