Written by MATT FRACTION
Pencils and Cover by BARRY KITSON
Variant Cover by STEVE MCNIVEN
THE CHAMPIONS introduces the all-new and Los Angeles-based crown jewel in Tony Stark’s FIFTY-STATE INITIATIVE. A team of Stark-branded and created super heroes, these young actors, athletes and models are infused with tremendous powers and even more tremendous fame, reborn as the First Super Hero Team of Tomorrow™ -- THE CHAMPIONS. Here the same ol'-same ol' means hooking up at the Standard, drinks at SkyBar and a death-duel on Sunset Blvd. against some villain too stupid to realize that, in Hollywood, the good guys always win. The catch: you can be fired at any point along the way. And every inch of your life will be subjected to intense public scrutiny. And if you survive all that for a whole year, you'll face mandatory retirement. And there's no guarantee you'll live to see that retirement. If you had one year to save the world, what would you do?
BONUS REVIEW by W. DAL BUSH
"The era of glamorous decadence and unchecked indulgence in our super heroes is finished." And with that, the amazingly talented Matt Fraction helps put a nail in the beyond-played-out Authority-style superteam. Yes, gang, it's time for a superhero team book that treats heroism as more than just punching someone through a wall and tossing off a pithy one-liner about which premium vodka you're going to guzzle on your date with a supermodel. Yeah, it's time a team book was about something more. Thank goodness Matt Fraction and Barry Kitson are here to give it to us. 9 Grahams
