Greg Saunders

Vigilante
Greg Saunders, as he appeared on the cover of Leading Comics #5 (December 1942). Art by Mort Meskin.
Publication information
Publisher	DC Comics
First appearance	Action Comics #42 (November 1941)
Created by	Mort Weisinger Mort Meskin
In-story information
Alter ego	Greg Saunders
Team affiliations	Seven Soldiers of Victory All-Star Squadron Justice League
Partnerships	Shining Knight
Abilities	Brilliant marksman Superb hand-to-hand combatant Master of the lariat Excellent horseman

Greg Saunders is the first fictional character known as the "Vigilante" that appeared in American comic books published by DC Comics.

The character was one of the first DC Comics characters adapted for live-action film, beating Superman by one year.

Publication history[]

Created by Mort Weisinger and Mort Meskin, Greg Saunders first appeared in Action Comics #42 (November 1941). He appeared in every issue of Action Comics until #198 (Nov 1954).^[1]

Fictional character biography[]

The original Vigilante was a western-themed hero who debuted in Action Comics #42 (Nov. 1941): originally named Greg Sanders, the spelling was changed to Greg Saunders in the 1990s. Grandson of a Native American fighter, and the son of a sheriff in Wyoming, Saunders, as a young man, moved east to New York City and became a country singer, radio's "Prairie Troubadour". Greg returned to his home after his father was killed, bringing to justice the gang of bandits who killed him.^[2]

The Vigilante, like many heroes of the era, acquired a sidekick to aid him in his crime fighting. Stuff the Chinatown Kid was introduced in Action Comics #45. He assisted the Vigilante when a Japanese spy known as the Head framed Stuff's grandfather for provoking a Tong war.

The majority of the Vigilante's solo adventures were against non-powered, costumed criminals. He was an excellent brawler, trick shooter, sharpshooter, horseman and motorcycle rider, and an expert with the lariat. These skills gave him advantage over his adversaries in his adventures, which centered primarily in New York City.

The Vigilante fought few foes that could be considered real "super-villains". His arch-foes were the Dummy, a brilliant weapons inventor and professional killer who resembled a ventriloquist's dummy in both size and facial features, and the Rainbow Man, who committed crimes with a color motif.^[3] The Vigilante also encountered the Rattler on several occasions, as well as the Fiddler and the Shade, though the latter two villains are not the same foes that battled the Flash. Other foes included Shakes the Underworld Poet and the Dictionary, a gangster with a heightened vocabulary.^[4]

The Vigilante was also a member of the Seven Soldiers of Victory (also known as the Law's Legionnaires), one of the earliest super-hero teams (appearing in Leading Comics). In these adventures, his sidekick Stuff never appeared, being replaced by an old, somewhat crotchety man named Billy Gunn. The Vigilante was also one of the few super-hero features to survive the end of the "Golden Age" of super-hero comics, lasting as a solo feature until Action Comics #198 (1954), when he was permanently replaced by Tommy Tomorrow.

The Vigilante was revived in the seventies in the pages of Justice League of America, when the Seven Soldiers of Victory were brought back into active continuity. Like Green Arrow, his Earth-2 counterpart was a lost member of the Seven Soldiers, but he did not participate in the JLA/JSA quest to rescue them. All the members were hurled through time after defeating Nebula Man (except for Wing who was killed). The Silver Age Green Arrow, Black Canary and Johnny Thunder and Thunderbolt saved the Vigilante from a tribe of Native Americans in the Old West who felt that eventually the white men would take over their land. The Earth-1 Vigilante's contact with the League was limited to a two-part story where he aided the JLA against aliens determined to over-pollute the Earth. He remarks in his first appearance in Adventure Comics that the League did help him re-establish his career, even providing him with a new motorcycle. He later teams up with, and saves the life of Superman (his marksmanship allowed him to shoot a silver bullet at the shadow of a werewolf who, being a magical creature, was about to kill the Man of Steel).^[5] He also received a periodic feature in the pages of Adventure Comics, drawn by both Mike Sekowsky and Gray Morrow, and also in World's Finest Comics.

The short-lived series in World's Finest culminated in the Vigilante coming to Gotham City to meet his old partner Stuff, only to find his friend murdered by his old enemy, the Dummy. At the end of this series, The Vigilante rode off with Stuff's son (who had been trained by Richard Dragon).^[6]

Vigilante continued to sporadically appear as a superhero in DC Comics, having been established as running a dude ranch in Mesa City (the former home of Western hero Johnny Thunder).

Seven Soldiers[]

In Grant Morrison's Seven Soldiers #0, the Vigilante establishes a new Seven Soldiers of Victory to battle the monstrous spider of Miracle Mesa. He is apparently killed alongside the rest of the team,^[7] only to re-appear as a ghost in Bulleteer #3 (also part of the Seven Soldiers series). He attempts to recruit a new team of seven to further battle the threat of the Sheeda. He claims Bulleteer's actions will allow him to 'rest'.

Return[]

In Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen Greg Saunders appears, alive, as the sheriff of Warpath, a town on the Mexican border formerly known for supervillain activity. Olsen's narration notes that Saunders has been dead and came back to life, but does not go into detail. Olsen also notes that Saunders appears younger, though he clearly retains all of his past experience. Saunders and a mysterious version of the hero known as the Guardian beat back a villainous invasion from Mexico.^[8]

The New 52[]

In 2011, "The New 52" rebooted the DC Universe. Vigilante was renamed to Greg Sanders and operated in Opal City during the mid-20th Century. Shade contacted him to help rescue his great-grandson Darnell Caldecotte from Nazi spies. Once that was done, Shade upheld his deal with Vigilante by giving him the intel on the local gangs and they parted ways.^[9]

Powers and abilities[]

The Vigilante is a superb hand-to-hand combatant, a brilliant marksman, and a master of the lariat.

Enemies[]

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Vigilante had his own rogues gallery:

• Dummy - A skilled inventor who poses as a ventriloquist's dummy. He made his debut in Leading Comics #1 being among the criminals responsible for the origin of the Seven Soldiers of Victory.^[10] He then took on Vigilante in two stories in Action Comics,^[11][12] took on the entire Seven Soldiers of Victory as the main villain in Leading Comics #8,^[13] and then took on Vigilante in four more issues of Action Comics.^{[14][15][16][17]} In one of these issues, he had the Lash working for him.^[18]
• Fiddler - Benjamin Bowe is a man who uses trick violins that either shot poison arrows, sprayed acid, or was loaded with TNT. He fought Vigilante in seven issues of Action Comics.^{[19][20][21][22][23][24][25]}
  • Droop, Sailor, and Sport - A trio of henchmen working for the Fiddler. Droop was a short criminal, Sailor dressed in sailor clothes and always spoke in nautical terms, and Sport always dressed in fancy sporting clothes. They worked for the Fiddler in all the Fiddler's stories,^{[26][27][28][29][30][31]} except for Fiddler's last story, where he was instead assisted by Dictionary and Shakes.^[32]
• Head - An Asian-American criminal who poses as a spirit to other criminals.^[33]
• Killer Kelly - Vigilante's first opponent who faked his execution by electric chair.^[34]
• King - The leader of a gang who was after the gold that was found in Avalanche Junction, Wyoming.^[35]
• Lash - A whip-wielding criminal in a wheelchair, but at the end of his first story he revealed the wheelchair "was only a trick to fool the cops".^[36] Later, the Dummy hired a shadowy, whip-wielding criminal named the Lash, who may or may not have been the same character, to assist him while the Dummy was falsely pretending to go straight.^[37]
• Mr. Mungo - A criminal who caused accidents at the winter festival.^[38]
• Rainbow Man - A rainbow-themed criminal, he fought Vigilante' in 12 issues of Action Comics.^{[39][40][41][42][43][44][45][46][47][48][49][50]}
  • Dictionary - Always a henchman who used big words in his speech. He worked for Rainbow Man along with Shakes in 4 issues of Action Comics,^{[51][52][53][54]} worked for Rainbow Man without Shakes in 4 issues of Action Comics,^{[55][56][57][58]} and worked for the Fiddler in one story along with Shakes ^[59]
  • Shakes - His name short for "Shakespeare", a criminal who would rhyme all the time. In his debut story, he worked for the Lash.^[60] He then worked for Rainbow Man along with Dictionary in two stories.^[61][62] He then took on Vigilante as the sole main villain of his own story.^[63] He then worked for Rainbow Man along with Dictionary,^[64] once again took on Vigilante as the sole main villain of his own story,^[65] worked for the Fiddler along with Dictionary,^[66] again worked for Rainbow Man along with Dictionary,^[67] and finally took on Vigilante as the sole main villain of his own story.^[68]
• Scorpion - A criminal who specializes in robbing charity events.^[69]
• Shade - Keyhole Carter is a radio announcer who also works as a criminal mastermind. He fought Vigilante twice.^[70][71]

Other versions[]

Multiverse[]

Pre-Crisis, there were both an Earth-1 and an Earth-2 Vigilante. Both were Greg Saunders from their respective Earths. Earth-1's Vigilante was shown for the first time in the pages (and cover) of the JLA issue where the superteam moved to their classic headquarters on an orbiting satellite.^[72]

In other media[]

Television[]

Greg Saunders / Vigilante in Justice League Unlimited.

• Vigilante appears in the Justice League Unlimited animated series, voiced by an uncredited Michael Rosenbaum in the episode "Task Force X" and Nathan Fillion in the episodes "Hunter's Moon" and "Patriot Act". This version is a member of the Justice League. Like his comic book counterpart, he is usually paired with his close friend Shining Knight despite their differing attitudes. In the episode "Task Force X", Vigilante assists Shining Knight and Atom Smasher in an attempt to prevent the titular group from stealing the Annihilator automaton. In "Hunter's Moon", Vigilante is selected to accompany Hawkgirl and Vixen to answer a distress signal, only to fall into a Thanagarian trap. In the episode "Patriot Act", Vigilante joins several non-powered Leaguers in fighting a mutated General Wade Eiling.
• Vigilante appears in the Batman: The Brave and the Bold animated series teaser for the episode "Night of the Batmen!", voiced by John DiMaggio.

Film[]

• In 1947, Columbia Pictures released a 15-chapter serial based on the original version of Greg Saunders called The Vigilante, starring Ralph Byrd in the title role. This version of the Vigilante is a masked government agent who works undercover as a playboy actor starring in Westerns tasked with investigating rare blood red pearls that disappeared from a foreign country and were possibly smuggled into America. This serial makes Vigilante one of the first DC Comics characters to be adapted into live-action film, along with Congo Bill, the same year. Batman was adapted into a serial in 1943 and Hop Harrigan in 1946, while Superman was not made until 1948. The Fawcett Comics characters Captain Marvel and Spy Smasher, which were later bought by DC, had serials in 1941 and 1942 respectively.
• Vigilante makes a brief cameo appearance in the animated film Justice League: The New Frontier.

References[]

External links[]

• Vigilante (Greg Saunders) at the DCU Guide
• Vigilante (Greg Saunders) at the Comic Book DB (archived from the original)
• Comic Book Profile: Vigilante (Greg Saunders)
• Comic Book Profile: Earth-1 Vigilante (Greg Saunders)^{[permanent dead link]}
• Earth-2 Vigilante (Greg Saunders) Index