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| Cover Artist: Terry Shoemaker |
Original Price: $3.50
Title: "Demon From Within"
Writers: Tom & Mary Bierbaum
Artist: Terry Shoemaker
Inker: Sean Parsons & Harry Candelario
Letterer: Richard Starkings & Comicraft
Colorist: Marie Javins
Editor: Bobbie Chase
Editor-in-Chief: Bob Harras
SYNOPSIS
The Cult of Hades, worshipers of the Olympian god of the underworld led by a man named Link, have discovered that one of their members, Victoria, is a traitor. The next morning, the seven young mutants of X-Force have their road trip interrupted by an earthquake. When they investigate the source of the tremors they discover a giant hand erupting from the ground, while Hercules fights with Link and the Cult of Hades. X-Force's intervention forces the Cult to flee, which slows down the emergence of the giant hand. Hercules explains that years ago he teamed up with other heroes in a team called the Champions and fought against Hades' plot to overthrow Olympus by raising a giant Titan. When Hades as stopped, Zeus forced the death god to give the five Champions the ability to counter the Titan spell if it should ever be used again. Somehow, the Cult of Hades have discovered the spell and are attempting to raise the Titan. Hercules had been alerted to the Cult's plan by Victoria, who has become smitten with Cannonball of X-Force after he saved her from Link. When Moonstar reads the spell and notes that the Titan will immediately kill the person who summons it, Victoria feigns confusion.
Hercules and X-Force contact the other four members of the Champions, and soon they are joined by Archangel, Iceman, Black Widow, and John Blaze (formerly Ghost Rider). Hercules explains the situation and the Champions begin to perform the spell to banish the Titan, but Danielle Moonstar realizes that the heroes have been tricked into freeing the Titan instead of sending it away. Link returns and finds Victoria, who tells him that she has successfully tricked the Champions into freeing the Titan, and now they will be the ones that the Titan kills. Link reveals himself to be Hades and engages in a battle with X-Force and the Champions, with the heroes quickly being overpowered. Hades gloats that he planted a false memory of the banishment spell in the minds of the Champions, who he hates after being defeated by them years ago. Iceman manages to goad Hades into admitting that it was him who orchestrated the release of the Titan, which causes the giant to turn its attention toward the god. Hades flees, leaving Victoria to be captured by X-Force after she had left Cannonball to die in an avalanche. The Champions use Hades' spell to re-open the gateway and Moonstar uses her power to conjure up a person's greatest fear against the Titan. Whatever the monster sees frightens him enough that he goes back through the gateway, which is then closed behind him.
Later, the Champions answer questions from reporters, with Black Widow stating that the team has not reformed due to them all having moved on to other things in their lives. Victoria and the rest of the Cult of Hades are taken into custody, with Cannonball confronting her about her deceit before she's taken away.
ANNOTATIONS
John Blaze last appeared in Ghost Rider: Finale and won't make his next appearance until Ghost Rider (2001) # 1.
This issue states that Blaze is still owner of the Quentin Carnival, which hasn't been seen since Blaze (1994) # 12. When Blaze reappears in Ghost Rider (2001) # 1 three years have passed and he is working in an accounting firm. Johnny visits the ruins of the abandoned Quentin Carnival in Ghost Rider (2006) # 5.
The Champions came together as a team to stop Hades' plot to conquer Olympus with the other Lords of Hell in The Champions (1975) # 1-3. The bits about the Titans and the spell to bring them to Earth were not in the original story and were retroactively added in this issue.
The Champions disbanded in a flashback sequence in Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man # 17.
REVIEW
The Champions reunite for a team-up with X-Force in this seriously bizarre Annual from 1998.
For decades, the Champions of Los Angeles were nothing more than an embarrassing footnote for the five characters that made up the team's core cast. Sometimes there was a casual reference, usually in regards to the team's failure to do anything much of note, but everyone seemed to be pretty happy to forget that the team (and similarly the comic series) ever existed. Hercules had gone on to be a mainstay of the Avengers for many years, Black Widow found a home with Daredevil and then the Avengers for a long tenure, Iceman and Angel bounced from the Defenders to X-Factor and finally back to their home in the X-Men, and Johnny Blaze seemed content as a partner to the second Ghost Rider. No one ever expected or even desired to see those characters reunite as a team again, but lo there came the year 1998. That year, all of Marvel's Annuals had a "team-up" gimmick, like the X-Men/Fantastic Four or Deadpool/Daredevil. Most of them were pretty straight forward, but then X-Force found themselves without a dance partner...
...and the Champions returned!
These days, a Champions reunion isn't far-fetched at all, and in fact is going to actually happen again soon in the pages of Iceman's ongoing series. There's a new Champions series running, albeit one with a totally different line-up and concept, and the original Champions series has seen numerous reprints and flashback stories published. Back in 1998, though, this was a huge surprise for readers, but not one that was necessarily important enough to set the sales charts on fire. The Champions have never been a team that needed to exist, and the only thing that warranted its resurrection either in '98 or today is nostalgia. Still, this comic was published and I guess we need to acknowledge it, especially since it's the last time Johnny Blaze makes an appearance until 2001's "The Hammer Lane".
All told, really, this isn't a bad comic, and it does hit all of the nostalgia points that one should expect and demand if they're really going to reunite the "Team For the Common Man". The heroes have a reason to reunite, even if it's a bit contrived and reliant on a retcon of how their first story-arc ended back in 1975 (though hell, it's more of a reason than they had when the team actually formed in the first place, so it's got that going for it at least). Hades' plot doesn't make a ton of sense; if he's wanting to raise the Titan to conquer Olympus, then why is he releasing it on Earth at all? Is he really just wanting to dick over the Champions, is that his only real endgame in all of this? It's nice that the Champions get to actually affect the plot and are the ones responsible for defeating Hades again, not with their superpowers but with their brains and ability to mock bad guys on a Spider-Man level. It's also interesting to see these characters together again after all the changes made to them over the decades since the team disbanded, with Blaze no longer Ghost Rider and Angel being the blue-skinned Archangel (and Hercules being beardless for some strange reason). X-Force get their appropriate amount of time being showcased, of course, with romantic subplots carried over from their series proper that actually add to the story in this issue.
The artwork is by Terry Shoemaker, who I recognize from his numerous fill-in gigs on the late 1980s X-Men line of books, specifically New Mutants and X-Factor. His work has gotten a lot sharper since those days, and his work here is crisp and really engaging. Why this guy didn't have a better career in comics I don't know, and I'm not sure if he did anything of note after this issue, but his work here is really quite good. He has a staggering amount of characters to juggle, and none of X-Force are in costumes at all, so making them stand out in their late 90s plain clothes (lots of Jnco and Dungarees, I imagine) was a monumental feat. He also gets the scale right for a story like this involving a giant figure emerging from the Earth, it really feels like something godly is going on around these characters.
The Champions never needed to reunite, they're a team that no one cared about in 1998. Still, I'm glad they did, and I'm glad the creators did them justice.
Grade: B+
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