Next Page
#1
#2
#3
Selector

Contest of Champions (1982 series) #1


Bill Mantlo
writer
 |  John Romita Jr.
penciler

Contest of Champions (1982 series) #1 cover

Story Name:

A gathering of heroes


Synopsis

Contest of Champions (1982 series) #1 synopsis by reviewer Peter Silvestro
Rating: 3 stars

Synopsis by Pedro

All of Marvel’s super heroes have disappeared from Earth only to appear in an athletic stadium orbiting the planet. Their abductors are the galactic gamesman known as the Grandmaster and a mysterious entity called the Unknown! Twenty-four of the mightiest heroes are chosen for a contest—to compete for the four pieces of the Golden Globe of Life, hidden at the far corners of the Earth! If the Grandmaster’s team wins, the unknown will restore his dead brother to life! If he loses, the Gamesman will join his brother in oblivion!



Synopsis by Peter Silvestro

The Grandmaster enters into a contest with an unknown opponent, determining to use Earth’s heroes as the pawns. Suddenly, the Avengers vanish from their training session at the mansion; the Soviet Super-Soldiers disappear while in confrontation with the Red Ghost; the Fantastic Four are whisked away from a dinner in their honor. All over the world heroes vanish: from America, Spider-Man, the X-Men, Hulk, Daredevil…other countries’ heroes as well: Captain Britain, Japan’s Sunfire, Defensor from Argentina, the Israeli Sabra and the Arabian Knight, China’s Collective Man…all to find themselves in a giant sport arena. After puzzled attempts to make sense of their situation, the Grandmaster and the Unknown appear before them. The two immortals explain that they are here to play a game: each being will choose a team of twelve champions to compete for the four quarters of the Golden Globe of Life. The prize: if Grandmaster’s team wins, his brother, the Collector, will be restored to life; if not, he joins his brother in death. The immortals choose their teams from among the human heroes assembled, disqualifying gods, immortals, aliens, androids, etc. The Golden Globe of Life is quartered and its pieces hidden around the world. Earth is placed in a time lock for the duration of the contest and should any heroes fail to return, the Earth will remain in suspended animation for all eternity. Let the games begin!

Grandmaster’s Team: Captain America, Talisman, Darkstar, Wolverine, Captain Britain, Sasquatch, She-Hulk, Daredevil, Thing, Defensor, Le Peregrine, Blitzkreig.

Unknown’s Team: Iron Man, Shamrock, Iron Fist, Storm, Arabian Knight, Angel, Sabra, Invisible Girl, Sunfire, Black Panther, Collective Man, Vanguard.

Fantastic Four Team Logo 17.5" Blue Adult Backpack
Give that special marvelite a timely gift
INCREDIBLE HULK EPIC COLLECTION: IN THE HANDS OF HYDRA
Give that special marvelite a timely gift


Characters
Good (or All)
ANTMAN  
Ant-Man
(Hank Pym)
BEAST  
Beast
(Hank McCoy)
BLACKBOLT  
Black Bolt
(Blackagar Boltagon)
BLACKWIDOW  
Black Widow
(Natasha Romanoff)
CAP  
Captain America
(Steve Rogers)
COLLECTOR  
Collector
(Taneleer Tivan)
CRIMSONDYNAMO  
Crimson Dynamo
(Anton Vanko)
CYCLOPS  
Cyclops
(Scott Summers)
DAREDEVIL  
Daredevil
(Matt Murdock)
DARKSTAR  
Darkstar
(Laynia Petrovna)
DOCSAMSON  
Doc Samson
(Leonard Samson)
DOCTORSTRANGE  
Doctor Strange
(Dr Strange)
FALCON  
Falcon
(Sam Wilson)
HELLCAT  
Hellcat
(Patsy Walker)
HERCULES  
Hercules
(Heracles)
HULK  
Hulk
(Bruce Banner)
TORCH2  
Human Torch
(Johnny Storm)
INVISIBLEWOMAN  
Invisible Girl
(Sue Storm)
IRONFIST  
Iron Fist
(Danny Rand)
IRONMAN  
Iron Man
(Tony Stark)
LUKECAGE  
Luke Cage
(Power Man)
MRFANTASTIC  
Mister Fantastic
(Reed Richards)
XAVIER  
Professor X
(Charles Xavier)
SCARLETWITCH  
Scarlet Witch
(Wanda Maximoff)
SHEHULK  
She-Hulk
(Jennifer Walters)
SILVERSURFER  
Silver Surfer
(Norrin Radd)
SPIDERMAN  
Spider-Man
(Peter Parker)
THING  
Thing
(Ben Grimm)
THOR  
Thor
(Odinson)
TIGRA  
Tigra
(Greer Nelson)
URSAMAJOR  
Ursa Major
(Mikhail Uriokovitch Ursus)
VALKYRIE  
Valkyrie
(Brunnhilda)
VANGUARD  
Vanguard
(Nicolai Krylenko)
WASP  
Wasp
(Janet Van Dyne)
WOLVERINE  
Wolverine
(Logan)
WONDERMAN  
Wonder Man
(Simon Williams)

Enemies
GRANDMASTER  
Grandmaster
(En Dwi Gast)
Plus: Gypsy Moth (Sybil Dvorak).

> Contest of Champions (1982 series) comic book info and issue index



Iron Studios Hawkeye Statuette BDS Art Scale 1/10 Clint Barton 19 cm
Give that special marvelite a timely gift

Previews

Click pages to see them in the Comic Viewer.

premium content


Main/1st Story Full Credits

John Romita Jr.
Pablo Marcos
Patricia DeFalco
John Romita Jr. (Cover Penciler)
Bob Layton (Cover Inker)
Additional Credits
Plot: . Letterer: Joe Rosen.



Review / Commentaries


reviewer
Contest of Champions (1982 series) #1 Review by (February 15, 2010)
Other characters that appear in this comic: Alpha Flight: Guardian (James MacDonald Hudson), Shaman, Sasquatch, Aurora, Northstar, Snowbird. X-Men: Storm, Colossus, Nightcrawler, Kitty Pryde. Inhumans: Medusa, Quicksilver, Crystal, Gorgon, Karnak, Triton, Lockjaw. Eternals: Makkari, Karkas, Sersi, Thena. Dazzler, Moon Knight, Ka-Zar, Shanna, Devil-Slayer, Machine Man, Jack Of Hearts, Quasar, Son of Satan, Red Wolf, Sunfire, Black Knight (Dane Whitman), Captain Britain, Sabra, Collective Man, Arabian Knight, Nighthawk, Werewolf by Night, Gargoyle, ROM, Jocasta, Shroud, Dr. Druid, Stingray, Night Rider, Texas Twister, Torpedo, Moondragon, Brother Voodoo, Mockingbird, Captain Ultra, Guardsman, Living Mummy, Firebird, Whizzer, Captain Universe, 3-D Man, Peregrine (Alain Racine), Talisman, Defensor (Gabriel Carlos Dantes Sepulveda), Shamrock (Molly Fitzgerald), Blitzkrieg (Franz Mittelstaedt).

Cameos by Stan Lee, the Collector, and Korvac.


Contest of Champions (1982 series) #1 Review by (March 15, 2010)
Comments: Part one of a three-part miniseries; originally planned as a single MARVEL TREASURY EDITION. Many heroes, including Hulk and Thor, appear only in group scenes. First appearance of Blitzkrieg, Collective Man, Defensor, Peregrine, Shamrock and Talisman.

Grandmaster’s Team: Captain America, Talisman, Darkstar, Wolverine, Captain Britain, Sasquatch, She-Hulk, Daredevil, Thing, Defensor, Le Peregrine, Blitzkreig. Unknown’s Team: Iron Man, Shamrock, Iron Fist, Storm, Arabian Knight, Angel, Sabra, Invisible Girl, Sunfire, Black Panther, Collective Man, Vanguard.




Thor

The Marvel Heroes Library is a fan Marvel Comics site
Version 14.11.3 (Sep 9, 2025 - VS22)

Copyright © 1997-2025 Julio Molina-Muscara (creator, webmaster)
Site content is a collective effort by the MHL team and Marvel aficionados

Characters are copyright © Marvel or their respective owners. All portions of this Marvel fansite that are subject to copyright are licensed under a creative commons attribution 3.0 unported license All rights reserved