| Vigilante | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | DC Comics |
| First appearance | Action Comics #42 (November 1941) |
| Created by | |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | Greg Saunders |
| Team affiliations | |
| Partnerships | Shining Knight |
| Abilities | |
Greg Saunders is asuperhero appearing inAmerican comic books published byDC Comics. He is the first DC character to bear the nameVigilante.
The character made his live-action debut in the film serialThe Vigilante (1947), played byRalph Byrd.
Created by writerMort Weisinger and artistMort Meskin, Greg Saunders first appeared inAction Comics #42 (November 1941). He appeared in every issue ofAction Comics until #198 (November 1954).[1]
The original Vigilante was a western-themed hero who debuted inAction Comics #42 (November 1941): originally namedGreg Sanders, the spelling was changed toGreg Saunders in the 1990s. Grandson of a Native American fighter, and the son of a sheriff in Wyoming, Saunders, as a young man, moved east to New York City and became a country singer, radio's "Prairie Troubadour". Greg returned to his home after his father was killed, bringing to justice the gang of bandits who killed him.[2]
The Vigilante, like many heroes of the era, acquired a sidekick to aid him in his crime fighting. Stuff the Chinatown Kid was introduced inAction Comics #45. He assisted the Vigilante when a Japanese spy, known as the Head, framed Stuff's grandfather for provoking aTong war.
The majority of the Vigilante's solo adventures were against non-powered, costumed criminals. He was an excellent brawler, trick shooter, sharpshooter, horseman/motorcycle rider, and an expert with thelariat. These skills gave him advantage over his adversaries in his adventures, which centered primarily in NYC.
The Vigilante fought few foes that could be considered real "super-villains". His arch-foes were theDummy, a brilliant weapons inventor and professional killer who resembled a ventriloquist's dummy in both size and facial features, and the Rainbow Man, who committed crimes with a color motif.[3] The Vigilante also encountered the Rattler on several occasions, as well as the Fiddler and the Shade, though the latter two villains are not the same foes that battled theFlash. Other foes included Shakes the Underworld Poet and the Dictionary, a gangster with a heightened vocabulary.[4]
The Vigilante was also a member of theSeven Soldiers of Victory (also known as the Law's Legionnaires), one of the earliest super-hero teams (appearing inLeading Comics). In these adventures, his sidekick Stuff never appeared, being replaced by an old, somewhat crotchety man named Billy Gunn. The Vigilante was also one of the few super-hero features to survive the end of the "Golden Age" of super-hero comics, lasting as a solo feature untilAction Comics #198 (1954), when he was replaced byTommy Tomorrow.
The Vigilante was revived during the "Bronze Age" in the pages ofJustice League of America, when the Seven Soldiers of Victory were brought back into active continuity. Like Green Arrow, he was a lost member of the Seven Soldiers, but he did not participate in the JLA/JSA quest to rescue them. All the members were hurled through time after defeatingNebula Man (except for Wing who was killed).
The "Silver Age" Green Arrow, Black Canary and Johnny Thunder and Thunderbolt saved the Vigilante from a tribe of Native Americans in the Old West who felt that eventually the white men would take over their land. The Earth-1 Vigilante's contact with the League was limited to a two-part story where he aided the JLA against aliens determined to over-pollute the Earth. He remarks in his first appearance inAdventure Comics that the League did help him re-establish his career, even providing him with a new motorcycle.[5] He also received a periodic feature in the pages ofAdventure Comics, drawn byMike Sekowsky andGray Morrow, and also inWorld's Finest Comics.
The short-lived series inWorld's Finest culminated in the Vigilante coming toGotham City to meet his old partner Stuff, only to find his friend murdered by his old enemy, the Dummy. At the end of the series, Vigilante rides off with Stuff's son.[6]
Vigilante continued to sporadically appear as a superhero inDC Comics, having been established as running adude ranch in Mesa City (the former home of Western heroJohnny Thunder).
InGrant Morrison'sSeven Soldiers #0, the Vigilante establishes a new Seven Soldiers of Victory to battle the monstrous spider of Miracle Mesa. He is apparently killed alongside the rest of the team,[7] only to re-appear as a ghost inBulleteer #3 (also part of theSeven Soldiers series). He attempts to recruit a new team of seven to further battle the threat of the Sheeda. He claims Bulleteer's actions will allow him to 'rest'.
InSuperman's Pal Jimmy Olsen Greg Saunders appears, alive, as the sheriff of Warpath, a town on theMexican border formerly known for supervillain activity. Olsen's narration notes that Saunders has been dead and came back to life but does not go into detail. Olsen also notes that Saunders appears younger, though he retains his past experiences. Saunders and a mysterious version of the hero known as the Guardian beat back a villainous invasion from Mexico.[8]
In 2011, "The New 52" rebooted the DC Universe. Vigilante was renamed toGreg Sanders and operated in Opal City during the mid-20th Century.Shade contacted him to help rescue his great-grandson Darnell Caldecotte from Nazi spies. Afterward, Shade upheld his deal with Vigilante by giving him the intel on the local gangs and they parted ways.[9]
The Vigilante is a superb hand-to-hand combatant and martial artist, a brilliant marksman, and a master of the lariat. He typically avoids using deadly force, preferring using his revolver to disarm his enemies and his lasso to bind foes. Despite lacking a horse, he possesses a trusty steed in the form of a motorcycle; he has also been occasionally known to pilot aircraft.
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Vigilante had his own rogue's gallery:
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