One of the more … questionable creative moves by Marvel in the mid-70s was giving the green light to Tony Isabella‘s The Champions, a west coast-based super-team comprised of Hercules, the Black Widow, Angel, Iceman, and … Ghost Rider(??)
As yours truly recently discovered over $250 in Amazon cards while cleaning the office, I purchased the “Marvel Masterworks” edition of The Champions just to take me back to my early junior high school years. That, and George Tuska‘s (late) and John Byrne‘s (early) pencilwork.
Isabella has a rather lengthy foreword in which he points out he is the alleged creative genius behind the then-new super-team, not to mention Black Goliath (“who I wanted to call ‘Giant-Man,'” he says) and Tigra. Isabella says he originally wanted the book to be just about the Angel and Iceman in their then-new post-X-Men era (the “all-new, all-great” Uncanny X-Men featuring Wolverine, Nightcrawler, et. al. had just debuted), but editor Len Wein insisted all super-teams had to have five members. That Isabella pointed out the Fantastic Four didn’t have five members apparently didn’t faze Wein.
To say the title got off to an ignominious start is an understatement. I mean, getting a past-his-prime Don Heck as your debut artist isn’t gonna help bring in readers. Not to mention the convoluted, mystic-heavy plot of the first few issues (“disgruntled gods” from Olympus seek to kidnap Hercules and Venus) that ultimately brings this cast of characters together. Thankfully, by issue #3 longtime Iron Man artist Tuska came on board (with Vinnie Colletta on inks; I’m one of the few out there who actually appreciates this guy’s work according to Internet banter), and then Byrne, who was just beginning to make people take notice of his stellar pictures.
Alas, even the then-mega-talented art of Byrne couldn’t save the crappy scripts, and by issue #17 The Champions was done. An Iron Man-like villain, Rampage, proved popular enough that he reappeared several times in the book after his issue #5 debut, and Isabella’s Black Goliath (Bill Foster, who debuted a decade before in the pages of The Avengers and did end up being renamed — Goliath) also ends up playing a big role in the book.
Isabella certainly is an interesting character himself; earlier this year, he came out as transgender under the name “Jenny Blake Isabella,” the middle name an homage to Thor‘s old alter-ego Don Blake.
But hey, don’t fret about “deadnaming” Isabella — he’ll be using both his names creatively moving forward. “Whether I use Tony or Jenny will depend on the project,” he said. “For example, if I were to write another Black Lightning series, it would make sense on several levels, including commercial, for me to go with Tony. If I were to write a series starring his daughters, Jenny might be more appropriate. I haven’t yet decided which name will go on my new trans super-hero series. It could be both.”
Isabella recognizes he came out “at an especially fraught time for trans and non-binary Americans, with the second Trump administration more hellbent than ever on erasing them,” according to The Beat.
“My transition will be expensive, especially if the Nazis running our nation continue their cruel assaults on trans people and our medical care,” Isabella said. “As it is, only my medications and therapy are paid for. Anything else would be considered cosmetic and not covered. Indeed, because of odd complications, I’ll be paying for therapy out of pocket until July.”
Wow, my heart bleeds for the guy, er, girl. He’s gotta pay for his own therapy?? (Hurry up, asteroid.) You can read about Isabella’s gender, er, “journey” at his personal blog.
As for The Champions, if you’re an old school guy like me who appreciates ’70s-style dialogue and, with few exceptions, good artwork, it’s worth picking up if only for the generational value. But I discovered this collection is hard to find for an inexpensive price (even in paperback). Unless you discover some gift cards like I did, I wouldn’t put out more than the list price for the trade paperback.
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English (US) · 