The Raven is a fictional superhero character who first appeared in the

Ace Comics ''Ace Comics'' was a comic book series published by David McKay Publications between 1937 and 1949 — starting just before the Golden Age of Comic Books. The title reprinted syndicated newspaper strips owned by King Features Syndicate, follow ...

title ''Sure-Fire Comics''. He is based on the pulp hero "The Moon Man" published by Periodic House, the pulp publisher connected to Ace Comics.

Publication history

The Raven was inspired by the

pulp Pulp may refer to: * Pulp (fruit), the inner flesh of fruit Engineering * Dissolving pulp, highly purified cellulose used in fibre and film manufacture * Pulp (paper), the fibrous material used to make paper * Molded pulp, a packaging material ...

hero Moon Man, created by Frederick C. Davis, published in Ten Detective Aces magazine. At least the first story was based on the first Moon Man story. His companions are Lola Lash, the daughter of the police chief, and his chauffeur Mike. The Raven first appeared in ''Sure-Fire Comics'' #1The Golden Age Heroes Directory: R
/ref> (June 1940), as did Lash Lightning. According to

Jess Nevins Jess Nevins (born 1966) is an American author. Nevins is the author of the ''Encyclopedia of Fantastic Victoriana'' and other works on Victoriana and pulp fiction. He is employed as a reference librarian at Lone Star College-Tomball. Comic boo ...

' ''Encyclopedia of Golden Age Superheroes'', "the Raven's enemies are corrupt bankers, racketeers, the police (led by Police Chief Lash, who loathes the Raven), and the odd costumed villain such as the Eel". In 2008, The Raven (now renamed Mr. Raven to avoid a trademark conflict with DC Comics) appeared in flashback in ''

Project Superpowers ''Project Superpowers'' is a comic book limited series published by Dynamite Entertainment beginning January 2008. It was co-plotted by Jim Krueger and Alex Ross, with scripts by Jim Krueger, covers by Alex Ross, and interior art by Doug Klaub ...

'' #0; in the one-shot ''Project Superpowers: Chapter Two Prelude'', it's stated that Mr. Raven will appear in this line as a member of a team called The Super-Mysterymen (presumably named after the Ace title ''Super-Mystery Comics''). In 2018, publisher Pulp 2.0 put out a complete collection of Raven stories, ''The Raven Collection''.

Fictional biography

Ace

In 1940,

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

Detective Sergeant Danny Dartin, tired of seeing criminals manipulate the law to escape justice, became a masked vigilante called The Raven and acted as a modern "

Robin Hood Robin Hood is a legendary heroic outlaw originally depicted in English folklore and subsequently featured in literature and film. According to legend, he was a highly skilled archer and swordsman. In some versions of the legend, he is dep ...

", stealing money from criminals and redistributing it to the poor. He was aided in this by Lola Lash, the

police chief The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by a state, with the aim to enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citizens, and to prevent crime and civil disorder. Their lawful powers include arrest and ...

’s daughter.

''Project Superpowers''

At some point after

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 opposing ...

, Mr. Raven was imprisoned in the mystical Urn of Pandora, along with many other crime-fighters, by the misguided

Fighting Yank The Fighting Yank is the name of several superheroes, first appearing in ''Startling Comics'' #10 (Sept 1941). Fall 1941 was a boom period for patriotic superheroes as the country prepared to enter World War II; during this period, comic book p ...

; decades later, the Urn was broken and the heroes freed. Mr. Raven, along with seven other heroes (including Captain Courageous, Lash Lightning and Lightning Girl, Soldier Unknown), Vulcan and the Sword, was then recruited to form a team called The Super-Mysterymen, whose purpose is not yet known.

References

Dynamite Entertainment characters Golden Age superheroes {{comics-char-stub