Mighty Crusaders

Last updated

The Mighty Crusaders
The Mighty Crusaders no 1.png
The Mighty Crusaders No. 1 (Nov. 1965). Cover art by Paul Reinman.
Publication information
Publisher Archie Comics
ScheduleMonthly
Format Ongoing series
Genre
Publication dateNovember 1965 – November 1966
No. of issues7
Creative team
Written by Jerry Siegel
Penciller(s) Paul Reinman
Mike Sekowsky
Inker(s) Joe Giella
Paul Reinman
Letterer(s) Sam Rosen
Colorist(s) Victor Gorelick
Collected editions
Origin of a Super Team ISBN   1-879794-14-4

The Mighty Crusaders is a fictional superhero team published by Archie Comics. The team originally appeared in Fly-Man No. 31, #32 and No. 33 before being launched in its own title, The Mighty Crusaders. [1] Written by Superman co-creator Jerry Siegel, the series lasted seven issues before being cancelled. [2] The team was revived under Archie's Red Circle Comics line in 1983. In 1992 DC Comics licensed the characters and relaunched the team as The Crusaders, aiming the comic at younger readers as part of its !mpact line. This series lasted eight issues, cover-dated May to December 1992.

Contents

Publication history

The popularity of DC's and Marvel's Silver Age superhero titles led Archie Comics to revive their own line of superhero comics. [3] The Archie Adventure line began with titles centered on the Fly, the Jaguar, and a superheroic/spy version of the 1930s pulp character The Shadow. After suggestions and fan-art [4] began suggesting a team made up of the characters published by Archie Comics precursor MLJ in the 1940s, Archie's superhero imprint, soon retitled Mighty Comics, re-introduced many of these characters, and brought them together in several issues of Fly-Man. [5]

This team, which followed the success of the Avengers and the Justice League of America, was made up of the Shield, the Fly (re-dubbed Fly-Man), the Black Hood, and the Comet. Calling themselves the Mighty Crusaders, they initially came together as part of a plan by the Fly's nemesis the Spider to trap the hero. [6] [7] After appearing as a team for two more issues of Fly-Man, and gaining Flygirl as a member in the process, they spun off into their own series, The Mighty Crusaders, which ran bimonthly for seven issues. [3] [8] The Archie series mixed typical superhero fare with high camp. [3] Don Markstein writes that they touched on "all the genre's cliches of the time", with Siegel's writing on the book being a "hokey rendition of Stan Lee". [9]

In 1983 the team and the series were relaunched, with Rich Buckler as writer and penciller on the first issue. A contractual dispute between Buckler and DC Comics saw the publication of the first issue delayed. [10] Buckler recruited Cary Burkett to write several issues of the Mighty Crusaders title. [11] The series ran until the middle of 1985, being cancelled with issue #13 (September 1985).

In 1992 DC Comics acquired a license to publish the characters, and launched a team book as part of the line. This series, titled only The Crusaders, launched in early 1992. The first issue saw scriptwriting by Mark Waid and Brian Augustyn. The series and the line itself, Impact Comics, were aimed at younger readers. DC Comics attempted to sell Impact Comics titles through newsstands in an attempt to expand the potential market. However, due to internal conflicts, this distribution never happened and the imprint eventually collapsed due to poor sales. The last issue of the DC series was issue #8 (December 1992).

The team also served as a partial inspiration for Alan Moore's series Watchmen . Moore had initially imagined the story as being based around second-string heroes: "I wanted more average super-heroes, like the Mighty Crusaders line ... [the] original idea had started off with the dead body of the Shield being pulled out of a river somewhere." Moore used this idea when asked to submit a pitch for a treatment of DC Comics' then-newly acquired Charlton Comics properties. Although the treatment was rejected for those characters, DC Comics commissioned Moore to base the story on all-new heroes, and the project became Watchmen. Moore later used the Crusaders as inspiration for the Minutemen, the Golden Age predecessors of the Watchmen main characters. [12]

Team membership

First series

The first Mighty Crusaders group was created by Archie under their Mighty Comics line in the 1960s. At that time, the members of the team consisted of:

Second series

The second Mighty Crusaders group was created by Archie Comics under their Red Circle Comics line of the 1980s. At this time, members of the team consisted of:

This title kicked off the Red Circle comics and lasted 13 issues.

Impact Comics series

When DC Comics licensed the Archie superheroes for their Impact line in the 1990s, the team was simply called the Crusaders. The DC series The Crusaders lasted eight issues, from May to December 1992.

DC Comics series

A new Mighty Crusaders series was released by DC Comics, which assimilated the Red Circle heroes into its continuity following Final Crisis . A series of one-shots led into two ongoing Shield and Web titles, each of which was canceled after 10 issues. Mighty Crusaders lasted seven issues. In addition to the established Red Circle characters, an original heroine by the name of War Eagle was introduced as well. [15] The new team consists of:

New Crusaders

In 2012, Archie comics returned to The Mighty Crusaders characters. The new series, titled New Crusaders would pick up on the characters from the original series many years after the last of their arch-villains had been defeated. New Crusaders follows the progeny of the Mighty Crusaders as they struggle to become heroes after the return of the Brain Emperor. The series debuted digitally on May 16, 2012, through Archie Comics’ Red Circle app, [16] with print publication scheduled to begin monthly on September 5, 2012. For digital release, issues were divided into fourths and released once a week. [17]

A spinoff, Lost Crusade, was announced which would run every fifth week and fill in the gaps between the 1980s Red Circle comics and New Crusaders. Ian Flynn expressed a desire to explore the gap between the 1980s series and New Crusaders: "There were so many open endings when the '80s era series wrapped up that it's hard to choose. What happened to Darkling? Who was the traitor? Did Black Hood figure it out, or just make things worse? Did anyone mourn Doc Reeves? There's tons of stories and characters to explore, and it's honestly hard to choose." [18] [19] However, despite announcements for New Crusaders: Dark Tomorrow and Lost Crusade creative teams, [20] [21] the incoming Red Circle editor Alex Segura mentioned "[I] have a great fondness for New Crusaders and the stuff that book aimed to do" in a March 2014 interview but that Red Circle (later rebranded Dark Circle) would be taking a new path: "These won't be all-ages superhero books that we hope will appeal to older readers. As much as I love New Crusaders, it won't be a direct follow-up to that. If you want an idea of what we’re shooting for, Afterlife with Archie is your best example. We see the Red Circle expansion as a continuation of the success of Afterlife."

Dark Circle's Crusaders

Dark Circle comics started a new run in December 2017 featuring the new Shield (Victoria Adams), Steel Sterling, Firefly, Darkling, The Comet and Jaguar.

Collected editions

Recently, Archie Comics has reprinted some of the Mighty Crusaders adventures in a trade paperback collection under the "Red Circle Productions" name. This TPB is no longer available, however, since Joe Simon successfully contested ownership of the character of The Fly/Fly-Man, [22] meaning that Archie Comics is no longer allowed to use the character.

Other media

Toys

The Mighty Comics Superheroes Game board game was released by Transogram in 1966, and featured the Mighty Crusaders characters. Many of the characters featured on the box are given names they do not use in the comics (The Fox is "Mr. Fox", for instance). [23]

Carded Action Figures were produced in 1984 for some of the Mighty Crusaders by the Remco Toy Company, featuring packaging art by Steve Ditko. Each figure came with a Secret Sonic Signaling shield. There were four heroes and four villains in the line. Included were:

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Archie Comics</span> American comic book publisher

Archie Comic Publications, Inc. is an American comic book publisher headquartered in the village of Pelham, New York. The company's many titles feature the fictional teenagers Archie Andrews, Jughead Jones, Betty Cooper, Veronica Lodge, Reggie Mantle, Sabrina Spellman, Josie and the Pussycats and Katy Keene. The company is also known for its long-running Sonic the Hedgehog comic series, which it published from 1992 until 2016.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Fly (Archie Comics)</span> Comic book superhero by Archie Comics

The Fly is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Red Circle Comics, an imprint of Archie Comics. He was created by Joe Simon as part of Archie's "Archie Adventure Series" and later camped up as part of the company's Mighty Comics line. He first appeared in The Double Life of Private Strong #1 ; however, his origin story and first "full-length" appearance were in Adventures of the Fly #1.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dark Circle Comics</span>

Dark Circle Comics is an imprint of Archie Comic Publications, Inc. Under its previous name, Red Circle Comics, it published non-humor characters, particularly superheroes in the 1970s and 1980s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shield (Archie Comics)</span> Character in Archie Comics

The Shield is the name of several superheroes created by MLJ. Appearing months before Captain America, the Shield has the distinction of being the first superhero with a costume based upon United States patriotic iconography. The character appeared in Pep Comics from issue #1 to #65.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paul Reinman</span>

Paul J. Reinman was an American comic book artist best known as one of Jack Kirby's frequent inkers during the period comics fans and historians call the Silver Age of Comic Books. This included the first issues of The Incredible Hulk and The X-Men.

Thunderbunny is a comic book about a boy who transforms into a superhero resembling a large pink humanoid rabbit. It was created by Martin L. Greim.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Black Hood</span> Superhero

The Black Hood is the name of several fictional characters created by MLJ Comics during the period known as the "Golden Age of Comic Books". The Black Hood first appeared in Top-Notch Comics #9, October 1940 and became one of MLJ's most popular characters. He has been in four self-titled series as well as in his own radio show, Black Hood (1943–1944). In recent decades, the Black Hood has been sporadically licensed and published by DC Comics. However, the character reappeared under Archie Comics' Dark Circle Comics line in 2015.

<i>Pep Comics</i> Comic book

Pep Comics is an American comic book anthology series published by the Archie Comics predecessor MLJ Magazines Inc. during the 1930s and 1940s period known as the Golden Age of Comic Books. The title continued under the Archie Comics imprint for a total of 411 issues until March 1987.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Comet (Archie Comics)</span> Comics character

The Comet is a character that first appeared in Pep Comics #1 in January 1940. A little over a year later, the Comet was the first superhero to be killed in the line of duty. He died in issue #17, which also introduced his brother, a brutal hero called the Hangman.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fox (comics)</span> Comic book superhero

The Fox is the name of two superheroes that appear in periodicals published by MLJ Comics and later Dark Circle Comics.

The Web is a superhero created by MLJ Comics in 1942 by artist John Cassone and an unknown writer. The character was published in Zip Comics until 1943, and was later brought back in 1966 to appear in Archie's revived superhero line. DC Comics licensed Archie's superhero characters in 1991, and brought a new revival of the character to life in 2009.

<i>Blue Ribbon Comics</i>

Blue Ribbon Comics is the name of two American comic book anthology series, the first published by the Archie Comics predecessor MLJ Magazines Inc., commonly known as MLJ Comics, from 1939 to 1942, during the Golden Age of Comic Books. The revival was the second comic published in the 1980s by Archie Comics under the Red Circle and Archie Adventure Series banners.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Magazine Enterprises</span> American comic book company

Magazine Enterprises was an American comic book company lasting from 1943 to 1958, which published primarily Western, humor, crime, adventure, and children's comics, with virtually no superheroes. It was founded by Vin Sullivan, an editor at Columbia Comics and before that the editor at National Allied Publications, the future DC Comics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Firefly (Archie Comics)</span> Comics character

Firefly is a superhero created by Harry Shorten and Bob Wood for MLJ Comics in 1940. He first appeared in Top-Notch Comics #8. Artist Warren King and writer Joe Blair loaned their talents to many of the Firefly's installments.

The Wizard is a superhero created by Will Harr and Edd Ashe Jr. for MLJ Comics, which later became Archie Comics. He first appeared in Top-Notch Comics #1 in December 1939, and was one of the headliners of that title until its cancellation in 1944. He was one of the earliest superhero characters to appear after the debut of Superman in 1938.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hangman (Archie Comics)</span> Comics character

The Hangman is the name of several fictional superheroes that appear in periodicals published by MLJ Comics and later Dark Circle Comics.

<i>Hangman Comics</i>

Hangman Comics was the name of an American anthology comic book series published by MLJ Magazines Inc., more commonly known as MLJ Comics, for seven issues between Spring 1942 and Fall 1943. It featured MLJs costumed vigilante The Hangman, and "Boy Buddies", featuring Shield's partner 'Dusty the Boy Detective' and Wizard's side-kick 'Roy the Superboy', throughout the series.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Impact Comics</span>

Impact Comics was an imprint of DC Comics that was aimed at younger audiences. It began in 1991 and ended in 1993. The initial "I" in the logo was stylized as an exclamation point, but the official name of the imprint was not !mpact.

<i>New Crusaders</i>

The New Crusaders is a fictional superhero team and their eponymous title published by Archie Comics' imprint Red Circle Comics. A revamp of the previously published Mighty Crusaders title, New Crusaders follows the sons and daughters of the original Mighty Crusaders as they acquire their own powers and attempt to become superheroes. The series was written by regular Sonic the Hedgehog writer Ian Flynn and ended on a cliffhanger.

References

  1. ↑ Mighty Crusaders: Origin of a Super Team(November 2003).Archie Comic Publications, 1-879794-14-4 .
  2. ↑ Eury, Michael (2006). The Krypton Companion. TwoMorrows Publishing. p. 48. ISBN   9781893905610.
  3. 1 2 3 Weiland, Jonah (July 15, 2003). "'The Mighty Crusaders: Origin of a Super-Team' ships November". Comic Book Resources . Retrieved February 2, 2009.
  4. ↑ "The Jaguar's Lair [lettercolumn]," The Jaguar #8 (September 1963). Fan Paul Seydor suggests a team called "The Anti-Crime League," and includes a drawing. See http://www.mightycrusaders.net/anticrimesquad.htm
  5. ↑ Mougin, Lou (2020). Secondary Superheroes of Golden Age Comics. McFarland & Co. pp. 140–142. ISBN   9781476638607.
  6. ↑ Siegel, Jerry  ( w ),Paul Reinman ( p ),Paul Reinman ( i ),Richard Goldwater ( ed ). Fly-Man,no. 31(May 1965).Archie.
  7. ↑ Wells, John (2014). American Comic Book Chronicles: 1965-1969. TwoMorrows Publishing. p. 63. ISBN   978-1605490557.
  8. ↑ Siegel, Jerry  ( w ),Paul Reinman ( p ),Joe Giella ( i ),Richard Goldwater ( ed ). Mighty Crusaders,no. 1(November 1965).Archie.
  9. ↑ Markstein, Don. "The Mighty Crusaders". Don Markstein's Toonopedia. Archived from the original on September 13, 2012. Retrieved March 9, 2009.
  10. ↑ Thompson, Kim; Steve Ringgenberg (November 1982). "Red Circle Debut Delayed". The Comics Journal (77): 23. ISSN   0194-7869.
  11. ↑ Cobb, Bradley S. (2001). "Cary Burkett Interview". The Mighty Crusaders Network. Archived from the original on December 15, 2013. Retrieved June 23, 2012.
  12. ↑ Khoury, George (December 2008). The Extraordinary Works of Alan Moore (Indispensable ed.). TwoMorrows. p. 109.
  13. ↑ "GCD :: Issue :: Adventures of the Fly #7".
  14. ↑ "GCD :: Issue :: Adventures of the Fly #30".
  15. ↑ "DC Comics' Full July 2010 Solicitations". Newsarama. Retrieved December 27, 2010.
  16. ↑ "New Crusaders Take Off Today". redcirclecomics.com. May 16, 2012. Retrieved August 9, 2012.
  17. ↑ "Release Schedule". redcirclecomics.com. February 13, 2012. Retrieved August 9, 2012.
  18. ↑ Comic Book Resources: "CCI EXCLUSIVE: Chuck Dixon Joins Red Circle's "Lost Crusade""
  19. ↑ Comic Book Resources: Ian Flynn Launches Red Circle's "Lost Crusade", August 29th 2012
  20. ↑ Robot 6: "Archie goes same-day print and digital with Red Circle comics"
  21. ↑ Robot 6: "Jon Goldwater discusses 2012 and what lies ahead for Archie Comics"
  22. ↑ "The fly / By Joe Simon & Archie Comics Publications, Inc. B826394 (1959)..." cocatalog.loc.gov. Retrieved December 23, 2023.
  23. ↑ "Mighty Comics Superheroes Game".
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.