The Champions. Marvel Comics West Coast Heroes 1979/2012

The Champions. Marvel Comics West Coast Heroes 1979/2012

The Champions

By MaddMonkk - Nov 08, 2011 01:11 AM EST
Filed Under: Fan Fic
Source: ComicBookMovie.com

The Champions




Marvel Comics had Spiderman, The Fantastic Four and The Avengers all based in New York. Crime must have moved away or the west coast got jealous. Either way; writer Tony Isabella and artists Don Heck and Gil Kane created a team that protected Los Angeles. I give you The Champions.
This team consisted of Hercules, Black Widow, The Angel, Iceman and The Ghost Rider. The book only lasted for 17 issues from 1975 to 1978. They had made several appearances in other magazines as Marvel tried pushing them, but they just never gained the notoriety that the big boys had in the “Big Apple”.



This team had some minor league bad guys star in this underrated book, but my favorite villain I seen them tackle was none other than the biggest and baddest lizard around, Godzilla.








I personally think they should have resurrected this team but we got the West Coast Avengers instead. If it was made in the late 70’s, it would have been a cult classic and it would finally get a remake 30 some years later. I would have Roger Corman direct the original and Christopher Nolan for the remake. (sorry, trudey)
This team had potential. Hercules was high on the "strongest" list back then. Black Widow is the agile fighting master spy. Iceman and Angel both come from an experienced X-Men team. Ghost Rider adds to the mystic and power element and late bloomer Darkstar brings flight and raw power. Pretty Impressive.

I enjoy making period based fancast just to be different, please read the article before you make a comment. Most of these picks are very talented actors from either time period.

Hercules: Prince of Power- James Brolin (1979)/ Joe Manganiello (2012)


Black Widow: Natasha Romanov-Bo Derek (1979)/ Kata Dobo (2012)


The Angel: Warren Worthington- Nick Nolte (1979)/ Charlie Hunnam (2012)


Iceman: Bobby Drake-Tom Berenger (1979)/ Chris Pine (2012)


Ghost Rider: Johnny Blaze-Michael Beck (1979)/ Aaron Paul (2012)


Darkstar: Laynia Petrovna-Jessica Lange (1979)/ Karelea Mazzola (2012)


Black Golaith: Bill Foster-Yaphet Kotto (1979)/ Rocky Carroll (2012) *Flix Mentallo*





Pluto: Greek God of the Underworld, Hades-Oliver Reed (1979)/ Jeffery Dean Morgan(2012)


Crimson Dynamo: Yuri Petrovich -George C. Scott (1979)/ Alexsandr Baluev (2012)


Rampage: Stuart Clark-Brad Dourif (1979)/ David Anders (2012)


Stranger: Cosmic Entity-Jon Voight (1979)/ Leonardo De Caprio (2012)


Swarm: Fritz Von Meyer -Robert Shaw (1979)/ Til Schweiger (2012)


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Oarsis
Oarsis - 11/8/2011, 3:44 AM
Iteresting...I like both of your Hercules choices...I love Bo Derek for 1970's Black Widow! I am not sure about your 2012 one...I really like your Darkstar choices based off looks...Ihave not seen them act though. Overall pretty good :)
nuck82
nuck82 - 11/8/2011, 11:04 AM
great work like always monkk
headlopper
headlopper - 11/8/2011, 11:14 AM
Massively thorough- really good work! Learned a few things too.:)
KaneVonDoom
KaneVonDoom - 11/8/2011, 11:19 AM
Very Unique and Well done Fancast. Excellent job!
FlixMentallo21
FlixMentallo21 - 11/8/2011, 1:51 PM
Nice Champions fancast. I plan on picking up both TPB's collecting the series. One thing though--where's Bill Foster? He was an associate of the team. I suggest for the '79 version, cast LeVar Burton, and for the 2012 version, cast Rocky Carroll.
MaddMonkk
MaddMonkk - 11/8/2011, 3:12 PM
Thank you fellers. I'm all out of period fancast for awhile.
@Flix, thought about Foster but couldn't decide on 2012 actor, thanks!
FlixMentallo21
FlixMentallo21 - 11/8/2011, 8:49 PM
@MaddMonkk
No problem, and good pick for the 1979 version of Bill.
What's your next period piece after this? 1940's JSA? Or (dare I say it) 1990's Wild CATS?
ScootyPuffJr
ScootyPuffJr - 11/10/2011, 7:12 PM
Iceman AND Angel? How have I never read these?!?
Thunderkutfo
Thunderkutfo - 11/10/2011, 7:27 PM
Fantastic job MM!!! I loved reading the Champions when I was a kid and your picks for both 1979 and 2012 were perfect! Great job!
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