''Red Menace'' is a

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

six-issue

American comic book An American comic book is a thin periodical originating in the United States, on average 32 pages, containing comics. While the form originated in 1933, American comic books first gained popularity after the 1938 publication of ''Action Comics'' ...

limited series Limited series may refer to: *Limited series, individual storylines within an anthology series *Limited series, a particular run of collectables, usually individually numbered *Limited series (comics), a comics series with a predetermined number of ...

written by

Danny Bilson Daniel Bilson (born July 26, 1956) is an American writer, director, and producer of movies, television, video games, and comic books. Together with his frequent collaborator, Paul De Meo, he is best known as the writer for the film ''The Rocket ...

Paul DeMeo Paul James De Meo (June 4, 1953 – February 26, 2018) was an American screenwriter and producer for film, television and video games. He frequently worked with Danny Bilson. Together, they wrote '' Eliminators'' (1986), ''The Rocketeer'' (1991), ...

and

Adam Brody Adam Jared Brody (born December 15, 1979) is an American actor, writer, musician, and producer. He is known for his breakthrough role as Seth Cohen on the Fox television series ''The O.C.'', which premiered in 2003. Subsequently, Brody appeared ...

, illustrated by Jerry Ordway and Jonny Rench, and published by Wildstorm Productions. The story is set 1953

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

at the time of

Joseph McCarthy Joseph Raymond McCarthy (November 14, 1908 – May 2, 1957) was an American politician who served as a Republican U.S. Senator from the state of Wisconsin from 1947 until his death in 1957. Beginning in 1950, McCarthy became the most visi ...

and the

House Un-American Activities Committee The House Committee on Un-American Activities (HCUA), popularly dubbed the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), was an investigative committee of the United States House of Representatives, created in 1938 to investigate alleged disloy ...

trials.

Plot summary

At one of the House of Un-American Activities Committee trials, a hero named "The Eagle" unmasks himself as World War II veteran Steve Tremaine. The Committee uses his wartime friendship with Ivan "The Bear" Petrovich, a hero to the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

, to brand him a communist and bans him from being the Eagle. By the next day, every newspaper calls him "Red Menace." Despite the government's banning of his

vigilantism Vigilantism () is the act of preventing, investigating and punishing perceived offenses and crimes without Right, legal authority. A vigilante (from Spanish, Italian and Portuguese “vigilante”, which means "sentinel" or "watcher") is a pers ...

, The Eagle continues to sneak out at night and fight crime. He keeps in touch with his old friend Petrovich as well. Unknowingly, Tremaine leads a group of anti-communist extremists to Petrovich's location after they listen in on a conversation between the two. Petrovich is then brutally murdered by the men. Upon hearing the news, Tremaine is driven to a deep depression that leads him to heavy drinking for a period of more than three weeks. At a scuffle with some men at a bar over Tremaine's alleged communist sympathies, Tremaine is introduced to a young superhero called the Gray Falcon who fights crime, inspired by The Eagle's efforts.

Collection

The limited series has been collected into a

trade paperback Trade paperback may refer to: * Trade paperback, a higher-quality softcover version of a book * Trade paperback (comics) In comics in the United States, a trade paperback (shortened: TPB or trade) is a collection of stories originally published ...

, ''Red Menace'' (144 pages, October 2007, )

References

External links

9 page preview

Comic Book Resources ''Comic Book Resources'', also known by the initialism CBR, is a website dedicated to the coverage of comic book–related news and discussion. History Comic Book Resources was founded by Jonah Weiland in 1995 as a development of the Kingdom Co ...

, November 21, 2006
SDCC '06: LOOKS AT BLACKLISTS & RED MENACES

Newsarama Newsarama is an American website that publishes news, interviews, and essays about the American comic book industry. It is owned by Future US. In June 2020, Newsarama was merged with the website GamesRadar+, also owned by FutureUS. History N ...

REFLECTIONS: Talking with "Flash" and "Red Menace's" Bilson & DeMeo

, October 29, 2006

Reviews

Three
at

Comics Bulletin Comics Bulletin was a daily website covering the American comic-book industry. History Silver Bullet Comicbooks The site was founded in January 2000 as Silver Bullet Comicbooks by its New Zealand-based publisher/editor Jason Brice. During this ...

Two

Review

2007 comics debuts WildStorm limited series {{DC-comics-stub