ButterFly...Against the Brothers of the Crimson Cross Part 2

Read the earlier ButterFly story HERE!

Art by Rich Buckler. Perhaps a rough for a splash-page or cover for a color comic reprint of the two Butterfly stories together. It was used as the cover for the fanzine "Fan Informer" in 1971.

When Last We Left Our Heroine...

After her performance was interrupted by an assassination attempt on a politician in the audience, singer Marion Michaels donned the garb of The Butterfly to try to capture the gunman.
However, the Senator's bodyguard manages to shoot the killer before he can fire again.
A small device on the dead man's belt detaches and flies off with Butterfly in pursuit.
She follows it to a warehouse and is captured by the Brothers of the Crimson Cross, a group of racists who intend to brainwash the helpless heroine and use her to provoke a race war...

 Issue #3 of Hell-Rider never came out.
A cover by Gray Morrow was shown in the back of some of the other Skywald magazines, promoting a "full length" tale (which was probably like issue #1's "linked" individual stories of Hell-Rider, ButterFly and The Wild Bunch).

Now, as to the "Secrets Behind the Strip" we advertised yesterday...
Rich Buckler, who drew this strip told the collector who bought the original art shown at the top of this entry...

It was Butterfly, a character I drew for them (but didn't create)--and I had given her a makeover (made her and supporting players more black).
I also wrote the story (but not the final script) that dealt with the KKK and corrupt politicians.
This was, I believe, the first black super-heroine in the comics, and I thought I was doing something important for them.
I got flack for this and Bill Everett was hired to touch up many of the faces (to make them look more white--go figure), and I quit when I saw the final result.

There's more, and I suggest you go to this entry of the blog 20th Century Danny Boy, where it originally appeared, to read it.

Thanks for joining us as we presented the never-reprinted Silver Age stories of Lobo (The FIRST Black comic character with his own book) and Butterfly (The FIRST Black SuperHeroine)!

We'll be doing more online complete story re-presentations of this type, so bookmark us or you'll be left out of the fun!

And don't forget...

to check out the  

Butterfly Comics Collectibles Store!

or

Lobo's Comics Collectibles Store

ButterFly...Against the Brothers of the Crimson Cross Part 1

Read the earlier ButterFly story HERE!

The FIRST Black SuperHeroine returns to battle a racist organization in a solo story from Hell-Rider #2. 

(Note: the first two pages are actually a two-page spread.)

Plot and art by Rich Buckler.

Script by ButterFly co-creator Gary Friedrich.

I know it's a helluva place to say it, but...

Tune In Tomorrow for the pulse-pounding conclusion!
PLUS: Secrets Behind the Strip!

And don't forget to check out the  

Butterfly Comics Collectibles Store!

Butterfly...the FIRST Black SuperHeroine's Premiere! Part 3

Read the previous parts of the story HERE!

You may wonder, True Believer, why you're seeing the cover for Hell-Rider #1 in this blog entry about the FIRST Black superheroine, Butterfly!

If you remember, in our last exciting entry, we promised to explain...

• Who is The Claw?
• Why does he have a footwear fetish?
• Who is Brick Reese?
• Who are The Wild Bunch?
• And what ties all of them, and Marion Michaels, together?

Hell-Rider #1 tells a single story thru four chapters, one each with Hell-Rider, Butterfly, The Wild Bunch, and a final chapter combining all the plot threads and characters...

 We'll do it chronologically...

 Who is The Claw, and why does he have a footwear fetish?

Drug dealer and costumed super-villain!

After discovering recovering addict (and former Claw client) Julie Storm sent the boots lined with heroin to Marian Michaels, The Claw takes Julie captive.

(This leads directly into the first part of The Butterfly story.)

Who is Brick Reese and who are The Wild Bunch?

You'll note the first caption above: "I followed them up the stairs..."

Who's the "I"?

Brick Reese!

A Harvard law school grad who wanted to "find himself".

He did the Easy Rider gig, and ran into The Wild Bunch in a bar, winning their respect by kicking their collective asses...

But, once out of college, he was eligible to be drafted into the Army.

Wounded in Viet-Nam, he was used as a guinea-pig in a Super-Solider formula experiment, which helped his wounds heal.

Honorably discharged, he settled into a law practice and met Julie Storm.

While attending a party at her "pad", Brick saw The Claw kidnap Julie (see above).

He tailed them to their hideout, was knocked unconscious, and left with a note warning him not to interfere or Julie would die.

Realizing that suing them wouldn't do any good, Brick decides to take a more direct route...

His first outing as Hell-Rider turned bad when the Super-Soldier serum petered out and he was captured by The Claw.

Meanwhile, The Butterfly encountered the Claw, recovered the boots, and ran into The Wild Bunch.

She entrusted them with delivery of the boots to her lawyer, Brick Reese. (See how it all ties together?)

While enroute to Brick's, the Bunch run into The Claw...

The Claw captures most of the Bunch, but one, Slink, gets away with the boots.

Meanwhile...

Getting Julie to a hospital, Hell-Rider heads for Marion (Butterfly) Michael's pad, where Wild Bunch member Slink appears...

BTW, Marion's thought balloon that she "knew him" doesn't make sense. Hell-Rider doesn't appear in her story, unless a story page was left out of the printed book.
And, The Wild Bunch manage to escape on their own and show up at Marion's, too late for the fight.

So, while Marion appears in the finale, it's not in costume as Butterfly.
And, if you look at the cover at the head of this post, she's one of the two bikini-clad girls in the background (along with her roommate).

The second issue of Hell-Rider also features The Butterfly in a stand-alone story, not tied-in to the other tales in the issue.
We'll be presenting that one next week.

Trivia note: Gary Friedrich, who wrote all four stories in the issue, also co-created (with Mike Ploog) Marvel's flaming-skull-headed biker, Ghost Rider!

And don't forget to check out the  

Butterfly Comics Collectibles Store!

Butterfly...the FIRST Black SuperHeroine's Premiere! Part 2

Read the previous part of the story HERE!

Las Vegas cabaret singer Marian Michaels receives a note demanding she leave a pair of go-go boots she had received from a friend in her dressing room while she's on stage.
Instead, she wears them during her performance, which receives a rousing ovation.
Returning to her dressing room she's confronted by The Claw and his pack of Cats, who demand the boots.
Marian manages to duck into an adjoining room, change into The Butterfly, confront the criminals, and escape, deliberately leaving the boots behind.
Grabbing the footwear, the bad guys get in their car, unaware of the heroine following them overhead...

It may be the "end of The Butterfly chapter", but it's not the end of the story!

Who is The Claw?

Why does he have a footwear fetish?

Who is Brick Reese?

Who are The Wild Bunch?

And what ties all of them, and Marion Michaels, together?

For that, you'll have to come back tomorrow, when all will be made clear!

And don't forget to check out the  
Butterfly Comics Collectibles Store!

Butterfly...the FIRST Black SuperHeroine's Premiere!

Butterfly debuted as a back-up feature in the b/w comic magazine Hell-Rider #1, August, 1971.
She predated Marvel's Storm by four years and DC's BumbleBee by five years.

Secretly Las Vegas cabaret singer Marian Michaels, the flying femme's origin and crime-fighting motivations were never revealed.

Butterfly wore a somewhat-skimpy winged costume (note: there are no color pics of the character) with an anti-gravity device/mini-jet for propulsion, and high-intensity strobe lights to blind her foes.
Whether she created the costume and equipment herself or was given them is another mystery.
She's also a trained hand-to-hand combatant.

This premiere story was written by Gary Friedrich, pencils by Ross Andru, inks by Jack Abel and Mike Esposito.

Enjoy...

Tomorrow: Enter...the Wild Bunch!