''Red Menace'' is a

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

six-issue

American comic book An American comic book is a thin periodical literature originating in the United States, commonly between 24 and 64 pages, containing comics. While the form originated in 1933, American comic books first gained popularity after the 1938 publ ...

limited series In the field of comic books, and particularly in the United States, a limited series is a comics series with a predetermined number of issues. A limited series differs from an ongoing series in that the number of issues is finite and determined ...

written by

Danny Bilson Daniel Bilson (born July 26, 1956) is an American writer, director, and producer of movies, television, video games, and comic books. Together with his frequent collaborator, Paul De Meo, he is best known as the writer for the film '' The Rocke ...

, Paul DeMeo and

Adam Brody Adam Jared Brody (born December 15, 1979) is an American actor. His breakout role was as Seth Cohen on the Fox television series '' The O.C.'' (2003–2007). For his performance as Noah in the Netflix romantic comedy series '' Nobody Wants T ...

, illustrated by

Jerry Ordway Jeremiah Joseph Ordway (born November 28, 1957) is an American writer, penciller, inker and painter of comic books. He is known for his inking work on a wide variety of DC Comics titles, including the continuity-redefining ''Crisis on Infinite E ...

and Jonny Rench, and published by

Wildstorm Productions Wildstorm Productions (stylized as WildStorm) is an American comic book imprint. Originally founded as an independent company established by Jim Lee and Brandon Choi to publish through Image Comics, Wildstorm became a publishing imprint of DC ...

. The story is set 1953

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

at the time of

Joseph McCarthy Joseph Raymond McCarthy (November 14, 1908 – May 2, 1957) was an American politician who served as a Republican Party (United States), Republican United States Senate, U.S. Senator from the state of Wisconsin from 1947 until his death at age ...

and the

House Un-American Activities Committee The House Committee on Un-American Activities (HCUA), popularly the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), was an investigative United States Congressional committee, committee of the United States House of Representatives, created in 19 ...

trials.

Plot summary

At one of the House of Un-American Activities Committee trials, a hero named "The Eagle" unmasks himself as World War II veteran Steve Tremaine. The Committee uses his wartime friendship with Ivan "The Bear" Petrovich, a hero to the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

, to brand him a communist and bans him from being the Eagle. By the next day, every newspaper calls him "Red Menace." Despite the government's banning of his

vigilantism Vigilantism () is the act of preventing, investigating, and punishing perceived offenses and crimes without legal authority. A vigilante is a person who practices or partakes in vigilantism, or undertakes public safety and retributive justice ...

, the Eagle continues to sneak out at night and fight crime. He keeps in touch with his old friend Petrovich as well. Unknowingly, Tremaine leads a group of anti-communist extremists to Petrovich's location after they listen in on a conversation between the two. Petrovich is then brutally murdered by the men. Upon hearing the news, Tremaine is driven to a deep depression that leads him to heavy drinking for a period of more than three weeks. At a scuffle with some men at a bar over Tremaine's alleged communist sympathies, Tremaine is introduced to a young superhero called the Gray Falcon who fights crime, inspired by the Eagle's efforts.

Collection

The limited series has been collected into a trade paperback, ''Red Menace'' (144 pages, October 2007, )

References

External links

9 page preview

Comic Book Resources ''CBR'', formerly ''Comic Book Resources'', is a news website primarily covering comic book news, comic book reviews, and comic book–related topics involving movies, television, anime, and video games. It is owned by Valnet, parent of publicat ...

, November 21, 2006
SDCC '06: LOOKS AT BLACKLISTS & RED MENACES

Newsarama ''Newsarama'' is an American website that publishes news, interviews, and essays about the American comic book industry. It is owned by Future US. In June 2020, Newsarama was merged with the website ''GamesRadar+'', also owned by Future US. Hi ...

REFLECTIONS: Talking with "Flash" and "Red Menace's" Bilson & DeMeo

, October 29, 2006

Reviews

Three
at

Comics Bulletin Comics Bulletin is a daily website covering the comic-book industry. History Silver Bullet Comicbooks In January 2000, New Zealand-based publisher/editor Jason Brice founded then named Silver Bullet Comicbooks. During this period, the site ...

Two

Review

2007 comics debuts WildStorm limited series {{DC-comics-stub