Charlton vs Mighty MLJ: DCU Style

 

As previously mentioned, in a previous composite reality that has since been wiped clean by another cosmic crisis in the DC Comics universe, the merging of several parallel planets led to the incorporation of the Mighty Crusaders of Earth-MLJ and the Action-Heroes of Earth-Four, twin teams originating in Archie and Charlton Comics. As such, although the concepts were still there at their core, they were radically revised to incorporate modern sensibilities and to water down their impact on their world.

The reason for the former was that, for instance, having a guy known as the Web simply being a criminologist wasn't enough... he had to be a blending of Tony Stark/Peter Parker, and similarly with Captain Atom... he needed to ditch the conventional costumes of his silver age incarnations for a shiny skin and sassy style. And the reason for the latter is that this world already had their premier superhero team, the Justice League, and their original team of mystery men, the Justice Society. These guys couldn't outshine DC's finest of the past and present, so they both were made into essentially G-Men working as federal agents when the need arose, which was seldom it seemed. For the original Shield and Captain Atom, that worked since they were government agents as it was and in their own worlds they had plenty to do, setting the tone for their fellow fabulous folk to follow. Sadly but logically, neither the Crusaders nor the Sentinels of Justice could get much traction in this scenario.

Thankfully, with a new DCU now in existence this sad state has been wiped clean, at least for the Crusaders who return to their native world to pickup where they left off welcoming in a new generation of heroes... who look to them as their "Justice League" or "Society". If only the good Captain and his costumed crew could say the same, since they remain on a world not their own and one that will never treat them as they should be treated. However, glimmers of Earth-Four where the Sentinels of Justice operated can still be found through the Multiverse!

Charlton/MLJ Before and After: The Shield

From the Shield's initial appearence in the 1940s, a similar style debuted with the 1960s rendition of the character, although the colors were inverted and Lancelot Strong had a more traditional superhero stylized suit. When the original Shield's son appeared and, years later, his father Joe Higgins, we once more saw the more unorthodox gloves and boots. And no "outer underwear". Now that a new Shield is heralding a new era of Crusaders, the golden age Shield now seems to be wearing a uniform that is a collision of both styles, in a bulky and unweildy uniform! Yuck.

Team-Up Tuesdays: Crusaders VS Invaders

This would be an epic matchup. Consider the following duels between the Crusaders and Invaders:

• The heat-generating android Human Torch versus circus fire-breather Inferno (not show). The latter took on Steel just as Torch does in the picture. Advantage: Human Torch.
• Two elemental men in Blue Diamond (not shown) versus Steel Sterling. Superstrong and invulnerable, each was a paragon of potent power. Advantage: Steel Sterling.
• High-flying Miss America versus the bird-handler Captain Flag, considering the lady had strength as well she'd take out Flag's pet eagle Yank. Advantage: Miss America.
• The Vision aka Aarkus versus Mister Justice: Although Aarkus could control temperature, illusions and teleport... Justice could  do that and more. Advantage: Mister Justice.
• The Whizzer versus Bob Phantom (not shown): A superspeedster versus a master teleporter. Whizzer was quite fast, but Bob was as fast as thought! Advantage: Bob Phantom.
• Sub-Mariner versus the Wizard (not shown): His world's first mutant, the Mariner would meet his match with the mastermind turned man of might. Advantage: the Wizard.
• Union Jack (not shown) versus Black Jack: Two mighty fine fighters, nevertheless the Battling Brit has the edge with his superhuman lighting powers. Advantage: Union Jack.
• Bucky versus Dusty: The supreme sidekicks of the super-soldiers. In the golden age: As the Boy Detective, Dusty takes this. As a retcon secret agent, Bucky. Advantage: Toss Up.
• The Destroyer (not shown) versus the Web: Both the pinnacles of human perfection, matching physical attributes with tactical minds and great courage. Advantage: Toss Up.
• The Patriot (not show) versus the Hangman: Non-powered but superbly talented second-tier mystery men, the former an optimist and the latter a pessimist. Advantage: Patriot.
• Captain America versus the Shield: Here would be the epic battle of ages. Two twin titans. As his superstrong self, Advantage: the Shield. If he is non-powered, Advantage: Captain America.

Creative Crusaders: No-Charltons Allowed!

At long last, after an absence of two and a half decades, aside from the occasional cameos in crossovers with the Archie/Riverdale gang, the real Red Circle gang returns. Or at least, their forebearer... the Shield... several years older and showing his age at last. Introducing a new generation of heroes is an entice prospect, and given that the original publisher is stated as commiting to continuing the continuity of the MLJ originals is a project diehard fans will appreciate. It is our sincere wish that the Charlton crew likewise one days gain their own seperate niche, apart from the crowd scenes of DC's universe.

With that in mind, Judomaster would fit nicely as the Shield doppleganger in such an endeavor, as he as well would've aged somewhat since his last "Charltonesque" appearance on a separate Earth in the mid-1980s.  A new generation debuting in the style of the "Boys from Derbe" would definitely have a unique spin to it, as we'd previously seen with a new iteration of the Blue Beetle and characters like E-Man that took concepts such as Captain Atom and turned them on their head. With a newer version of the Comet, Web, Inferno, Web-Girl, Jaguar and Steel Sterling setting the  pace in Archie's updated universe... one wonders what became of the originals.. Are these the children of the Mighty Crusaders, carrying on their parents' proud tradition? Particularly, the though of a Web-Boy sired by John and Rose Raymond would be interesting, given his mother's apprehension towards heroics. And who would Jaguar-Girl's mom be, given that the original Ralph Hardy was a ladies man with at least three different love interests who formed his Jaguar Rescue Squad!

This Archie adventure excites yours truly than a "new 52" mired in a mob scene. Perhaps DC will see the success of Archie's new line of characters... should they stick with them and make them true to their core concepts... and create a new world for the refuges of Charlton. And we're not talking about the "pre-Watchmen" tales... but the originals themselves!

Cosmic Comic Crossovers: Arch and the Gang Meet Frank

While Archie Andrews and his pals had met some golden age superheroes back in the mid-1940s, including his number one hero the Shield, it was in the 1990s when he met the strangest hero ever. Or more accurately, an anti-hero, in the Punisher. Formerly Frank Castle, a battle-hardened veteran who lost his family due to a malevolent mob, took up his vigilante alter ego to strike terror in crime. Eventually, he was drawn to the peaceful burg of Riverdale, tracking down "Red" Fever for the government, and encountered Red's near-double in Archie Andrews. After a brief and tense first meeting, Punisher left the teen behind to continue tracking down his quarry through the streets of Archie's hometown. Turns out, Fever had a trump card of his own in case he had been cornered.

Disguising himself as Melvin Jay, a young entrepreneur, Fever took out Archie's on-again off-again girlfriend Veronica Lodge to a dance. Using her as a hostage in a standoff versus the Punisher, it ended up being Red's lookalike Archie who clumsily took down the criminal, with the aid of an old friend of his. As Fever was pulled from the social scene into the sky above, his foot hooked to a rope tied to a float of the Shield, Riverdale was safe once more from the criminal element. And so, Frank Castle bid his new acquaintences adieu. And they, for their part, eventually forgot about this entire surreal episode!

Marvel Mondays: Super-Soldiers

True, Joe, but at least Steve has (had?) an admantium shield which beats your supersuit!

Friday Fiends: Good Guys Getting Greedy

Perhaps the greatest fiends of Charlton and MLJ didn't start out as such. And yet, each became consumed in his own success and dreams of conquest, albeit not on purpose. Honest!

When DC Comics attempted to craft an epic crossover throughout its various series, a new supervillain named Monarch appeared. A vile tyrant of the year 2030 who found his start in 1991, the one thing known about him was that he was a former superhero.

Although originally intended to be Captain Atom adopting this new alias, he was revealed to be another hero known as Hawk. However, Atom eventually adopted this identity after several time traveling machinations of the original, although his criminal career was relatively short and didn't taint his lasting legacy as a larger-than-life legend.

When MLJ Comics tried various means to brand their flagship series Pep a success, a comical lad named Archie introduced his readers to a world of teenage comics from which he would henchforth be king from which other publishers would aspire to imitate.

However, the side effect of this success led to the fall of costumed crusaders such as the Shield and Hangman, who once held sway over their small but significant share of readers. So, in essence, Archie ended up doing what several foes like the Hun and Captain Swastika couldn't... vanquish the underwear set... banishing them into comicbook limbo from which they would not return for nearly twenty years!

Friday Fiends: Dusty Trails of Mystery

Alas, if only that were true, Dusty. Instead, what became of you all those decades remains a mystery still to be revealed. While your mentor, the Shield, was zapped by a ray by the underworld assassin known as the Eraser and transformed into a statue of iron for over twenty years, the fiend that found you kept you for twice as long. When your partner finally reunited with you in the early twenty-first century, he was now a member of the Mighty Crusaders battling that same foe alongside Pureheart and his super teen pals of Riverdale from a parallel universe. Perhaps it was the same criminal that vanguish both surrogate father and son, given you haven't aged any since the waning days of World War II?

As for Tiger, what became of him depends on what continuity you follow. On Earth-Four, his original plane of existence, he eventually became the mentor of Eve Eden aka the future Nightshade. On that world, at least, he honored his missing partner's legend by training a new generation of hero to take up the call of the costumed crusader.

Sadly, in the reconstituted Earth created following the Crisis on Infinite Earths, Tiger was a disgruntled young man unwelcomed in the country of his mentor, Judomaster. While the duo traveled the globe for years, eventually resentment began to develop between the pair causing and irrepairable split leading them from caring colleagues to aggressive adversaries.

Gaining abilities from ancient devices, Tiger became Avatar, vowing to destroy all those that would implement the tools of war on youths such as he was. However, his misguided attempt led to his path towards supervillany instead of heroism he had aspired to in his early years, although it did lead to the drawing together of Charlton's finest for one final teamup together.

Friday Fiends: The Tiger Shows His Teeth

Notable former sidekicks that turn on their mentors, at least temporarily, have grown in this modern age of comics. Previously, a boy hero was loyal to his mentor throughout his career from youth to adulthood. Yet now, such characters as Jason Todd (the former Robin II) and Bucky Barnes (original ward of a certain Steve Rogers) became fueled with a rage spawned in part from living in the shadow of their earlier rolemodel.

Add to the list Tiger, a lad whose career actually started in emnity as he soured on a Rip Dagger until learning that this seemingly cocky caucasian was secretly Judomaster a man more honorable then the Japanese warrior known as Cat, who earlier held sway to the affections of the kid.

Thankfully over at MLJ Mighty, the premier  prepubescent partner, Dusty remained tried-and-true to his guardian, the Shield. Although there is the never explained mysterious decades long disappearence of the Boy Detective, hinted at when the time-lost lad was pulled from the 40's into the 60's during a Mighty Crusaders case. Upon seeing the colorfully clad lad, the Shield's son felt a tinge of guilt when his identity was called into question by the boy despite the second Shield's similar appearance to his legendary father. This was later reinforced by internal monologue of the original crusader, who retruned from decades of suspended animation, pondering on what became of Dusty. If he did not turn to the dark side, did the dark side somehow claim him instead?

Further developments would shed some light into what became of Tiger and Dusty from then until now...

DC Dopplegangers: Sensational Shields

As previously mentioned, DC Comics had rolled out their own Crusaders in the late 1970s to play to part of foils for the Freedom Fighters. Based on Marvel's Invaders, leading to an unofficial crossover as each team battled amalgams of the other, there were traces of Mighty Comics' Mighty Crusaders and their supporting characters.

The most obvious comparison is between Americommando and his 1940 template, the Shield. Besides their red, blue and while plumage which they are arrayed in, they sport stripes, stars, and flowing locks atop their non-traditional masks.

Additionally, each has an indomitable spirit driving them to support their causes. However, while for the Shield it is freedom and peace for all, for Americommando it is to subjugate the masses with his Nazi ideology. Yep, he's really the Silver Ghost underneath.

What's interesting is that in his criminal alias, the Ghost has the ability to turn humans into silver... something the Shield wouldn't like since his foe the Eraser turned him into an iron statue for decades. Hence, of these two, Commando trumps over his adversary in battle.

Fine Artwork in the Archie-verse

Fine art as determined by Monseur Jughead

Mainstream Mondays: The Cornerstones

When DC Comics acquired the properties of Charlton and later MLJ aka Mighty/Archie Comics, at first they tucked them away into their own fictional universes and repackaged them in the forms of the Watchmen and !mpact Comic, which we've previously considered.

However, there was another attempt at actually integrating the core characters into the mainstream universe at DC Comics, for the first time exposing these comic creations to a massive audience.

As with every comic book line, there are certain archetypes or niches that have to be filled to justify their existence to the public-at-large. Such was the case here.

Captain Atom was reintroduced to a new generation initially during the Crisis on Infinite Earths along with several of his Charlton Contemporaries. However, once his compartmentalized universe of Earth-Four was integrated into the main DC universe, he was reimagined in a way some considered dramatic and others considered overkill.

No longer an established hero and freelance champion whose civilian identity was attached to the military, Atom or Nathaniel Adam became a tragic figure, losing his family during a procedure which granted him powers yet causing him to lose years of his life. Now his superior General Eiling, a minor supporting character in his original Charlton series, was his boss/major antagonist as the series progressed. Additionally, his rogues gallery such as the Ghost and Doctor Spectrum were also reinvented at their core, and relationships with such characters as Nightshade were changed irreverocably.

Decades later, the Shield aka Joe Higgins was himself brought into the mainstream fold. Now an officer in the military instead of FBI agent, he was bequeathed with nanobytes that granted him his powers and he quickly gained notoreity in the superhero community, including allying himself with the Web. Like Atom, the Shield was reinvented so that only the costume, abilities and alias were the same.

What would become of other assimilated heroes from these memorable comic book companies? We'll investigate further next week.

Team-Up Tuesdays: Shield and Dusty vs the Fang! Part Two

And now we conclude the *ahem* epic battle between Team Shield and the Fang. How will our colorful crusader fair against this mammoth menace? Will he get any closer to solving the mystery of his missing superpowers? Let's take a look under the cover...of Pep Comics #29

Okay, that was cheating! Dusty's patented hop-on-the-neck move distracted the Fang long enough to cause the Shield to out maneuver his foe! Well at least the threat was taken care of... for now... but that is not the end of the Fang. Nor of the Shield, who persists in his attempts to restore his phenomenal physique. Will his uber-science finally work? Continue to watch these pages for further golden age exploits of Joe Higgins and Dusty Simmons.

And just to show that Shield's cross-dimensional contemporary didn't have things easy, this bad guy was adept at sneaking up on sidekicks.

Of course, Charlton had a golden age villain names Yellow Fang that bothered that era's Blue Beetle on a couple occasions. But not big like Mountain Storm. In fact, he was Judo-G.I.'s most persistent adversary as he matched muscle for muscle (though not much mental might, having to be directed by Japanese supervisors on how to corner a diminutive foe).

Tiger found himself alongside his mentor with the upper hand against their obese opponent. During his initial trial by fire, he showed that pure grit and determination made up for lack of mass. Something that Storm and Fang would've done well to consider during their campaigns of chaos.

Team-Up Tuesdays: Shield and Dusty vs the Fang! Part One

The Shield had a modestly numbered but colorful rogues gallery, and this week we focus in on one vicious villain... The Fang! An agent from Japan, his impressive physique is more than a match for a fully powered Shield... so what happens when Joe Higgins discovers that his powers are waning? In what was one of the innovative features of MLJ's golden age comics, we see a character arc continuing through several issues whereby Joe must learn how to reacquire his powers.

So sit back on enjoy part one of our featured presentation:

You may remember that Charlton's colorfully clad super-soldier, Judomaster, also had a crisis involving loss of his vision... and hence an inability to fight well. As in the Shield's case, it was up to Rip Dagger's sidekick Tiger to kick start his mentor back onto the road of heroics:

Part two will be posted later today with the stunning conclusion!

Friday Fiends: Mechanical Monster Madmen

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Beauty is only skin deep. And so on and so forth. So goes such adages on physical appearances. And today as never before western society is obsessed with this... so much so that anyone who is unattractive on the outside is thought to be even more so on the inside. At least, that was the thought in the 60's and 70's when Pascal and Enigma were introduced.

Our tales begin with a meeting of a heroic pair: Fly and Shield (Fly #8), and Blue Beetle and Question (Charlton Bullseye #1).

As the gentlemen met during impending threats of high tech gangs, they soon learned that the masterminds behind them were monsters of the worst kind... humans turned evil!

Pascal was born with a facial disfigurement that modern medicine couldn't fix, causing him to turn to  amonster movies motif. Enigma was simply a madman hiding his face out of vanity!

Pascal would return years after his initial defeat for a rematch with the Fly, when a director used Pascal's life story as the basis for a film. Enigma had a previous undocumented case battling Beetle.

In both instances, these tales also led to the mad monsters' defeat!

Marvel Mondays: Shields Across Two Worlds!

We now feature the 1970's version of golden age stalwart from MLJ Comics, the Shield. To say that Blue is more than a homage is playing down what Tom DeFalco did that was original with this character (not much). For instance, note the following points of similarity:

1. Both were named Joe, losing their fathers at a young age to a gangster's hit on them.
2. Each wore an item of clothing enhancing their durability, strength and speed to superhuman levels.
3. The Joes worked as law enforcement authorities while moonlighting as superheroes.
4. And, of course, they had big old shields on their chest. Yet no red for Blue.

Joe Cartelli initially met with the heroine named the Dazzler, and they struck up an on-again off-again partnership for a brief period. Then Joe was hired onto Project Pegasus (think Thunder Agents) leading a rather non-discript career as a mere security officer without actually being in the front lines like Mr. Higgins was in the 40's and later in the 80's when he was revived.

According to available figures on the exact abilities conveyed to Blue Shield via his force-belt), "amplifies his body's natural life force (bio-energy), granting him superhuman strength, speed and near impenetrable force field.  The Blue Shield is ten times as strong as the average human being, able to lift (press) approximately 1,800 pound. His reaction time is about ten times that of a normal man, and he is able to run at a maximum speed of 50 miles per hour for short length of time." Quite an array of powers!

Next week, we return to Mighty Marvels take on one of Charlton's finest. Join us then when we take on a pair of Captains.

Friday Fiends: Face Fearless Fit Fighters

Okay how would ALL our Friday Fiends fare against our pair of blonde boys which we highlight today? I.E. Bobby Bell of the Shield's Young American Club and Mister Muscle? Don't let Bobby's size fool you, he'll flip ol' Muscles in no time! Although Mister's muscle are an asset, to be sure.

A couple of great articles on Bobby Bell and Mr. Muscles and how they deal with their perpetual nemesis, the jealous dorks that can't stand their fashion sense! Like the bully next door like  and the Gargoyle or the disgruntled Zoo Keeper! Now don't those cads inspire fear?

A couple of motivational pieces that help inspire young men to achieve personal greatness as was all the rage in the 50's and 60's. Before the Playstation generation that perpetually veg out when out of school.

True, most Friday Fiends actually attempt to highlight notable villains. Where these two jocks are concerned, all others pale in comparison! While Muscles lasted only two issues, Bobby appeared in the one page backup slot of Adventures of the Fly in issues 1, 2, 4, 5 and 9 before retiring into relative comic book anonymity oh such one-hit wonders.


Maybe the two of them  are sitting back somewhere, sipping some iced tea, recalling the glory days when everyone wanted to be them... even though most never heard of them! But at least you have!

Addenum of our Friday Fiends: The Gargoyle would appear a few more times during Bobby's run whereas the malcontent Zoo Caretaker ended up being the... hehe... PET project of Mr. Muscles as he was trained to become a muscle bound man no longer mad (now glad).