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About Whatever Happened to the Crimson Justice? #1
Writer: Frank Tieri
Artist: Inaki Miranda
Colorist: Eva De La Cruz
Letterer: Dave Sharpe
Publisher: Mad Cave Studios
Genre: Dark Thriller/Horror/Superhero
Release date: May 21st, 2025
Synopsis: There was a time when the Red Alert shone in the sky, and Empire City's greatest hero, the Crimson Justice, would answer the call. But now it's been years and neither he--nor his sidekick Reddy nor their psychotic arch foe, Dr Mayhem--have been seen since the Great Empire City Hospital Fire decades ago. What happened that fateful night? Did they all die? But if that's the case, who or what is this Dr Mayhem who's reappeared in the modern day, brutally murdering Commissioner Thomas Kent and challenging the Justice to return? Is that possible? Does the Crimson Justice still live? And if so, what could have made him disappear and abandon his crimson hood in the first place?
Whatever Happened to the Crimson Justice? #1 Review
There's been a number of superhero properties over the last ten years that have yearned to deconstruct the superhero experience. From the superhero deconstructivism of Peter Canon's Thunderbolt to the minimalist period-piece in Ahoy Comics's The Wrong Earth and finally Adi Shankar's The Guardians of Justice which melded cartoon and live action intensity.
Whatever Happened to the Crimson Justice? is Mad Cave Studios attempt at exploring the darker vein of superhero characters, tapping into the tropes of vigilantism and exploring a blue-collar level story which appeals to the absolute ground-level aesthetic of a working class retired superhero who lost everything.
Series writer Frank Tieri introduces us to an intensely violent tale when Commissioner Burke is ambushed at the Crimson Justice signal (think Bat Signal but a lot more red) by Dr Mayhem. A scene which pulls no punches and leaves the commissioner with his throat slit, struggling on the ground, and blood pouring out from its gaping wound.
As Dr Mayhem leaves him to die, the scene segways into the daytime, presumably the next day, where John and Willie are talking about the old days of when they'd constantly hear about superheroes and vigilantes in the news. Well, Willie talks and John is forced to listen. Through this narrative, we learn of the other supers who used to run around Empire City: Miss Conduct, Scarlet Girl, Black Knight and Urban Avenger.
Willie laments how he always used to have a crush on Scarlet Girl, leading to a scene in a car outside John's diner where Scarlet Girl (citizen name: Sally) is giving her new boyfriend and criminal lowlife, Frankie, a handjob while talking dirty by calling him a criminal low life piece of shit. Hope he cleans up between panels. As they head into John’s diner along with his men, the assumption is that Sally is somehow trapped in this relationship and that Frankie is aware of her past life as Scarlett Girl.
I have a lot of empathy here, considering Inaki Miranda’s portrayal of Sally, makes her look like a physically abused and mentally scarred junkie. One that John picks up on, hinting his awareness of her true identity, while to Willie she’s just another lost cause dating another lowlife.
Lots of hints lead to the eventual reveal of John’s secret identity on his way home to the mysterious letter from a now dead Commissioner Burke. Enraging the devil inside him when he reads about the return of Dr Mayhem. Leading to an epically charged and vigilante coded montage of John becoming the Crimson Justice once more.
All in all, not a bad introduction to the world of the Crimson Justice. Frank Tieri is geared up for a morally ambiguous exploration of the superhero genre. Furiously dark and rightfully vengeful whilst flirting with horror. Let’s hope that dark tone continues throughout the rest of the series. We don’t need another run at a morally superior Batman cover song here. Time will tell.
My Kind Of Weird Score:
8/10.
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