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Mighty Crusaders: Origin Of A Super Team
The Sheild! The Black Hood! The Comet! Fly-man! Fly-girl! Relive the excitement as this intrepid team of heroes meet, fight super-villains (as well as each other), come up with a name for their team, and even recruit new members! It's all here in this colorful collection of classic reprints, originally appearing in FLY-MAN #31, #32 and #33, as well as MIGHTY CRUSADERS #1. It's a pop art explosion with some of the wildest heroes in the history of comic books uniting to form one of the most beloved super-teams of the swinging '60s!
96 pages, Paperback
First published December 2, 2003
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About the author
Jerry Siegel
622 books82 followersJerome "Jerry" Siegel, who also used pseudonyms including Joe Carter, Jerry Ess, and Herbert S. Fine, was the American co-creator of Superman (along with Joe Shuster), the first of the great comic book superheroes and one of the most recognizable icons of the 20th century.
He and Shuster were inducted into the comic book industry's Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame in 1992 and the Jack Kirby Hall of Fame in 1993.
He and Shuster were inducted into the comic book industry's Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame in 1992 and the Jack Kirby Hall of Fame in 1993.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
August 5, 2010
Silly and odd, but not in a good way.
As the marvel universe was taking off in the 60's, Archie comics dusted off their old super heroes with idea of cashing in and instead gave us this bunch of stories.
Flat characterization, weird adventures that make silver age Superman stories look like the discovery channel and attempts at humor and hip slang that are painful to read.
I love old silver age comics and am able to suspend my disbelief because I understand how those worlds work and just go with it.
The writers on these stories can't even keep track of their own rules and so heroes gain new powers for a single story with no explaination and it never happens again.
Create an internal logic and stick with it for god's sake! If the writer can't bother to keep track of this stuff and care, why should we.
Shame, as I like the Crusaders, but almost no one has had any success with them. Even though, I was willing to cut them some slack, as giving the Black Hood a flying robot horse was pretty cool.
As the marvel universe was taking off in the 60's, Archie comics dusted off their old super heroes with idea of cashing in and instead gave us this bunch of stories.
Flat characterization, weird adventures that make silver age Superman stories look like the discovery channel and attempts at humor and hip slang that are painful to read.
I love old silver age comics and am able to suspend my disbelief because I understand how those worlds work and just go with it.
The writers on these stories can't even keep track of their own rules and so heroes gain new powers for a single story with no explaination and it never happens again.
Create an internal logic and stick with it for god's sake! If the writer can't bother to keep track of this stuff and care, why should we.
Shame, as I like the Crusaders, but almost no one has had any success with them. Even though, I was willing to cut them some slack, as giving the Black Hood a flying robot horse was pretty cool.
August 23, 2021
"It was the 1960s. Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, and Steve Ditko became overnight 'number one with a bullpen' success stories as the Marvel superhero style took the comic book world by storm. By January 1966, the ultra-camp Pop-Art exaggeration of Batman on TV exploded across America's culturally 'vast wasteland', imbuing art, design, and clothing styles with new Pop sensibilities - along with assorted 'Pows', 'Zaps' and 'Whams'. These were wild times! Super-heroes were in and everyone was jumping on the bandwagon. Charleton, Dell/Gold Key, Tower, ACG, Harvey and others leaped into the super-hero business, hoping to emulate not only DC's prosperity, but especially Marvel's torrid success in the changing marketplace. And then, it was Archie Comic Group's turn…"
from the introduction
They're not superheroes, they're ultra-heroes. That's the difference Archie comics put on their superheroes. Written by Jerry Siegel of Superman fame, this series reincarnated several old school heroes - many created by the legendary team of Kirby and Simon - The Shield, the first patriotic themed superhero; The Black Hood, and The Comet, while teaming them up with Fly-Man and Fly-Girl. Fly-Man being another Kirby and Simon creation called The Fly, but his name was changed to be more like that of Spiderman. This book doesn't actually contain any reprints of The Mighty Crusaders comic except for the first issue, but mainly consists of issues 31 - 33 of Fly-Man. This is after all the origin of the team.
Don't expect too much from these issues. They were written in the 1960s aimed at the thirteen year old market and at a time when the 60s Batman show was at full hypes, meaning comics were all about camp then. This the writing is deliberately over-blown and purple, with much of the dialogue describing what was happening in the panel. Granted this wasn't much different than any other super comic, but it's laid on extra thick here. The comics are very much self-aware of their campiness. While the parallels to the Avengers are obvious, the real test of any super comic is the villains. And they are the campiest bunch you might ever see. We have The Spider, a very similar creation to a character that Siegal wrote in England Alias the Spider; Eterno the Tyrant, the former king of sunken Atlantis, disturbed from a five million year sleep; The Destructor, a weird science villain with a sonic weapon; The Hangman and The Wizard, two golden-age heroes turned villain; and The Brain Emperor a weak character from another planet with psychic powers And who I forgot about the second I turned the final page.
The Mighty Crusaders didn't last long, only about seven issues. Fly-Man didn't last much longer. A victim of market oversaturation and its own camp tone. While the Batman series was a success, it seems most comic collectors wanted their heroes to take themselves and their situations seriously. Camp is only fun short term.
from the introduction
They're not superheroes, they're ultra-heroes. That's the difference Archie comics put on their superheroes. Written by Jerry Siegel of Superman fame, this series reincarnated several old school heroes - many created by the legendary team of Kirby and Simon - The Shield, the first patriotic themed superhero; The Black Hood, and The Comet, while teaming them up with Fly-Man and Fly-Girl. Fly-Man being another Kirby and Simon creation called The Fly, but his name was changed to be more like that of Spiderman. This book doesn't actually contain any reprints of The Mighty Crusaders comic except for the first issue, but mainly consists of issues 31 - 33 of Fly-Man. This is after all the origin of the team.
Don't expect too much from these issues. They were written in the 1960s aimed at the thirteen year old market and at a time when the 60s Batman show was at full hypes, meaning comics were all about camp then. This the writing is deliberately over-blown and purple, with much of the dialogue describing what was happening in the panel. Granted this wasn't much different than any other super comic, but it's laid on extra thick here. The comics are very much self-aware of their campiness. While the parallels to the Avengers are obvious, the real test of any super comic is the villains. And they are the campiest bunch you might ever see. We have The Spider, a very similar creation to a character that Siegal wrote in England Alias the Spider; Eterno the Tyrant, the former king of sunken Atlantis, disturbed from a five million year sleep; The Destructor, a weird science villain with a sonic weapon; The Hangman and The Wizard, two golden-age heroes turned villain; and The Brain Emperor a weak character from another planet with psychic powers And who I forgot about the second I turned the final page.
The Mighty Crusaders didn't last long, only about seven issues. Fly-Man didn't last much longer. A victim of market oversaturation and its own camp tone. While the Batman series was a success, it seems most comic collectors wanted their heroes to take themselves and their situations seriously. Camp is only fun short term.
July 26, 2012
Ha. That was a trip. This is a pretty entertaining graphic novel and an intersting look at the Red Circle Heroes of the 60s. It's pretty clear that they hadn't really thought things through, but rather were figuring it out as they went. Fly-Man's powers only last one hour a day. The Comet's gloves can do just about anything. The Black Hood has (well, had) a robot horse named Nightmare. Crazy stuff. Whether you're looking for some retro fun or just interested in this period in comic book history this is definitely worth a read.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews