Red Raven
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| Red Raven | |
 Art By Louis Cazeneuve |
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| Publication information | |
|---|---|
| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
| First appearance | (historic) Red Raven Comics #1 (Aug. 1940); (modern) X-Men #44 (May 1968) |
| Created by | Joe Simon and Louis Cazeneuve |
| In story information | |
| Team affiliations | Liberty Legion |
| Abilities | Flight using mechanical wings. Access to alien technology. |
Red Raven is a fictional comic-book superhero in the Marvel Comics universe. Created by Joe Simon and Louis Cazeneuve in Red Raven Comics #1 (Aug. 1940), published by Marvel's predecessor, Timely Comics, during the period fans and historians call the Golden Age of Comic Books.
He is the first Timely/Marvel character to star in his own self-titled series, predating by several months Captain America Comics #1 (March 1941).
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[edit] Publication history
Red Raven Comics was canceled after its premiere issue. Following his first appearance, the character remained unused until for more than two decades before being revived in the modern day as an antagonist in X-Men #44 (May 1968). The Red Raven then battled Namor, the Sub-Mariner in Sub-Mariner vol. 1, #26 (June 1970). Presumed dead, he returned in Nova vol. 3, #4 & 6, and guest-starred in Defenders #6-7 (Aug. - Sept. 2001) and The Order #2 (May 2002).
In Marvel Premiere #29 (April 1976), Red Raven was retconned to have been a member of the stateside World War II-era superhero team the Liberty Legion. In that capacity he and his teammates guest-starred in Marvel Two-In-One Annual #1 (1976) and The Invaders #6 (May 1976). He appeared in flashback cameos and the like in Thor Annual #12 (1984), Fantastic Four #405 (Oct. 1995).
[edit] Fictional character biography
The boy who would become Red Raven was a child from Europe and the only survivor of a trans-Atlantic airplane crash. As an infant, he was adopted by a civilization of winged people who lived on a floating island in the sky, one kept aloft by antigravity drives and hidden from human civilization by artificial clouds. As he grew, he learned they were a tribe of avian Inhumans who had left the hidden Inhuman city Attilan, built their own abode, and learned to stabilize their genetics to reproduce only in this winged form. Calling themselves both The Bird-People and The Winged Ones, they made their adopted son a uniform outfitted with anti-gravitons for flight and metal wings for navigation. During World War II, fearing an escalation of Nazi Germany's efforts that would encompasses his adopted people, the now-grown human wore a costume with large metal wings that enabled him to fly, and called himself Red Raven and joined the United States superhero team the Liberty Legion.
The Bird-People, however, planned to invade human civilization after the war. Red Raven foiled their plot by using gas to place the tribe, including himself, in suspended animation, and sank their domed island to the bottom of the ocean, setting a timer to return them to the surface and reawaken them after several years. When the island eventually resurfaced near the end of the suspended-animation cycle the X-Men superhero Angel stumbled upon the island. Angel and Red Raven clashed when the latter was startled by the former. Angel believed it would be more humane to revive the Bird-People, but Red Raven disagreed. He again sank the island, continuing the suspended animation process, and set Angel adrift on a raft.
Sometime later, following an undersea earthquake, the Red Raven's suspended-animation capsule broke loose. It floated to the surface, where Red Raven was found by his old wartime ally the Sub-Mariner. The imperfect suspended-animation technology that he had used, however, had begun to drive Red Raven insane, a condition that worsened when he discovered that the Bird-People all were dead. In a mad rage, he accidentally caused an explosion that engulfed him and the entire island.[1]
Sometime throughout all this, Red Raven had a daughter who, under the same name, became a superhero.[2]
[edit] Powers and abilities
Red Raven flew with benefit of artificial wings. He was armed with the birdmen's advanced weaponry, including a raygun and an anti-gravity gun.
[edit] Footnotes
[edit] References
- Marvel Directory: Red Raven
- The Red Raven (fan page)
- Don Markstein's Toonopedia: Red Raven
- Jess Nevins' A Guide To Marvel's Golden Age Characters: Red Raven
