Crusaders Times Two: The Marvel-DC Pseudo Crossover

Yesterday I covered how publishing rivals Marvel and DC Comics arranged for an unofficial "crossover" of sorts between the Invaders and the Freedom Fighters. However, instead of the actual characters appearing in the other company's title, imitation or "pastiche" versions of them were created...with the added twist of both substitute teams sharing the name "Crusaders".

Marvel Comics went first with Invaders #14-15 (March-April 1977), which featured somewhat vague doppelgangers of DC's Freedom Fighters.  A few months later, it was DC's turn with Freedom Fighters #8 and #9 (June & Aug. 1977), featuring doubles of the Invaders that were remarkably close to the originals:

Thought to be only comic book heroes from the WWII era, the Crusaders suddenly appeared in the flesh to apprehend the Freedom Fighters (who were wrongly-accused fugitives from justice at the time). After the initial skirmish between the two teams, it was revealed that the Crusaders' shield-slinging leader Americommando was actually The Silver Ghost, an old enemy of the Freedom Fighters. Like the Nazi spy "Alphie" from the Invaders story, the Ghost was the one responsible for giving the other four Crusaders their superpowers. Where did he find these gullible recruits?  Why, at a comic book convention, of course!

(click on the panels for a larger view)

 

 

Wait..,"Lenny", "Marvin", "Arch", and "Roy"? Those would be none other than Len Wein, Marv Wolfman, Archie Goodwin, and Roy Thomas...all of them part of the first generation of fans to become comic book pros.

 

So...what did I think of the two Crusader crossovers?  Well, the artwork on both wasn't spectacular, and of the two stories, I think I prefer the one from The Invaders (the comic convention thing from Freedom Fighters is just smothered in cheese). However, I think the thing I appreciate the most about the pair of Crusader crossovers is the spirit of fun and good-natured collaboration behind them both. It'd be nice to see some of that again between DC and Marvel.

Comments

[Kyle]

Wow, excellent crossover coverage, Mark! Almost makes me wanna start attending comic book conventions, just on the off-chance.... nah, it'd never happen in real life. Right?

(I loved the nod to Lenny, Wolfman, Goodwin and Roy Thomas, by the way, even if it was a bit cheesy!)