Golden Age Vigilante (Greg Sanders / Saunders) Appreciation (2019)

[MajorHoy]

The original Vigilante, Greg Sanders (later changed to "Greg Saunders" decades later) was first featured in Action Comics #42 (November 1941).


His "origin" was covered in just a few panels of that introductory story.


Vigilante's run in Action Comics would last until issue #198 (November 1954).

And in addition to his feature in Action Comics, Vigilante was also a member of the Seven Soldiers of Victory during that group's fourteen issue run in Leading Comics between 1941 and 1945.

[MajorHoy]

from Who's Who: The Definitive Directory of the DC Universe Vol. XXV (March 1987)


And Vigilante was included on the back cover of The Amazing World of DC Comics No. 16 (December 1977), drawn by Marshall Rogers.

[MajorHoy]

In Vigilante's second adventure (Action Comics #43, cover-dated December 1941), he encountered a criminal known as "The Shade".
<NOTE: This version of "The Shade" is not the same one as the better-known villain by that name who was introduced in Flash Comics #33 (September 1942)>




The story also introduced Billy Gunn, the first of Vigilante's occasional sidekicks. His second sidekick, Stuff, the Chinatown Kid, would be introduced two issues later (in Action Comics #45).

[ducklord]

Also, Greg's apparently a werewolf.

[MajorHoy]

Also, Greg's apparently a werewolf.

Huh?

Is this something from that old World's Finest Comics team-up from back in 1972?

[ducklord]

Huh?

Is this something from that old World's Finest Comics team-up from back in 1972?

Although that COULD very well be the source of it, I'm referring to Morrison's Seven Soldiers experiment, wherein it was revealed that a) Vigilante was still alive, and b) he owed his long life to the fact that, at some point he became a werewolf. Knowing Morrison, I wouldn't be surprised if he drew from that World's Finest issue to account for that reveal.

Even though I'm a monster Morrison fan, I didn't like that particular twist.

[MajorHoy]

The Shade was also the villain for Vigilante's feature in Action Comics #44 (January 1942).



And at the end, the real identity of "The Shade" was revealed.

[MajorHoy]

from Action Comics #45 (February 1942), which featured the introduction of Stuff, the Chinatown Kid.



(Remember, this was the early 1940s, when comic book stories weren't always what we would now refer to as "politically correct".)

[ducklord]

I love the way Vigilante is violating the panels all over the place in that first appearance.