Marvel Comics' Champions is a team of adolescent heroes out to change their world for the better, dealing with both super villains and complex social issues while struggling with personal changes. In Champions #19, new writer Jim Zub kicked off a new era for the book that found the ranks of the titular team growing as Riri William (AKA Ironheart) and the Unstoppable Wasp (Nadia Pym) joined the team. The coming months will find the group dealing with even more changes, as their ranks continue to grow and individual members are affected by the choices they make here and in their solo titles.

The first big change come in the currently unfolding arc, which will see a new member named Snowguard join the team. From there, the Champions will embark on an epic, outer space journey in the two issue Infinity Countdown: Champions mini-series by Zub and artist Emilio Laiso. And when they return to Earth in their main series, Zub and new Champions artist Kevin Libranda will tackle the fallout from the team's intergalactic sojourn and the impact from the end of a number of individual members' solo books.

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CBR spoke with Zub about Snowguard, how the Infinity Countdown mini connects to what he's doing in Champions, and his sense of how the ending of Greg Pak's recent Incredible Hulk run has impacted Amadeus Cho.

EXCLUSIVE: Art from Champions #21 by Sean Izaakse and Marcio Menyz

CBR: Let's start off talking about the Champions' newest member, Amka Aliyak, aka Snowguard, who we met for the first time in Champions #20. What inspired Amka's creation and what can you tell us about her superhuman abilities?

Jim Zub: I've been writing at Marvel for the past four years, and one of the most enjoyable aspects of playing in the big ol' Marvel sandbox is the potential to add new toys. With Thunderbolts I stuck mostly with fleshing out characters or moving their stories forward. In Uncanny Avengers I made little tiny elements and then in Avengers: No Surrender I went all in - a new hero, villains, new back stories on existing characters, all kinds of fun stuff. When it came time to take over Champions I just felt that it would be great to add a new teen hero to the mix. If I was going to do that, I had two goals: One, the new character would have mystic abilities (because the team doesn't have anyone with that power set) and two, that he or she would be Canadian because, well, I'm Canadian and I've been at Marvel long enough that I can start executing my Maple Syrup Agenda™.

If I was going to go ahead and create a new Canadian hero, I felt it would be nice to showcase a part of Canada that doesn't get much time in the mainstream spotlight. An indigenous hero seemed like something a bit different we could tackle, and I was especially excited about making her a regular part of the team, not just a guest star for an few issues.

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EXCLUSIVE: Art from Champions #21 by Sean Izaakse and Marcio Menyz

I pitched that broad concept at Tom and Alanna, my editors, and they gave me the go ahead to start developing it further. From there I started doing research and through a friend I was put in touch with Nyla Innuksuk. She's a film and VR producer who has a solid footing in Inuit myth and gave me a ton of great context for what it was like growing up in Nunavut. It took the research I was already doing and really contextualized it in a way I could never have gotten from books and websites alone.

In the same kind of way that Peter Parker is bitten by a radioactive spider, Amka is imbued with magic energy by Sila, an energy that's a bit like mana, ubiquitous and ever present but not normally something people can see or control. It allows her to tap into much larger forces and transform herself with animal traits, at first by accident but with practice in a very powerful way.

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It's interesting that before her transformation Amka was already very much an activist and involved in the types of things at the local level that the Champions want to do on a global scale. So what can you tell us about her initial dynamic with the Champions? Which cast members are proving to be the most fun to bounce off of Snowguard?

Amka is young teen girl trying to come to terms with this new power she's been given. She didn't grow up believing in spirits or Inuk myths and now has to carry that power inside her, so that's a real challenge.

Viv and Amka are the most fun to write right now. Once Amka decides to leave Nunavut she comes to live in Viv's house while Vision is being repaired after the events of Avengers: No Surrender, so they're bonding as friends and learning from each other.

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EXCLUSIVE: Art from Infinity Countdown Champions #1 by Emilio Laiso and Andy Troy

This current arc also sees the Champions interacting with the current incarnation of Alpha Flight and the team's old foe, the Master of the World. What can you tell us about Alpha Flight's role in this story and the tone and action of next issue?

The Master is doing something great (repairing glaciers to slow global warming), but Alpha Flight knows he doesn't just do this stuff without an ulterior motive, so things get heated pretty quick. The Master is already a wanted criminal. Alpha Flight wants to get in and deal with this nice and quick, but it's not going to go the way they want.

The current arc wraps in Champions #21 and then the action heads into space in the Infinity Countdown Champions miniseries. It seems like this mini would be a big story for a number of characters, but Sam Alexander (AKA Nova) especially. Will we see some threads from Sam's outer space adventures in his solo series picked up here? Which other cast members will be spotlighted in the Infinity Countdown miniseries?

Big stuff happens in these two issues and it's absolutely Nova-centric, tying in some old foes from his past. Sam brings Kamala, Nadia, Viv, and Amka with him into space (Amadeus and Miles are dealing with stuff in their own solo books) to answer a Nova Corps distress call and the team gets thrown right into the deep end of a major conflict they're unprepared for. It's intense.

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How connected is Infinity Countdown: Champions to the action going on in the regular series? And will readers curious about the team who try their adventures for the first time with this mini be able to follow the action back to Earth in July's Champions #22?

The 2-issue Infinity Countdown: Champions story is absolutely crucial to the ongoing Champions series and the repercussions of it will carry forward into future plot lines. It fits right between Champions #21 and 22. At the same time, it's really easy for Infinity Countdown readers to understand who is on this team, what they're capable of and why they should follow us back to the main series once it's done. It adds to the cosmic whole of Infinity Countdown, but is still very character-centered and emotional. Sam and the team are not going to be able to just walk away from the stuff that happens here.

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EXCLUSIVE: Art from Infinity Countdown Champions #1 by Emilio Laiso and Andy Troy

Infinity Countdown Champions features art by Emilio Laiso who recently worked on Marvel's Star Wars: Doctor Aphra series. And in Champions #22 you begin collaborating with Kevin Libranda who worked on some of Marvel's Inhuman titles and a recent issue of the Venomized mini-series. What's it like working with Emilio and Kevin? What do you enjoy most about their styles?

Both Emilio and Kevin are delivering top notch work. I feel so fortunate that we've had such incredible art teams on the series. Between Sean [Izaakse, who is drawing the current arc of the book], Kevin, and Emilio it's just been stellar. Emilio's figures are so lively and his emotional scenes really hit hard. Kevin's storytelling is really rich and I love the way he draws the whole cast. Whenever you have artists who can elevate the material, you know it's going to be something special.

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It looks like after the Champions return to Earth you'll pick up the aftermath of some of your cast members recently concluded solo series. The end of Greg Pak's Incredible Hulk run saw Amadeus Cho fight a destructive battle with his dark side. So what's your sense of where Greg left Amadeus at the end of his run? Which aspects of Amadeus' character are you interested in exploring this summer?

Champions #22 snaps the story to "now", post-Bendis on Miles and post-Pak on Totally Awesome Hulk. It's also post-Avengers: No Surrender as well. Lots of little things to catch up on.

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Amadeus was brought low by his own hubris and that's fertile ground to explore. Amadeus always felt a bit immature to me when I read Champions and that's exasperated by the fact that he's the oldest on the team. Even still, that made sense to me. I've seen that kind of behavior in a mixed group, where the oldest person is being the most playful as a kind of defense mechanism, deflecting their own maturity to try and impress. Amadeus has changed now and that transformation is going to require him to step up and be more responsible.

EXCLUSIVE: Art from Infinity Countdown Champions #1 by Emilio Laiso and Andy Troy

And it looks like Riri Williams will don a new armor in Champions #23. What can you tell us about her new suit? Is the design of it connected to some of the sort of anxieties and other emotions she's exhibiting in this current arc of Champions?

I don't want to tip our hand too much on that yet. Suffice to say, it's a sweet upgrade that helps move her out of Tony Stark's shadow. Like any armored hero, it's going to undergo a lot of tinkering and have a bunch of hidden features we can explore.

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Finally, can you leave us with some hints and teases about your plans for the Champions beyond this summer?

Champions #24, arriving in September, is an issue all of us on the team are pouring ourselves into. I can't say much yet, but I really think it's going to make people sit up and take notice. The Champions have so much potential and I'm hoping we can show that to readers new and old in the months ahead.