Crimson Avenger

Lee Travis, a crusading newspaper publisher, was inspired by the crime-ridden streets of his city to don a red coat and hat and take justice into his own hands as the Crimson Avenger — one of DC's earliest masked mystery men, predating even Batman's debut by months.

Few characters carry the weight of comics history quite like the Crimson Avenger — a Golden Age pioneer who first burst onto the scene in Detective Comics #24 in 1939, brought to life by none other than Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, the legendary duo behind Superman himself. That debut alone makes this character a cornerstone of DC's earliest mythology, and with a publishing presence stretching across an extraordinary seven decades to 2012, the Crimson Avenger is a living thread connecting the genre's pulp-hero origins to the modern era. The company here is rarefied: this is a character who shares pages with Superman, Green Lantern, and Sir Justin, appearing across celebrated collections like Seven Soldiers of Victory Archives and All-Star Squadron. With two key collector issues to their name and a legacy that spans the Golden Age and far beyond, the Crimson Avenger is exactly the kind of foundational figure every serious DC enthusiast should have on their radar.