So any long-time reading of this blog will know I am not a huge fan of The Squadron Supreme. Those dorks are ripoffs of Justice League characters made by Marvel writers so that they could do Avengers/Justice League crossovers without having to contact DC Comics. I used to really dislike The Squadron Supreme, but I think I'm starting to come around thanks to today's Z-Listers, The Champions of Angor.
These characters were introduced in 1971's "Justice League of America #87" and created by Mike Friedrich and Dick Dillin. The Champions of Angor were meant to be a knockoff Avengers team created by Mike around the same time his friend Roy Thomas created The Squadron Supreme over at Marvel Comics. It is assumed Roy had the idea to knockoff a rival company's characters first because The Squadron were much more popular than The Champions had become. When we meet them, The Champions of Angor arrive on Earth from an alien planet (called Angor) and have come to Earth because their planet was attacked by a killer robot and they assumed it came from Earth. The JLA had also fought a robot previously and both teams assume the robot was sent from their respective teams. So, of course, they fight. The first roster of The Champions consisted of Wandjina (a ripoff Thor), Blue Jay (ripoff Yellowjacket), Silver Sorceress (ripoff Scarlet Witch), and Jack B. Quick (ripoff Quicksilver).
The Champions have few appearances after their premier, but one such adventure includes them returning to Earth to destroy all nuclear weapons because Angor had been destroyed by a nuclear explosion. The explosion on Angor was caused by a group called The Extremists which were based off the Marvel villains Doctor Doom, Magneto, Doctor Octopus, Dormammu, The Green Goblin, and Sabretooth. The Extremists reappear on Earth and attack both the JLA and the returning Champions, and it revealed this Extremist are robot duplicates and that the real Extremists perished on Angor. These robots had been made for an amusement park on Earth that was founded by Mitch Wacky, another escapee from Angor's destruction. While not confirmed, I'd bet my bottom dollar Mitch Wacky is a ripoff Arcade (an X-Men villain).
Mitch uses a time machine to travel back to Angor before it's destruction and attempts to help The Champions stop The Extremists from destroying the planet. Here we meet more members: The Bowman (Hawkeye), Tin Man (Iron Man), T.A. (Falcon), Skyscraper (Giant-Man), and Bug (Spider-Man).
Another Avengers ripoff called The Retaliators appears in Grant Morrison's "Multiversity" series. This team was made up of American Crusader (Captain America), Wundajin (Thor), Behemoth (The Hulk), Machinehead (Iron Man), Ladybug (Spider-Woman), Bug (Spider-Man), and Stuntmaster (Daredevil). There are also unnamed ripoffs of Black Widow, Hawkeye, The Falcon, and Captain Marvel/Ms. Marvel. On their world-Earth 8-there are also The G-Men (The X-Men) and The Future Family (The Fantastic Four).
And then there are The Maximums (oh boy). They were characters created by The Joker and the 5th dimensional, reality-bending being known as Mr. Mxyzptlk. Joker and Mxy had been working together at that time to screw over Superman and Batman, so they created an alternate Earth where a new group of heroes roamed. They then summoned alternate timeline versions of Batman and Superman from a timeline where one of The Maximums killed Lois Lane. Superman kills Skyscraper (their Giant-Man and the guy who killed Lois) and escapes that world with Batman. The Bowman (Joker in disguise) has fallen from battle and informs The Maximums of which reality Superman and Batman are from. The battle between Superman/Batman and The Maximums caused a prison break out where Lex Luthor, Bizarro, and Batzarro escaped. The Kryptonite-Man also possessed Batman's body and fought Superman to near stand-still. Mxy and Joker's ulterior motive had been accomplished and The Maximums had stopped fighting Batman and Superman, anyway. So Mxy erased The Maximums and their world from existence. The Maximums included Soldier (Captain America), Viking (Thor), Robot (Iron Man/The Vision), Monster (Hulk), Skyscraper (Giant-Man), Hornet (Wasp), Bowman (Hawkeye), Wolfen (Wolverine/Beast), and Bug (Spider-Man).
So at first I assumed DC's ripoff Avengers were a one-and-done idea, but come to find out they tried the idea three times under different names. It would seem while Marvel takes their ripoff team out of the toy box ever now and again they do it to give the team a series, but with DC they only use their ripoff team for a huge fight. I find it funny that The Maximums are an almost complete Avengers team and they still have trouble fighting Superman and Batman. Honestly, if DC and Marvel want to keep using their respective ripoff teams I can't really roll my eyes anymore. Maybe there are just better ways of using their teams. Maybe I'll tap this well again in the near future, but for now The Champions of Angor/Retaliators/Maximums were an underrated idea of a ripoff and I hope so see them appear again. Their villains-The Extremists-are actually in the current "Justice League of America" title, so it could happen sooner than we think!
Thanks for reading!
The Champions have few appearances after their premier, but one such adventure includes them returning to Earth to destroy all nuclear weapons because Angor had been destroyed by a nuclear explosion. The explosion on Angor was caused by a group called The Extremists which were based off the Marvel villains Doctor Doom, Magneto, Doctor Octopus, Dormammu, The Green Goblin, and Sabretooth. The Extremists reappear on Earth and attack both the JLA and the returning Champions, and it revealed this Extremist are robot duplicates and that the real Extremists perished on Angor. These robots had been made for an amusement park on Earth that was founded by Mitch Wacky, another escapee from Angor's destruction. While not confirmed, I'd bet my bottom dollar Mitch Wacky is a ripoff Arcade (an X-Men villain).
Mitch uses a time machine to travel back to Angor before it's destruction and attempts to help The Champions stop The Extremists from destroying the planet. Here we meet more members: The Bowman (Hawkeye), Tin Man (Iron Man), T.A. (Falcon), Skyscraper (Giant-Man), and Bug (Spider-Man).
Another Avengers ripoff called The Retaliators appears in Grant Morrison's "Multiversity" series. This team was made up of American Crusader (Captain America), Wundajin (Thor), Behemoth (The Hulk), Machinehead (Iron Man), Ladybug (Spider-Woman), Bug (Spider-Man), and Stuntmaster (Daredevil). There are also unnamed ripoffs of Black Widow, Hawkeye, The Falcon, and Captain Marvel/Ms. Marvel. On their world-Earth 8-there are also The G-Men (The X-Men) and The Future Family (The Fantastic Four).
And then there are The Maximums (oh boy). They were characters created by The Joker and the 5th dimensional, reality-bending being known as Mr. Mxyzptlk. Joker and Mxy had been working together at that time to screw over Superman and Batman, so they created an alternate Earth where a new group of heroes roamed. They then summoned alternate timeline versions of Batman and Superman from a timeline where one of The Maximums killed Lois Lane. Superman kills Skyscraper (their Giant-Man and the guy who killed Lois) and escapes that world with Batman. The Bowman (Joker in disguise) has fallen from battle and informs The Maximums of which reality Superman and Batman are from. The battle between Superman/Batman and The Maximums caused a prison break out where Lex Luthor, Bizarro, and Batzarro escaped. The Kryptonite-Man also possessed Batman's body and fought Superman to near stand-still. Mxy and Joker's ulterior motive had been accomplished and The Maximums had stopped fighting Batman and Superman, anyway. So Mxy erased The Maximums and their world from existence. The Maximums included Soldier (Captain America), Viking (Thor), Robot (Iron Man/The Vision), Monster (Hulk), Skyscraper (Giant-Man), Hornet (Wasp), Bowman (Hawkeye), Wolfen (Wolverine/Beast), and Bug (Spider-Man).
So at first I assumed DC's ripoff Avengers were a one-and-done idea, but come to find out they tried the idea three times under different names. It would seem while Marvel takes their ripoff team out of the toy box ever now and again they do it to give the team a series, but with DC they only use their ripoff team for a huge fight. I find it funny that The Maximums are an almost complete Avengers team and they still have trouble fighting Superman and Batman. Honestly, if DC and Marvel want to keep using their respective ripoff teams I can't really roll my eyes anymore. Maybe there are just better ways of using their teams. Maybe I'll tap this well again in the near future, but for now The Champions of Angor/Retaliators/Maximums were an underrated idea of a ripoff and I hope so see them appear again. Their villains-The Extremists-are actually in the current "Justice League of America" title, so it could happen sooner than we think!
Thanks for reading!
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