{"id":3271,"date":"2010-01-08T05:25:56","date_gmt":"2010-01-08T11:25:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=3271"},"modified":"2010-06-26T04:29:08","modified_gmt":"2010-06-26T09:29:08","slug":"most-requested-figures-dcs-crimson-avenger","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=3271","title":{"rendered":"Most Requested Figures: DC’s Crimson Avenger"},"content":{"rendered":"

Before we dive into 2010’s Requests, we wanted to take a moment to thank everyone who voted in our 2009 Poll. The response was so enormous that we wanted to do things right this year and streamline the process. The truth is we didn’t conceive the year-end poll when we started. Had we known, we’d have made some different choices. For the 2010 Most Requested Figure we’re going to continue with the weekly nominations and have three runoffs (in April, August, and early December) to nominate five choices from each three-four month period. Towards the end of December, we’ll start the semi-final rounds and then crown our 2010 winner on January 3rd, 2011. We hope to have all of you along with us the whole way and encourage you to submit your ideas for Most Requested Figure to us via e-mail<\/a>. We may not be able to get to all submissions, but each one will get due consideration from the IAT staff. Now, with that out of the way, let’s take a look at our first request of 2010…<\/p>\n

This character was bumped from last year. We wanted to get to him, but, as sometimes happens, current events can change our plans. But it’s appropriate that he’s our first request of the year because he was also DC Comics first masked superhero, the Crimson Avenger.<\/p>\n


\n<\/a>
\n<\/center><\/p>\n

I was first exposed to the Crimson Avenger in DC Special Blue Ribbon Digest #11. It’s part of a stack of comics I had as a kid that I don’t know where they came from. It was published around the time I was born, and didn’t make its way into my hands until I was four or five years old. I still have that little bundle of digests and the impact they have on my comic book choices is still in play today. In those comics, I learned about Zatanna, Firestorm, Dr. Fate, Superman Red & Blue, the Justice League, and the Justice Society. Those last two teams met in issue #11 of the digest. It was a reprint title (I wish those still worked in our economy) and this particular issue reprinted Justice League of America #100-102 where the JLA\/JSA teamed up to rescue the Seven Soldiers of Victory, a team that included the Crimson Avenger. He was lost in time with no memory of his real life and when Dr. Fate, Elongated Man, and the Atom found him, he’d become an Aztec King. It wouldn’t be until I was older that I learned the rest of the Crimson Avenger’s history.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Crimson Avenger, usually just referred to as Crimson in his initial appearances, was the standard golden age mystery man. He was rich, he published a newspaper, and at night, he felt compelled to put on a red cape and mask to fight crime with a young male sidekick, Wing. He first appeared in Detective Comics #20 and was among the characters featured in that book for about six years until issue #89. His original superhero look varied throughout the first couple years, though a modern take on that look has solidified into the upper right image above. In his third year, after superheroes had taken over comics, Crimson and Wing were given traditional red\/yellow spandex costumes with a sun logo and a headfin. They would join the Seven Soldiers (though Wing technically made eight members) in Leading Comics and then after a brief run there, they would fade into obscurity for nearly thirty years until the Justice League and Justice Society found him stranded in an Aztec Empire in 1972. He was returned safely to the present and the enemy that had scattered them through time was defeated, but only through the sacrifice of Wing.<\/P><\/p>\n

The Crimson Avenger appeared off and on throughout the 70s and 80s. He was finally given his first origin in 1986 which had his mysteryman debut set during the Orson Welles broadcast of War of the Worlds<\/em>. As Lee Travis, he set out to save a woman he’d fallen for from a band of thieves trying to exploit the alien panic. He succeeded in stopping the thieves, but not before the woman was fatally shot. From that night forward, Lee fought crime to avenge her death.<\/p>\n

In 2001, a second origin was created that had him traveling to Nanda Parbat where he had a vision of Superman “dying” at the hands of Doomsday. This gave his life purpose as he vowed to avenge Superman’s future death and possibly prevent it. Don’t get me wrong, I love Ostrander’s work. I had a chance to attend a writing discussion with him once and I will always regret missing it, but that story is awful and I like to pretend I didn’t read it. The same is true with the notion that the sun symbol is in fact a bullet hole symbol.<\/p>\n

During the late eighties, he continued to sporadically appear in All-Star Squadron and Young All-Stars, both set in the Golden Age. The story of his final adventure was published back in 1981 and it showed his death, which so far, has been permanent for thirty years (not even a Blackest Night resurrection). Since then, he’s been relegated to “flashback” appearances in the aforementioned All-Star comics, a short mini-series, and a couple appearances in Stars and S.T.R.I.P.E. Unlike many DC characters, the Crimson Avenger has had a complete story from his origin to his death. His importance to the DCU was maintained by Grant Morrison in the JLA & Aztek books where part of the JLA induction ritual includes the Avenger’s costume.<\/p>\n

All told, the Crimson Avenger has over a hundred appearances in the comics and was featured a handful of times on JLU. And his importance as the first masked character from the DC stable shouldn’t be overlooked. He’s a classic DC character that has never been made as a toy in any form and, frankly, it’s well past time for one. But that brings us to the poll for this request. Which look do you want? Would you prefer him in his original golden age look or his later and more prolific superhero costume? If you’d like a DC Classics version. Mattel can easily replicate either with the spandex buck or the suit buck. DC Direct would likely sculpt either from the ground up. Then there’s the matter of his JLU appearances. He’s another hero from the short list of characters that appeared in the show, but has not made it to the toy line. If he did, what version would you want? We’ve included the various costumes in our poll below. You can choose all five<\/del> six (due to some fan feedback we’re adding a First Appearance version to our poll) or you can just choose a favorite. Personally, I’d like to see him in JLU though I don’t collect the line anymore. I have no preference for which version as long as JLU fans can get one. For DC Classics, I request both. He’s ideal for a costume variant. A superhero version is a new head on a spandex buck. The original version is a new head and cape on the suit buck. Quite simply, the Crimson Avenger is ideal for DC Classics. Especially this year, when Mattel is celebrating DC’s 75th Anniversary on the packaging. Why not showcase one of the few characters that’s been around for 72 years of it?<\/P> <\/p>\n


\n