Marvel’s team of young heroes is getting a new creative team. The publisher announced today that writer Danny Lore and artist Luciano Vecchio will take over as the regular creative team on Champions beginning with April’s issue #6. The series will continue the ongoing “Outlawed” status quo established last year by outgoing Champions writer Eve L. Ewing, with Lore and Vecchio (along with a colorist and letterer who have not been announced by Marvel) taking the team undercover within a corporation that supports “Kamala’s Law.”

Here’s how the publisher describes the creative team’s first story on Champions:

The Champions tried fighting fair. Now it’s time to fight dirty. A sinister corporation is cheating the system to try to keep Kamala’s Law on the books, so the Champions infiltrate the company to take it down from the inside. But the company’s wildly popular self-help app is already turning public perception against teen super heroes. Can the Champions wage war on a trend? And how dirty will their hands get before it’s over?

The Champions ongoing series has had a tough time schedule-wise. After the release of the Outlawed one-shot in March, the debut of the series by Ewing and artists Simone Di Meo and Federico Blee was delayed, along with the rest of Marvel’s publishing slate, due to the pandemic and subsequent Diamond shutdown. Once Diamond reopened in late May and publishers began releasing books again, Champions was missing from Marvel’s schedule for months before finally hitting stores in October as one of the last delayed titles to return.

Luckily the series has been worth the wait, with Ewing (and new artist Bob Quinn, who joined with the series’ second issue following Di Meo’s departure) spinning a compelling tale about young heroes just trying to do good in a world that says they can’t or shouldn’t. There was some question about whether Champions would be an ongoing or a miniseries, as Diamond had listed several issues as being “(of 5)” at one point, but that question can now be put to rest.

Following Ewing, Lore is the second writer of color to take on the Champions. The series will be their first Marvel work, with previous credits on books like Dynamite’s James Bond series as well as Vault’s Queen of Bad Dreams. Vecchio is no stranger to at least one of the Champs, having previously illustrated Ironheart’s ongoing series, which was coincidentally written by Ewing.

Check out the cover art for Champions #6, the first issue on the title by Lore and Vecchio on the title, as well as the full text of Marvel’s announcement for the series’ new creative team, below. Look for the issue to arrive in stores and digitally in April.

Champions #6 Cover

New York, NY— January 13, 2021 — The Champions’ latest ongoing series continues this April with an all-star new creative team and a killer new threat. Taking over from acclaimed creative team of Eve L. Ewing, Simon Di Meo and Bob Quinn, writer Danny Lore (Ironheart 2020) and artist Luciano Vecchio (Ironheart) will kick off a brand-new storyline starting in CHAMPIONS #6.

“I’m sad to say farewell to the Champs right now but so excited that some amazing creators are taking the helm,” Ewing said. “Especially Luciano who I had the great joy of working with on Ironheart.

Launched last year, CHAMPIONS has ushered in a redefining era for some of Marvel’s most popular heroes such as Ms. Marvel, Nova, and Miles Morales. Now, the Marvel Universe will need the Champions more than ever as an extraordinary new threat emerges that only the Champions can take down in the new “Killer App” story arc.

The Champions tried fighting fair. Now it’s time to fight dirty. A sinister corporation is cheating the system to try to keep Kamala’s Law on the books, so the Champions infiltrate the company to take it down from the inside. But the company’s wildly popular self-help app is already turning public perception against teen super heroes. Can the Champions wage war on a trend? And how dirty will their hands get before it’s over?

“I think it’s very easy today for young people to feel either helpless or overwhelmed with the weight of the world and its ills on their shoulders. With rhetoric constantly showing up about how the youth will save the world, but not necessarily with the support system to assist, it’s important that Champions exists as a story in which they DO have the power,” Lore explained. “Where even if the teens only have each other, they can change the world, the rest of us grown folk be damned.”

Luciano Vecchio, known for his work on books like Ironheart and the upcoming King in Black: Wiccan and Hulkling, continues to bring Marvel’s young heroes to life with his vibrant and eye-catching style.

“Personally this is the perfect follow up to my run as artist on Ironheart, which has been super significant to me, and I’m so excited to reconnect with Riri and also get to draw Ms. Marvel, Miles and the rest of the kids and get my visual brand on them individually and as a cohesive team,” Vecchio said. “Young legacy heroes are my favorite category in the superhero genre because they redefine and update the archetypes we love in a constantly evolving world that challenges the kind of stories we tell. Champions in particular has been such a special read in this sense from its start and I’m honored to be part of it.”

Don’t miss this definitive chapter in the sagas of  Ms. Marvel, Ironheart, Miles Morales, and more when CHAMPIONS #6 hits stands in April! For more information, visit Marvel.com.