The Champions Classic, Vol. 1
If you thought the Defenders were an oddly matched superteam in the 1970s, the Champions had them beat.  Start with a Greek demi-god (Hercules), a Russian ex-agent (the Black Widow), two Ex-men (Angel and Iceman), and a guy with a blazing skull riding a motorcycle (Ghost Rider), and you had the Champions, a short-lived Marvel creation from 1975.  Thrown together when the Greek god of the dead, Pluto, attacks the UCLA campus, the Champions decided to become a "team of the people," funded by the Worthington fortune and a rare superhero team based on the West Coast.  In their first 11 issues (they only lasted 17 total), the Champions face a scientist in an exo-skeleton suit, discover secrets about the Widow's past, and meet Black Goliath, Hawkeye, and the Two-Gun Kid picking up a storyline fromthe Avengers. The Champions were written and conceived by Tony Isabella and penciled by Don Heck, then the reins passed to writer Bill Mantlo and artists George Tuska, Bob Hall, and--starting with issue 11--future superstar John Byrne.--David Horiuchi