Champions #21
Marvel Comics
Writer: Jim Zub
Artist: Sean Izaakse
In the latest chapter of Champions, we get the concluding introduction to Amka Aliyak, an Inuktitut who merges with a spirit of the land. I have to admit I have always been a fan of the Canadian Avengers team Alpha Flight. Seeing them cameo in this issue had me excited. There is plenty of action as the Champions and Alpha Flight clash over how to handle The Master of the World.
The Master is an obscure character who fought the Avengers and Alpha Flight in the past when he was using alien technology to conquer the world. He is now in the Arctic using his technology to repair the receding glacial ice. He explains that he is repairing the Earth in order to make sure it is still available to conquer. The Champions believe he should continue to work since he is repairing the Earth. Alpha Flight believes that he is dangerous and there is likely more to his generosity. Although the Champions wish to talk out the disagreement a foolish move from Alpha Flight member sparks a fight between the teams.
The fight creates an opportunity for various members of both teams to interact. The exchanges of dialog between the combatants give us strong disposition for those involved. One of my favorites was the team-up of Sasquatch and Snowbird against the Hulk (Amadeus Cho).
Wasp (Nadia Van Dyne) uses her Pym Particles to miniaturize Sasquatch interrupting the Hulk beat-down. This is followed by Nadia appropriately geeking out over meeting doctor Langkowski (Sasquatch) since she is a big fan of his Gamma radiation research papers. There are some members that get lost in the background without major involvement. There is such a large cast of characters that this can be expected. Viv Vision, for example, is relegated to small comments and pleas to the Alpha Flight in the background of scenes.
After the small conflict, there is a brief conglomeration as the teams try to help Amka. While the teams fought Miles Morales (Spider-Man) sneaks away to get information on The Master’s facilities. He frees Amka sending her crashing through the facility in confusion. Amka gets a chance to show off her abilities before explaining to everyone how The Master was using the Inuktitut spirit that possesses her to power his machines. This revelation, of course, causes both teams to turn on the Master.
Later we get closure to the long building contention between Kamala Khan (Ms. Marvel) and her mentor Carol Danvers (Captain Marvel) that started in the Civil War II event. After disagreeing with the way Carol was using predictive justice the two became estranged in the pages of Ms. Marvel. It is nothing new seeing a storyline carry through various titles. Marvel writers would find ways to complete the story in their new assignments when abruptly canceled or moved from a title in the eighties. Starlin’s prelude to Infinity Gauntlet would do this through Marvel Premier, Warlock, and Silver Surfer books.
While there is plenty of action in this chapter it does suffer from pacing issues. The conclusion to the issue moves along at a hurried pace as Jim Zub tries to fit in Amka’s motivations for leaving and initiation into her new team before the issue can end. This could be an issue more of Marvels need to have story arcs fit in a neat trade paperback format rather than have the character join naturally.
I am a fan of the art. Sean Izaakse puts a lot of detail and thought into costumes and panel layouts. I appreciated the fact that he gave characters whose powers do not make them impervious to cold weather wear coats. The coats are a nice detail I feel is often overlooked. The facial expressions and body language bring life to the characters. Marcio Menyz does a good job with colors though some outlines were a bit too defined.
Mark Waid did a great job with this book in building the characters. It feels like Jim Zub is a good choice to continue that team building. He has a strong grasp on what made this teamwork. The writing feels similar to teen books like The New Mutants or Teen Titans in the past. I would recommend this issue, but to get the full arc introducing new member Snowguard go back to issue nineteen.
Champions #21
We are given a team-up of Alpha Flight and Champions that is a lot of old-school fun leading to a good conclusion to the story.
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