In the latest issue of Champions, a young hero has taken a more proactive role in the fight against Roxxon, and it could paint a target on her back.
WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Champions #6 by Danny Lore, Luciano Vecchio, Federcio Blee, and VC’s Clayton Cowles, on sale now
The Champions were designed to be more than just the next generation of superheroes in the Marvel Universe. The team is also meant to represent forward thinking young people willing to find new ways to protect the world. This means facing more than just typical criminals, including bringing public attention to the kind of forces that can’t usually be stopped with punching.
Snowguard has positioned herself as the new public face of the fight against Roxxon, setting herself up to take a major but potentially dangerous role in the future of the Marvel Universe.
Amka Aliyak is a teenager of Inuk descent from the northern areas of Canada. After meeting the Champions during their fight against the Master of the World, Amka was empowered by the Inua spirit Sila, resulting in her gaining the ability to generate auroras of light and shapeshift aspects of her body into those of arctic animals — most prominently a set of wings that provide her with the ability of flight. Taking the name Snowguard, Amka has proven to be a capable young hero, working with her team against a host of different enemies.
During the events of “Outlawed,” Snowguard was one of the prominent members of the group captured by C.R.A.D.L.E. and subjected to attempts at reeducation by Roxxon-backed services. Since Kamala’s Law has been halted, Snowguard has been released back into the public. But rather than fully rejoin her fellow young heroes (who are still trying to figure out how to combat the ideals of Roxxon), Snowguard has decided to take a more aggressive and outspoken approach against the massive company.
Snowguard is shown leading a massive protest at the unveiling of Roxx On, a new social media and self-care app designed by Roxxon. Surrounded by teens recording the event, Roxxon’s new head of publicity and marketing Miriam Blakemoore keeps the security forces from attacking the teens and instead tries to talk with Snowguard. Snowguard reveals that after what she and her friends suffered at the Roxxon reeducation camps, she has no intention of allowing the company to clean up their image. While Blakemoore tries to make a case for Roxx On being the perfect way for Roxxon to learn from their past mistakes, Snowguard is unimpressed.
She notes that, like the Master of the World, Roxxon just wants to destroy the world as it is and remake it in their image, and that their greatest weapon is having a seemingly personable and reasonable approach to everything. Snowguard refuses to let Blakemoore fully turn the conversation towards the ways Roxxon is “improving,” keeping the protest focused on calling out the company. This publicly positions Snowguard to have a vital role going forward.
As one of the most outspoken voices of the new generation of heroes, Snowguard’s protests against Roxxon could be a key element of bringing down the company once and for all. By making herself part of the overall protests against Roxxon, she lends her support to everyone who is angry or terrified of the corporation, potentially giving the movement a figurehead they can unite around. However, it also puts a massive target on her back — as evidenced by Blakemoore immediately ordering her people to begin a coordinated bot campaign towards discrediting her. With how tense things have been in the Marvel Universe lately for young heroes and especially for enemies of the Roxxon Corporation, this could lead to Snowguard being targeted by some very powerful enemies.
