| Crimson Avenger | |
|---|---|
 The Golden Age Crimson Avenger as shown in his first cover photo, fromDetective Comics #22 (December 1938); art by Jim Chambers. | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | DC Comics |
| First appearance | Detective Comics #20 (October 1938) |
| Created by | Jim Chambers[1] |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | Lee Walter Travis |
| Team affiliations | Seven Soldiers of Victory All-Star Squadron Justice League |
| Abilities | Olympic-level athlete Highly skilled hand to hand combatant Use of gas gun Master of martial arts and jujitsu Expert to Lock Picking Expert to firearms Brillant to Equestriatism |
Crimson Avenger (Lee Walter Travis) is asuperhero published byDC Comics. Hefirst appeared inDetective Comics #20 (October 1938).[2] He is the first superhero and costume hero published inDetective Comics. He precededBatman, and appeared in the same year afterAction Comics #1 debuted characters likeSuperman, which led to theGolden Age of Comic Books. He is sometimes depicted as one of the first masked heroes within the fictionalDC Universe. He is also known as a founding member of DC's second depicted superhero team,Seven Soldiers of Victory. After his death, his legacy name lives onother characters.
Crimson Avenger (along with his sidekickWing) first appeared in theDC ComicsanthologyAmerican comic book seriesDetective Comics in issue #20.[3][4]The Crimson Avenger had many similarities toThe Green Hornet, including a sidekick named Wing who was an Asianvalet, and agas gun that he used to subdue opponents.[5] In his early appearances he dressed in a redtrenchcoat, afedora, with a redmask covering his face; except for the red, he was visually similar toThe Shadow. Later,[6] when superheroes became more popular than costumed vigilantes, his costume was changed to a more standard superhero outfit, consisting of red tights, yellow boots, trunks and crest, and a "sun" symbol which was revealed in 2003 to be a stylized bullet hole.[7]
The character continued appearing inDetective Comics until issue #89 (July 1944).[8]
According toJess Nevins' Encyclopedia of Golden Age Superheroes, "most of his opponents are ordinary, but there is the Boss and his zombies, the occasional mad scientist, and some name villains like Echo, Methuselah, and the crime genius the Brain".[9]
In 1941, the Crimson Avenger joined theSeven Soldiers of Victory, a second superteam styled after the popularJustice Society of America appearing inAll-Star Comics. The Seven Soldiers debuted inLeading Comics #1 (December 1941), and continued until #14 (March 1945).[10]
Two separate accounts of the Crimson Avenger's origins have been printed which complement each other in some areas, but contradict in others. The first appeared inSecret Origins #5 (August 1986), and was written byRoy Thomas, with art byGene Colan. Lee Walter Travis, the young publisher of theGlobe-Leader newspaper, attends a costume ball on Halloween in 1938. This is the night ofOrson Welles' broadcast ofThe War of the Worlds and — having gotten advance notice of the radio show — a group of criminals dressed in alien-like costumes take advantage of the ensuing panic to rob the party guests. The villains murder a young journalist and Travis is enraged, going after the costumed thieves and exchanging gunfire. Travis drives the thieves into a ditch and disappears before the police arrive, now inspired to become the Crimson Avenger.[11] The use of Orson Welles'War of the Worlds in the story was inspired by the fact that the Crimson Avenger's first comic book appearance was dated October 1938, the same month as the radio broadcast.[12]
The second, extended origin appeared inGolden AgeSecret Files & Origins #1 (2001). In this version, Lee Travis was a war-weary man of the world trying to forget the horrors of the Wars and seek some inner peace of mind. To this end he briefly settled in the mystical city ofNanda Parbat. There, he was shown the future career ofSuperman by the goddessRama Kushna. Superman's deeds and selflessness inspired Lee to rededicate his own talents, and Superman's death at the hands ofDoomsday galvanized Lee to spend his life honoring Superman's memory, years before he was even born. When Lee returned to civilization, he found that nearly ten years had gone by for the rest of the world, at which point he took to the streets as the Crimson, and later the Crimson Avenger.[13]
Superman's appearance as the first costumed hero inAction Comics #1 is credited as the beginning of the Golden Age of Comics, but this was removed from continuity during theCrisis on Infinite Earths. The Crimson Avengers's second origin re-establishes Superman as the inspiration for all costumed crime-fighters.
In 1988, the Crimson Avenger appeared in a 4-issue miniseries byRoy &Dann Thomas, Greg Brooks, andMike Gustovich. Set shortly after the Crimson's debut in the latter days of 1938, the story revolves around the growing global hostilities, as Japan advances through China, Germany moves into eastern Europe, and the soon-to-be-Allies hesitate to act. The Crimson finds himself in the middle of a plot he does not grasp, with enigmatic foreign women, strange objects, and shadowy conspirators weaving around him.
This series was a 50th anniversary celebration of the character's debut and of all mystery-men in general.
In a one shot story named "Whatever Happened to the Crimson Avenger?" featured inDC Comics Presents #38 (October 1981),[14] Lee Travis finds out that he is suffering from an incurable terminal disease. In his hospital room brooding on his situation, Travis spots a ship blinkingSOS with its lights. Travis dons his suit one last time and heads out to investigate. He discovers the ship was taken over by criminals seeking to steal its cargo of unstable chemical waste and the captain was trying to summon help. Travis engages the criminals but is unable to prevent a grenade from starting a fire that threatens to cause a massive explosion. Knowing he is dying anyway, the Avenger makes the crew abandon ship while he pilots the ship to a safe distance and is killed, with the satisfaction he is going out in a heroic fashion.[11][15]
Though possessing no super-powers, the Crimson Avenger was an Olympic-level athlete and highly skilled hand-to-hand combatant able to hold his own against almost any foe. In the early days of his career, the Avenger used a gas gun of his own design, capable of rendering his opponents unconscious. The Crimson Avenger's calling card was a cloud of crimson smoke through which he made a most dramatic entrance.
In Michael Uslan'sElseworlds titleBatman: Detective No. 27, the Crimson Avenger appears as part of an order of detectives includingAlfred Pennyworth andSam Spade; Crimson attempts to recruitBruce Wayne.
InThe League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Black Dossier, the Crimson Avenger is briefly mentioned as having met withAllan Quatermain andMina Murray during the two's self-exile from Britain during the years of theIngsoc government. A photo of Allan and Murray standing in front of the Crimson Avenger's second costume is shown.
The Crimson Avenger makes an appearance in theJustice League of America80-Page Giant #1 comic (November 2009) in a story titledZatanna &Black Canary in Fishnet Femmes Fatales!, when the two heroines are tossed back in time by the supervillainEpoch.
In September 2011,The New 52 rebooted DC's continuity. In this new timeline, Lee Travis is now a female African American reporter, borrowing features from the original Crimson Avenger's successor,Jill Carlyle. She first appears inEarth 2 #5, but is not named until two issues later.[16]
