Champions: The "official" comic book

[quozaxx]

If Hero Systems, ever came out with an "official" Champions comic book, would you buy it?

 

I know that in the late 80s early 90s there was a comic based on the Champions, but things have changed since then.

 

Would you like it displayed in comic book stores, Gaming stores, or both?

[Fedifensor]

Re: Champions: The "official" comic book

 

The previous Champions comic book was a good reflection of the current comics of that time. Some cheesy bits, but I liked it a lot.

 

I'm just not a big fan of the current trend of comics, with lots of deaths, and the "grim and gritty" feel. So if it was in the vein of the current comics, I'd probably buy one issue, be disappointed, and skip the rest.

[Shaft]

Re: Champions: The "official" comic book

 

if it was in the vein of the current comics' date=' I'd probably buy one issue, be disappointed, and skip the rest.[/quote']

 

The problem with comic continuities in recent years is that there is too much baggage, and too many different people with different tastes trying to control it. The core DC heroes have about 70 years of history, with no plan for consistency for the first half of it. Crisis on Infinite Earths allowed for a reboot, but that was twenty years ago, and it's clear that the weight of the numerous titles going in different directions is starting to put some strain on the overall flow of the continuity.

 

Marvel is a little more consistent since it "only" has about 40 years of history to contain, and in the early days, it was mostly Stan Lee and Jack Kirby overseeing everything, but those early days were written just to make deadlines and no over all plan was ever made. Now, as time has passed, with a big event that changes everything every summer, it has long since collapsed on itself. The Ultimate Continuity is potentially better since it has less titles and it can pick the best plotlines of Marvel's era and shed the crap, but it looks like Ultimate Spidey is the only title in that timeline that is being handled well.

 

Even Champions continuity has been redone- the original game didn't have much of a history. It's only around the time of the Fourth Edition that a meta-history started being written out, and even that got a reboot when Steve Long took over with DOJ.

 

My belief is that for a Champions comic to stay consistent with the standards that have already been established, Steve would want to oversee each title personally- a task which, as Marvel and DC have shown, is not really possible. Thus, Champions history is best handled in less frequent update books instead of a monthly periodical.

 

Having said that, I'd probably try it if one did come out. A small number of titles might be controlable...

[BobGreenwade]

Re: Champions: The "official" comic book

 

The problem with comic continuities in recent years is that there is too much baggage, and too many different people with different tastes trying to control it. The core DC heroes have about 70 years of history, with no plan for consistency for the first half of it. Crisis on Infinite Earths allowed for a reboot, but that was twenty years ago, and it's clear that the weight of the numerous titles going in different directions is starting to put some strain on the overall flow of the continuity.

 

Marvel is a little more consistent since it "only" has about 40 years of history to contain, and in the early days, it was mostly Stan Lee and Jack Kirby overseeing everything, but those early days were written just to make deadlines and no over all plan was ever made. Now, as time has passed, with a big event that changes everything every summer, it has long since collapsed on itself. The Ultimate Continuity is potentially better since it has less titles and it can pick the best plotlines of Marvel's era and shed the crap, but it looks like Ultimate Spidey is the only title in that timeline that is being handled well.

 

Even Champions continuity has been redone- the original game didn't have much of a history. It's only around the time of the Fourth Edition that a meta-history started being written out, and even that got a reboot when Steve Long took over with DOJ.

 

My belief is that for a Champions comic to stay consistent with the standards that have already been established, Steve would want to oversee each title personally- a task which, as Marvel and DC have shown, is not really possible. Thus, Champions history is best handled in less frequent update books instead of a monthly periodical.

 

Having said that, I'd probably try it if one did come out. A small number of titles might be controlable...

All this is, of course, true -- though you're talking about companies with several dozen titles going at once. I'm pretty sure what quozaxx is talking about, and what DOJ would produce (if they were to, and that of course is a very big if), is a single title, which would be relatively easy to manage. Probably it wouldfocus on the Champions, and take place mostly in Millennium City though that team does tend to travel a bit, showing off some of the more popular angles of the Champions Universe (Dr. Destroyer, Eurostar, VIPER, Mechanon, and of course Foxbat).

 

As for tone, I'd expect it to match the "gritty but not overdone" stuff I've been seeing in current/recent mainstream superhero comics (I've been catching up somewhat by reading Teen Titans, LSH, and the Ultimate Spider-Man, X-Men, and Fantastic Four graphic novelizations from the public library) and in the few published adventures DOJ has done.

 

Get a good writer, a good artist or two, let Steve act as de facto editor, and publish through Image or Dark Horse or somebody like that, and a Champions comic would probably make a pretty good go of it. I'm sure I'd buy it -- for that matter, I'd live to write it! (Especially if Storn Cook and/or Andrew Cremeans did the art....)

[Boll Weevil]

Re: Champions: The "official" comic book

 

I would buy it in a heartbeat!! I bought Champions Universe and NOTW because I like the game world and for the stories found within. In numerous "What would you like to see" threads I have mentioned I would like to see a comic with CU heroes and villains with game annotations at the bottom of the panels to show what is happening (Perception rolls, use of Skills and Knowledge and of course combat rolls).

 

I think it would be cool to have the opening page(s) showing players around the game table. They would describe their characters and game world set-up then fade to story boards. The top of each (not every, but many) panel would be the table talk from the players and GM in place of the typical comic narration. Occasionally, when something strange happens in the story, the 4th wall can drop again to show the game table again with the players arguing. The story board can pick up again, sometimes backing up a panel or two to correct for what was discussed at the table. Think Princess Bride. I second the vote for Storn and/or Andrew Cremeans for the art.

[Yansuf]

Re: Champions: The "official" comic book

 

I would buy the first issue. If it was good, I'ld continue to buy.

[wcw43921]

Re: Champions: The "official" comic book

 

I'd love to see a Champions comic book--I think it would be a great way to support Champions and HERO System. I don't know, though, that Steve Long would feel comfortable with anyone besides himself writing it, and his current writing load is so huge so as to make Sisyphus look like a slacker.

 

Still, it would be a wonderful thing to have, along with Champions action figures, HeroClix-style minis, an MMO game, an animated TV series, a live-action movie, and a Santa's bag full of other goodies too numerous to mention.

[fiducia]

Re: Champions: The "official" comic book

 

If Hero Systems, ever came out with an "official" Champions comic book, would you buy it?

 

I know that in the late 80s early 90s there was a comic based on the Champions, but things have changed since then.

 

Would you like it displayed in comic book stores, Gaming stores, or both?

 

I'd definately buy it! I'd also think it would be good to display in comic book stores and in gaming stores next to the Hero section. Maybe initially just in the gaming stores, though, to see how it would move and how the core fans of Hero would respond it to before trying to get the titles more 'main stream'.

[pinecone]

Re: Champions: The "official" comic book

 

I'd be very interested...but it would need 1) a good writer, and two a good artist.....(or three)

[Princedarkstorm]

Re: Champions: The "official" comic book

 

I would buy it!!

[Sketchpad]

Re: Champions: The "official" comic book

 

Of the current CU? Probably not.