118-475: The Mighty Crusaders is a fictional superhero team published by Archie Comics . The team originally appeared in Fly-Man No. 31, #32 and No. 33 before being launched in its own title, The Mighty Crusaders . Written by Superman co-creator Jerry Siegel , the series lasted seven issues before being cancelled. The team was revived under Archie's Red Circle Comics line in 1983. In 1992 DC Comics licensed
236-595: A successful franchise which pioneered the Kyodai Hero subgenre where the superheroes would be as big as giant monsters ( kaiju ) that they fought. The kaiju monster Godzilla , originally a villain, began being portrayed as a radioactive superhero in the Godzilla films , starting with Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster (1964). By the 1970s, Godzilla came to be viewed as a superhero, with
354-705: A book entitled Business Zero to Superhero . In 2014, he received a cease and desist from DC and Marvel who claimed that his use of the term superhero would cause confusion and dilute their brands. He was offered a few thousand dollars in settlement to change the name of his book, but he did not concede. A few days prior to the scheduled hearing at the Intellectual Property Office in London, the companies backed down. A similar scenario occurred when comic book creator Ray Felix attempted to register his comic book series A World Without Superheroes with
472-693: A decorated officer in the United States Air Force who would become a costumed superheroine herself years later. In 1975 Shotaro Ishinomori 's Himitsu Sentai Gorenger debuted on what is now TV Asahi, it brought the concepts of multi-colored teams and supporting vehicles that debuted in Gatchaman into live-action, and began the Super Sentai franchise (later adapted into the American Power Rangers series in
590-537: A larger one. Another important event was the debut of Mazinger Z by Go Nagai, creating the Super Robot genre. Go Nagai also wrote the manga Cutey Honey in 1973; although the Magical Girl genre already existed, Nagai's manga introduced Transformation sequences that would become a staple of Magical Girl media. The 1970s would see more anti-heroes introduced into Superhero fiction such examples included
708-449: A letter column of the pulp magazine Thrilling Wonder Stories , the word superhero was used to define the title character of the comic strip Zarnak , by Max Plaisted. In the 1930s, the trends converged in some of the earliest superpowered costumed heroes, such as Japan's Ōgon Bat (1931) and Prince of Gamma (early 1930s), who first appeared in kamishibai (a kind of hybrid media combining pictures with live storytelling), Mandrake
826-523: A multimedia franchise that used footage from Super Sentai . Internationally, the Japanese comic book character , Sailor Moon , is recognized as one of the most important and popular female superheroes ever created. The first use of the word "super hero" dates back to 1917. At the time, the word was merely used to describe a "public figure of great accomplishments." However, in 1967, Ben Cooper, Inc., an American Halloween costume manufacturer, became
944-738: A newly revived version of The Comet (who had appeared a few months before in the final issue of Adventures of The Fly ). The Mighty Crusaders spun off into their own title after three Fly Man appearances. The Wizard and the Hangman, who had been heroes during their MLJ publication, became recurring villains. In The Mighty Crusaders #4, many of the old MLJ heroes made cameo appearances. In November 1966, with issue 40, Fly Man changed its name again to Mighty Comics , which featured various Mighty super-heroes (The Shield, The Web , The Hangman , Steel Sterling , Mister Justice ) in rotating solo adventures until its cancellation ten issues later. Similarly,
1062-423: A profound effect on Japanese television . 1958 saw the debut of superhero Moonlight Mask on Japanese television. It was the first of numerous televised superhero dramas that would make up the tokusatsu superhero genre. Created by Kōhan Kawauchi , he followed up its success with the tokusatsu superhero shows Seven Color Mask (1959) and Messenger of Allah (1960), both starring a young Sonny Chiba . It
1180-505: A promiscuous manner. Through the overdeveloped bodies of the heroes or the seductive mannerisms of the villains, women in comic books are used as subordinates to their male counterparts, regardless of their strength or power. Wonder Woman has been subject to a long history of suppression as a result of her strength and power, including American culture's undoing of the Lynda Carter television series. In 2017's Wonder Woman , she had
1298-577: A publishing agreement with DC Comics that allowed them to introduce a line of comics that included characters of many ethnic minorities. Milestone's initial run lasted four years, during which it introduced Static , a character adapted into the WB Network animated series Static Shock . In addition to the creation of new minority heroes, publishers have filled the identities and roles of once-Caucasian heroes with new characters from minority backgrounds. The African-American John Stewart appeared in
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#17328011060171416-757: A secondary character of the Green Hornet media franchise series since its inception in the 1930s. ). Kitty Pryde , a member of the X-Men, was an openly Jewish superhero in mainstream American comic books as early as 1978. Comic-book companies were in the early stages of cultural expansion and many of these characters played to specific stereotypes ; Cage and many of his contemporaries often employed lingo similar to that of blaxploitation films, Native Americans were often associated with shamanism and wild animals , and Asian Americans were often portrayed as kung fu martial artists . Subsequent minority heroes, such as
1534-529: A single issue. DC Comics licensed the Red Circle characters and revamped them for publishing under the Impact Comics imprint from 1991 to 1992. This attempt also included a super team, called simply "The Crusaders". The stories in the line were set their own shared universe, unrelated to previous incarnations of the characters or to DC's own fictional universe. DC was granted the license to
1652-406: A single source." DC and Marvel have continued to expand their commercialization of the "superhero" mark to categories beyond comic books. Now, the two publishers jointly own numerous trademarks for figurines (see Spider-Man, Batman), movies, TV shows, magazines, merchandise, cardboard stand-up figures, playing cards , erasers , pencils , notebooks , cartoons , and many more. For instance,
1770-513: A skull-faced creature with superpowers to fight evil; she debuted in Fiction House 's Jungle Comic #2 (Feb. 1940), credited to the pseudonymous "Barclay Flagg". The Invisible Scarlet O'Neil , a non-costumed character who fought crime and wartime saboteurs using the superpower of invisibility created by Russell Stamm, would debut in the eponymous syndicated newspaper comic strip a few months later on June 3, 1940. In 1940, Maximo
1888-465: A struggling journalist who daydreams of a secret adventurous life. In November 2023, Archie Comics rebooted the Red Circle superhero, Darkling (Darla Lang) , with a one-shot by Sarah Kuhn and Carola Borelli. In February 2024, writer Keryl Brown Ahmed and artist Tango re-introduced readers to The Jaguar (Ivette Velez), who previously appeared in the 2012 mini-series, New Crusaders , in the one-shot The Jaguar . The first Jaguar, Ralph Hardy, also made
2006-406: A suit not unlike the swimsuits in the T.V. show Baywatch . The sexualization of women in comic books can be explained mainly by the fact that the majority of writers are male. Not only are the writers mostly male, but the audience is mostly male as well. Therefore, writers are designing characters to appeal to a mostly male audience. The super hero characters illustrate a sociological idea called
2124-402: A superheroic/spy version of the 1930s pulp character The Shadow . After suggestions and fan-art began suggesting a team made up of the characters published by Archie Comics precursor MLJ in the 1940s, Archie's superhero imprint, soon retitled Mighty Comics , re-introduced many of these characters, and brought them together in several issues of Fly-Man . This team, which followed the success of
2242-570: A three-issue miniseries , October–December, 1983). Though this 1980s incarnation featured Rich Buckler 's work prominently, it also featured contributions from others, including artists Jim Steranko , Alex Toth , Steve Ditko , Rudy Nebres , Alan Weiss , Carmine Infantino , Dick Ayers , John Severin and Pat Boyette . With the February 1984 issues, the Red Circle line was renamed the Archie Adventure Series , reviving
2360-582: A title with the Shield. Top-Notch Comics (featuring, among others, The Wizard, Black Hood, and The Firefly ) was launched in December 1941. The Archie character soon dominated MLJ publications, pushing out the superheroes. For instance, at first, the cover feature of Pep Comics was The Shield; he and The Hangman shared the cover with Archie in Pep Comics #36 (February, 1943). Archie increasingly
2478-674: A week. A spinoff, Lost Crusade , was announced which would run every fifth week and fill in the gaps between the 1980s Red Circle comics & New Crusaders . Ian Flynn expressed a desire to explore the gap between the 1980s series and New Crusaders : "There were so many open endings when the '80s era series wrapped up that it's hard to choose. What happened to Darkling? Who was the traitor? Did Black Hood figure it out, or just make things worse? Did anyone mourn Doc Reeves? There's tons of stories and characters to explore, and it's honestly hard to choose." However, despite announcements for New Crusaders: Dark Tomorrow and Lost Crusade creative teams,.
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#17328011060172596-476: A wide array of different backgrounds and origins. Some superheroes (such as Spider-Man and Superman ) possess non-human or superhuman biology or use and practice magic to achieve their abilities (such as Doctor Strange and Captain Marvel ) while others (for example, Iron Man and Batman ) derive their status from advanced technology they create and use. The Dictionary.com definition of "superhero"
2714-581: Is Nick Fury , who is reinterpreted as African-American both in the Ultimate Marvel as well as the Marvel Cinematic Universe continuities. Red Circle Comics Dark Circle Comics is an imprint of Archie Comic Publications, Inc. Under its previous name, Red Circle Comics , it published non-humor characters, particularly superheroes in the 1970s and 1980s. It was a digital imprint from 2012 to 2014, and in 2015, it
2832-512: Is "a figure, especially in a comic strip or cartoon , endowed with superhuman powers and usually portrayed as fighting evil or crime", and the Merriam-Webster dictionary gives the definition as "a fictional hero having extraordinary or superhuman powers; also: an exceptionally skillful or successful person." Terms such as masked crime fighters, costumed adventurers or masked vigilantes are sometimes used to refer to characters such as
2950-421: Is a motorcycle-riding hero in an insect-like costume, who shouts Henshin (Metamorphosis) to don his costume and gain superhuman powers. The ideas of second-wave feminism , which spread through the 1960s into the 1970s, greatly influenced the way comic book companies would depict as well as market their female characters: Wonder Woman was for a time revamped as a mod-dressing martial artist directly inspired by
3068-544: Is a website satirizing the sexualized portrayal of women in comics by recreating the same poses using male superheroes, especially Marvel's Hawkeye . In 1966, Marvel introduced the Black Panther , an African monarch who became the first non- caricatured black superhero. The first African-American superhero, the Falcon , followed in 1969, and three years later, Luke Cage , a self-styled "hero-for-hire" , became
3186-532: Is arguable that the Marvel Comics teams of the early 1960s brought the biggest assortment of superheroes ever at one time into permanent publication, the likes of Spider-Man (1962), The Hulk , Iron Man , Daredevil , Nick Fury , The Mighty Thor , The Avengers (featuring a rebooted Captain America , Thor, Hulk, Ant-Man , Quicksilver ), and many others were given their own monthly titles. Typically
3304-741: Is frequently costumed concealing their identity, and fits the role of the hero ; typically using their powers to help the world become a better place , or dedicating themselves to protecting the public and fighting crime . Superhero fiction is the genre of fiction that is centered on such characters, especially, since the 1930s, in American comic books (and later in Hollywood films , film serials, television and video games ), as well as in Japanese media (including kamishibai , tokusatsu , manga , anime and video games). Superheroes come from
3422-471: Is no longer available, however, since Joe Simon successfully contested ownership of the character of The Fly/Fly-Man , meaning that Archie Comics is no longer allowed to use the character. The Mighty Comics Superheroes Game board game was released by Transogram in 1966, and featured the Mighty Crusaders characters. Many of the characters featured on the box are given names they do not use in
3540-523: Is notable for publishing the previously unpublished revamp of the Black Hood done by Gray Morrow and Neal Adams . There was nothing on their covers to indicate they were Red Circle titles; only the interior indicia indicated the publisher. In the 1980s, Archie made a concerted effort to reuse its superheroes. The first appearance was in JC Comics 's JCP Features #1 (Dec. 1981), which reprinted
3658-506: Is uncommon, the USPTO will grant joint ownership in a mark. For example, in the case Arrow Trading Co., Inc. v. Victorinox A.G. and Wegner S.A. , Opposition No. 103315 (TTAB June 27, 2003), the TTAB held that when "two entities have a long-standing relationship and rely on each other for quality control, it may be found, in appropriate circumstances, that the parties, as joint owners, do represent
Mighty Crusaders - Misplaced Pages Continue
3776-428: Is your best example. We see the Red Circle expansion as a continuation of the success of Afterlife." Dark Circle comics started a new run in December 2017 featuring the new Shield (Victoria Adams) , Steel Sterling, Firefly , Darkling, The Comet and Jaguar . Recently, Archie Comics has reprinted some of the Mighty Crusaders adventures in a trade paperback collection under the "Red Circle Productions" name. This TPB
3894-570: The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles license, the Archie Adventure Series returned as the imprint behind Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures , which ran 72 issues until October 1995. In the late 1980s, Archie Adventure Series published The Adventures of Bayou Billy , based on a popular video game, and in the early 1990s the imprint published Mighty Mutanimals , a superhero team comic spun off from
4012-668: The Black Canary , introduced in Flash Comics #86 (Aug. 1947) as a supporting character. The most iconic comic book superheroine, who debuted during the Golden Age, is Wonder Woman . Modeled from the myth of the Amazons of Greek mythology , she was created by psychologist William Moulton Marston , with help and inspiration from his wife Elizabeth and their mutual lover Olive Byrne. Wonder Woman's first appearance
4130-625: The DC Universe . When this failed, the characters reverted to Archie Comics, which launched the imprint digitally. The company retired this in late 2014; the line was relaunched as the Dark Circle Comics imprint in 2015. MLJ's first comic book published in November 1939 was Blue Ribbon Comics , with the first half of the magazine in full color and the second half in red and white tints. In January 1940, Pep Comics debuted with
4248-535: The Emma Peel character from the British television series The Avengers (no relation to the superhero team of the same name), but later reverted to Marston's original concept after the editors of Ms. magazine publicly disapproved of the character being depowered and without her traditional costume; Supergirl was moved from being a secondary feature on Action Comics to headline Adventure Comics in 1969;
4366-633: The Fox . These characters were previously published when Archie Comics was MLJ Magazines , then published under various Archie imprints: Archie Adventure Series , Radio Comics / Mighty Comics Group , Red Circle Comics and the Red Circle Comics digital imprint (2012). Archie licensed their Red Circle characters to DC Comics in the early 1990s under the DC imprint Impact Comics , and then again from 2007 to 2011, when DC attempted to integrate them into
4484-527: The Lady Liberators appeared in an issue of The Avengers as a group of mind-controlled superheroines led by Valkyrie (actually a disguised supervillainess ) and were meant to be a caricatured parody of feminist activists; and Jean Grey became the embodiment of a cosmic being known as the Phoenix Force with seemingly unlimited power in the late 1970s, a stark contrast from her depiction as
4602-706: The New York Times and The Colbert Report , and embraced by anti- Islamophobia campaigners in San Francisco who plastered over anti-Muslim bus adverts with Kamala stickers. Other such successor-heroes of color include James "Rhodey" Rhodes as Iron Man and to a lesser extent Riri "Ironheart" Williams , Ryan Choi as the Atom , Jaime Reyes as Blue Beetle and Amadeus Cho as Hulk . Certain established characters have had their ethnicity changed when adapted to another continuity or media. A notable example
4720-486: The Shield , created by writer and managing editor Harry Shorten and artist Irv Novick . The Shield was one of the first superheroes with a costume based upon United States patriotic iconography, first appearing 14 months earlier than Joe Simon and Jack Kirby 's Captain America . MLJ's Golden Age heroes also included the Black Hood , who also appeared in pulp magazines and a radio show; and The Wizard, who shared
4838-671: The X-Men 's Storm and the Teen Titans ' Cyborg avoided such conventions; they were both part of ensemble teams, which became increasingly diverse in subsequent years. The X-Men, in particular, were revived in 1975 with a line-up of characters drawn from several nations, including the Kenyan Storm, German Nightcrawler , Soviet / Russian Colossus , Irish Banshee , and Japanese Sunfire . In 1993, Milestone Comics , an African-American-owned media/publishing company entered into
Mighty Crusaders - Misplaced Pages Continue
4956-399: The " male gaze " which is media created from the viewpoint of a normative heterosexual male. The female characters in comic books are used to satisfy male desire for the "ideal" woman (small waist, large breasts, toned, athletic body). These characters have god-like power, but the most easily identifiable feature is their hyper sexualized bodies: they are designed to be sexually pleasing to
5074-568: The 1970s as an alternate for Earth's Green Lantern Hal Jordan , and would become a regular member of the Green Lantern Corps from the 1980s onward. The creators of the 2000s-era Justice League animated series selected Stewart as the show's Green Lantern. In the Ultimate Marvel universe, Miles Morales , a youth of Puerto Rican and African-American ancestry who was also bitten by a genetically-altered spider, debuted as
5192-458: The 1980s, superhero fiction centered on cultural, ethnic, national, racial and language minority groups (from the perspective of US demographics ) began to be produced. This began with depiction of black superheroes in the 1960s, followed in the 1970s with a number of other ethnic-minority superheroes. In keeping with the political mood of the time, cultural diversity and inclusivism would be an important part of superhero groups starting from
5310-409: The 1980s. In the 1990s, this was further augmented by the first depictions of superheroes as homosexual. In 2017, Sign Gene emerged, the first group of deaf superheroes with superpowers through the use of sign language . Female super heroes—and villains—have been around since the early years of comic books dating back to the 1940s. The representation of women in comic books has been questioned in
5428-561: The 1990s). In 1978, Toei adapted Spider-Man into a live-action Japanese television series . In this continuity, Spider-Man had a vehicle called Marveller that could transform into a giant and powerful robot called Leopardon, this idea would be carried over to Toei's Battle Fever J (also co-produced with Marvel) and now multi-colored teams not only had support vehicles but giant robots to fight giant monsters with. In subsequent decades, popular characters like Dazzler , She-Hulk , Elektra , Catwoman , Witchblade , Spider-Girl , Batgirl and
5546-548: The Amazing Superman debut in Big Little Book series , by Russell R. Winterbotham (text), Henry E. Vallely and Erwin L. Hess (art). Captain America also appeared for the first time in print in December 1940, a year prior to the attack on Pearl Harbor by the Japanese government, when America was still in isolationism . Created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby , the superhero was the physical embodiment of
5664-856: The American spirit during World War II. One superpowered character was portrayed as an antiheroine , a rarity for its time: the Black Widow , a costumed emissary of Satan who killed evildoers in order to send them to Hell —debuted in Mystic Comics #4 (Aug. 1940), from Timely Comics , the 1940s predecessor of Marvel Comics . Most of the other female costumed crime fighters during this era lacked superpowers. Notable characters include The Woman in Red , introduced in Standard Comics ' Thrilling Comics #2 (March 1940); Lady Luck , debuting in
5782-876: The Avengers and the Justice League of America , was made up of the Shield , the Fly (re-dubbed Fly-Man), the Black Hood , and the Comet . Calling themselves the Mighty Crusaders, they initially came together as part of a plan by the Fly's nemesis the Spider to trap the hero. After appearing as a team for two more issues of Fly-Man , and gaining Flygirl as a member in the process, they spun off into their own series, The Mighty Crusaders , which ran bimonthly for seven issues. The Archie series mixed typical superhero fare with high camp . Don Markstein writes that they touched on "all
5900-478: The Avengers) with her brother, Quicksilver. In 1963, Astro Boy was adapted into a highly influential anime television series. Phantom Agents in 1964 focused on ninjas working for the Japanese government and would be the foundation for Sentai -type series. 1966 saw the debut of the sci-fi/horror series Ultra Q created by Eiji Tsuburaya this would eventually lead to the sequel Ultraman , spawning
6018-639: The Birds of Prey became stars of long-running eponymous titles. Female characters began assuming leadership roles in many ensemble superhero teams; the Uncanny X-Men series and its related spin-off titles in particular have included many female characters in pivotal roles since the 1970s. Volume 4 of the X-Men comic book series featured an all-female team as part of the Marvel NOW! branding initiative in 2013. Superpowered female characters like Buffy
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#17328011060176136-576: The Crusaders as inspiration for the Minutemen, the Golden Age predecessors of the Watchmen main characters. The first Mighty Crusaders group was created by Archie under their Mighty Comics line in the 1960s. At that time, the members of the team consisted of: The second Mighty Crusaders group was created by Archie Comics under their Red Circle Comics line of the 1980s. At this time, members of
6254-605: The Jaguar began in September 1961 and ran for 15 issues until November 1963. During this time, Archie Comics licensed the 1930s pulp character The Shadow , whom they portrayed first as a spy in a James Bond mode, before turning him into a costumed superhero. Archie's version of The Shadow ran for eight issues (Aug. 1964 – Sept. 1965). In addition, the Jaguar, The Fly, and his partner Flygirl appeared in issues of Pep Comics and Laugh Comics between 1961 and 1963. Much of
6372-495: The June 1959 release of The Double Life of Private Strong #1, by creators Joe Simon and Jack Kirby , which also introduced The Fly, also by Simon and Kirby. DC Comics ' lawyers, citing similarity to Superman , forced Archie Comics to stop publishing Private Strong after two issues. Adventures of The Fly appeared two months after Private Strong #1 and ran for 30 issues under that title, until October, 1964. The Adventures of
6490-529: The Magician (1934), Olga Mesmer (1937) and then Superman (1938) and Captain Marvel (1939) at the beginning of the Golden Age of Comic Books , whose span, though disputed, is generally agreed to have started with Superman's launch. Superman has remained one of the most recognizable superheroes, and his success spawned a new archetype of characters with secret identities and superhuman powers. At
6608-442: The Mighty Crusaders line ... [the] original idea had started off with the dead body of the Shield being pulled out of a river somewhere." Moore used this idea when asked to submit a pitch for a treatment of DC Comics' then-newly acquired Charlton Comics properties. Although the treatment was rejected for those characters, DC Comics commissioned Moore to base the story on all-new heroes, and the project became Watchmen . Moore later used
6726-429: The Mighty Crusaders with a four-issue series of one-shots, beginning with The Mighty Crusaders: The Shield #1. However, that May, Liefeld announced his departure from the project, after objecting to a variant cover being publicized by its artist that allegedly spoiled the end of The Shield one-shot. David Gallaher was then brought in to script a new story for the one-shot based on Liefeld's completed artwork. Despite
6844-486: The Red Circle Comics imprint would be relaunched as Dark Circle Comics in early 2015 with the past continuity removed. Tales will be self-contained, five-issue story arcs in ongoing series. Black Hood debuted in February 2015, followed by The Fox , continuing from the digital Red Circle line in April 2015, with The Shield debuting in September 2015 after being delayed. A digital exclusive, Sam Hill: In The Crosshairs ,
6962-562: The Red Circle characters in 2008. DC planned to inject the characters into the DC Universe and tapped writer J. Michael Straczynski . The line folded in late 2010. In July 2011, it was revealed that DC no longer had the rights to them. Archie Comics announced at the New York Comic Con in October 2011 that its superhero line will return as an all-digital line under a subscription model with back issues archive access. This
7080-514: The Spirit , who may not be explicitly referred to as superheroes but nevertheless share similar traits. Some superheroes use their powers to help fight daily crime while also combating threats against humanity from supervillains , who are their criminal counterparts. Often at least one of these supervillains will be the superhero's archenemy or nemesis . Some popular supervillains become recurring characters in their own right. Antecedents of
7198-827: The Sunday- newspaper comic-book insert The Spirit Section June 2, 1940; the comedic character Red Tornado , debuting in All-American Comics #20 (Nov 1940); Miss Fury , debuting in the eponymous comic strip by female cartoonist Tarpé Mills on April 6, 1941; the Phantom Lady , introduced in Quality Comics Police Comics #1 (Aug. 1941); the Black Cat , introduced in Harvey Comics ' Pocket Comics #1 (also Aug. 1941); and
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#17328011060177316-490: The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Archie planned to begin publishing superheroes again in the late 1980s with an imprint called Spectrum Comics, featuring a number of high-profile talents, including Steve Englehart , Jim Valentino , Marv Wolfman , Michael Bair , Kelley Jones , and Rob Liefeld . Planned Spectrum titles included The Fly , The Fox , Hangman , Jaguar , Mister Justice , and The Shield . Ultimately, Archie cancelled Spectrum Comics before publishing
7434-408: The USPTO. Felix is one of many who argue that the term "superhero" has become generic (see discussion below). Felix's mark is currently abandoned, but he has stated that he intends to fight against DC and Marvel for use of the term. In 2024, Superbabies Limited managed to obtain a default judgement and cancel the "super heroes" trademarks as genericized, except for the animation pictures mark. This
7552-413: The Vampire Slayer and Darna have a tremendous influence on popular culture in their respective countries of origin. With more and more anime , manga and tokusatsu being translated or adapted, Western audiences were beginning to experience the Japanese styles of superhero fiction more than they were able to before. Saban 's Mighty Morphin Power Rangers , an adaptation of Zyuranger , created
7670-420: The West as Astro Boy , was published. The series focused upon a robot boy built by a scientist to replace his deceased son. Being built from an incomplete robot originally intended for military purposes, Astro Boy possessed amazing powers such as flight through thrusters in his feet and the incredible mechanical strength of his limbs. The 1950s saw the Silver Age of Comics . During this era DC introduced
7788-461: The archetype include mythological characters such as Gilgamesh , Hanuman , Perseus , Odysseus , David , and demigods like Heracles , all of whom were blessed with extraordinary abilities, which later inspired the superpowers that became a fundamental aspect of modern-day superheroes. The distinct clothing and costumes of individuals from English folklore , like Robin Hood and Spring-Heeled Jack , also became inspirations. The dark costume of
7906-419: The archetypical hero stock character in 1930s American comics, superheroes are predominantly depicted as White American middle- or upper-class young adult males and females who are typically tall, athletic, educated, physically attractive and in perfect health. Beginning in the 1960s with the civil rights movement in the United States, and increasingly with the rising concern over political correctness in
8024-410: The characters and relaunched the team as The Crusaders , aiming the comic at younger readers as part of its !mpact line. This series lasted eight issues, cover-dated May to December 1992. The popularity of DC's and Marvel's Silver Age superhero titles led Archie Comics to revive their own line of superhero comics. The Archie Adventure line began with titles centered on the Fly , the Jaguar , and
8142-413: The comic-strip characters Patoruzú (1928) and Popeye (1929) and novelist Philip Wylie 's character Hugo Danner (1930). Another early example was Sarutobi Sasuke , a Japanese superhero ninja from children's novels in the 1910s; by 1914, he had a number of superhuman powers and abilities. The French character L'Oiselle , created in 1909, can be classed as a superheroine. In August 1937, in
8260-490: The comics ( The Fox is "Mr. Fox", for instance). Carded Action Figures were produced in 1984 for some of the Mighty Crusaders by the Remco Toy Company, featuring packaging art by Steve Ditko . Each figure came with a Secret Sonic Signaling shield. There were four heroes and four villains in the line. Included were: Superhero A superhero or superheroine is a fictional character who typically possesses superpowers or abilities beyond those of ordinary people,
8378-534: The companies filed a trademark application as joint owners for the mark "SUPER HEROES" for a series of animated motion pictures in 2009 (Reg. No. 5613972). Both DC and Marvel also individually owned trademarks involving the "super hero" mark. Notably, DC owns the mark " Legion of Super-Heroes " for comic magazines and Marvel owns the mark "Marvel Super Hero Island" for story books, fiction books, and children’s activity books. DC and Marvel have become known for aggressively protecting their registered marks. In 2019,
8496-552: The companies pursued a British law student named Graham Jules who was attempting to publish a self-help book titled Business Zero to Superhero . Much academic debate exists about whether the "super hero" mark has become generic and whether DC and Marvel have created a duopoly over the "super hero" mark. Conversely, DC and Marvel hold that they are merely exercising their right and duty to protect their registered marks. The following trademarks were or are registered jointly with MARVEL CHARACTERS, INC. and DC COMICS: As mentioned,
8614-474: The creative change, The Mighty Crusaders: The Shield #1 officially sold out at Diamond Comic Distributors. After revamping The Fox for Red Circle Comics, and later Dark Circle Comics, Dean Haspiel returned to script a new one-shot titled The Fox: Family Values , published in May 2022. That November, Archie Comics released the one-shot Bob Phantom , which re-imagined the superhero's alter ego, Walt Whitney, as
8732-477: The debut of Shotaro Ishinomori 's Skull Man (the basis for his later Kamen Rider ) in 1970, Go Nagai's Devilman in 1972 and Gerry Conway and John Romita's Punisher in 1974. The dark Skull Man manga would later get a television adaptation and underwent drastic changes. The character was redesigned to resemble a grasshopper, becoming the renowned first masked hero of the Kamen Rider series. Kamen Rider
8850-401: The end of the decade, in 1939, Batman was created by Bob Kane and Bill Finger . During the 1940s there were many superheroes: The Flash , Green Lantern and Blue Beetle debuted in this era. This era saw the debut of one of the earliest female superheroes, writer-artist Fletcher Hanks 's character Fantomah , an ageless ancient Egyptian woman in the modern day who could transform into
8968-479: The final issue of Mighty Crusaders was taken over by a solo adventure of Steel Sterling. The Mighty Comics Group line was cancelled in late 1967. Several stories from this period were published in the mass-market paperback High Camp Super-Heroes by Belmont Books in 1966 (Belmont was owned by the same company that owned Archie), which featured an introduction by Siegel, as well as in a 1966 deluxe special, Super Heroes Versus Super Villains . Red Circle Comics
9086-515: The first black superhero to star in his own series . In 1989, the Monica Rambeau incarnation of Captain Marvel was the first female black superhero from a major publisher to get her own title in a special one-shot issue. In 1971, Red Wolf became the first Native American in the superheroic tradition to headline a series. In 1973, Shang-Chi became the first prominent Asian superhero to star in an American comic book ( Kato had been
9204-454: The first entity to commercialize the phrase "super hero" when it registered the mark in connection with Halloween costumes. In 1972, Mego Corporation , an American toy company, attempted to register the mark "World's Greatest Superheroes" in connection with its line of action figures. Mego Corporation’s attempted registration led Ben Cooper, Inc. to sue Mego Corporation for trademark infringement. Due to its financial struggles, Mego Corporation
9322-500: The genre's cliches of the time", with Siegel's writing on the book being a "hokey rendition of Stan Lee ". In 1983 the team and the series were relaunched, with Rich Buckler as writer and penciller on the first issue. A contractual dispute between Buckler and DC Comics saw the publication of the first issue delayed. Buckler recruited Cary Burkett to write several issues of the Mighty Crusaders title. The series ran until
9440-479: The hypothetical heteronormative male audience. Villains, such as Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy , use their sexuality to take advantage of their male victims. In the film versions of these characters, their sexuality and seductive methods are highlighted. Poison Ivy uses seduction through poison to take over the minds of her victims as seen in the 1997 film Batman and Robin . Harley Quinn in 2016's Suicide Squad uses her sexuality to her advantage, acting in
9558-470: The idea of a masked avenger and the superhero trope of a secret identity . Over the next few decades, masked and costumed pulp fiction characters such as Jimmie Dale/The Grey Seal (1914), Zorro (1919), Buck Rogers (1928), The Shadow (1930), and Flash Gordon (1934), and comic strip heroes such as the Phantom (1936), began appearing, as did non-costumed characters with super strength , including
9676-624: The imprint's main writer, along with Marvel Comics artist Paul Reinman . The shift to the Mighty imprint (which first appeared on covers dated January 1966) included changing the title Adventures of The Fly into Fly Man . The first issue of Fly Man , #31, brought the company its first super hero team (similar to Marvel 's Avengers ), The Mighty Crusaders , made up of Fly Man, a newly revived version of The Shield , The Black Hood (who had appeared occasionally in Adventures of The Fly ), and
9794-467: The incoming Red Circle editor Alex Segura mentioned "[I] have a great fondness for New Crusaders and the stuff that book aimed to do" in a March 2014 interview but that Red Circle (later rebranded Dark Circle) would be taking a new path: "These won’t be all-ages superhero books that we hope will appeal to older readers. As much as I love New Crusaders, it won’t be a direct follow-up to that. If you want an idea of what we’re shooting for, Afterlife with Archie
9912-475: The last of their arch-villains had been defeated. New Crusaders follows the progeny of the Mighty Crusaders as they struggle to become heroes after the return of the Brain Emperor. The series debuted digitally on May 16, 2012, through Archie Comics’ Red Circle app, with print publication scheduled to begin monthly on September 5, 2012. For digital release, issues were divided into fourths and released once
10030-467: The latter, complete with a domino mask and a cape, became influential for the myriad of masked rogues in penny dreadfuls and dime novels . The vigilantes of the American Old West also became an influence to the superhero. Several vigilantes during this time period hid their identities using masks. In frontier communities where de jure law was not yet matured, people sometimes took
10148-606: The law into their own hands with makeshift masks made out of sacks . Vigilante mobs and gangs like the San Diego Vigilantes and the Bald Knobbers became infamous throughout that Old West era. Such masked vigilantism later inspired fictional masked crimefighters in American story-telling, beginning with the character Deadwood Dick in 1877. The word superhero dates back to 1899. The 1903 British play The Scarlet Pimpernel and its spinoffs popularized
10266-478: The likes of Batwoman in 1956, Supergirl , Miss Arrowette , and Bat-Girl ; all female derivatives of established male superheroes. In 1957 Japan, Shintoho produced the first film serial featuring the superhero character Super Giant , signaling a shift in Japanese popular culture towards tokusatsu masked superheroes over kaiju giant monsters. Along with Astro Boy , the Super Giant serials had
10384-764: The magazine King of the Monsters in 1977 describing Godzilla as "Superhero of the '70s." In 1971, Kamen Rider launched the "Henshin Boom" on Japanese television in the early 1970s, greatly impacting the tokusatsu superhero genre in Japan. In 1972, the Science Ninja Team Gatchaman anime debuted, which built upon the superhero team idea of the live-action Phantom Agents as well as introducing different colors for team members and special vehicles to support them, said vehicles could also combine into
10502-470: The mark in connection with comic books, and were granted the mark by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) in 1981. In the years leading up to the assignment of the mark, both DC and Marvel battled to register various trademarks involving the phrase “superhero.” However, DC and Marvel quickly discovered that they could only register marks involving the phrase "superhero" if
10620-487: The middle of 1985, being cancelled with issue #13 (September 1985). In 1992 DC Comics acquired a license to publish the characters, and launched a team book as part of the line. This series, titled only The Crusaders , launched in early 1992. The first issue saw scriptwriting by Mark Waid and Brian Augustyn . The series and the line itself, Impact Comics, were aimed at younger readers. DC Comics attempted to sell Impact Comics titles through newsstands in an attempt to expand
10738-467: The name from the company's superhero line of the early 1960s. During this period, the company published, as either Red Circle or Archie Adventure, a comic-book tie-in to Remco 's ManTech Robot Warriors toy line (two issues, Sept.-Dec. 1984), a Katy Keene Special (Sept. 1983), and an issue of Thunder Bunny (Jan. 1984). By September 1985, the entire line that originated with Red Circle had been cancelled. In 1988, however, with Archie's acquisition of
10856-882: The new Black Hood materials that appeared in Archie Super Hero Comic Digest Magazine #2. In March 1983, the Red Circle brand was resurrected with first issue of a new volume of Mighty Crusaders . That title lasted 13 issues and led to many new titles under the Red Circle Comics banner, including The Fly (nine issues, May 1983-October, 1984), Black Hood (three issues, June–October, 1983), Lancelot Strong, The Shield (two issues, June–August, 1983, before becoming Shield – Steel Sterling for issue #3 [Dec. 1983] and finally Steel Sterling for issues #4–7 [Jan.-July, 1984]), The Original Shield (four issues, April–Oct., 1984), Blue Ribbon (14 issues, including new material and reprints of older material; Nov. 1983-Dec. 1984) and The Comet (two issues of
10974-432: The new Spider-Man after the apparent death of the original Spider-Man, Peter Parker . Kamala Khan , a Pakistani-American Muslim teenager who is revealed to have Inhuman lineage after her shapeshifting powers manifested, takes on the identity of Ms. Marvel in 2014 after Carol Danvers had become Captain Marvel. Her self-titled comic book series became a cultural phenomenon, with extensive media coverage by CNN ,
11092-526: The original Mighty Crusaders which debuted on August 29 through the Red Circle Comics app at RedCircleComics.com. Ian Flynn had pitched the idea as "I was really excited by all the prospective stories to be told between the end of the '80s series and our relaunch... There were so many open endings when the '80s era series wrapped up that it's hard to choose. What happened to Darkling? Who was the traitor? Did Black Hood figure it out or just make things worse? Did anyone mourn Doc Reeves?" The first arc of New Crusaders
11210-598: The output during the Adventure Series period after the departure of Simon and Kirby was by writer Robert Bernstein and artists John Rosenberger and John Giunta . The Mighty Comics Group imprint (alternately known as Radio Comics ) took over the Adventure titles in the mid-1960s as general imitation of Marvel Comics and the Batman TV show camp; Superman creator Jerry Siegel was brought in to be
11328-623: The pages of several popular superhero titles from the late 1950s onward: Hal Jordan 's love interest Carol Ferris was introduced as the Vice-President of Ferris Aircraft and later took over the company from her father; Medusa , who was first introduced in the Fantastic Four series, is a member of the Inhuman Royal Family and a prominent statesperson within her people's quasi-feudal society; and Carol Danvers ,
11446-420: The past decade following the rise of comic book characters in the film industry (Marvel/DC movies). Women are presented differently than their male counterparts, typically wearing revealing clothing that showcases their curves and cleavage and showing a lot of skin in some cases. Heroes like Power Girl and Wonder Woman are portrayed wearing little clothing and showing cleavage. Power Girl is portrayed as wearing
11564-406: The phrase referenced their own company or a character associated with their company. As a result, DC and Marvel decided to become joint owners of the "superhero" trademark. Although many consumers likely see DC and Marvel as competitors, the two comic book publishing giants are allies when it comes to protecting the trademark "superhero" and variants thereof. Although joint ownership in a trademark
11682-419: The potential market. However, due to internal conflicts, this distribution never happened and the imprint eventually collapsed due to poor sales. The last issue of the DC series was issue #8 (December 1992). The team also served as a partial inspiration for Alan Moore's series Watchmen . Moore had initially imagined the story as being based around second-string heroes: "I wanted more average super-heroes, like
11800-419: The power of a god, but was still drawn to a much weaker, mortal male character. This can be explained by the sociological concept "feminine apologetic," which reinforces a woman's femininity to account for her masculine attributes (strength, individualism, toughness, aggressiveness, bravery). Women in comic books are considered to be misrepresented due to being created by men, for men. The Hawkeye Initiative
11918-520: The public, and policing unauthorized uses. However, misuse by the public alone does not necessarily cause a trademark to become generic if the primary significance of the term is still to indicate a particular source. Some legal experts argue that, like the once-trademarked terms "aspirin" and "yo-yo," the term "superhero" now primarily refers to a general type of character with extraordinary abilities, rather than characters originating from specific publishers. In keeping with their origins as representing
12036-549: The superhero supergroups featured at least one (and often the only) female member, much like DC's flagship superhero team the Justice League of America (whose initial roster included Wonder Woman as the token female ); examples include the Fantastic Four 's Invisible Girl , the X-Men 's Jean Grey (originally known as Marvel Girl ), the Avengers ' Wasp , and the Brotherhood of Mutants ' Scarlet Witch (who later joined
12154-639: The team consisted of: This title kicked off the Red Circle comics and lasted 13 issues. When DC Comics licensed the Archie superheroes for their Impact line in the 1990s, the team was simply called the Crusaders . The DC series The Crusaders lasted eight issues, from May to December 1992. A new Mighty Crusaders series was released by DC Comics, which assimilated the Red Circle heroes into its continuity following Final Crisis . A series of one-shots led into two ongoing Shield and Web titles, each of which
12272-410: The term "SUPER HERO" trademark is at risk of becoming generic. Courts have noted that determining whether a term has become generic is a highly factual inquiry not suitable for resolution without considering evidence like dictionary definitions, media usage, and consumer surveys. Trademark owners can take steps to prevent genericide , such as using the trademark with the generic product name, educating
12390-421: The two companies also own a variety of other superhero-related marks. For instance, DC owns "Legion of Super-Heroes" and " DC Super Hero Girls " and Marvel owns “Marvel Super Hero Island" and "Marvel Super Hero Adventures." DC and Marvel have garnered a reputation for zealously protecting their superhero marks. As noted above, one of these instances included a man by the name of Graham Jules, who sought to publish
12508-611: The weakest member of her team a decade ago. Both major American publishers began introducing new superheroines with a more distinct feminist theme as part of their origin stories or character development. Examples include Big Barda , Power Girl , and the Huntress by DC comics; and from Marvel, the second Black Widow , Shanna the She-Devil , and The Cat . Female supporting characters who were successful professionals or hold positions of authority in their own right also debuted in
12626-420: Was also printed. Chuck Dixon was announced as writing the second story arc of Lost Crusade and New Crusaders: Dark Tomorrow was announced for May 2013, but neither was released. A five-issue The Fox miniseries by Mark Waid and Dean Haspiel began in October 2013, with The Shield back-up strips by J.M. DeMatteis (who co-wrote Fox #5 instead of Waid). In July 2014, Archie Comics announced that
12744-528: Was announced as the Red Circle line starting with the New Crusader comic in 2012. The Red Circle Comics app provides readers access to a new chapter of the New Crusaders comic, as well as the Red Circle library of comics from the previous 70 years for a 99 cent weekly subscription price. In 2012, New Crusaders was followed up with Lost Crusade: Prelude , a free one-shot focusing on the lives of
12862-531: Was based on the previous business that Michael Silberkleit's father had with Martin Goodman , with Gray Morrow as editor. With issue number 6 Chilling Adventures was renamed Red Circle Sorcery and lasted until issue number 11 (Feb. 1975). Red Circle published one issue of The Super Cops (based on the movie of the same name) in July 1974. Shortly thereafter, Mad House (a re-title of Mad House Glads )
12980-407: Was canceled after 10 issues. Mighty Crusaders lasted seven issues. In addition to the established Red Circle characters, an original heroine by the name of War Eagle was introduced as well. The new team consists of: In 2012, Archie comics returned to The Mighty Crusaders characters. The new series, titled New Crusaders would pick up on the characters from the original series many years after
13098-529: Was converted back to a print imprint and was completely revamped as Dark Circle Comics, featuring darker and more mature content than previous incarnations of Archie's superhero line. The term "Red Circle characters" is also used to refer to Archie Comics' superheroes, including such characters as the Black Hood , The Shield , the Wizard , the Hangman , The Fly , Flygirl , The Comet , The Web , Jaguar , and
13216-447: Was given the cover until issue #51 (August, 1944), when he took over the cover permanently. The company was later (in 1946) renamed after the character. Archie's Silver Age relaunch of its superheroes under the Archie Adventure Series line featured two new characters, The Jaguar and The Fly , as well as a new version of the Shield , inspired by DC's revivals of their 1940s characters. The Archie Adventure Series line debuted with
13334-609: Was in All Star Comics #8 (Dec. 1941), published by All-American Publications , one of two companies that would merge to form DC Comics in 1944. Pérák was an urban legend originating from the city of Prague during the German occupation of Czechoslovakia in the midst of World War II . In the decades following the war, Pérák has also been portrayed as the only Czech superhero in film and comics. In 1952, Osamu Tezuka 's manga Tetsuwan Atom , more popularly known in
13452-454: Was launched in the early 1970s as a fantasy/horror imprint, but switched over to superheroes in the 1980s. The line was first used to publish Chilling Adventures in Sorcery in October 1973, which for its first two issues was called Chilling Adventures in Sorcery as Told by Sabrina . With the third issue, the title was renamed and published under Red Circle Comics. The name "Red Circle"
13570-434: Was published under the Red Circle Comics line starting with issue number 95 (Sept. 1974). This ended after number 97 (January 1975), when the title reverted to being a standard Archie humor title. In 1978 and 1979, Archie published two digests collecting their superhero materials from the 1960s. The first was titled Archie's Super Hero Special . The second issue was titled Archie's Super Hero Comic Digest Magazine , and
13688-553: Was released in October 2015 featuring former NYPD detective Sam Hill. A fourth series, The Hangman , debuted in November 2015. In July 2015, the publisher announced a revamped version of its 1940s character the Web would debut the following year. The announced series never materialised. In March 2021, four years after the conclusion of the Dark Circle Universe, Archie Comics announced that Rob Liefeld would re-image
13806-404: Was unexpected as Marvel and DC had filed a motion to extend time to answer. There is an ongoing debate among legal scholars and in the courts about whether the term "superhero" has become genericized due to its widespread use in popular culture, similar to terms like "aspirin" or "escalator" which lost their trademark protection and became generic terms for their respective products. Some argue
13924-467: Was unwilling to defend itself against Ben Cooper Inc.'s suit. As a result, in 1977, Mego Corporation jointly assigned its interest in the trademark to DC Comics , Inc. ("DC") and Marvel Comics ("Marvel"). Due to the financial prowess of DC and Marvel, Ben Cooper, Inc. decided to withdraw its trademark opposition and jointly assigned its interest in the "World's Greatest Super Heroes" mark to DC and Marvel. Two years later in 1979, DC and Marvel applied for
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