| The Mighty Crusaders | |
|---|---|
 Cover ofThe Mighty Crusaders No. 1 (Nov. 1965), art byPaul Reinman. | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Archie Comics |
| Schedule | Monthly |
| Format | Ongoing series |
| Genre | |
| Publication date | November 1965 – November 1966 |
| No. of issues | 7 |
| Creative team | |
| Written by | Jerry Siegel |
| Penciller(s) | Paul Reinman Mike Sekowsky |
| Inker(s) | Joe Giella Paul Reinman |
| Letterer | Sam Rosen |
| Colorist | Victor Gorelick |
| Collected editions | |
| Origin of a Super Team | ISBN 1-879794-14-4 |
TheMighty Crusaders is a fictionalsuperhero team published byArchie Comics. The team originally appeared inFly-Man No. 31, #32 and No. 33 before being launched in its own title,The Mighty Crusaders.[1] Written by Superman co-creatorJerry Siegel, the series lasted seven issues before being cancelled.[2] The team was revived under Archie'sRed Circle Comics line in 1983. In 1992DC Comics licensed the characters and relaunched the team asThe Crusaders, aiming the comic at younger readers as part of its!mpact line. This series lasted eight issues,cover-dated May to December 1992.
The popularity of DC's and Marvel's Silver Age superhero titles ledArchie Comics to revive their own line of superhero comics.[3] The Archie Adventure line began with titles centered on theFly, theJaguar, and a superheroic/spy version of the 1930s pulp characterThe 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 retitledMighty Comics, re-introduced many of these characters, and brought them together in several issues ofFly-Man.[5]
This team, which followed the success ofthe Avengers and theJustice League of America, was made up of theShield, the Fly (re-dubbed Fly-Man), theBlack Hood, and theComet. 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 ofFly-Man, and gainingFlygirl 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 highcamp.[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 ofStan Lee".[9]
In 1983 the team and the series were relaunched, withRich 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 recruitedCary Burkett to write several issues of theMighty 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 onlyThe Crusaders, launched in early 1992. The first issue saw scriptwriting byMark Waid andBrian 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 seriesWatchmen. 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 becameWatchmen. Moore later used the Crusaders as inspiration for the Minutemen, the Golden Age predecessors of theWatchmen main characters.[12]
The first Mighty Crusaders group was created by Archie under theirMighty Comics line in the 1960s. At that time, the members of the team consisted of:
The second Mighty Crusaders group was created by Archie Comics under theirRed 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.
WhenDC Comics licensed the Archie superheroes for theirImpact line in the 1990s, the team was simply called theCrusaders. The DC seriesThe Crusaders lasted eight issues, from May to December 1992.
A newMighty Crusaders series was released by DC Comics, which assimilated the Red Circle heroes into its continuity followingFinal 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 ofWar Eagle was introduced as well.[15] The new team consists of:
In 2012, Archie comics returned to The Mighty Crusaders characters. The new series, titledNew 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 andNew Crusaders. Ian Flynn expressed a desire to explore the gap between the 1980s series andNew 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 forNew Crusaders: Dark Tomorrow andLost Crusade creative teams,[20][21] the incoming Red Circle editorAlex 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 comics started a new run in December 2017 featuring the newShield (Victoria Adams), Steel Sterling,Firefly, Darkling,The Comet andJaguar.
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, sinceJoe Simon successfully contested ownership of the character ofThe Fly/Fly-Man,[22] meaning thatArchie Comics is no longer allowed to use the character.
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]
CardedAction Figures were produced in 1984 for some of the Mighty Crusaders by theRemco Toy Company, featuring packaging art bySteve Ditko. Each figure came with a Secret Sonic Signaling shield. There were four heroes and four villains in the line. Included were: