HERO OF THE WEEK: THE CHAMPION (Marvel)Real Name: Tryco Slatterus
First Appearance: Marvel Two-In-One Annual #7 (1982)
Fight Club Ranking: #314
Featured Fights:
- vs SHE-HULK: She-Hulk #8 (Dec 2004)
- vs SHE-HULK: She-Hulk #8 (Dec 2004)
There were a couple of cult Hero of the Week contenders making comic book comebacks, this week! The Spot was a close call: a fairly surprising villain for the new Jessica Jones series! Yea, though the madcap portal master poses a thrilling contender, he was no match for the return of the man we once knew as the Champion!
For those who may not know: Tryco Slatterus is an ageless cosmic pugilist better known as Champion of the Universe! He's one of the ancient Elders of the Universe: alien beings who are among the oldest creatures in existence!
Other well known Elders include Taneleer Tivan aka; The Collector, and En Dwi Gast - The Grandmaster. You'll known the latter from last week's Thor spotlight, where we discussed his role in the original Contest of Champions, and the potential for Jeff Goldblum's portrayal in an upcoming movie. More important to know: Each Elder possesses phenomenal cosmic powers they apply to personal obsessions. In the case of Champion - strength, endurance and fighting prowess make him an accomplished intergalactic competition fighter!
To date on The Comic Book Fight Club, we've only featured Champion's back-to-back cult clashes with She-Hulk. His most famous fight came on debut in Marvel Two-In-One Annual #7, when he found a worthy challenger amongst Earth's mightiest mortals in The Thing! There were several other warriors chosen to take him on, one of which we'll be looking at in this week's Friday Night Fight!
Ol' Slatterus is our Hero of the Week because he's back in the pages of Thanos #1! He's looking a little Lobo with that spiked up hair drawn by Mike Deodato [pictured above], running errands for Thane - son of Thanos. I prefer my Champion to be in the ring fighting, rather than escorting, but it's never the less quite exciting to know he's back in the spotlight, with some potential for significance!
Of course, it'll be hard to meet the high bar of that original Marvel Two-In-One Annual! One of - if not The - greatest examples of an issue about an alien gladiator challenging our hero(es)! More on that when we take in the first of several fights - Friday!
Got an ancient, unending hunger for combat? Hey! You've come to the right place! Secret Wars on Infinite Earths: The Comic Book Fight Club is all about seeking the champion of all universes - one fight at a time! You can find a massive archive of comic book battles in the Secret Issue Index! Come back regularly to check for updates, and help spread the battle cry by telling your friends!
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