{"id":33215,"date":"2025-06-30T15:22:26","date_gmt":"2025-06-30T15:22:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/?p=33215"},"modified":"2025-06-30T15:22:26","modified_gmt":"2025-06-30T15:22:26","slug":"new-crusaders-legacy-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/2025\/06\/30\/new-crusaders-legacy-2\/","title":{"rendered":"New Crusaders Legacy"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\nBy Rich Buckler<\/strong>, Ian Flynn<\/strong>, Robert Kanigher<\/strong>, Marty Griem<\/strong>, Lou Manna<\/strong>, Rex Lindsey<\/strong>, Stan Timmons<\/strong>, Bill DuBay, Jr.<\/strong>, Rich Margopoulos<\/strong>, David M. Singer<\/strong>, Alex Toth<\/strong>, Carmine Infantino<\/strong>, Steve Ditko<\/strong>, Dick Ayers<\/strong>, Gray Morrow<\/strong>, Alec Ni\u00f1o<\/strong>, Tony DeZu\u00f1iga<\/strong>, Louis Barreto<\/strong>, Adrian Gonzales<\/strong>, Ricardo Villagran<\/strong>, Frank Giacoia<\/strong>, Alan Kupperberg<\/strong>, Jerry Gaylord<\/strong>, Ben Bates<\/strong>, Alitha Martinez<\/strong> & many more (Red Circle\/Archie Comics)
\nISBN: 978-1-936975-22-8 (TPB\/Digital edition)<\/p>\n

This book includes Discriminatory Content<\/strong> produced in less enlightened times. <\/em><\/p>\n

In the dawning days of the comic book business, just after Superman<\/strong> and Batman<\/strong> pioneered a new genre of storytelling, many publishers jumped onto the bandwagon and made their own bids for cash and glory. Many thrived and many more didn\u2019t; now relished only as trivia by sad old blokes like me. Some few made it to an amorphous middle-ground: not forgotten, but certainly not household names either.<\/p>\n

MLJ were one of the quickest publishers to jump on the Mystery-Man bandwagon, following the spectacular successes of the Man of Tomorrow with their own small yet inspirational pantheon of gaudily clad costumed crusaders, beginning in November 1939 with Blue Ribbon Comics<\/strong>. Soon followed by Top-Notch<\/strong> and Pep Comics<\/strong>, their content was the standard blend of two-fisted adventure strips, prose pieces and gag panels and, from #2 on, superheroes. However, after only a few years M<\/strong>aurice Coyne, L<\/strong>ouis Silberkleit and J<\/strong>ohn Goldwater spotted a gap in the blossoming market and in December 1941 nudged aside their masked heroes and action strips to make room for a far less imposing hero; an \u201caverage teen\u201d who would have ordinary adventures like the readers, but with triumphs, romance and slapstick emphasised. The teen phenomenon was pure gold and by 1946 the kids had taken over, so MLJ renamed itself Archie Comics<\/strong>; retiring its heroic characters years before the end of the Golden Age and becoming, to all intents and purposes, a publisher of family comedies. Its success, like Superman\u2019s, changed the content of every other publisher\u2019s titles, and led to a multi-media industry including TV shows, movies, a chain of restaurants and even a global pop hit Sugar, Sugar <\/em>(a tune from their animated show).<\/p>\n

By this stage the company had blazed through an impressive pantheon of mystery-men who would form the backbone of numerous future superhero revivals, most notably in the High-Camp\/Marvel Explosion\/Batman TV show-frenzied mid-60\u2019s era. The heroes impressively resurfaced under the company\u2019s Red Circle imprint during the early days of the Direct Sales revolution of the 1980s, but after a strong initial showing, again failed to sustain the public\u2019s attention.<\/p>\n

Archie let them lie fallow (except for occasional revivals and intermittent guest-shots in Archie titles) until 1991, when the company licensed its heroes to superhero specialists DC for a magically fun, all-ages iteration (and where\u2019s that star-studded trade paperback collection, huh?!). Impact Comics was a vibrant, engaging and fun all-ages rethink that really should have been a huge hit but was again cruelly unsuccessful. When the line folded in 1993 the characters returned to limbo. DC had one more crack at them in 2008, incorporating The Mighty Crusaders<\/strong> & Co into their own maturely angst-ridden and stridently dark continuity – with the usual overwhelming lack of success.<\/p>\n

Over the last decade the wanderers returned home to Archie in superbly simplistic and winningly straightforward revivals aimed squarely at old nostalgics and young kids reared on action\/adventure TV cartoons: brimming with all the exuberant verve and wide-eyed honest ingenuity you\u2019d expect from an outfit which has been pleasing kids for over 80 years.<\/p>\n

Released initially online in May 2012 – followed by a traditional monthly print version that September – the first story-arc made it to full legitimacy with a thrill-packed trade paperback collection, equally welcoming to inveterate fanboys and eager newcomers alike. The series introduced a new generation of legacy heroes rising from the ashes of their parents\/guardians\u2019 murders to become a team of teenaged gladiators carrying on the fight as New Crusaders<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

This collection supplements and follows on from that magical makeover: with mentor The Shield<\/strong> training the potential-filled juniors with the records of their predecessors. The stories included here come from those aforementioned 1980s Red Circle episodes; culled from the<\/p>\n

Mighty Crusaders<\/strong> #1, 8, 9; The Fly<\/strong> #2, 4, 6; Blue Ribbon<\/strong> (vol 2) #3, 8, 14; The Comet<\/strong> #1 and Black Hood<\/strong> #2, collectively spanning 1983-1985.
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\nFollowing an engaging reintroduction and recap, contemporary creative team Ian Flynn, Jerry Gaylord, Ben Bates & Alitha Martinez reveal how the grizzled, flag-draped veteran has trouble reaching his teenaged students until he begins treating them as individuals, and sharing past Crusaders\u2019 cases. Starting with personal recollections of his own early days as America\u2019s first Patriotic superhero in \u2018The Shield\u2019<\/em> (Mighty Crusaders<\/strong> #8, by Marty Greim, Dick Ayers & Rich Buckler), Joe Higgins<\/em> explains his active presence in the 21st<\/sup> century, leading into a recapitulation of the first Red Circle yarn.<\/p>\n

\u2018Atlantis Rising\u2019<\/em> is from Mighty Crusaders<\/strong> #1, by Buckler & Frank Giacoia, which saw psionic plunderer Brain Emperor<\/em> and immortal antediluvian Eterno the Conqueror<\/em> launching a multi-pronged attack on the world. They are countered by an army of costumed champions including the Golden Age Shield<\/strong>, Lancelot Strong<\/em> – the<\/strong> (other) Shield<\/strong> – and for a while there were three different ones active at once – Fly <\/strong>and Fly-Girl<\/strong>, The Jaguar<\/strong>, The Web<\/strong>, Black Hood<\/strong> and The Comet<\/strong>, who communally countered a global crimewave and clobbered the villains\u2019 giant killer robots…<\/p>\n

This is followed by a modern interlude plus pin-up and data pages on Ralph Hardy<\/em> AKA \u2018The Jaguar\u2019<\/em> before a potent vignette by Chas Ward & Carlos Vicat. \u2018The Web\u2019<\/em> offers the same data-page update for masked detective\/criminologist John Raymond<\/em> before \u2018The Killing Hour\u2019<\/em> (Blue Ribbon<\/strong> #14, by Stan Timmons, Lou Manna, Rex Lindsey & Chic Stone) sees the merely mortal manhunter join his brother-in-law The Jaguar in foiling nuclear terrorism.<\/p>\n

Modern pin-ups and data-pages reintroduce \u2018The Comet\u2019<\/em> before Bill DuBay, Jr., Carmine Infantino & Alec Ni\u00f1o reworked the original 1940\u2019s origin tale by Jack Cole from Pep Comics<\/strong> #1 in (1940). Reproduced from 1984\u2019s The Comet<\/strong> #1, this chilling yarn detailed how an idealistic scientist became the most bloodthirsty hero of the Golden Age, with a body-count which made The Punisher<\/strong> look like a social worker.
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\nThe infomercial for \u2018Steel Sterling\u2019<\/em> precedes a wild and whimsical origin-retelling of the star-struck, super-strong \u201cMan of Steel\u201d by his 1940s scripter Robert Kanigher, illustrated with superb style by Louis Barreto & Tony DeZu\u00f1iga from Blue Ribbon<\/strong> #3, after which \u2018Fly Girl\u2019<\/em> gets star treatment in a brace of tales, augmented as always by the ubiquitous fact-folio.<\/p>\n

Buckler, Timmons, Adrian Gonzales & Ricardo Villagran\u2019s \u2018A Woman\u2019s Place\u2019<\/em> (The Fly<\/strong> #2) clears up an exceedingly sexist old-school extortion ring whilst \u2018Faithfully Yours\u2019<\/em> (Fly<\/strong> #6) sees her movie-star alter ego Kim Brand<\/em> subjected to a chilling campaign of terror from a fan. Timmons, Buckler, Steve Ditko & Alan Kupperberg take just the right tone in what might be the first incidence of stalking in US comics…<\/p>\n

\u2018Black Hood\u2019<\/em> has no modern iteration in the New Crusaders. Still active in contemporary times, he encountered the kids during their debut exploit and is phenomenally cool, so he gets a place here. Following the customary introductory lesson he appears in a gritty, Dirty Harry<\/strong> styled caper (from Blue Ribbon<\/strong> #8 by Gray Morrow) as undercover cop – and latest convert – Kip Burland<\/em>, who sidesteps Due Process to save a kidnapped girl and ensure the conviction of crooks hiding behind the law. The gripping yarn also discloses the centuries-long justice-seeking tradition of \u201cThe Man of Mystery\u201d…<\/p>\n

That\u2019s followed by a snippet from Rich Margopoulos, Kupperberg & Giacoia\u2019s \u2018A Hero\u2019s Rage\u2019<\/em> wherein Kip discovers his uncle Matt<\/em> (the Golden Age Black Hood) has been murdered. Ditching his leather jacket and ski-mask in favour of the traditional costume, the bereaved hero suits up and joins the Mighty Crusaders…<\/p>\n

Without doubt the most engaging reprint in this collection and by itself well worth the price of admission is \u2018The Fox\u2019 <\/em>from Black Hood<\/strong> #2. Written and drawn by the inimitable Alex Toth, this scintillating light-hearted period comedy-drama finds the devilish do-gooder in Morocco in 1948 and embroiled with wealthy expatriate ex-boxer Cosmo Gilly<\/em>, who has no idea he\u2019s become the target for assassination…
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\nThe recondite recollections surge to a climax with \u2018Old Legends Never Die\u2019<\/em> (MC<\/strong>#9, by David M. Singer, Buckler & Ayers) as the first Shield is accused of excessive force and manslaughter when his 1940\u2019s crime-fighting style seemingly results in the death of a thief he apprehended. With Joe Higgins\u2019 costumed friends in support but out of their depth in a courtroom, the convoluted history of the three heroes bearing his codename is unpicked during \u2018The Trial of the Shield\u2019<\/em> before the uncannily sinister truth is exposed…<\/p>\n

Supplemented by a plentiful cover gallery and packed with the kind of ephemera that sends old Fights \u2018n\u2019 Tights fans into paroxysms of delight, I fear this is probably a book only the wide-eyed young and dedicated still ambulatory old fart nostalgists could handle, but it is such a perfect artefact of the superhero genre I strongly urge anyone with a hankering for masked adventure and craving Costumed Dramas to give it a long look.
\nNEW CRUSADERS and RED CIRCLE COMICS \u00ae ACP, Inc. \u00a9 2013 Archie Comics Publications. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Rich Buckler, Ian Flynn, Robert Kanigher, Marty Griem, Lou Manna, Rex Lindsey, Stan Timmons, Bill DuBay, Jr., Rich Margopoulos, David M. Singer, Alex Toth, Carmine Infantino, Steve Ditko, Dick Ayers, Gray Morrow, Alec Ni\u00f1o, Tony DeZu\u00f1iga, Louis Barreto, Adrian Gonzales, Ricardo Villagran, Frank Giacoia, Alan Kupperberg, Jerry Gaylord, Ben Bates, Alitha Martinez & many … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “New Crusaders Legacy”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[191,365,383,75,108,225,127,107,144,93],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-33215","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-adventure","category-alex-toth","category-carmine-infantino","category-crime-comics","category-miscellaneous-superhero","category-mystery","category-nostalgia","category-science-fiction","category-steve-ditko","category-war-stories"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4AFj-8DJ","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33215","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33215"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33215\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33220,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33215\/revisions\/33220"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33215"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33215"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33215"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}