Back in the mid-1970s, Marvel attempted to create a new team of superheros known as the Champions. Created by Tony Isabella and Don Heck, the team consisted of original X-Men Angel and Iceman, along with the Black Widow, Hercules, Ghost Rider and Russian heroine Darkstar. The team was intended to be sort of a West Coast version of the Avengers, but the series struggled and only lasted 17 issues, ending in January 1978. Flash forward a couple of months. Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man writer Bill Mantlo had been working on The Champions series, so it made sense that he would try to bring some closure to that team in his current book.

The story opens with Spider-Man racing to Kennedy Airport to catch a flight to Los Angeles (It's 8:35 a.m. and he's got a 9 a.m. flight. Obviously, this was written in the days before airport screening procedures!) The Daily Bugle is sending Peter Parker to L.A. to document the end of the Champions. He goes to the downtown high rise that served as their headquarters. Construction on the building hadn't even been completed when the team called it quits. Because of those construction issues, two large panes of glass pop out of the window frames and fall to the street below. One of them falls directly for Peter, who is lost in his own thoughts as usual. The Angel sees the incident and flies out the window. He's able to divert one pane, but the second one continues falling toward Peter. However, the combination of his spider-sense and his superhuman leaping ability enable him to move out of the way.

The Angel goes to check on him when he delivers the news, "You're too late! The Champs are already gone! I'm the only one left! Me -- and that multi-million dollar contractor's nightmare," he says, pointing to the building behind him. However, Peter's camera was shattered by the glass. The Angel (who in real-life, is billionaire Warren Worthington III) offers to buy Peter a new camera and a cup of coffee. There, Angel tells Peter the story of the Champions' demise. "I feel responsible for this architectural mistake....Nothing works! Not even the group I built the place for! No -- the Champions didn't work either," he says.

After the group's battle with a band of Sentinel robots in Champions #17, Ghost Rider storms out, saying no one wanted him there anyway. Darkstar, who had been feeling homesick for Russia already, sees this as her cue to leave as well. This leaves Iceman (Bobby Drake) heartbroken, as he had a crush on the beautiful blonde Russian. Angel tries to comfort his long-time friend, but Iceman will have none of it, saying, "Flap, off Daddy Warbucks! When I want your advice, I'll ask for it!" He leaves and with him, the Champions crumble. "I'm just sticking around until a buyer or an earthquake takes this mausoleum off my hands," Angel tells Peter.

However, the Angel is guarded when talking about Iceman's whereabouts. Peter notices and that leads Spider-Man back to the building that night to check things out first-hand. He notices that the two falling window panes had been intentionally pried out from the inside. "If the Angel's covering up for a murderer, this is one Wall-Crawler who wants to know why!" he thinks. He discovers the Angel talking with a heavily bandaged man in a wheelchair (whose name is Stuart Clarke) -- and the conversation is getting heated. Angel accuses the man of breaking his word. "You forget that you are the last remaining member of the Champions! And you are totally within my power," he says, gesturing to a costumed, armored man behind him.

Angel grabs Clarke's shirt, sending the armored man, whom Clarke calls Rampage, forward. He smashes Angel with a powerful blow, sending him toward a wall and certain death. Only a certain Web-Slinger's webs save the Angel. Spider-Man calls out Rampage, but Angel tries to stop Spidey from hitting the mute man, who appears to be in some sort of trance. "Hey! What's with you wings? You like being a punching bag?" Spider-Man asks Angel. But Clarke orders Rampage to destroy Spider-Man. Spider-Man thinks there's something familiar about Rampage, but he can't figure out what.

After Angel once again tries to stop Spider-Man from fighting Rampage, Spidey knocks out Angel with a relatively easy blow to the jaw. "Sleep easy, fly boy! When you wake up, it'll all be over," he says. But he finds that Rampage is a considerably more difficult foe, thanks to his armored exo-skeleton which gives him far greater strength than a normal man. He puts Spider-Man in a bearhug that Spidey can't break. "He's like a zombie! He...he doesn't seem to feel any pain!" But Spider-Man does and he can't take much more. A desperate Angel throws an electrical line toward Clarke. The electricity renders Clarke unconscious and the feedback from their mental link causes Rampage to drop Spider-Man.

"But he's still on his feet -- and there's still hatred, murder, in his eyes! The feedback must have only eliminated the need for the armor to transmit Clarke's mental orders! Now their directly implanted in his brain!" The Rampage armor starts to crack and fall off and Spider-Man now understands why Angel didn't want him to fight the armored man. Because underneath the Rampage armor is none other than a brainwashed Bobby Drake -- the Iceman! And he'll be far more deadly commanding his own powers than he was wearing the Rampage armor!

For Champions fans, this issue had to feel like an abrupt ending to that team's adventures. But for Spider-Man fans, this story presented a neat little two-part adventure. The mystery of Rampage and the reveal on the last page that Iceman is underneath the armor elevates this issue to the level of a really good story. And we still have more questions for the next issue -- who is Stuart Clarke? And how did he get control of the Iceman? Answers, and more excitement, are sure to follow. It's a nice way to get readers to come back for the following issue.

It's also neat to see Spider-Man leave New York for a couple of issues. Don't get me wrong: Spider-Man belongs in New York City and that's where the vast majority of his adventures should take place. But as a change of pace, it's fun to see him go to a new environment. However, I do wish that we had gotten a few more Los Angeles landmarks, as we did Paris landmarks when Spidey went to France in Amazing Spider-Man #143-144.

Next issue: A Champion gone mad! Can Spider-Man and the Angel stop the rampaging Iceman?

Reviewed by Bruce Buchanan.

Reprinted In:
Marvel Tales #228