OriginsThe small child who was to become the Red Raven was riding with his parents aboard one of the first airplanes to cross the Atlantic Ocean when the plane entered a dense fog bank and struck the island of the Bird-People which was concealed within. The Bird-People were originally Inhumans who had seceded from their race's city of Attilan. The Bird-People instead lived in a city built atop an "island," which, due to powerful anti-gravity drives, floated high above the Earth's surface. Whereas most Inhumans have different powers than the others, all of the Bird-People resembled ordinary humans, except for their large, feathered wings, which made them capable of flight. The child who was to become the Red Raven was the only human to survive the plane crash, and the Bird-People, who are also known as the Winged Ones, decided to raise him as one of their own.
The Bird-People named the child Red Raven because of his flaming red hair, and, as he grew older, gave him a costume that would enable him to fly. The costume contained miniature anti-gravity mechanisms and included large artificial wings which would help him steer himself and negotiate air currents while in flight.
On becoming an adult, the Red Raven decided to explore the world of the human race in the 1940's. His first activity among regular humans was stopping the machinations of gold thieves that were causing a second great depression.
In 1942, when the Invaders were captured and brainwashed by the Red Skull, Bucky gathered the Red Raven and other heroes, forming the group known as the Liberty Legion. When the Red Skull unleashed members of the Invaders to destroy American national landmarks, the Red Raven teamed with the Whizzer to prevent the Human Torch and Toro from destroying the Lincoln Memorial. Although the Torch escaped, the pair managed to capture Toro, which ended up being their key to victory. Red Raven and the other members of the Liberty Legion battled the brainwashed Invaders at Yankees Stadium until Bucky, with the aid of Toro and Fred Davis Jr. managed to destroy the Red Skull's mind control device. With the Invaders free from the Red Skull's control and their return to Europe, the Liberty Legion decided to remain together and battle crime on the home front.
Red Raven and the Liberty Legion defended New York City from an air raid led by Sky Shark, meeting the time displaced Thing who was in the past trying to recover a lost canister of Vibranium. Red Raven and the others were called off to try and prevent other Axis agents from stealing new experimental equipment from secret government labs, but failed. The group learned that these were all being used to complete Brain Drain's Swastika-shaped battle ship and assisted the Thing in destroying it and recovering the Vibranium.
Red Raven and the other members of the Liberty Legion attempted to prevent armored Nazi operative Iron Cross from capturing Professor Schultz, but were captured in the process. The group was taken prisoner aboard a Nazi U-Boat and were rescued by the Invaders. Together the two teams prevented Iron Cross from escaping with Professor Schultz.
In December 1943, the Red Raven was among a number of heroes who were slain by the Cosmic Cube wielding Red Skull and impaled on a massive wall. The Cube, however, was recovered by Private Paul Anslen who resurrected all the slain heroes who then aided the combined efforts of the Invaders and the time displaced New Avengers and Mighty Avengers. When the Skull was defeated, the heroes used the Cube to wipe out the Red Raven's memories of the event to preserve history.
In April 1945 following a battle with the Lava Men, the Liberty Legion decided to disband as there now little threat of Axis spies in North America. Red Raven migrated to Europe where he joined with the United States military in fighting the Nazis there. On April 25 of that year he was one of many super-heroes involved in an invasion of Berlin.
Unfortunately, what the Red Raven saw of mankind's inhumanity towards others during the war years eventually embittered him towards the human race, and he returned to the island of the Bird-People.
There he discovered that the Bird-People, who believed the ordinary humans to be their inferiors, intendeded to conquer the human race while it was still wearied from the tumult of World War Two. The Red Raven argued in vain with the ruler of the Bird-People that the humans still vastly outnumbered them and would wipe the winged race out if they went to war. To save the Bird-People's lives, the Red Raven released a gas which placed all of them in suspended animation. He then put the Bird-People in special individual capsules designed to keep them alive, and sank the island beneath the Atlantic Ocean. He put himself into suspended animation in a capsule, too, after setting a device that would return the island to the ocean surface years later and awaken him.
The island rose again on schedule, and was discovered by the mutant Angel. After fighting the Angel, the awakened Red Raven again sank the island and returned to suspended animation. But some months later, an undersea earthquake tore his own capsule loose. It floated to the ocean surface, and the Red Raven regained consciousness, but was unable to move. He was revived by his former ally, Namor the Sub-Mariner. The suspended animation methods the Red Raven had used, however, had adversely affected his sanity; the Red Raven now intended to revive the rest of the Bird-People, destroy humanity, and take over the Earth. But when the Red Raven tried to awaken the Bird-People, he discovered that the suspended animation capsules had malfunctioned, and that the entire race had died. Totally insane now from anguish, the Red Raven lashed out at a main control panel with his metal wings without realizing what he was doing. A fire erupted and the island of the Bird-People was obliterated by a tremendous explosion, seemingly killing the Red Raven.
Red Raven eventually reappeared alive, however, and revealed that he'd faked his own death, that of the Bird People, and the sinking of the island. The Defenders were later brought to the Red Raven's sky-island and clashed with the Raven. He also encountered The Order on his island.
During Thanos' invasion on Earth, the Inhuman king Black Bolt activated a Terrigen Bomb to protect his people, which unleased a giant cloud of Terrigen Mist that scattered across the world. The Terrigen cloud reached Aerie and had a horrible effect on the Bird-People, causing them to either die or suffer from uncontrollable Terrigenesis that turned them into monsters. Due to his nature, Red Raven wasn't affected, and swore to have revenge on the Inhumans.
He arrived with Aerie to Manhattan, with the objective to destroy New Attilan, the home of the Inhumans. Spider-Man and New Attilan's Inhumans faced him. With the help of the new Captain America, Spider-Man and the Inhumans confronted the Red Raven, and ultimately were able to convince him to stop his plan.
Red Raven was hospitalized for the injuries he sustained in battle against the heroes, under the direct care of Queen Medusa, who promised him to try to find a way to stabilize the Bird-People's condition and make Black Bolt pay for what he did. He was visited by Steve Rogers, the original Captain America, and he expressed regret over his actions. Rogers told him that in the end, he decided to do the right thing and was still a hero. Raven asked Cap if he was worried about the world they left behind, but he replied that it was in good hands.
|Power Grid |
Normal human male with regular exercise.
Red Raven was infected with a variant strain of a pathogen that creates Zombies, having turned him into an undead corpse. Red Raven was then driven by an insatiable hunger for human flesh. Those who were bit by him, but not killed would also become infected and eventually turn into a zombie as well. As a zombie Red Raven's body was frail but the only way to stop him was to destroy his brain, effectively killing him again.
Red Raven wears artificial wings which enable him to fly. Occasionally he wears body armor.
- 47 Appearances of Red Raven (Liberty Legion) (Earth-616)
- Media Red Raven (Liberty Legion) (Earth-616) was Mentioned in
- 8 Images featuring Red Raven (Liberty Legion) (Earth-616)
- Quotations by or about Red Raven (Liberty Legion) (Earth-616)
- Character Gallery: Red Raven (Liberty Legion) (Earth-616)
- Fan-Art Gallery: Red Raven (Liberty Legion) (Earth-616)
- Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe, Golden Age 2004
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- ↑ Thor Annual #12
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Red Raven Comics #1
- ↑ Invaders #5
- ↑ Marvel Premiere #29
- ↑ Invaders #6
- ↑ Marvel Premiere #30
- ↑ Marvel Two-In-One Annual #1
- ↑ Marvel Two-In-One #20
- ↑ Invaders #35
- ↑ Invaders #36
- ↑ Invaders #37
- ↑ Avengers / Invaders #10
- ↑ Avengers / Invaders #12
- ↑ Captain America: Patriot #1
- ↑ Twelve: Spearhead #1
- ↑ Twelve #1
- ↑ X-Men #44
- ↑ Sub-Mariner #26
- ↑ Inhuman Special #1
- ↑ Amazing Spider-Man Special #1
- ↑ All-New Captain America Special #1
- ↑ Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z hardcover Vol. 9
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