Vague memories of a Vigilante comic book in the 80s. Didn't Alan Moore write that?

Simon | September 10, 16:47 CET

Yeah, the 80s Vigilante was basically DC's answer to the Punisher, except he was a lawyer by day, vigilante by night! Alan Moore did write a couple of issues of that comic.

There was another Vigilante from the 40s, but I don't think this is the one Nathan Fillion will be playing.

areacode212 | September 10, 18:41 CET

"Yeah, the 80s Vigilante was basically DC's answer to the Punisher, except he was a lawyer by day, vigilante by night! Alan Moore did write a couple of issues of that comic."

So basically a not so subtle mixture of Daredevil and the Punisher then. Didn't also happen to be blind and wear a skull on his chest did he? ;)

The Watcher | September 10, 18:59 CET

Amy Acker mentioned at the recent Metro signing that the producers of the show are *huge* Joss Whedon fans, so it figures that they'd hire actors from his shows. :)

Oddjob | September 10, 21:21 CET

The Vigilante they're using on the JLU cartoon is the cowboy version from the 1940s, although I think they'll ignore the WWII-era stuff and just make him a modern-day Western-themed hero.

Trust me, after Firefly this is right up Nathan's alley.

DarqueGuy | September 11, 02:18 CET

When and on what channel does this air??

zencat | September 11, 18:10 CET

Actually, I think he'd still be the cowboy back in cowboy days. Ben Browder of Farscape is also voicing one of DC'c cowboy character, Bat Lash (I can't imagine why DC would give any non-Batman characters a name that starts with 'Bat'), in the second to last episode of the season.

Typhon24 | September 12, 01:15 CET

The 80s Vigilante was actually devised originally by Marv Wolfman. The comic book was a direct spin off from the New Teen Titans comic series. However, Wolfman quickly found he couldn't pen that and all the other things he was writing, so it left his hands and fell into that of others, including Alan Moore, before it was finally put out of its misery. It never was all that good. Basically an intellectual attempt at finding a modern rationale for vigilante justice, but it just never washed. It was trying to be gritty and realistic but ultimately became more soap opera-like and cowardly. Too tame to be The Punisher and too slick to be Daredevil. It wallowed in oblique vagueness. The "Thriller" maxi-series of the same time was much better, but had nothing to do with Michael Jackson, in case you were wondering.

The 50s version of Vigilante was less creative, but more effective. A gunslinger fighting crooks and cops alike and generally being misunderstood. Nathan Fillion voicing a guy in tight jeans and a swagger? We're not worried about typecasting are we?

ZachsMind | September 12, 01:28 CET

Just in case anyone's curious, the character Nathan's playing appeared and was mentioned by name (although, obviously, he didn't have any lines at this time) in Saturday's JLU episode. It airs again Sunday at I believe 5:30 (I'd double-check to be certain).

DarqueGuy | September 12, 16:04 CET