The Crimson Avenger (Lee Walter Travis) is a superhero published by DC Comics. He first appeared in Detective Comics #20 (October 1938). He is the first superhero and costume hero published in Detective Comics. He preceded Batman, and appeared in the same year after Action Comics #1 debuted characters like Superman, which led to the Golden Age of Comic Books. He is sometimes depicted as one of the first masked heroes within the fictional DC Universe. He is also known as a founding member of DC's second depicted superhero team, Seven Soldiers of Victory. After his death, his legacy name lives on other characters. Publication history The Crimson Avenger (along with his sidekick Wing) first appeared in the DC Comics anthology American comic book series Detective Comics in issue #20. The Crimson Avenger had many similarities to The Green Hornet, including a sidekick named Wing who was an Asian valet, and a gas gun that he used to subdue opponents. In his early appearances he dressed in a red trenchcoat, a fedora, with a red mask covering his face; except for the red, he was visually similar to The Shadow. Later, when superheroes became more popular than costumed vigilantes, his costume was changed to a more standard superhero outfit, consisting of red tights, yellow boots, trunks and crest, and a "sun" symbol which was revealed in 2003 to be a stylized bullet hole. The character continued appearing in Detective Comics until issue #89 (July 1944). According to Jess Nevins' Encyclopedia of Golden Age Superheroes, "most of his opponents are ordinary, but there is the Boss and his zombies, the occasional mad scientist, and some name villains like Echo, Methuselah, and the crime genius the Brain". In 1941, the Crimson Avenger joined the Seven Soldiers of Victory, a second superteam styled after the popular Justice Society of America appearing in All-Star Comics. The Seven Soldiers debuted in Leading Comics #1 (December 1941), and continued until #14 (March 1945). Fictional character biography Origin Two separate accounts of the Crimson Avenger's origins have been printed which complement each other in some areas, but contradict in others. The first origin story appeared in Secret Origins #5 (August 1986), and was written by Roy Thomas, with art by Gene Colan. Taking place in late October 1938, it depicts Lee Walter Travis, the young publisher of the Globe-Leader, a paper devoted to progressive causes. At a