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Champions #18

Mar 2018
Mark Waid, Humberto Ramos

Story Name:

Champion for a day: part 3


Synopsis

Champions #18 synopsis by Rob Johnson
Rating: 4 stars
Ms. Marvel (Kamala Khan), Nova (Sam Alexander) and Spider-Man (Miles Morales) have just arrived at Vision's house to find that now-human Viv Vision has just stabbed synthezoid Viv 2.0 through the 'heart' with a lampstand. Nova contacts Hulk (Amadeus Cho) for help. And then Vision and Wasp (Nadia Pym) arrive. Wasp flies into Viv 2.0's head and finds a small amount of electrical activity - she needs to be put in cerebrostasis. Then they notice that human Viv has run off.

Hulk brings the rest of the Champions (teen Cyclops, Falcon (Joaquin Torres), Ironheart, Patriot (Shaun Lucas) and Red Locust) to help. He stays with Vision and Wasp while the rest go search for Viv. Vision locates trace memories in Viv 2.0's brain which show that she had gone paranoid (affected by the computer virus Nadia isolated last issue). She had tried to kill her human 'sister' who was forced to protect herself. Vision rushes off to join the hunt.

The Champs have split up in 1's and 2's. They still think it is human Viv who's gone mad, probably caused when the High Evolutionary converted her from synthezoid to human (Avengers #673). And we see that Viv blames herself too.

Cyclops is with Ms Marvel who comments that he always acts so grown-up (remember that teen Scott is 1 of a version of the original X-Men who were brought forward in time from their early days as the X-Men). He explains that his pilot dad was very much an absentee parent. 1 day when Scott Summers was 7 the school bus carrying his younger brother Alex drove off erratically. Scott caught up with it and forced his way in and stopped it. The driver had had a heart attack. Scott rang for help but it was too late. Scott expected his dad to tell him off for being reckless or for failing to save the driver. But Christopher Summers praised him for his maturity and spent time with him. Kamala tells Scott she really likes having him around.

It's Vision who finds Viv hiding in a storm drain - her favourite hide & seek place. He explains that they know what happened from 2.0's memories and tells her she mustn't feel guilty. Viv says she doesn't because she did it to save Vision himself. (Last issue we saw that 2.0 intended to kill their 'father' too.) But she knows 2.0 wasn't really to blame.

They all gather round 2.0's body in a liquid-filled tube. Vision says he and Nadia have repaired the synthezoid body but the brain is dead. Viv asks the Champs to leave her with her sister, father and Wasp. She says she wants to fix things, and has a whispered chat with Nadia, who is uncomfortable with her plan but agrees. Viv asks Vision if he would prefer to be human. Vizh says he's happy as he is. Viv says so was she ...

... and Wasp puts a helmet on her head connected to 2.0's tube. Nadia stops Vision from interfering (she's *that* strong?!) as Viv's body is disintegrated (why exactly is this necessary?). And Viv 2.0 opens her eyes and breaks free of her tube. She clings to Vision saying this was the only way to save both versions. The Champions rush in to see what's happened as Vision puts his cape around his 'naked' daughter.

Everybody has a celebration to welcome Viv back on the team. But Cyke takes MsM outside and say he has to go. The other young X-Men need him for a big mission. He'd rather stay here with the 'family' he can relax with. But as the 1st X-Man he has a burden of responsibility to the others. They hug and Scott leaves her with the advice to be true to what the Champions stand for.

The others have overheard so Kamala doesn't have to explain to them. She tells them that all they've been doing is fighting supervillains lately, and that isn't what they set out to do. They were out to change the world. The others tell her not to take all the blame for that on herself, and they'll follow her in trying to do better.


 

Review / Commentaries


Champions #18 Review by (April 6, 2018)
The young X-Men's mission Cyclops talks about might be with Venom in space in the Poison-X story arc, and then maybe the Venomised follow-up.

Next issue a new writer and artist Jim Zub and Sean Izaakse take over for a new direction. The solicit and cover let us know that Ironheart and Wasp stay on the team. But they don't mention/show Falcon, Patriot or Red Locust.



> Champions comic book info and issue index

Elektra

Excelsioring your collection:
DIAMOND SELECT TOYS Marvel Premier Collection: Cyclops Statue, Multicolor 11 inches
Holy smokes, Batman!
(The Boy Wonder)

Humberto Ramos
Victor Olazaba
Edgar Delgado
Humberto Ramos (Cover Penciler)
Humberto Ramos (Cover Inker)
Edgar Delgado (Cover Colorist)
Additional Credits
Letterer: Clayton Cowles.
Editor: Tom Brevoort.

Characters

Listed in Alphabetical Order.

Cyclops
Cyclops

(Scott Summers)
Falcon
Falcon

(Joaquin Torres)
Hulk
Hulk

(Amadeus Cho)
Ironheart
Ironheart

(Riri Williams)
Ms. Marvel
Ms. Marvel

(Kamala Khan)
Nova
Nova

(Sam Alexander)
Spider-Man
Spider-Man

(Miles Morales)
Wasp
Wasp

(Nadia Pym)

Plus: Locust (Fernanda Rodriguez), Patriot (Shaun Lucas).