Friendly AI? Try over friendly...
5:15 pm 2 November 2016
Champions (2016-) #2 - Humberto Ramos, Mark Waid
The team takes a camping trip to get to know each other and end up either grumbling, sniping at each other, or inadvertently getting attacked. Oops. My obsession with Vision and his family continues: I was most interested in Viv, and while the other characters are lovely, and while Ms. Marvel herself makes particularly good speeches, I'm in it for Viv. That being said, I found a lot to like: she knows Skrull, and she's unflappable when Nova tries to knock her for a loop by asking about her first kiss in a get-to-know-you Q&A.

At first Ms. Marvel is supportive and says she doesn't have to answer. Viv insists that it's a simple question: she hasn't had one, but wants to know what her biochemical reaction will be. She leans in to kiss Nova and Ms. Marvel interrupts to suggest ghost stories.

While it might seem to be a normal camping activity - especially since it's night time - Viv immediately wonders if it's a microagression: a ghost is not alive but not dead, intangible and human but not. Given Ms. Marvel's reaction, I think she honestly wasn't thinking about that, but rather was striking out at Viv in another way. She and Nova have had some of the most awkward flirting sessions ever, and although she'd never say it out loud, I believe Ms. Marvel feels proprietary towards him. It's disappointing: she's already lashed out at Vision, and although her suspicions were correct and she quickly made up with him when he was cleansed of his buggy programming, this is less warranted. If she's not going to make it clear she has any interest in Nova, she also shouldn't lash out if others show interest. I'm also now suspicious of her and how she might react to any other AI they meet given this second strike.

And the ending! Viv gets what she wants from someone else since apparently she can't kiss Nova. And, well, I'm hoping this goes somewhere. Oh, not with him. I can't say I approve of her choice of first boy to kiss, nor that I want her to continue doing anything with him, but Viv is clearly interested in how her particular biology responds to sexual attraction and activity - and I think her father would understand her wanting to understand her human side. I'm not sure he'd approve of how she's going about getting her information, but I do hope she's allowed to explore her options. And that maybe it explores just how far she can go: is she junkless, like I was led to believe her father was? Are they fully equipped? If she's human just has nonorganic organs, is her carrying a baby a possibility with the help of science?

Furthermore, how will her new teammates react? Will Nova be jealous at all? Will he harbor a grudge against his teammate for taking advantage of Viv's proposition? Will this cause more internal strife because his jealousy could make Ms. Marvel jealous?

And then there's the other interesting question about how this team would resolve such issues. They're all about building up the world, helping without punching down, and cleaning up their messes. So how will they clean up such internal tension, and potential messes down the line?

I've got to say, for a camping in the woods issue, this had a lot going on. I do expect that there will be more action in issue three, as the first issue not only set up the team and how they worked together, but also had an actual action sequence. (This one had the hint of one, and it was all internal team tension, really. With them saving some children from predators in issue one, the external action and help set up a series that would tackle real world issues. It's semi disappointing as this felt like there was a lot going on, but less than in the first issue. Viv's action made up for it, though.)
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from marvel.com: Welcome to the CHAMPIONS, Cyclops! Unfortunately, not all of your new would-be teammates feel the same way! ( )