Superhero team-ups weren't quite a rarity during comics' Golden Age in the 1940s, but they were far less common than they are now. If you take out the two ongoing super-team series--The Justice Society of America in All-Star Comics and The Seven Soldiers Of Victory in Leading Comics--a comics fan might have to wait a little bit for four-color summits between his or her favorite heroes. The Human Torch and The Sub-Mariner fought each other more than once, Daredevil Battles Hitler # 1 was a costumed hero free-for-all, and The Shield and The Wizard joined forces in the pages of Pep Comics and in their joint title, Shield-Wizard Comics. There were other examples I'm sure, but for all that, most 1940s superheroes were more often an island unto themselves. Avengers Assemble? Some other time, mate. Some other time.
It's a shame that the Quality Comics heroes never joined forces, at least beyond Plastic Man and The Spirit sharing covers of Police Comics. And it's a shame Fawcett Comics didn't put together a regular super-team. Sure, you had The Marvel Family--Captain Marvel, Captain Marvel, Jr., and Mary Marvel--but as wonderful as that was, it wasn't quite the same as a crossover starring heroes from different titles, characters with different origins. There was no ongoing Fawcett super-team, with the Marvels joining forces with Spy Smasher, Bulletman and Bulletgirl, Mr. Scarlet and Pinky, Ibis the Invincible, and, I dunno, El Carim or Golden Arrow. Although there were sporadic pairings here and there--Captain Marvel and Spy Smasher, Mary Marvel and Bulletgirl--there was but one published example of a Fawcett Comics super-team. That was in Master Comics # 41 in 1943: the one and only appearance of The Crime Crusaders Club.
Our Crusaders didn't merit a mention on the cover, nor even a logo or story to call their own. No, they were just part of that issue's Minute Man story. But The Crime Crusaders Club does pursue a noble purpose, trying to get criminals to cough up their fair share and buy bonds to support the war effort. With the help of his fellow Crusaders Captain Marvel, Jr., Bulletman, and Bulletgirl, Minute Man devises a goofy plan to raise anti-Axis money from the underworld.
DC Comics eventually purchased the Fawcett heroes. In Justice League Of America # 135-137 in 1976, these heroes finally assembled as Shazam's Squadron Of Justice. But back in the Golden Age, The Crime Crusaders Club's sole outing was all we got. That story is now in the public domain, and it comes to us courtesy of the good folks at Digital Comic Museum. Evildoers beware! It's THE CRIME CRUSADERS CLUB!
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DC Comics eventually purchased the Fawcett heroes. In Justice League Of America # 135-137 in 1976, these heroes finally assembled as Shazam's Squadron Of Justice. But back in the Golden Age, The Crime Crusaders Club's sole outing was all we got. That story is now in the public domain, and it comes to us courtesy of the good folks at Digital Comic Museum. Evildoers beware! It's THE CRIME CRUSADERS CLUB!
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When AC Comics reprinted this story, they replaced Captain Marvel Jr with Mister Scarlet! Also, This is one of the last MINUTE MAN stories - his last appearance would be in MASTER COMICS #49 - replaced in issue #5 by RADAR, The International Policeman - a Government Agent who could read minds.
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