The Vigilante in "The Cop Killer!"

[skjam]

By request, the Vigilante story from Adventure Comics #417, 3 1/3 pages of 10.

This is the Golden Age Vigilante, but a Silver Age edging into Bronze Age story--his first appearance since being reintroduced in JLA #78-79 with the other members of the Seven Soldiers of Victory.





Yep, ol' Vig has just caught himself a couple of plainclothes detectives. They were running in front of the police cars trying to catch up to someone they suspect of being a cop killer. Five policemen have died, this is the first solid lead they've had, and the Vigilante managed to screw it all up and let the suspect get away. One spectator thought the Vigilante had retired, another quips that maybe he should have.

He recaps in his mind that the JLA gave him his new motorcycle, and he didn't screw up during the big crossover. And if the police are just now starting to close in on the killer after five deaths, maybe they aren't so hot themselves. So Vigilante resolves to get the cop kiler, and quickly.

Down at Fisherman's Wharf, a couple of cops are hassling a cheap hood, who refuses to say anything useful to them. He knows his rights, after all.



The moment the thug is off-guard, the Vigilante lassoes the varmint, and pulls him up a floor for a friendly discussion.



It's too early in the story for that gun to be the cop killer. Instead, it's a young Chinese woman, who wants Vigilante to put up his hands. She's okay with him letting go of the rope and thus dropping the thug--they're not related, and the thug genuinely knows nothing about the cop killer. Lui-An (for such is her name) wants Vig to go meet her employer.

Over in Chinatown, above a restaurant, Vigilante is introduced to Hi-Chang, legimate businessman. Hi-Chang explains that one of the dead cops was Chinese-American, and killed in Chinatown. "We do not tolerate crime here!" Also, the Anglo cops are trying to pin this killing spree on a Chinese person if they can. Their poking and prying are bad for business. As it happens, Hi-Chang's organization has located the cop killer, who is hiding somewhere outside Chinatown, and thus out of the tong's jurisdiction. The white police won't listen to any tips that don't match their prejudices, but the Vigilante might be more willing to hear the locals out.

(Not mentioned here is one of the reasons the denizens of Chinatown might trust the Vigilante--one of his Golden Age sidekicks was Stuff, the Chinatown Kid.)

Based on the lead provided by Hi-Chang, Vigilante investigates a smelly apartment building. The inhabitant of the appropriate room has already ducked out the window, and shoots at Vig when the Prairie Troubador sticks his head out. It might not be the cop killer, but whoever it is is sure trigger happy! Vigilante gives chase.

The suspect jumps a cable car and threatens the (black) driver if Vigilante doesn't back off. But Vig makes sure to keep the shooter's attention fixed on him rather than following up that threat, dodging bullets all the while. Finally he's able to board the cable car and get the driver off. Now the two men struggle. The cop killer (yep, right guy this time) rants about how they'll all be sorry as the car goes out of control down a hill. It breaks through a barrier and into a ditch.



Okay, yeah. Vigilante really doesn't come off too well in this story, does he? Marv Wolfman would go on to write another Vigilante years later, Adrian Chase, the worst District Attorney ever.



Your thoughts and comments?

If there's interest, there's two more stories in this issue, a Supergirl tale with gender!fail, and DC's first attempt at the magical girl subgenre. Anyone want to see either of those?

Suggested Tags
char: Vigilante/Greg Saunders
creator: Grey Morrow
creator: Marv Wolfman
creator: Steve Skeates
publisher: DC Comics
title: Adventure Comics

Comments

[thehefner]

I would actually like to see scans of Adrian Chase's VIGILANTE run (and from TEEN TITANS too, if applicable), for proof of how he really was the worst DA in DC. I have almost half a run of VIGILANTE, and it's stuff an odd series, littered with false notes all-around and befuddlingly unlikeable characters.

The finale was just... wow, they went there? That's what it was building up to? I'd love to hear the thoughts of folks here on that series.

[skjam]

Someone posted the finale on SD 1.0, perhaps they could do it again...

For an explanation of why Adrian Chase was such an awful DA, it's best to check out "The Law Is a Ass", a series of columns about the treatment of legal matters in comic books written about the same time.

[nezchan]

I remember that, it used to run in The Comics Buyers' Guide way back when. I had a subscription for a year or so, and was always amazed at the great content.

Me and my one (two?) track mind...

[thehefner]

Do you recall if they ever made mention of Harvey Dent in those articles?

It's amazing how many comic characters, good, bad, and inbetween, have been DAs. Two-Face, Vigilante, Manhunter, the Thinker... that grinning mask face guy from THE TWELVE... any others?

Re: Me and my one (two?) track mind...

[skjam]

Harvey was mentioned at least once, during a discussion of the insanity defense. Short version: Unlike many of the people currently in Arkham Asylum, Two-Face actually qualifies for the legal definition of insanity. (The Joker, only sometimes, depending on the writer.)

Re: Me and my one (two?) track mind...

[skjam]

Oh, and the Black Bat (pulp character soon to have a new novel coming out from Moonstone) was a district attorney until a criminal threw acid...in...his...face...hey, wait a minute... He predated Two-Face, though.

[psychopathicus_rex]

I dunno - I mean, I'm only seeing a small part of the story here, of course, but judging from what I've seen here, the Vig doesn't come off too badly. He's just kind of in the dark - at first, he doesn't know what's going on, and messes up a sting by the cops, then he comes in late to someone else's investigation and plays clean-up. Overall, I think he did pretty well, under the circumstances.
There could probably be an interesting story written about the Vigilante's ties with the Chinese-American community. Given that, as you point out, his sidekick and eventual business partner was Chinese, and that he took him on as a sidekick during a verrrrrrrrrry racist period, I'd imagine that the Vig had pretty cordial relations with them.

[skjam]

Vigilante does all the action stuff well, but his detective work is very rusty. Lui-An, on the other hand, appears to be damn good at tracking people down, and is probably the one who located the cop-killer in the first place.

[psychopathicus_rex]

Well, yes, but remember, he's coming in in the middle here, and racing to catch up. It's not surprising that he's a little overly hasty - he wants to know what's goin' ON, dammit.

[thandrak]

I always felt a modern Vigilante series like this could work. Someone traveling through heartland America, fighting injustice and the corrupt system.
You know, abuse of illegal immigrants, corrupt local sheriffs selling drugs, towns using policemen to randomly pull over people and take their cars, that sort of thing.

[psychopathicus_rex]

That could be interesting, all right. It'd have to be the old-style Vig to work, though, or someone very much like him. The more modern versions are all city-slicker types.

[shanejayell]

Marvel kinda did that with the earlier Nomad series.

[thehefner]

As long as they embraced his smartassed cowboyness. If JLU taught me anything (with Nathan Fillion in the voice role), it's that retaining that level of the character is what would set him apart from being any grim tough biker hero with guns. Like Nomad.

[thandrak]

Wait. First attempt at magical girl? Before Princess Amethyst?

[skjam]

Ayup. Won't say who just yet, but you've probably heard of her.

[darkblade]

Mary Marvel? Stargirl?

[icon_uk]

Let me guess, June Moone, the Enchantress?

[skjam]

We have a winner! Mary Marvel came first, but was a Fawcett character, and wasn't published by DC until after the Enchantress was created.

[thandrak]

Aha! I always thought of her as a villain.

[skjam]

Sadly, the follow-through just wasn't there back in 1966, so June got kind of derailed.

[jkcarrier]

Man, I love Gray Morrow's art. Superheroes weren't really his forte, but he was brilliant at more "street level" stuff like this. He drew a few more Vigilante stories in World's Finest that were also really nice.

Lui-An is pretty awesome, they should've spun her off into her own series. It looks like her outfit was meant to be more risque, but the colorist has toned it down by adding a pink leotard. Boo on you, colorist! :P

[skjam]

Yep, Gray Morrow was a fine artist (and had a cool name.)

Looking carefully at the story, I discover that due to the camera angles it's impossible to tell whether that pink thing is a leotard or a more conventional "Chinese" dress with a white over-dress.

[philippos42]

Oh, I bet it is a dress. 'Cos that other thing is just too skimpy to be her whole dress.