Champions #15: Review

Dec 2017

Mark Waid, Humberto Ramos

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Story Name:

Worlds collide: part 6

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Rating:

Champions #15 Review by Rob Johnson (December 30, 2017)

This is the end of the Worlds Collide crossover with Avengers.

High E has evolved into a non-corporeal state before, in Tales To Astonish (Hulk) #96. But he brought himself back to human form to create the original Counter-Earth and send Adam Warlock there in Marvel Premiere #1.
He later became a cosmic being at the end of the Evolutionary War (Av Annual #17), but again returned to humanity (Thor #406-408).

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Synopsis / Summary / Plot

Champions #15 Synopsis by Rob Johnson

Continued from AVENGERS #674.

The Avengers and the Champions are still where we left them in Av#674 standing over the grave of Viv Vision. (Obviously with no body because she vanished away in that issue as she used the Orbit Engine on Counter-Earth to change its vibration frequency so that it passed harmlessly through Marvel Earth.)

But we see her in a strange place (not the white space she was in at the end of Av#674). And she encounters the High Evolutionary (the villain behind this crossover's plot who also vanished - in a teleportation malfunction in our last issue). He tries to befriend her because they're in the same trouble, but she's suspicious.

Back on Earth the teams are gathered in the home Vision had for the synthezoid family he built, of which Viv was the only survivor. The female Thor is communicating with Edwin Jarvis, explaining what has happened. In Av#673 High E upgraded Viv from a synthezoid to a human. She says they searched his Counter-Earth palace and found no robot body so he must have really *changed* her. Vision can't accept that she's gone. (We see him in his basement lab standing over a duplicate synthezoid girl with Wasp (Nadia Pym).)

Amadeus Cho (Hulk), Falcon, Hercules and Ms. Marvel (Kamala Khan) are with Thor. Kamala keeps trying to talk to Jarvis but Thor overrides her until Edwin signs off with a message from Spider-Man (Peter Parker) (who won't be in this issue). Kamala tries to point out how rude Thor is being to her, but they're interrupted by teen Cyclops alerting them to a problem outside.

Nova and Spider-Man (Miles Morales) are out there and Nova wants to quit the Champions. He says Amadeus, Kamala and Miles are all geniuses and patronise him, even Cyclops who isn't. Viv was the only 1, also a genius, who treated him OK.

Back wherever they are Viv suddenly gets a vision of weeping Vision which breaks into her conversation with HE. She thinks it's a side-effect of her transformation into a human and rails at him for all the genetic meddling he did to her and his Ani-Men. HE counters that humans have been (slowly) genetically modifying things for thousands of years. And he says that when her friends interfered with his teleportation last issue *they* caused him to evolve into a digital state that only *wears* his old all-covering armour. He assures Viv that *she* hasn't become digital - yet.

In the basement lab Nadia reminds Vision that her father (Henry Pym by his 1st wife Maria) was his grandfather (via Ultron in a buildy way) and so she's family to him and Viv. She doesn't think that building a new Viv as he is doing will bring her back. Vizh agrees but says keeping busy lessens the pain. He could switch his emotions off as he has done before (lately Av#0 (2015)) but he doesn't want to lose even more of her that way.

Nadia changes the subject by asking about Viv's brain patterns. Vision has those of Wonder Man, but where did Viv's come from. Vizh doesn't seem to want to answer.

Outside they're still trying to stop Nova from leaving. But whatever the Avengers say is seen as condescending interference by the young Champions. After Nova blasts Hercules and Cho Hulks-out and hits Falcon, Thor berates them for fighting while Vision is in mourning. And she and Falcon fly off with Herc.

Kamala reminds Sam *he* was smart enough to be the 1 who stopped High Evolutionary's devolution bomb (last issue). She persuades him to stay, and he admits it was all really because he misses Viv - as do the others.

Viv herself has another glimpse of her father, and we realise she is seeing him through the eyes of the duplicate he is creating. High E figures that out too and tells her she has a connection with the new synthezoid. He claims that Viv and he wound up in the same place because their frequencies match (because he 'created' her human body on Counter-Earth?). Now that he is pure data he could transmit himself back to Earth but he has no receiver to accept the signal. But if she lets him convert *her* to digital then she could beam herself to her new copy, and HE could tag along.

Viv refuses to take him to Earth. High E says she won't be able to stop him from following her. And he can convert her with a single touch. The Vision visions are coming more frequently as she runs away from him, and he gives chase. But suddenly she turns and dives *through* his digital body. This turns her into data and she streaks away at (presumably) light speed before he can catch her.

Back on Earth Vision ignores Wasp's protests against bringing his new Viv to life. He wants a chance to say goodbye, but Nadia says it won't be *her*. There's an explosion. The Champions rush in to see what's happened. The synthezoid is up and working. But human Viv has arrived by her side. And when Vision says "Vivian?" they both answer "Yes?".

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