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Adrian Chase
Adrian Chase

Adrian Chase

49 appearances · Bronze Age · 1982–2025 · 3 key issues
Who is Adrian Chase?

After tragedy struck his family, Manhattan District Attorney Adrian Chase grew disillusioned with a justice system that failed to protect the innocent, ultimately donning a masked identity as the Vigilante to wage his own war on crime through expert marksmanship and Eastern-trained combat discipline.

Few characters in DC's Bronze Age canon carry the moral weight that Adrian Chase has shouldered since his 1982 debut in The New Teen Titans, brought to life by the legendary creative team of Marv Wolfman, George Pérez, and Romeo Tanghal. Emerging from one of comics' most celebrated eras, Chase carved out a lasting niche across The New Teen Titans and his own Vigilante series, sharing pages with heavy-hitters like Robin, Dick Grayson, Koriand'r, and Green Lantern — elite company that speaks to his place in the broader DC universe. With three key-issue appearances to his name and a publishing history stretching an impressive 43 years from 1982 all the way to 2025, he's proven himself far more than a footnote. His inclusion in Who's Who: The Definitive Directory of the DC Universe only cements his status as a character DC itself considers essential — and any collector serious about the Bronze Age should absolutely agree.

Identity

Real name. Adrian Allen Chase

Powers. : The Vigilante was an expert marksman. ; : A skilled hand-to-hand combatant. He was also practiced in several Eastern meditation techniques and fighting forms. These techniques gifted Chase with an enhanced endurance that also allowed him to overcome pain.

★ First appearance
The New Teen Titans #23
Sep 1982

Part of the The Vigilante legacy

Adrian Chase is one of 2 heroes to carry the The Vigilante mantle. See the whole The Vigilante family ▸

Trivia

  • Paul Kupperberg has written more of Adrian Chase's comics than any other writer in our catalog — 27 issues.

Top series

Covers through the years — 1982–2022

The New Teen Titans #26 1982
The New Teen Titans #26
The Vigilante #25 1986
The Vigilante #25
Checkmate #14 1989
Checkmate #14
Great American Comic Books #[nn] 2001
Great American Comic Books #[nn]
DCU: Legacies #6 2010
DCU: Legacies #6
DC Universe by Alan Moore #[nn] 2013
DC Universe by Alan Moore #[nn]
Batman #124 2022
Batman #124

Appearances

The New Teen Titans (1980)
The New Teen Titans Annual (1982)
#2
Vigilante Annual (1985)
#1
Who's Who: The Definitive Directory of the DC Universe (1985)
DC Comics Presents (1978)
#92
Checkmate (1988)
Great American Comic Books (2001)
DCU: Legacies (2010)
#6
DC Universe: Legacies (2011)
DC Universe by Alan Moore (2013)
Nightwing (2016)
#93
Batman (2016)
Detective Comics (2011)
DC Finest: Teen Titans: The Judas Contract (2025)
DC Finest: Peacemaker: Kill for Peace (2025)