The Champions (July 15, 1975) – This Day In Comics
The Champions are a team of superheroes who first appear in The Champions #1 (July 15, 1975).
The short-lived team starred a variety of superheroes such as Hercules, Ghost Rider, Iceman, Angel, Dark Star and the Black Widow. Writer and publisher David Anthony Kraftis credited with naming the team, with the title originally intended to be published in Giant-Size format as Giant-Size Champions. Production difficulties, which caused a three-month delay between the first and second issues, prevented this. The title was eventually published as The Champions, and ran for seventeen issues.
The team battled established Marvel villains such as Pluto; the Griffin; the Titanium Man and Crimson Dynamo; Warlord Kaa; the Stranger; Kamo Tharnn; and new foes such as Rampage and Swarm. The second-to-last issue continued a story involving a power struggle between villains Doctor Doom and Magneto from the title Super-Villain Team-Up. The last issue’s storyline involving an attack by the Sentinels is referenced in the title Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man, which explains in flashback how the team disbanded. Since 1987, Heroic Publishing has used the name “The Champions” for a role-playing game series which has been adapted into comic books. The United States Patent and Trademark Office has ruled that Marvel abandoned its trademark of the name and can no longer use “The Champions” as the name of a comic book series.
