Adrian Chase on the run, or how is this still being published?
5. Vigilante #41 by Paul Kupperberg and Tod Smith
Vigilante was an odd book at DC. It debuted as a spinoff to New Teen Titans, taking an ally turned villain and giving him his own book. (It would still be a few more years before they did the opposite, turning a villain into an ally and giving Deathstroke his own series.) Creator Marv Wolfman dropped off the book a year in. Outside a two-issue arc written by Alan Moore, Paul Kupperberg became the key creative behind DC’s answer to Bernie Goetz. And then it just kept going.
Adrian Chase and Vigilante might be names known to fans today because of appearances by versions of the character in other media. They actually appeared as separate characters on Arrow, while a completely reimagined version is a regular on Peacemaker. The connection between those two characters dates back to this era of the book but has little else in common with it.
This issue starts with Adrian at a low place. The two men that replaced him after he retired as Vigilante are both dead. His identity has been exposed. His lover is insane. He’s on the run. A gang boss sends a small army out to find him, which leads to an extended chase and gunfight through these pages. He ends up tracking the crime boss back to his offices in the *ahem*…
