Did Someone Say…The Stranger? (The Champions #12) (1977)

Writer: Bill Mantlo

Artist: John Byrne

Inker: Bob Layton

The Champions join Black Goliath in battling one of the more impractical Marvel supervillains, who becomes even less of a threat when Darkstar destroys his deadly Z-ray.

Yeah, I’m with Ghost Rider; I don’t see the Stilt-Man holding off a heavy hitter like Hercules, much less a team of which Herc is only one member.

Maybe Johnny Blaze has a shot.

After Goliath and the Stilt-Man lumber off to continue their fight mano-a-mano, the Champs consult with their visitor about the strange box she is carrying, only to be accosted by a new menace.

They battle the Stranger, who says that the mysterious box is a devastating weapon of his own design from which he wants to save the Earth--a claim that is disbelieved by the team.

Mantlo seems to be delivering a heavy-handed message about the destructive nature of mistrust and failure to cooperate, as shown by his comically dysfunctional heroes.  On the other hand, though, why should they believe in the good intentions of the Stranger, who has threatened Earth in the past, based on his word alone?

The Stranger agrees to use his power to slow the expansion of the Null Life Bomb while sending the Champions to the one place where it may be stopped, where an old adversary of Hercules rules over beings who look like trial runs for John Byrne's Sasquatch character.

John Byrne’s art is, as always, a major asset, though Bob Layton’s inks don’t flatter it the way Terry Austin’s might have and the depiction of the Null Life Bomb and its expansion is visually confusing. Even so, the artwork ends up doing much of the heavy lifting for a plot that feels random and overcrowded, with characters constantly entering and exiting, attacking one another, and competing for attention.