Chris Taylor
From RHJunior Comics Wiki
"Where are our Mighty Men of Valor? I had demanded that God tell me. And he had answered. Hineni." - Chris 'Crusader' Taylor after his powers awaken.
Chris Taylor was a normal, 21 year old man in the small town of Ceder Springs. His origin story opens to him helping his childhood friend Brittany 'The Brain' Ogelmeyer move into her trailer aka 'The Beast' so she can head to college to study sociology. Afterwards, he is offered a chance to help her with her thesis, a study of Superheros titled 'The Fisher Kings'. During the study, Chris and Brian are exposed the harsh truth about Superheros.
The Fictional Superheros were ether "gormless idiots or appalling jerks" in the children cartoons while the grownup versions were ether 'Morally Compromized' or 'Amoral Anti-Heros' as Chris put it. And the real ones weren't any better. The American Sentinel's replacement bowing to International Law to "regain America's respect from her allies" and claiming France was one of them. Starboy becoming Nytechylde after being gone for a time and now apparently activating his starfire powers though self cutting. The Human Fly unable to keep a stable marriage and living in his grandmother basement. To top it all off, Paladin the Hero of New Athens found his replacement in Grrl Power, a feminist who shows off too much skin and her bellybutton ring.
It leaves Chris and Brittany in shock.
It hit Chris the hardest. He had looked up to the heroes as the light in the darkness of the broken sinful world. But with what he just saw, he was beginning to loose hope. He confided in Brittany but as hard as she tried, she could not ease his heart. In an attempt to ease himself, he spends the next month riding though the hills around the county. On his last ride out, he ponders how the world is. God spared Israel time and time again after they fell into sin, bringing forth heroes to light the way. Now he wondered where the heroes were now. "Where are our Mighty Men of Valor?" he asks God. It began to rain then.
While walking home in the heavy storm, he saw a car stranded with a dead battery on the road. Following the teachings of his father, he attempts to help them out. While explaining what had happened, a truck approaches. But what should be good news turns into tragedy as the truck looses control in the rain and crashes into the car. When Chris regains his senses, he sees the car just about to fall off a cliff. Without a second thought, he jumps on the hood to keep it from falling over and desperately tries to save the mother and child inside. However, the hillside starts to give way and he panics, thinking he was going to watch him die. "God in Heaven, why won't You help us?" He cries out.
In that moment, the car metal became like paper and the car light as cardboard. He lifts the car up and returns it to the road. The mother cries out that the truck that struck them was on fire and he rushes over. He doesn't think. Just acts as he tears the truck door off and pulls the man free from the truth just before it explodes. With the man safe, he suddenly sees that the fire did not burn him. The pieces of engine bounced off of him without leaving a dent.
As he sees the police on their way, he begins to feel a strange panic that takes the young boy to explain. If the police catch him, they will reveal his secret identity. After insuring that everyone would be ok, he escapes. Running or flying to the other side of the valley in a moment, he watched the lights off in the distance. He looses it for a while; yelling, babbling, praying, singing. Finally, he finds one word. HINENI. "Here I am. I hear you. Tell me. Send me."
Chris had demanded of God "Where are our Men of Valor?" God answered: "HINENI".
Thus begins the story of Crusader.
The character first appeared in Ralph's Front Page Gallery with only the description of Crusader.
