Super teams have always had their place in comic books, even outside “the big two” of Marvel and DC comics. The Mighty Crusaders were Archie Comics take on when superheroes team up and show the forces of evil who’s in charge! Originally under the Action Comics banner, it was soon rebranded as Mighty comics to help push the line. While the team originally appeared in other books, the first time they had their own book it was written by the co-creator of Superman, Jerry Siegel. Sadly the book would last only 7 issues before it was cancelled. It was said that Siegel’s writing was a “hokey rendition of Stan Lee.” The team would over the years be repackaged and recreated for new fans including a run in the 80’s under Archie Comics “Red Circle” banner. The book was set in the same continuity of the classic books with some of the “heirs” to the titles taking up the mantle while some where brand new characters following in the footsteps of their heroes. In 1992, a young boy found a number one issue in his local 7-11 (remember when 7-11 actually sold comics?) called The Crusaders, published by IMPACT comics, a line of comics from DC that was aimed at younger readers.
The Crusaders is the first comic I can remember picking up for myself that wasn’t a well-known character like Batman or a big team book like The X-Men. The early 90’s was an era of foil packaging, trading cards included and lots of other gimmicks to bring kids into comics. In some cases, the writing and art was secondary to the gimmick they included. Just look at all the bonus stuff you could get with The Death of Superman and how worthless it all is today. The Crusaders were still pretty corny, as it was aimed at younger readers, but it was a book I wanted to read without promise of cards to collect or a shiny cover I could blind my older brother with. With names like The Shield, The Comet, Jaguar, Black Hood, and the Web even at the age of six I knew they were similar to, and more than likely based off, other comic characters like Captain America, The Punisher and Spider-Man. But I read on because I was caught up in the story and if you were to see me outside, I was more likely to be pretending I was The Comet than the more well-known Batman or Iron Man. It wouldn’t be until years later I’d discover that people like Mark Waid, Rags Morales and Dan Jurgens all had their hands in the creation of the book.
In 2009, after being out of the lime light for years, the Crusaders would make their return to comics when DC comics integrated them into their mainstream continuity after the Final Crisis series. The Shield, which also had the co-feature of Inferno, and The Web with its co-feature of The Hangman, brought fans a brand new yet familiar take on the classic characters. A series of inter-connecting one shots was written by J. Michael Straczynski with the four books featuring the artwork talents of Tom Derenick, Bill Sienkiewicz, Greg Scott, Roger Robinson, Hilary Barta, Scott McDaniel and Andy Owen. The books would then be carried into an ongoing series that featured a slew of talent including Eric Trautmann, Angela Robinson, Brandon Jerwa, Matthew Sturges, Roger Robinson, Francis Manapul and more! I immediately loved seeing the new interpretations of the characters as well as seeing them interact with the mainstream DCU, without it being overly pushed. For instance, in The Hangman co-feature we see hints that he had teamed with the Sandman in the past. As a fan of Trautmann’s work on the series Checkmate as well as the mini-series JSA vs. Kobra, I devoured The Shield before any other of my weekly books.
Sadly, like its predecessors, The Shield and The Web would fail to find an audience in a DC world where most books were universe wide cross-overs involving Green Lantern or Batman. To its credit, DC would then combine the books into the new Mighty Crusaders book. While it continued to entertain, the series was obviously rushed much sooner than any of the creators had planned. The Shield and The Web would last ten issues each, while the new Mighty Crusaders would last six issues (seven if you count the 2010 Mighty Crusaders Special). DC has since released the books in trade paperback which I highly encourage you to pick up along with many of the other older Crusader books available out there. They may be harder to find, so ask your local comic shop if they can order them for you, if not try Amazon or other online outlets.
