The Crusaders

In 1976, both DC and Marvel printed revivals of their Golden Age heroes. Marvel featured the All-Winners in the pages of The Invaders. DC, meanwhile, revived the Quality Comics heroes in the pages of Freedom Fighters. Each team fought a band of "Crusaders." It was no coincidence. Rather, the authors from both companies created these groups as a friendly challenge to each other.

+ DC's Crusaders

DC's Crusaders debuted in Freedom Fighters #7, created by Bob Rozakis and Dick Ayers. This team was obviously based on Marvel Comics' Invaders:

Americommando (Captain America): No relation to the original DC hero, who was also called Mr. America. He had super strength and a triangular shield. He was later revealed to be the Freedom Fighters' arch-foe, the Silver Ghost.
Rusty (Bucky): Teenaged sidekick with no powers.
Fireball and Sparky (Human Torch and Toro): A flaming duo. .
Barracuda (Sub-Mariner): A green-skinned, trident-wielding, super-strong, flying amphibian.

The Crusaders were originally known as a popular group of comic book characters—on both Earths-One and -X. No one seemed too concerned about how old comic book characters had come to life when the Freedom Fighters met them for real on Earth-One. They offered their services to NYC District Attorney David Pearson, to help capture the Freedom Fighters (who were fugitives at the time). Pearson gave the Crusaders the authority to pursue Uncle Sam and his group after a report that they had caused a blackout in upstate New York.

While the Freedom Fighters were in upstate New York, at Niagara Falls, the Ray had been forced to use his powers to stop the Falls temporarily. This, naturally, affected the hydroelectric plants that used it to generate power. Jokingly, the Human Bomb suggested the Ray use his powers to light up Buffalo; it might convince the public that the F.F. would never willingly commit crimes.

As the Ray lit up the sky over Buffalo, he was attacked by Fireball and Sparky, who began tossing flames at him to try to capture him in a cage of fire. The fiery duo followed the Ray back to the others at Niagara Falls, where a huge flaming "C" in the sky summoned the rest of the Crusaders. The Americommando parachuted in and threw his triangular shield at Uncle Sam, cutting the hero's star-spangled top hat in half.

Barracuda tried to capture Phantom Lady, but she went intangible, allowing the Human Bomb to push their blue-skinned adversary over the railing and into the water. Aware that being underwater would increase the Barracuda's powers tenfold, the Human Bomb used his explosive punch to ensure his finny friend did not stay in the water for long.

Doll Man was momentarily distracted by the appearance of reporter Martha Roberts (the Earth-One equivalent of his own deceased girlfriend) so that Rusty was able to grab ahold of the tiny hero. Unfortunately, Rusty hadn't counted on Doll Man weighing the same 175 pounds that he did when he was full- sized, and Doll Man quickly overcame the young man.

Black Condor and the Ray went after Fireball and Sparky. Using his cape to protect his hands, the Black Condor stunned Sparky with a punch, while the Ray absorbed the flames of Fireball, extinguishing his flames and causing him to fall. Sparky recovered and caught Fireball, but he was too heavy and was dragged down with him. As they fell, Fireball's body struck Martha and pushed her over the railing. Doll Man attempted to pull her up, but Rusty swatted him away.

Martha was saved by the Human Bomb, who was climbing up from the lake below. Phantom Lady blinded Rusty with her blackout beam, but The Americommando, in the midst of his fight with Uncle Sam, saw her and kicked his shield which blindsided her just as the Human Bomb made it back to the battleground. Barracuda chose that moment to make a reappearance, and ripped the Human Bomb's helmet off. Barracuda hit him, causing a huge explosion that knocked out everyone but the Americommando and Uncle Sam, who was distracted by the blast and knocked out by the other patriotic hero. Meanwhile, only Martha was conscious to see the Americommando pull off his mask to reveal himself to be Raphael Van Zandt, also known as the Freedom Fighter's archenemy, The Silver Ghost.

Martha woke up Barracuda and tried to tell him about the Americommando's dual identity, but was interrupted by the criminal, who struck her, much to the dismay of the sea-spawned hero. The Americommando knocked Barracuda out after a brief battle, and sent the rest of the Crusaders to track down the Freedom Fighters (who he said had escaped), while he took Martha to D.A. Pearson in New York City. He had actually taken their unconscious bodies to the power plant and wired them all to the power generator, which would soon come back online and electrocute them all.

Luckily, the first person in the "human circuit" was The Ray, who woke up and was able to contain the electricity long enough to wake up Uncle Sam, who unplugged the generator. The Freedom Fighters then took off in pursuit of the Crusaders to prove their innocence. The Americommando was enraged to find the Earth-X'ers to have escaped, and proceeded to kidnap Martha and head back to Manhattan.

The heroes met up with the comic book team soon after, and The Ray used the remains of the current he had absorbed to shock them all out of the sky. After a brief battle, Uncle Sam sent Doll Man and the Ray after the Americommando, and asked the Crusaders how they became the comic book heroes of World War Two. The group revealed that the Americommando had approached a group of young comic book collectors at a convention (Marvin, Lennie, Arch, and Roy) and had offered to recreate them as his former teammates, using a special device to transform them into their super-powered identities. NOTE: These fans are based on real-life creators Roy Thomas, Marv Wolfman, Len Wein, and Archie Goodwin.

Meanwhile, the others had caught up to the Americommando and Martha. The villain dropped Martha, but the Ray was able to save her. He left Doll Man with Martha 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 inadvertantly hit one of the copters with a light blast, prompting them to open fire. The Ray was wounded and fell to Earth. The Silver Ghost followed to gloat and left him to die. The Ray was soon after moved and patched up by a hidden figure (who would later be revealed as Rod Reilly, the original Firebrand). The Silver Ghost would next turn up in an adventure that was published (but not widely distributed) in Cancelled Comic Cavalcade.

The Crusaders fought among themselves until finally, after being deserted by Americommando, they revealed their origins. They disappeared at the end of the story (Freedom Fighters #9) and there was no sign that they have lost their powers, but they never appear again. Maybe the experience disillusioned them from being super-heroes.

There was no mention of how the Silver Ghost gained super-strength or developed the technology to turn comic fans into golden age superheroes. (Much less why he chose to bestow these powers on comic fans instead of hired thugs.)

Freedom Fighters #7 (April/May 1976)

Freedom Fighters #7-10

+ Marvel's Crusaders

Marvel's Crusaders, appeared only in Invaders #14-15, written by Roy Thomas and drawn by Frank Robbins.

They were a group of super-heroes based in Great Britain. While not having the raw power of their American counterparts, the Invaders, they were still a force to be reckoned with. The team included:

The Spirit of '76: William Nasland, an American dressed like a revolutionary hero and equipped with a bullet-proof cloak. Patriotic hero in a tricorn hat and domino mask (looking very similar in appearance to The Fighting Yank). He also had a cape that was somewhat bullet-proof and no metahuman powers. After the war, the Spirit of '76 was one of three men (along with Jeff Mace and the artificial being Adam II) who wore the costume of Captain America while the real Super-Soldier was lost (imprisoned in a block of ice). (Clearly the stand-in for Uncle Sam)
Dyna-Mite: Roger Aubrey, a six-inch tall man with the strength of a normal sized person. He was able to shrink down to about 12 centimeters tall, but retained his full-size strength. Dyna-Mite later took on the guise of the Mighty Destroyer. (Doll-Man)
Ghost Girl: An unidentified Scottish girl who had a mechanism in her gloves that could cast her image several feet away. She wore a rather revealing outfit and had the ability to create illusory doubles of herself that were very lifelike in appearance. (Phantom Lady)
Tommy Lightning: An unidentified Cockney who had the ability to absorb electricity and cast powerful lightning bolts. (the Ray)
Cap'n Wings: Upper-class gent who couldn't get into the RAF because of a heart murmur. He was able to fly and had a pair of golden wings on his back. (Black Condor)
Thunderfist: He was very strong and had the ability to throw explosive punches. (Human Bomb)

They appeared in wartime London and routeds the crew of a crashed German bomber, convincing the British that they finally had a superteam to rival the Invaders. An eccentric cab driver named Alfie seemed to be their boss. It was later revealed that Alfie gave most of them the devices that granted them their powers and could turn their powers off with a switch on his belt.

But Dyna-Mite, who had no memory of where he came from, became suspicious. He spied on Alfie and discovered that he was a Nazi tool and was using them in a plot to assassinate the King. Alfie, meanwhile, had convinced the Crusaders that the Invaders (Captain America, Bucky, Torch, Toro, Namor) had traitorous inclinations.

When Dyna-Mite finally warned the Invaders, they rushed to stop the King's murder and the Crusaders assumed they were under attack. Eventually, the truth (and a bomb in the champagne bottle) was revealed. Alfie fled but was killed when the Torch's fireball caused his taxi to go off a bridge. Most of the Crusaders gave up their heroic careers, now that their powers were gone. Two of the Crusaders however remained active: Spirit of '76 took over as the new Captain America when Steve Rogers got frozen. But after the war, Nasland was killed in a fight with some robots of the evil android called Adam 1.

Dyna-Mite turned out to be a friend of Brian Falsworth, the original Mighty Destroyer, and later Union Jack II. Aubrey was restored to his normal size and succeeded Falsworth as the Mighty Destroyer.

INDEX

Original text copyright DC Comics unless otherwise noted. Used without permission.