The Champions (1975) # 13

“The Doom That Went on Forever!”

Cover Date: May 1977

On Sale Date: February 1977

Writer: Bill Mantlo

Artist: John Byrne

Inker: Bob Layton

Letterer: Irving Watanabe

Colorists: Bruce Patterson & George Roussos

Editor: Archie Goodwin

Cover Artist: Dave Cockrum

Black Goliath arrives back at the Champions’ headquarters and finds the Null-Life Bomb growing out of the top of the building. He climbs up to investigate, only to get sucked inside the bomb himself. Meanwhile, on another world the Champions are surrounded by the beast men of Kamo Tharn. Realizing that the Stranger must have sent them there to retrieve Tharn’s Runestaff, Hercules tells his teammates that he had already taken the staff to Earth on a previous adventure. Furious that Hercules stole his Runestaff, Kamo Tharn orders his beast men to attack. During the fight, Darkstar notices the last trace of the Stranger’s portal and uses her power to enter it. Thinking she is in danger, Iceman jumps through the portal after her just before it closes, sending him into the depths of space.

Back on Earth, Black Goliath finds the Stranger and Regina Clayborne inside the space of the bomb. Black Goliath tries to destroy the original bomb device but instead activates a series of defensive robots that begin to batter him unconscious. Elsewhere, Iceman and Darkstar travel separately through space, one in a sphere of darkforce and one in a sphere of ice. On Kamo Tharn’s world, the remaining Champions are attacked by demonic beasts, and Angel watches as Black Widow, Ghost Rider, and Hercules are all killed one after the other. Within the bomb on Earth, Darkstar and Iceman emerge through the portal, but Iceman is weak and near death. Darkstar explains that the Runestaff is on Earth and the Strange opens a portal for her to retrieve it, then tells her that she must use it herself. Angel snaps out of his trance, realizing that the other Champions’ deaths were all an illusion caused by Kamo Tharn. Furious, Angel knocks Tharn out with a punch. Using the power of the Runestaff, Darkstar and the Stranger cause the bomb to expand past its limits, eventually causing it to fade into nothingness. As the Stranger departs he teleports the rest of the Champions back to their headquarters to reunite with their teammates.

Ghost Rider's best showing in the series so far.

THE ROADMAP

Johnny Blaze makes his next appearance in Ghost Rider (1973) # 22.

According to this issue’s footnotes, Hercules and the Lady Sif stole Kamo Tharn’s Runestaff in Thor # 235.

CHAIN REACTION

The Black Goliath/Stranger arc wraps up in what is easily the best issue of this series so far.

When he’s not distracting us with Warlord Kaa and the Stilt-Man, writer Bill Mantlo is able to turn in a really tight plot here, which if anything means he’s probably just been juggling too many balls in the air at one time. The Crimson Dynamo arc was convoluted and stretched out more than it needed to be, but that was a story he inherited from the outgoing writer, so I can’t fault Mantlo for wrapping it up the way he did. He still seemed to be finding his footing to differentiate the Champions from other teams, putting them up against some less than notable villains, and while this is still a by-the-numbers superhero team comic it’s a very well-crafted one. Granted, this is a story that could have starred the Avengers, the Fantastic Four, or the Defenders and not had to change very much, but that’s more a condemnation of the title’s weak concept more than this as an individual issue.

Mantlo obviously likes to pull in his obscure bits of Marvel lore for this series, such as with Kaa and Stilt-Man in the previous issues. I’m aware of the Stranger as a character, he’s one of those cosmic beings like Galactus and the In-Betweener that show up from time to time, but this may be the only story I’ve ever actually read with him. Kamo Tharn, on the other hand, is a total mystery even with the Thor footnotes by the editor. I’m not sure what his deal is, this issue doesn’t really explain much about him other than establishing his history with Hercules, but he’s ultimately inconsequential to the story’s resolution. The best part, surprisingly, is the interactions between the characters and their utterly dysfunctional team dynamics. Mantlo is able to put in a lot of really nice character touches, such as Iceman’s feeling of neglect when Darkstar doesn’t pay any attention to him tagging along through space with her and Ghost Rider’s fury when he sees the Black Widow’s dead body. 

This is also the first issue where the story rises to the level of John Byrne’s artwork, which continues to be wonderful. If anything, Byrne has legitimized this series as a serious Marvel comic, giving a weight and pathos to events that probably would have been silly if drawn by Don Heck or George Tuska. He also produces Ghost Rider’s best moment in the entire series when he attempts to avenge the Widow’s death, his flaming skeleton showing beneath his torn leathers. It’s a striking sequence of panels that really sells the gradual darkening of Ghost Rider’s character and his role within the team.

Though this arc didn’t start out so strong it certainly ended on a high note, and it’s telling that I’m now actively enjoying this series as more than just a nostalgic curio.

"...words!"