Champions vol. 2: The Freelancer Lifestyle

I think Mark Waid’s strengths as a writer lie in character development and a willingness to subvert convention when necessary.  These are the things that made his run on “Daredevil” so great after all.  With “Champions” it’s all about channelling a youthful spirit of rebellion and that’s something he hasn’t quite nailed here.  To his credit, I imagine it’s pretty hard to write a story about fighting back against the established social order in a comic book that’s part of a corporate-owned superhero universe.  Which is why the stories here which focus on that, by way of an anti-Champions team — The Freelancers — who fight for corporate interests and the fallout from the team’s logo being trademarked and merchandised to ruin their street cred, come off as you’d expect and feel out of touch as a result.  The parts of this volume which fare the best are when the kids are either hanging out with each other and having fun.  Either during a paintball game, a movie night, teaming up with a new local hero, or watching out for young Scott Summers after he learns to cut loose after being blasted by the Psycho-Man’s emotion box.

Mention of this is buried in the text box on the back of the volume, but this volume also contains a couple tie-in issues to “Secret Empire.”  The first is fine in that it has the team headed to an Inhuman relocation camp in New Mexico and running into some problems when not everyone wants to leave.  As for the second, it focuses on the emotional toll the Champions endure when they take part in the rescue operation in the wake of Hydra’s destruction of Las Vegas.  Much as the issue tries to sell you on this being an emotionally draining task, it’s hard to be too involved since you know that the city was restored to its former glory like nothing happened at the end of the crossover.  Humberto Ramos does strong work here, as well as for the volume as a whole.  While Waid’s writing may be uneven here, Ramos’ energy continues to be perfect for a story about kids who have the passion to try and change the world.  Even if that is kind of a fruitless goal when you live in the Marvel Universe.