HEY KIDS, COMICS!- The New Crusaders

NEW CRUSADERS
Red Circle Comics (Archie)
w Ian Flynn
a Alitha Martinez

The NEW CRUSADERS comic is the latest attempt to revive the classic Red Circle/Archie superheroes, including such characters as the Shield, the Web, the Comet, etc...

You may be unfamiliar with these characters, as they seem to have always been "second tier" superheroes, but nonetheless they do have a publishing history going back to the 1940s, including being published by DC Comics in the 1980s and again just a few years ago. Despite being relaunched by writer  J. Michael Straczynski, that version of the Red Circle heroes only lasted about a year at DC.

The newest version of the Red Circle heroes acknowledges their long history by making the main characters the children and heirs of the original characters.  Long retired, the original heroes are all killed when their greatest enemy - The Brain Emperor - returns to seek vengeance upon them. The only survivor of that original generation of heroes must take the new generation under his wing and teach them their parent's secrets.

The series is currently on issue #4 (as of mid December).

Personally, I feel the series started rather weak, and I was prepared to quit reading, but by issue 4 the characters are getting well developed and I am now enjoying the book enough to have it added to my pull file. The artwork is definitely towards the cartoony side of the spectrum, resembling DC's animated series comics such as Young Justice or Batman Beyond. Mostly the art is well suited to this book, though some individual panels are still a bit rough.  Similarly, the writing and dialogue left me a bit cold at first but has improved as the book rolls along.

I would rate this book a solid B list title, equal to many a Marvel or DC series with better name recognition.

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As a set up for a teen superhero game, New Crusaders works wonderfully.  You have a whole group of heroes who your players are probably unfamiliar with.  Pass them out and let your players generate legacy characters based on these new-to-them heroes. They inherit the heroic mantle, a tragic origin, and an ultra powerful nemesis all in one fell swoop.

If you don't want to play the teen heroes, than the New Crusaders also work wonderfully as NPCs. If you have the time, establish the parent heroes first, then kill them off and have their offspring appear asking the PCs for help, or perhaps causing problems due to their inexperience.