It Was The Best Of Times, It Was The Worst Of Times

The mid-1970s super-group, the Champions, might have had "Most Likely To Disband" underneath their yearbook picture--but amidst their constant efforts to pull themselves together into a credible fighting team, they did have some camera-ready moments that would have made for a nice retrospective had they managed to go the distance. So, in the spirit of a glass half-full, here are some of the more memorable moments of a team that perhaps more than a few readers prefer to forget.

Think of it as a dusty photo album that has a few snapshots of a Los Angeles super-team that once tried to make its mark--something to casually flip through and then set aside as a curiosity.

Of course, these memories should start on an optimistic note:

You may have noticed that stage looks a little bare. Despite the glitz that the Angel is trying to paint the event with, the Champions are currently in disarray, with the Black Widow captured by enemies, another enemy blowing himself up in their headquarters, the Ghost Rider carting said bomber to the hospital, and Iceman consoling Ivan about the Widow. Not the best time to introduce yourselves to your prospective fans. And to make matters worse, the villains who are after them crash their media event:

In fact, when the Champions test-drive their new sky-car which turns out to be a clunker, you might say the scene is symbolic of where they're headed as a team, especially when you take into account the words of the Widow and Bill Foster:

This next scene would make a pretty good Champions poster, though ganging up on a loser like the Stilt-Man would probably make any green team seem like a well-oiled fighting machine:

(I guess this is the wrong time to mention that the Stilt-Man kicked their butts. And escaped.)

Speaking of which, can someone, anyone, make sense of what the Angel is yelling as he dives for the Stilt-Man?

"...power-dives a call"?? Good thing no one elected the Angel as the leader of the group--otherwise, they'd all be bumping into each other like the Marx Brothers.

I did like this light-hearted attempt to formulate a battle cry:

And there were occasionally some nice "one for all and all for one" moments:

And you just knew that, with two mutants on the team, the Sentinels were bound to show up:

But, disband the group did, and our photo album is left a little bare of Champions memories.  Besides, I think I see you reaching for the FF album...