Marvel Super Hero Contest of Champions
Contest of Champions | |
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Cover of Contest of Champions #1 (June 1982). Art by John Romita Jr. and Bob Layton. | |
Publication information | |
Publisher | Marvel Comics |
Schedule | Monthly |
Format | Limited series |
Publication date | June–August 1982 |
No. of issues | 3 |
Main character(s) |
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Creative team | |
Written by | Mark Gruenwald, Bill Mantlo, and Steven Grant |
Artist(s) | Bob Layton |
Letterer(s) | Rick Parker, typeset |
Marvel Super Hero Contest of Champions is a three-issue comic book limited series published from June to August 1982 by Marvel Comics. The series was written by Mark Gruenwald, with art by John Romita Jr. and Bob Layton.
This series was significant as it was Marvel's first published limited series.[1] Contest of Champions brought forth the idea of a major event affecting the Marvel Universe; it introduced crossovers before the concept of multi-title crossovers was even conceived.[citation needed]
An unrelated five issue limited series published in 1999, Contest of Champions II, is a sequel in title only.[2]
Publication history
The story was intended to be a celebration of the 1980 Summer Olympics held in Moscow, and depicted Marvel superheroes engaging in competitions. The plan was scuttled when the United States refused to participate in the summer games, as a protest against the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in late 1979. The comic was already mostly-complete, so Marvel published Contest of Champions two years later, with a reworked storyline that avoided any connection to the Olympics.[3]
Plot summary
An Elder of the Universe, the Grandmaster, challenges a hooded female called the "Unknown"—eventually revealed to be Death—to a game for the life of his fellow Elder, the Collector (killed by the cosmic being Korvac in the title Avengers).[4] The pair decide to use various superheroes from Earth as pawns, the goal being to collect the four pieces of a prize called the "Golden Globe of Life". A victory for the Grandmaster's team means the Collector may be resurrected, while a loss indicates the character must remain dead.
The Grandmaster's team consists of Captain America, Talisman, Darkstar, Captain Britain, Wolverine, Defensor, Sasquatch, Daredevil, Peregrine, She-Hulk, the Thing, and Blitzkrieg.
Death's team consists of Iron Man, Vanguard, Iron Fist, Shamrock, Storm, Arabian Knight, Sabra, Invisible Girl, Angel, Black Panther, Sunfire, and the Collective Man.
Although the storyline depicts a tie and the Grandmaster's team is written as being successful, Death advises that the Collector can only be resurrected if the Grandmaster takes his fellow Elder's place in the Realm of the Dead, with the character agreeing to the terms. International heroes Blitzkrieg (Germany); Collective Man (China); Defensor (Argentina); Peregrine (France); Shamrock (Ireland); and Talisman (Australia) debut in the series, and each issue contained a catalogue of all featured heroes and was the prototype for the publication the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe.[citation needed]
In 2015 Deadpool's Secret Secret Wars revealed that alongside the main contest a bonus round occurred featuring lesser-to-unknown characters. The Grandmaster's team consists of Rocket Racer, She-Man-Thing, The Vile Tapeworm, and Frog-Man. Death's team consists of Deadpool, Howard the Duck, Doop and The Pink Sphinx. Death's team wins, the prize being a 'participant' trophy.
An Avengers Annual eventually reveals that this was a ruse perpetrated by the Grandmaster as he is able to steal Death's powers and then, via another deception, forces the entity to banish all Elders from her realm, effectively making them immortal.[5]
Contest of Champions (2015)
In the aftermath of Secret Wars, the Collector and Grandmaster put in motion another Contest of Champions. They use the remnants of Doom's Battleworld as their base of operations which becomes known as the Battlerealm, with the prize being an artifact called the Iso-Sphere.[6]
In other media
Television
- A version of the Contest of Champions storyline was adapted in Fantastic Four: World's Greatest Heroes. In this version, the Grandmaster pits the Fantastic Four against Ronan the Accuser, Impossible Man, Annihilus, and the Super-Skrull. In the end, the Thing defeats Ronan and saves Earth from destruction.
- A variation of the Contest of Champions was adapted in the self-titled four-part season three finale of Ultimate Spider-Man. As opposed to the comic book storyline, Spider-Man teams up with the Avengers, the New Warriors, the Agents of S.M.A.S.H., and the Collector to save Earth from the Grandmaster and his army of supervillains. Ultimately, Spider-Man and the Collector defeat the Grandmaster and saves Earth from destruction.
Film
- In Thor: Ragnarok, the Contest of Champions is the name of the gladiatorial event the Grandmaster runs on Sakaar. In the film, Thor is forced to do battle with the Hulk in the contest.[7]
Video games
- The comic book was adapted into a 2014 fighting game for Android and iOS with a similar title, Marvel: Contest of Champions.[8][9]
Miscellaneous
- Scott Lobdell began submitting stories for Marvel, based on these characters for short stories in Marvel Comics Presents.[10]
Collected editions
Title | Material collected | Published date | ISBN |
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Avengers: The Contest | Contest of Champions #1–3, West Coast Avengers Annual #2, Avengers Annual #16 | June 2010 | 978-0785145066 |
References
- ^ Bickham, D. R. "Contest of Champions: Marvel's DEADLIEST Games, Explained: Over three titanic series, the greatest heroes of the Marvel Universe have come to blows in several Contests of Champions," CBR (APR 01, 2020).
- ^ Contest of Champions II #1–2 (September 1999); #3 (October 1999); #4–5 (November 1999)
- ^ Brevoort, Tom; DeFalco, Tom; Manning, Matthew K.; Sanderson, Peter; Wiacek, Win (2017). Marvel Year By Year: A Visual History. DK Publishing. p. 208. ISBN 978-1465455505.
- ^ Avengers #175 (September 1978)
- ^ Avengers Annual #16 (1987)
- ^ Contest of Champions vol. 2 #1–10
- ^ Trumbore, Dave (18 April 2017). "'Thor: Ragnarok': Director Taika Waititi's Cameo Revealed". Collider.
- ^ "Marvel's Contest of Champions Comics and Games – A History". superheroreviews.com. 24 July 2016.
- ^ Sherr, Ian (29 June 2015). "Marvel's Contest of Champions leaps from video game to comic book". cnet. Retrieved 12 June 2019.
- ^ mahalodotcom (17 September 2011). "Ask Scott Lobdell, DC Universe Comic Book Writer, Anything!" – via YouTube.
- v
- t
- e
- Contest of Champions (June 1982)
- Secret Wars (May 1984)
- Secret Wars II (July 1985)
- Mutant Massacre (October 1986)
- The Fall of the Mutants (January 1988)
- The Evolutionary War (1988)
- Inferno (October 1988)
- Atlantis Attacks (1989)
- Acts of Vengeance (December 1989)
- The Infinity Gauntlet (July 1991)
- Operation: Galactic Storm (March 1992)
- The Infinity War (June 1992)
- The Infinity Crusade (June 1993)
- Age of Apocalypse (January 1995)
- DC vs. Marvel (April 1996)
- Onslaught (May 1996)
- Heroes Reborn (1996)
- Maximum Security (December 2000)
- JLA/Avengers (Sept. 2003)
- Secret War (February 2004)
- Avengers Disassembled (August 2004)
- Ultimate Nightmare (October 2004)
- Ultimate Secret (May 2005)
- House of M (June 2005)
- Last Hero Standing (August 2005)
- Decimation (December 2005)
- Ultimate Extinction (January 2006)
- Annihilation (March 2006)
- Civil War (July 2006)
- Ultimate Power (December 2006)
- The Initiative (March 2007)
- World War Hulk (July 2007)
- Last Planet Standing (July 2007)
- Annihilation: Conquest (August 2007)
- Secret Invasion (June 2008)
- Dark Reign (December 2008)
- Ultimatum (January 2009)
- War of Kings (March 2009)
- Fall of the Hulks (December 2009)
- Realm of Kings (January 2010)
- Siege (January 2010)
- Ultimate Comics: Doomsday (January 2010)
- World War Hulks (February 2010)
- The Thanos Imperative (July 2010)
- Shadowland (September 2010)
- Chaos War (October 2010)
- Age of X (January 2011)
- Fear Itself (March 2011)
- Spider-Island (June 2011)
- Ultimate Fallout (July 2011)
- Avengers vs. X-Men (April 2012)
- Age of Ultron (March 2013)
- Infinity (August 2013)
- Inhumanity (December 2013)
- Original Sin (May 2014)
- AXIS (October 2014)
- Spider-Verse (November 2014)
- The Black Vortex (February 2015)
- Secret Wars (May 2015)
- Avengers: Standoff! (March 2016)
- Civil War II (June 2016)
- Inhumans vs. X-Men (November 2016)
- Monsters Unleashed! (January 2017)
- Secret Empire (May 2017)
- Damnation (February 2018)
- Infinity Countdown (February 2018)
- Infinity Wars (July 2018)
- Spider-Geddon (October 2018)
- The War of the Realms (April 2019)
- Absolute Carnage (August 2019)
- Iron Man 2020 (January 2020)
- Empyre (April 2020)
- Outlawed (October 2020)
- King in Black (December 2020)
- Heroes Reborn (May 2021)
- Infinite Destinies (June 2021)
- Devil's Reign (December 2021)
- Reckoning War (February 2022)
- Judgment Day (July 2022)
- Dark Web (November 2022)
- Avengers Assemble (November 2022)
- Sins of Sinister (January 2023)
- Ultimate Invasion (June 2023)
- Contest of Chaos (August 2023)
- Gang War (December 2023)
- Blood Hunt (May 2024)
- Venom War (August 2024)
- Raid On Greymalkin (December 2024)
- One World Under Doom (2025)
Marvel Universe |
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Other continuities |
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