Mighty Crusaders Special Vol 1 1

"Full Circle"

Cover
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Full Circle

Editors

Rachel Gluckstern

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Mighty Crusaders # 2

And just like that, it clicks. It goes like that sometimes. Each man does what he does, at just the right moment. And sometimes, you get lucky. Gears moving in concert, meshing with precision. Holding death and destruction at bay. A unit. A team.

— The Shield

Mighty Crusaders Special #1 is a one-shot with a cover date of July, 2010. It was published on May 26, 2010.

Synopsis for "Full Circle"

At a Global Concern quorum in New York, a council headed by Doctor Zadar discuss the events in San Francisco the week before.

At a function organized by the criminal broker known only as the Auctioneer, a mysterious portable safe was put up for the highest bidder. The proceedings were attacked by the costumed hero known as the Web, who made off with the box. The assembled patrons, most of whom had crominal records, made away. The Global Concern's agent, a markswoman known as the Persian, chased him to a nearby rooftop, where he outwitted her. Enraged, she departed.

That night, a force of irate super-villains took to the streets of San Francisco, as the Web tried to break open the portable safe. He was accosted by Inferno, a member of the Epsilon Group, an independent superhuman contractor organization ultimately answering to Alvin Halliday, the industrialist. In the ensuing fight, the Web proved to be a better fighter, but the Inferno's power's left the two men evenly matched. However, the fight was interrupted by the Buzzard, who made off with the portable safe. Inferno informs his handler, Caselli, that the Web escaped, giving both men time to do their jobs. Telling the Web about his government contact, Latham, Inferno departs to face his handler, who sends him back into the field with a partner, the Comet.

As the Buzzard made across the bay, he was stopped by the Hangman. The newcomer secures the box, and teleports the Buzzard into a forest to deal with him. The other heroes catch up with him, and he tells them about the box...

During the Lincoln Administration, the American West was a strange land. Alien beings, occult scientific principles, monsters and mutants. For the good of the nation, these truths were submerged. And so the Lincoln Safe was constructed, a portable safe which was the ultimate repository for these secrets. The Hangman encountered in the 1880s in an adventure with El Diablo, then again in the 1940s with Air Wave, and finally when investigating a spate of disappearances in the Bermuda Triangle alongside Green Lantern. Now, something in the box has broken, and this is drawing him to the box. Using the combination he saw El Diablo use all those years ago, he opens the box - and a man made of shadows escapes, quickly followed by a giant metallic spider!

The Hangman is crippled by the psychic backlash, and the other three men are overwhelmed by the monster, but they are soon joined by the US Army's super-soldier, the Shield. Taking command of the situation. By the skin of their teeth, the heroes unite and defeat the monster. Then they approached by Latham, the Shield's boss and Inferno's contact.

At a secure warehouse in San Francisco, Latham informs them that the box is being sought by a conspiracy which stretches to cover Project Shield, the Epsilon Group and Halliday International. They will strike again, and the mystery man needs to be found. Giving the four civilians a set of comms with which to summon them when danger strikes, he unites them as the Crusaders.

At the Global Concern quorum, Doctor Zadar delegates the recovery of the box to Ms Frey.

And at an Epsilon Group secure facility, we are introduced to the man made of shadows, already known to the authorities as the Eraser. Caselli comes to introduce herself, but he is not leaving their sight... and Caselli herself is not fully human...