Spinning out of Spider-Woman #10, the New Champions is a new teen superhero series with an eclectic group of heroes trying to change the world. Marvel has always had a special focus on young heroes thriving, be it Young Avengers or Champions, but to shake things up even further, nearly all of the characters in this book will be brand new to readers. There’s no Ms. Marvel to draw in audiences, making it a heavier lift to grab your attention. That said, with a lack of teen hero books on the shelf, maybe New Champions has the edge.
New Champions #1 opens with The Brothers Grimm stealing a safe, complete with a handy caption to let us know who they are. That same caption style is used for every New Champion character, making it fairly easy to get acquainted quickly. They show up to stop The Brothers Grimm, and it’s fairly easy, given their powers. What’s not easy is getting home, as they all take the bus unless their teleporter, Hellrune, is open to it.
From there, the story delves into the personal lives of each character, nearly all of which live with their parents or foster parents. Writer Steve Foxe and artist Ivan Fiorelli (with Ig Guara) efficiently tap into each member’s unique home life, widening the reliability readers might have with the team. They may be heroes by day, but they’re very much kids living under their parents’ roofs by night.
Here they come!
Credit: Marvel
That goes for everyone except Hellrune, who we learn is trying to find any blood relatives she can. Her foster parents understand her powers and such, but she yearns to find a connection to who she is. This yearning is the crux of the conflict, as she seeks out an aunt who gets her into a sticky situation involving zombie Vikings. This leads to the team coming to her aid with a rather clever twist that’ll open things up a lot in the next issue.
If you’re looking for team dynamics, this issue begins to carve out the roles of the team. Much more strongly written is the youthful voices and dynamics of teen heroes. Foxe does a good job making it quite clear these aren’t adult heroes with answers or even their confidence. They’re doing their best, and you get the sense there’s a lot of learning and growing up to do between them.
We get to know them largely via dialogue, which sometimes runs long. Outside of the opening and closing action, this issue spends so much time with the parental aspects of the characters that you end up wishing there was more character development for the heroes themselves. I’m sure it’ll come in time, but the balance feels a bit off here.
New Champions #1 succeeds in crafting an accessible and engaging introduction to a brand-new team, balancing heartfelt personal stories with the challenges of heroism. While the pacing and action could use refinement, the emotional core and supernatural twist set up a promising future for this series. Fans of teen superhero stories and character-driven narratives will find much to enjoy.
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