[1][2] According to the letters page of Champions #6, writer Tony Isabella developed the concept of a new team of superheroes and originally wanted the roster to consist of former X-Men the Angel and Iceman, and the newly created Black Goliath.

[3] Editor Len Wein insisted on at least five members, and Isabella added three established heroes: Russian spy Black Widow, the Greek god Hercules, and the supernatural avenger Ghost Rider.

[7] Finally, he insisted that the series was always going to be in a regular size format, and has hypothesized that the "giant-size" story was put forward to cover up the fact that the team was missing deadlines.

[7] He also said that he chose the Black Widow, Hercules, and the Ghost Rider for the group under the editorial requirements that the team must have a woman, a strong man, and at least one character with their own series.

Isabella intended from the beginning for the Champions to be a superhero team for the common man, but admitted that the series never brought this theme across in a convincing way.

[7] The team never acquired their own rogues gallery, and instead battled established Marvel villains such as Pluto,[9] the Stranger,[10] and Kamo Tharnn,[11] along with the occasional new foe such as Swarm.

In an effort to boost the series' flagging sales, the Champions were featured as guest-stars for three consecutive months: in Iron Man Annual #4 (August 1977), The Avengers #163 (September 1977), and Godzilla, King of the Monsters #3 (October 1977).

The second-to-last issue continued a story involving a power struggle between villains Doctor Doom and Magneto from the title Super-Villain Team-Up.