All Crusader drawings by Neill Brengettsey
As I stated earlier I have always been a fan of the concept of the best heros around ban together to defeat the threat. From the Argonauts, King Arthur's knights, to the Avengers, and Legion of Superheros.
The concept of the world's foremost superhero team interests me greatly. The best team supreme ever done would have to be the Avengers. They come closest to defining what I enjoy,their history, characters, and tradition. Legion of Super Heros also drawed my attention. These titles had a certain interaction between characters comparable to tv soap operas. The Justice League of America should be the team supreme but they never had that character interaction. Each character had his own title and the JLA was just a comic to showcase all of them together but with no real drama.
The Crusaders are my team supreme. They are more of a concept than anything else. Each character was not made as an individual they were to fit as a whole. Parts of the puzzle based on specific archetypes on purpose. I have a theory that though comic book characters are based on archetypes, certain one's form their own. Superman is the best example. Ofcourse, in a email that I wrote to Kurt Busiek himself about this he seemed to disagree.
The Crusaders are based in modern time. They live in a super hero univiverse like any other. The difference is they are the main superheros. Vigilantes are not condoned so superheros need government authorization. The Crusaders are actually sanctioned through the UN so they are a global team not just american. But do not fear this is not a government related storyline or cheesy realist universe like Image. It is good old fashioned team superhero opera.
Like any good epic the story starts in the middle. The Crusaders have been around for 30 years. The current team is of all veterans almost. They are about to go through change.
Escape the Silver Age I say. I have sections explaining all of the members and incarnations of the team but that is a bonus. You can read the story and all the information will slowly be apparent. Enjoy.
Click here to see the Crusader's Image Gallery. It includes character profiles and Issue Covers!
Crusaders #1:The team's leader and soul Captain Photon has died. The heros struggle with the concept that they must go on!
Crusaders #2:BlackBug and Daystar crash a party that SuperNova is invited to! Ofcourse, the Fearsome Threesome crashed it too!
CRUSADERS #3:Nuclear Man attacks! Who lives? Who dies? And BlackBug makes a risky decision that will impact the teams future!
CRUSADERS #4:RedEye hunts down BlackWulf. Jupiter visits his lover the villain Sphynx. BlackBug gets kicked off the team!
CRUSADERS HISTORY
MEMBER PROFILES
All the characters mentioned here were created by Jorge Matinez. They are combinations, ripoffs, and symbolic of many mainstay superhero comics from companies such as DC or Marvel.
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