Fawcett Comics Hero Groups

The Crime Crusaders Club

Super-groups were uncommon in Fawcett Comics. In 1943, one group came together in the "Minute Man" feature. It began in a residential neighborhood, where the auspicious Crime Crusaders Club met to trade stories about their recent cases. The group consisted of Minute Man, Captain Marvel, Jr., Bulletman and Bulletgirl.

The others noticed that Minute Man was acting distant and when pressed he explained that he was angry that the criminal class hadn't contributed their fair share to the war effort. Junior gave him the idea to organize a treasure hunt — the treasure being Minute Man himself! He would offer the crooks the chance to take him down, without fighting back. His friends got the word out, and the underworld went crazy for the idea.

There was one hitch however, the heroes took all their guns away. They were allowed to buy back their guns for $100 each, which would go towards war bonds. Until midnight, the others made sure the crooks fought "fair" and Minute Man dodged their assassination attempts. Minute Man crashed his car and it looked like the end until Baron von Kornstadt stepped in and claimed Minute Man as a captive of Hitler. The thugs then fought among themselves and Minute Man slipped away by plane. After midnight the heroes mopped up the mobsters and had raised $100,000. (Master Comics #41)

» FIRST APPEARANCE: Master Comics #41 (Aug. 1943)

Squadron of Justice: Fawcett Heroes at DC Comics

The first modern DC Comics appearance of any (non-Marvel family) Fawcett heroes was in Justice League of America #135 (Oct. 1976).

On the cover of Justice League of America #135 (Oct. 1976), these heroes were referred to as "Shazam's Squadron of Justice." But in the story, neither this name nor the name “Crusaders” was ever used to refer to the group. Perhaps as a nod to the Fawcett days, an early panel does refer to the heroes as "crusaders." (In Fawcett Comics, the Lieutenant Marvels were called the "Squadron of Justice.")

In this crossover, heroes from Earth-S (the home of Fawcett characters in the DC multiverse) — Bulletman, Bulletgirl, Spy Smasher, Ibis, Mister Scarlet, and Pinky — were gathered together by the wizard Shazam and his emissary, the god Mercury. The heroes were mobilized against King Kull. Kull had imprisoned the Olympian Gods, thus decommissioning the power source of Captain Marvel and his "family." Note: King Kull's first appearance was Captain Marvel Adventures #125 (1951). Minuteman did not appear in this story.

Mercury gathered heroes from Earth-One's Justice League of America (Superman, Green Lantern, the Flash, Green Arrow, and Hawkman and Hawkgirl) and Earth-Two's Justice Society of America (Batman, Robin, Green Lantern, the Flash, Wonder Woman, and Johnny Thunder). They were teamed with six heroes from Earth-S:

• Bulletman was Jim Barr, a police scientist who had invented the Gravity Helmet that enabled him and his wife Susan (Bulletgirl) to fly through the air as human projectiles.
  

• Spy Smasher was Alan Armstrong, a Virginia sportsman who battled the enemies of America with his superb physique, fighting abilities and scientific knowledge.

• Mister Scarlet was celebrated attorney Brian Butler and his adopted son, Pinky the Whiz Kid. They pit their acrobatic skills and strange weaponry against all varieties of crime.

• Ibis the Invincible was the ancient Prince Amentep, son of an Egyptian Pharaoh who was resurrected in modern times, along with his wife Princess Taia. Ibis used the mystical Ibistick in his fight against crime and sorcerous menaces. When this crisis arose, the couple were preparing to move into a new suburban home outside New York City.

Shazam and Mercury's first team (Superman, Wonder Woman, Spy Smasher, and Green Arrow) went to Earth-Two, where agents of Kull were attacking the risen cities of Atlantis. On Earth-Two, Atlantis was two cities, Venturia and Aurania, and ruled by strong women. Wonder Woman's foe, Queen Clea of Atlantis worked with Kull, using an Amazonian Venus girdle to control Blockbuster. Meanwhile, Ibac and the Penguin caused more havoc. The heroes averted greater disaster when Superman used his super-breath to freeze Kull's "Densor-Cloud" dispose of it in space. In the process, Atlantis was subsumed once again by the ocean. (Justice League of America #135)

On Earth-S, an eclipse was created by the Shade and Doctor Light, who with the help of special satellites, were keeping half the planet in total darkness or light. Bulletman and Hawkman pursue the Shade into the Louvre, where all the paintings have come to life, while Bulletgirl and Hawkgirl investigated the planet's oceans, which were turning to ice, and its mountains into monsters.

King Kull's agents here were the Earth-Two Joker and the Weeper. Kull's satellites modified the Joker's laughing gas so that it turned people into diamond. The heroes enlisted the help of Bulletman, in his civilian identity of scientist Jim Barr, to analyze the gas but it turned up inert. When they discovered the satellites in orbit, they caused them to collide and all the strange effects were reversed. (#136)

On Earth-One, King Kull sent Mister Atom to attack a model city in Montreal. The two Green Lanterns and Ibis traced the source of Atom's aura to a spaceship manned by Brainiac. After disabling Brainiac's power, Ibis sent Mister Atom into space. At this point, all the heroes returned from their missions and converged on the Rock of Eternity (which existed outside of any Earth's space). King Kull ambushed Superman with red Kryptonite, making him deranged. The only hope of fighting Superman was Captain Marvel. Johnny Thunder located Billy Batson and used his magic Thunderbolt as a substitute to transform the Marvel family into their super-powered selves. Captain Marvel confronted Superman head-on and summoned the lightning again. The magic (to which Superman was vulnerable) broke Superman's stupor, and the Marvels mopped up Kull as well. The villain was imprisoned with magic chains and the heroes returned to their home worlds. (#137)

Appearances: Justice League of America #135-137 (Oct.–Dec. 1976)

Fawcett City Heroes (post-Crisis)

World War II

In post-Crisis DC continuity, the heroes from Fawcett City were said to have teamed regularly in the 1940s and beyond. No name was given for their group.

The ancient wizard, Shazam, came to Fawcett City in the winter of 1940. He bore the mummy of Ibis and secreted himself away. Soon, however, the Axis threat forced Shazam to awaken Ibis and call Fawcett City's heroes to gather and fight. The heroes would team repeatedly throughout the war. (Power of Shazam! #12) Note: Shazam's post-Crisis origin was told in Power of Shazam! #10.

On February 9, 1942, the Nazi Edouard Laslo (the Poser) took the guise of Bulletman during an act of sabotage. The real Bulletman had been summoned along with Starman to Alaska. (#35) There they discovered a strange alien worm and worked with the Green Lantern Abin Sur to defeat it. (#36)

Just after the war, in June 1945, Spy Smasher, Minute Man and Bulletman clashed for the last time with Captain Nazi (it was not their first tussle with the villain). They followed the villain in Spy Smasher's Gyrosub in pursuit of a freighter destined for Miami. They were too late, however; the freighter was sunk by Captain Nazi, who then fled. Little did they know, that the Captain left his precious cargo at the bottom of the sea—it contained the body of Hitler in suspended animation! But there was an additional capsule, in which Captain Nazi then placed himself. He would not wake for decades. (#8)

The Fawcett heroes remained active well into the 1950s, when they are known to have aided Shazam in trapping the Seven Deadly Enemies of man in stone statues. These statues he then hid inside a secret subway station, accessible only by magic. Also, Ibis helped cast a spell over Fawcett City which warded off demons and slowed the march of time. Soon after this, Shazam fell prey to a common hoodlum and wandered amnesiac for years. He was later found and recognized by C.C. Batson (Billy's father). (#12) During the Cold War, Spy Smasher encountered C.C. Batson in East Germany. The two retrieved an ancient Egyptian artifact called the Scorpion, and ran afoul of Baron Blitzkrieg. (#24)

Silver Age

Fawcett's heroes were called upon by the JLA and JSA to aid against King Kull. Kull had assembled an army of super-villains in his quest for world domination, including IBAC and the Weeper. Thanks to Bulletman, Bulletgirl, Spy Smasher, Ibis, Mister Scarlet & Pinky, the villains were handily defeated. (Justice League of America #135-137) Note: Because this pre-Crisis cross-over heavily involved the Marvel Family and others, it may be entirely out-of-continuity. This arc was the first DC Comics and first modern appearances of these characters.

Post-Crisis

In modern times, Jim Barr, Jack Weston and Alan Armstrong (Fawcett's Golden Age heroes) remain active in Fawcett affairs. They sat for an interview at WHIZ radio about their last meeting with Captain Nazi. It was then that the newly awakened Nazi attempted to retrieve the body of his Führer. The capsule had failed, though, and the body was dead. (#8) Captain Nazi was subsequently captured by the Marvels. (#9)

Ibis resurfaced to help mitigate the evil influence of Shazam's daughter, Blaze. Ibis defeated her henchman, Black Adam, and took responsibility of minding the Rock of Eternity while Shazam traveled. (#11–12) Minute-Man, now working for S.T.A.R. Labs, trailed Captain Marvel Jr. and Captain Nazi and took the villain into custody. (#19)

When Edouard Laslo was let out of prison, a neo-Nazi group quickly took him under their wing. Laslo, they hoped, would assassinate Jim Barr (Bulletman). At this time, the phony picture surfaced of Bulletman involved in treasonous activities. Barr was arrested as a traitor. In the end, Laslo was fully repentant and took a bullet meant for Barr. (#35-36, Starman #39-40)

When the Venusian worm called Mister Mind gained power, he launched the robotic Mister Atom and successfully destroyed the Fawcett suburb, Fairfield. Though this city was home to Mary and Billy's adoptive parents, the Bromfields survived. Ibis was able to absorb much of the bomb's destructive force, but not save lives. (#38) This severely taxed his powers; his former lover Taia then placed him in suspended animation. Also at this time, Deanna Barr took her mother's uniform and became Windshear (#43) and Pinky resurfaced as Mister Scarlet II. (#44)

Black Adam returned claiming that in his "death," only the evil Theo Adam had perished. This supposedly left Thet Adam in control. Despite Adam's continued loyalty to Blaze, he sacrificed himself to save Captain Marvel. (#44-47) Both Marvel and Adam are currently active with the Justice Society.

Ibis and Taia recently perished during a mission led by Zatanna. It was during the Arachne (the secret 13th month on the sorcerers calendar), when several other magicians met at the home of Baron Winters. While on the astral plane, an entity called Gwydion incinerated all except Zatanna. (Seven Soldiers: Zatanna #1)

» FIRST APPEARANCE: Power of Shazam! #8 (Oct. 1995)