Thanks to the 2022 Secret Invasion book we know that some Skrulls work for Maria Hill to protect the Earth, so Crusader might appear working for her down the line

Betrayal is such a sad thing. Zarreg killing his friend actually made me quite sad.

Drake didn't mention it here because it wasn't relevant to the video, but the whole Freedom Ring thing was very controversial at the time. You see, Freedom Ring was Gay, and he was one of the first Marvel superheroes to be openly so. For this reason, while his first appearances were still being published, Joe Quesada (Marvel's editor-in-chief at the time) promoted him as the company's main LGBTQ+ hero. The problem is, Kirkman was planning to write a hero who would die quickly due to lack of experience first, and he never had any bad intentions, but seeing the supposed "flagship Gay character" die unceremoniously was pretty shocking to a lot of people. Years later, Kirkman stated that if he could rewrite Marvel Team-Up he would not have killed Freedom Ring, since at the time he wrote the story he did not realize how few gay characters there were in mainstream comics. .

This is wild because I was literally thinking about this guy just two days ago. I have no idea why but of nowhere I just found myself going "Huh, did they ever resolve that whole thing about Crusader disappearing at the end of that book?"

I'd be curious to see if they bring Zarreg/Crusader into the MCU for the Secret Invasion show they have going on right now on Disney Plus, might be a good way to reintroduce the character before bringing him back in the comics or whatever.

THIS is a character that needs a comeback. Never heard of him before but I loved this story. Hope all the current Skrull hype gets this guy a return!

I had no idea that Crusader teleported away at the end because I haven't read that issue since it came out; hopefully he'll be back someday

Maybe the Nick Fury Tonal thing was an attempt to show his denial turning into anger? Sort of like a bitter acceptance trying to tell himself and the world he made the right choice. Before returning to bargaining when hes questioning himself and is feeling more guilt about the choices surrounding his decision

Holy hell… what a compelling character! This is what I love about comics and this channel, always discovering something new

Thank you Comic Drake for partially covering The Initiative; it’s a great book that doesn’t get talked about nearly enough.

It somewhat reminds me of the "Lost Decade" story, with the Skrull hero Effigy. The original 3D-Man was one of my favorite characters, and Morrison's OG Skrull Kill Krew was pretty good. Thanks, Drake! This was pretty cool.

Tbh the freedom ring story was what got me into comics so this video gives me a weird nostalgic feeling thanks drake for reminding me about this long forgotten story

This is perfect for an "Invincible"-esque animated series adaptation. I'd love to watch a couple of seasons of the Freedom Ring and Zarreg teamup.

I'd absolutely love if this kind of character is shown in the Secret invasion show. A Skrull conflicted with wanting to help Earth. Being here so long inspired by witnessing so many heroes and something like the Avengers forming. Yet still feeling a pride a love for his people and planet, just so against their plans what some stand for now.

the most tragic thing about this is probably that the nature of the skrull invasion would make it impossible for anyone to trust a known skrull, so him coming out would have possible ended worse than just a quick death

Dude, thank you. I recall reading this like a while ago and being quite moved by it and def felt that more ppl need to know about it, and you addressed it with the gravitas and nuance it needed. Such a tragic character and story but hits just right. Kudos to you for shining a light on the obscure greatness out there in comics.

This was so well-written and sad. F for Z'Reg. A true hero.

0:42 was smooth editing

I do like these kind of videos because I think it's needed in the current landscape of readership of comics but in particular the long serialized stories of Marvel and DC. There's just a toss up of what can actually be good and I think the greatness of these two publishers come from the hidden gems in between the big and bombastic stories because it kind of reflects the type of realness in a way that in the thick of a larger story, there are other lifes playing their own role within their own story. Important more so because the content of comics in social media is more about vitriol and summary of facts than actually talking about the interesting stuff within these comics.

Love The inititave so thanks for talking about it, Camp hammond & the 50 state initive is still one of my favourite plot threads and im sad that we didnt get to have a good look at alot of the teams.

Crusader's story from Secret Invasion lives rent free in my mind.

I loved that story line. Not everything about that run worked, but that character definitely did. I didn’t know the Marvel Team Up connection.

You're one of the only you tubers to Acknowledge the Initiative series. Its really one of my favorites! I have every issue along with the specials. never bought the trades because I've never needed to! So happy to see someone else show it love! some it not the best Secret Invasion tie Ins!

I love this channel! Really cool getting these quick dives into cool comic characters

As close to a Mar-Vell heel turn as they will likely ever do for a Skrull.

I always thought that Crusader getting murdered mid catharsis and 3D Man's blaise reaction of ". . . What?" was an apt metaphor for marvel editorial's disdain for new characters Especially Skrulls

Could be interesting if he rewritten reality so he would be the human he dreamed of being

I remember Crusader. Screw Triathlon for what he did to him.

Have you read the whole black hammer saga? I genuinely think that series/univers has some of the most genuinely brilliant comics analysis and deconstruction ever done and a ton of beautiful storytelling obvs, id love to hear ur thoughts on that work some day.

I’m surprised you didn’t point out the similarities between Crusader and Kirkman’s other character Shapesmith. In many ways, they follow similar storybeats and have essentially the same general concept

This guy needs to come back seriously love to see him in the Mcu what a compellingly Awesome story ! ✅

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In the mean marvel universe there was A time of superheroes in the al Capone times

A few years ago I had had read (some of) the back issues for part of this story that I was given. I read most of the parts with 3D Man and Crusader, but I didn't have all of this context and backstory to put it all together. It definitely completely changes how I see Crusader. It'd be pretty cool if they would bring him back and continue his story from where it ended. The character has a LOT of potential that can be exploited without relying on all of the overused tropes. EDIT: ...without what I just learned here I saw him like 3D Man did - I thought Crusader actually was a Skrull spy and therefore the enemy 🙀

I remember reading the comic where Freedom Ring died and the Skrull mentor/sidekick/whatever took off with the ring, but I never read the Avengers Initiative comic series, so I didn't know about the Crusader. Thanks for enlightening me on this character. I now have some back issues to track down!

Basically, he became much like Mar-vell.

Every time there is something to do with training or a mercenary i feel like they just wheel out Taskmaster, it makes sense but it just looks like everyone has bro on speed dial

I loved the Avengers Initiative Series. It's still among one of my all time favourites. Crusader was one of the great characters there. I never knew about the Marvel Team up with Crusader. I'll have to hunt that issue down now. I always wanted a writer to follow up on Crusader for what happened after he disappeared. It's too bad Avengers Initiative isn't talked about since it was full of great new characters that will likely never show up again. I'd definitely buy a book that brought back characters like Cloud 9, Trauma, Ultra girl, Komodo, Hardball and others. At least Slott's FF run brought wrapped up things with Gauntlet and the Tactigon. That was nice to see. Someone needs to follow up on MVP and the device that Slapstick had with his mind in it. That was a great story. Things are pretty rough over at Marvel right now actually. Aside from Daredevil and Captain Marvel (which is now over anyway) there's not much I've enjoyed for a while.

That ending upset me almost as much as your opinion on Red Vines.

love how it started with just "hey neighbour you wanna team up as superheroes"

Hold up now…did Drake just diss Red Vines? The most glorious candy known to man? 😮

Question about the sponser site, will it end up that a chunk of them require personal info?

Honestly I really like that freedom ring guy, sad that he died to fast

Jazinda and Lyja and K'lrt are my favorite Skrull characters. Never knew Zarreg

I feel like I've seen a recent movie with a magic ring found on the street. Luck had something to do with it. A girl had bad luck until she possessed the ring, you know, jelly side down when she dropped her toast.

i'm happy that my boy 3-D Man got a mention! i would love to see a vid on him one day, he's a lesser known character that i'm obsessed with

Dude I love the shit you add in your videos 😂 00:53 wtf you wearing on the TV? 😂 And the strawberry and pickles 🤣 Love the sense of humour SUBSCRIBED

6:00 Speaking of, could you do a breakdown of what the 50 teams were? I have tried looking into it, to little avail. It could even be a short.

That, was surprisingly good

I know for a fact that at one point Johnny Storm married a Skrull and had a kid with her. I don’t know if that’s still canon or not

That was a beautiful ending man. Thank you for showing me this.

I would like if Crusader returns and takes on 3-D Man, especially when he joined AIM. Something like he was put in the Freedom Ring's dimension to heal and see all of his old friends

Captain Vietnam is underrated.

I totally forgot this character from team up, I got to go back and reread that whole run someday (loved how epic it got in the end). Interesting to see where they went with him, I completely skipped the initiative stuff at that time but it seems like it added some interesting depth to secret invasion

Now talk about Marvel's most tragic villain, Guitar Johnny, who appeared in the same run as Crusader over here.

Here's my take on the Crusader: he makes me growl with rage. Remember when Freedom Ring was doing his super-hero thing? At the time, the LGBTQ+ Community (of which I am one) wre having problems with lack of (or bad) representation at Marvel . Editor-In-Chief at the made this huge deal about they placed a gay character, Freedom Ring, front and center in the comic. This was the same month that FR was unceremoniously ( and brutally) taken out, the heterosexual epitome of All That Is Good And True Captain America takes down the bad guy effortlessly, and the skrull not only takes the ring, but promptly enjoys himself in the most "this proves I'm straight, and I ultimately win at the same time," manner, possible. The. Same. Month. Kirkman has, generally, tried to redeem himself since then, and so has Marvel. But, can you blame me for taking one look at the Crusader and throwing him out?

If the MCU was onto something, this would've been a great candidate for the Secret Invasion...

Minus the crack at my favorite licorice, this is another great vid, Drake.

Freedom ring is so good 😭

That ending jeez

I really thought this was gonna be about forgetmenot

He might've created a alternate timeline or something like that

Great vid!!!

Hey Comic Drake! First of all, I’m a huge fan of your videos, so I want to see if you could probably make an in-depth video of how they screwed over Ben Reilly, the Scarlet Spider, and how comics turned him into the Devil. I’m not joking-I really wanna see a video of this, and yes, Ben Reilly did take over Limbo, which is conceptually hell.

This sounds like a great read! Much better than the mess the secret invasion show is trying to tell!

what a great story

Marvel should start writing characters more like this tbh.

When I saw the thumbnail I thought you were referring to Freedom Ring

Crusader sounds really cool!!!

Awesome video, damn good character. Slott was doing his thing back in the day

This is how they should fix mcu Gaia by giving her the freedom ring and making her Crusader!

He looks so badass he needs to return And appear in the Mcu

Stuff like this is why I love your channel!

Freedom Ring, with the Power of limited Unlimited Power! "What's the limitation?" It won't protect you from Dramatic Bullcrap When Dramatic Bullcrap Needs To Happen! From the Creator of Invincible! "... Yeah."

Interesting character. Great vid.

You should make a video on Cardiac

couldnt freedumb ring just manifest a brick inside someone's head?

The Marvel hero that nobody remembers is "Forget Me Not." That's the whole point. Lol

It would be nice to see new stories starring this Skrull hero

Red vines is the worst u earned urself a sub lol

I read the Initiative and really enjoyed Crusader! Although I always kept waiting for him to come back 😅

Was there a particular reason he had to get killed off so uncerimoniously? I mean, i get his death made sense narratively, but surely they could have made it a bigger moment if the character was even vaguely important in the event, right?

That edit in the beginning threw me off did you pronounce it"eyepso eyesay" and dunn the correct pronunciation?? Gold man gold

He talks about comic books and his name is Drake! I miss your uploads

WTF?? JUSTICE FOR CRUSADER!!!! AND I'M BEING SERIOUS!

Amazing video as always bro!

Great vid bro.😺

This whole story is really neat

Man, xenophobia in the marvel universe was heavy in the late 2000s. Especially to the "evil empire" alien races.

It took me a second to get freedom ring = free dumb ring... i love it lol

I think he would look cool with his suit in Avril form

Is that evil Iron Man, Iron Maniac?

7:47

7:59 *gasp* DRAKE'S A SKRULL!!!!! 8:02 Wait, nevermind...

I loved the The Initiative comic, but felt it got bogged down by too many crossover events too close to each other.

Love obscure characters but whenever I see a title like this I always think it’ll be about Forget-me-not. Great video nonetheless.

Hey you should do a video on Hobie Brown in the comics. Would really like people to learn about the og Prowler and Hobie Brown as spider-punk.

What if the Avengers Initiative Retcon was Crusader's attempt to change things or maybe the less honored ending with Skrull honeys feesing him fruit was.... 🤔

i hope he comes back

Wow, someone caught that scam bot rather quick. Awesome job