Marvel Comics latest cadre of gifted youngsters, New Champions are the vanguard of the next generation, a super-team of awkward teens to rival the New Mutants. New Champions formed after escaping captivity and brainwashing in an insidious Hydra-tech laboratory and have regrouped on the outside for a little payback. Youthful heroes with fledgling powers and parental curfews, New Champions offer a fresh take on familiar riff with at least one potential luminary in their midst. With her coven of death birds, arcane abilities, and a mysterious magical spear, the character Hellrune has the potential to rival DC’s celebrity goth, Raven of Teen Titans.
Hellrune first appeared in the pages of Spider-Woman (Vol. 8, #7) and, since her liberation from the terrors of Hydra experimentation, the teenager has been testing the limits of her developing powers and trying to cope with trials of adolescence. Orphaned and living in a foster home, Hellrune is gripped by feelings of abandonment. Using the mysterious spear that appeared from “out of nowhere” on her 13th birthday, the purple-haired arcanist summons a drove of enchanted ravens to seek out her real family—if they are still alive. Through the cryptic spear, Hellrune can channel a magnificent array of supernatural spells though the novice has yet to master or understand the extent of the artifact’s potential. Hellrune’s new-acquired ability to summon teleportation portals, call lightning, and even fly appear bound to the spear, and through it she can conjure prismatic bands of energy and command a brood of phantasmal ravens. While the magic seemingly imparted by the spear’s obscure power has proved beneficent as well as extraordinarily powerful at times, Hellrune’s teammate, Fantasma believes the spear is infused with cursed energy. The spear’s true nature remains unknown and many of Hellrune’s abilities remain untapped.
[RELATED: Marvel’s History With Teen Superhero Teams, From Young Avengers to New Champions]
With a “mystery spear, mystery spells, mystery origin,” the character of Hellrune is a Marvel hat-trick, the perfect recipe for an emerging comics star. The secrets of her background yet unveiled gives the character an intriguing edge and together with the riddle of Hellrune’s arcane prowess provides a wealth of storytelling opportunities to capitalize on. One can imagine how exploration into the eldritch tome, the Darkhold might lead to a greater understanding of her power or corrupt the naive young hero. Hellrune might hone her magic under the guidance of Doctor Strange or Victor Von Doom, and what she might learn from Scarlet Witch could be devilish fun—she does have a contact in new teammate, the sorceress Amaranth. The mystery is in the magic which, unlike the well-tested, advanced science of Stark-tech employed by some heroes, can be volatile and erratic. Magic is unpredictable and often comes at a cost, as Stephen Strange knows all too well.
New Champions, from creative team, Steve Foxe, Ivan Fiorelli, Ig Guara, and Arthur Helsi, delivers on teen angst as well as on hope for the future with a new pantheon of heroes full of promise. Clearly some of the thirteen heroes on the extended roster won’t make the final cut while others are destined for greater adventures. Hellrune stands out in a crowded field because of her baffling powers and the untold secrets her hidden past might reveal. It’s the kind of hook that keeps readers in anticipation and can earn the character further exploration in a lucrative mini-series. Hellrune is currently on hiatus from New Champions, delving into her occult abilities and reuniting with her druidic Aunt Veleda on an ancient Viking bastion off the coast of Norway.
Is there a breakthrough character from New Champions you’d like to see get their chance at a one-shot? Let us know in the comments below.
