The Crusaders is a team of

DC Comics DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with thei ...

superhero A superhero or superheroine is a stock character that typically possesses ''superpowers'', abilities beyond those of ordinary people, and fits the role of the hero, typically using his or her powers to help the world become a better place, ...

es. The team was created by

Bob Rozakis Robert "Bob" Rozakis (; born April 4, 1951) is an American comic book writer and editor known mainly for his work in the 1970s and 1980s at DC Comics, as the writer of Mazing Man'' and in his capacity as DC's "Answer Man". Career Bob Rozakis go ...

and

Dick Ayers Richard Bache Ayers (; April 28, 1924 – May 4, 2014) was an American comic book artist and cartoonist best known for his work as one of Jack Kirby's inkers during the late-1950s and 1960s period known as the Silver Age of Comics, including on s ...

in the pages of '' Freedom Fighters'' #7 (March 1977).

Fictional team history

The Crusaders were a

metafiction Metafiction is a form of fiction which emphasises its own narrative structure in a way that continually reminds the audience that they are reading or viewing a fictional work. Metafiction is self-conscious about language, literary form, and story ...

al team of superheroes appearing in comic books on

Earth-One Earth-One (also Earth-1) is a name given to two fictional universes (The Pre-Crisis and Post-Crisis versions of the same universe) that have appeared in American comic book stories published by DC Comics. The first Earth-One was given its name in ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. The Crusaders appeared "for real" on Earth-One during the 1970s, offering their services to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

District Attorney In the United States, a district attorney (DA), county attorney, state's attorney, prosecuting attorney, commonwealth's attorney, or state attorney is the chief prosecutor and/or chief law enforcement officer representing a U.S. state in a l ...

David Pearson to help capture the Freedom Fighters, who were at that time fugitives because they were believed to have been working with the villainous Silver Ghost. Pearson gave the Crusaders the authority to pursue

Uncle Sam Uncle Sam (which has the same initials as ''United States'') is a common national personification of the federal government of the United States or the country in general. Since the early 19th century, Uncle Sam has been a popular symbol of ...

and his group after a report that they had caused a blackout in upstate New York. After a lengthy fight, at the end of which the Crusaders are defeated, the Freedom Fighters ask the Crusaders how they became the comic book heroes of World War II. The group revealed that the Americommando had approached a group of young comic book collectors at a convention ( Marvin, Lennie,

Arch An arch is a vertical curved structure that spans an elevated space and may or may not support the weight above it, or in case of a horizontal arch like an arch dam, the hydrostatic pressure against it. Arches may be synonymous with vaul ...

, and

Roy Roy is a masculine given name and a family surname with varied origin. In Anglo-Norman England, the name derived from the Norman ''roy'', meaning "king", while its Old French cognate, ''rey'' or ''roy'' (modern ''roi''), likewise gave rise to ...

) and had offered to recreate them as his former teammates, using a special device to transform them into their superpowered identities. Meanwhile, the others had caught up to the Americommando and Martha Roberts. The villain dropped Martha, but the Ray was able to save her. He left Martha with

Doll Man Doll Man is a superhero first appearing in American comic books from the Golden Age of Comics, originally published by Quality Comics and currently part of the DC Comics universe of characters. Doll Man was created by cartoonist Will Eisner a ...

and headed off after the Americommando. The Ray again caught up with him and the sky battle between them burned off the Americommando's mask, revealing him to indeed be the Silver Ghost. The fight also attracted the attention of some state trooper helicopters, which swooped in to arrest both of them. The Ray accidentally hit one of the helicopters with an energy blast, prompting the troopers to open fire. The Ray was wounded and fell to Earth. The Silver Ghost gloated and left him to die. The Ray was later rescued by Rod Reilly, the

Golden Age The term Golden Age comes from Greek mythology, particularly the ''Works and Days'' of Hesiod, and is part of the description of temporal decline of the state of peoples through five Ages of Man, Ages, Gold being the first and the one during ...

Firebrand, who had emigrated to Earth-One some time prior to the Freedom Fighters. The Crusaders fought among themselves until finally, after being deserted by the Americommando, they reveal their origins. They disappeared at the end of the story and there was no sign that they have lost their powers, but they never appear again. There was never an explanation of how the Silver Ghost gained super-strength or developed the

technology Technology is the application of knowledge to reach practical goals in a specifiable and reproducible way. The word ''technology'' may also mean the product of such an endeavor. The use of technology is widely prevalent in medicine, science, ...

to turn comic fans into superheroes.

Members

The Crusaders only appeared in '' Freedom Fighters'' #7–9. The names of the team are actually taken from obscure Golden Age superheroes: *The Americommando – in actually the Silver Ghost. *Barracuda *Fireball *Rusty *Sparky Updated versions of the Americommando and Barracuda have since appeared in the miniseries '' Uncle Sam and the Freedom Fighters'' (2006–2007), as part of the team called First Strike. It is unknown if their Pre-''

Crisis A crisis ( : crises; : critical) is either any event or period that will (or might) lead to an unstable and dangerous situation affecting an individual, group, or all of society. Crises are negative changes in the human or environmental affair ...

'' history is still canonical. In ''

Lord Havok Lord Havok is a fictional character, a DC Comics supervillain, part of the supervillain team called the Extremists. He is a genius equipped with a powered armor. Lord Havok first appeared in ''Justice League Europe'' #15 (June 1990). Fictional c ...

and the

Extremists Extremism is "the quality or state of being extreme" or "the advocacy of extreme measures or views". The term is primarily used in a political or religious sense to refer to an ideology that is considered (by the speaker or by some implied shar ...

'', Barracuda and the Americommando are also members of Earth-8's Meta-Militia, an updated version of the

Champions of Angor The Champions of Angor (also known as the Justifiers, the Assemblers and the Meta Militia) are a fictional team of superheroes in the DC universe. They were created by Mike Friedrich and Dick Dillin in ''Justice League Comics'' #87 in February 19 ...

. In the 2007–2008 ''Uncle Sam'' series, a new team of Crusaders, gathered and controlled by the government, were introduced, including

Captain Triumph Captain Triumph is a superhero from the Golden Age of Comics who first appeared in ''Crack Comics'' #27, published in January 1943 by Quality Comics. He continued to appear until the end of the series with issue #62 (Sept 1949). The character was ...

, Citizen X, the Libertine, and Magno. After they are freed from their mind-controlled state, they team up with Uncle Sam and the Freedom Fighters. Citizen X and the Libertine are killed by alien insects, but Captain Triumph and Magno both go on to continue their superhero careers.

References

External links

Obscure DC Guide: The CrusadersFreedom Fighters bio and timeline
{{DEFAULTSORT:Crusaders (Dc Comics) Comics characters introduced in 1977 DC Comics superhero teams United States-themed superheroes

Fictional team history

Members

See also

References

External links