Marvel

Released June 1982

Marvel Super Hero: Contest of Champions #1

Synopsis

The Grandmaster and Death start a game in order to return Grandmaster's brother Collector to life. Each select a group of heroes to find pices to a glowing sphere in a game for the life of the Collector. They get Wonder Man, Beast, Scarlet Witch, Captain America, Wasp, Iron Man and Vision while training in the Avengers Mansion, the Soviet Super Soldiers Darkstar, Crimson Dynamo, Vanguard and Ursa Major while attacking Red Ghost in Russia, Thing, Reed, Sue and Human Torch during a dinner, in Canada they get Guardian, Sasquatch, Aurora, Northstar, Snowbird and Shaman, the X-Men Colossus, Cyclops, Wolverine, Nightcrawler and Storm during a training session in Danger Room, Luke Cage and Iron Fist fighting crime in Harlem, Spider-Man crawling in NY and Crystal, Hellcat and Valkyrie during a show at Rock Soho. They are all send to a huge arena outside the Earth and find there all heroes, from Inhumans to Eternals, Hulk, Hercules, Thor, Daredevil and Namor.Without immortals, inhumans, atlantes, eternals and aliens, Grandmaster and Death choose 12 heroes each one, to search for parts of the sphere of life hidden on Earth. Grandmaster swears never use human again in his games if he win and then chooses Captain America, Talisman (an Australian hero), Darkstar, Wolverine, Captain Britain, Sasquatch, Defensor (an Argentinan hero), She-Hulk, Daredevil, Thing, Blitzkrieger (a German hero) and Peregrine (a French hero). Death swears to give one million years of life more to Earth's Sun and then chooses Vanguard, Iron Man, Shamrock (an Irish hero), Iron Fist, Arabian Knight (a Muslim hero), Storm, Invisible Woman, Angel, Sunfire (from Japan), Black Panther (from the African country Wakanda), Collective Man (a Chinese hero) and Sabra (a Jewish hero).At the end they are send to Earth and have to battle each other and look for the spheres, while the others await.

Key Facts

  • First limited series published by Marvel Comics
  • 1st appearance of Blitzkrieg, able to summon lightning
  • 1st full appearance of the Collective Man, six brothers who can merge into one
  • 1st appearance of Shamrock, a hand-to-hand combatant
  • 1st appearance of Defensor, possessor of a Vibranium suit of armor
  • 1st appearance of Peregrine, utilizes a flight suit in battle
  • 1st appearance of Talisman, an Australian magic user

Details

Cover Date
June 1982
Pages
N/A
UPC
N/A
Cover Price
N/A
Final Orders Cutoff
N/A

Creators

  • Artist
    John Romita Jr.
  • Writer
    Mark Gruenwald
  • Cover Artist
    Bob Layton

Price Guide

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