Real Name: Lee Taylor
Occupation: freelance journalist, retired police officer
Known relatives: Howard Taylor (father, deceased), Nancy Taylor
(mother)
Base of Operations: Detroit
Marital Status: Single
Height: 6'1"
Weight: 176 lbs
Eyes: Green
Hair: Black
HISTORY
Son of a career police officer, Lee Taylor was probably destined to
follow a
similar path. From his earliest years, Lee was intimately familiar
with the
workings of the Detroit police force and the city's growing crime
problem.
Like his father Lee believed that strong measures were the only things
that
really deterred crime and his idea of justice was harsh even then.
None the less, Taylor did not originally plan to join the police force.
His
father for one was strongly against it, knowing the trials of his work
and
wishing something better for Lee. So instead Taylor worked his way
through
a college program, majoring in journalism and toying with the idea of
becoming a full time writer. It was then that tragedy struck. His
father,
a respected officer of over thirty years service, was killed in the
line of
duty under questionable circumstances. No one was arrested or even
suspected in the crime. Investigation by the department seemed lax at
best.
It was here that Taylor dropped his studies and applied for the Detroit
PD
department. Accepted, he entered Police Academy shortly after, and
finished
at the top of his class. Lee proved an exceptional officer if not one
particularly agreeable to his fellow officers. Personally he was
appalled
by the levels of corruption that existed on the force and the longer he
looked into his fathers the case, the more he began to feel it may have
played a part.
Eventually he found the answer. His father had broken in upon a drug
ring
that included not only prominent members of the force but the acting
police
chief at the time, now retired. Determined to bring it to light,
Taylor
found that the current chief viewed this less than favorably. Many of
the
suspected culprits he was trying to indict were top brass and prominent
officials. It was best to let it go. Lee of course did not agree.
The
further he pursued it though, the more hostile his opposition became.
Finally, two attempts on his life and a trumped up charge of possession
later, Lee realized he could not find the justice he sought here.
Disillusioned and under pressure from the charge he resigned.
A few months later, the new Crimson Avenger made his first appearance.
Like
the Avenger of old, this vigilante took justice into his own hands and
among
his first targets were those Taylor believed responsible for his
father's
death. In short time the old drug ring was put out of business and,
those
who weren't indicted were dead. In response, the Crimson Avenger was
labeled a criminal himself, although this hasn't stopped him from
making
appearances since, usually for the public good. Although no deaths
have
been directly linked to the Avenger, many have been considered possible
considering his modus operandi.
Taylor himself went on to pursue his cause (and others) through the
realm of
the written word. Although he never finished his studies in
journalism, he
has none the less been able to fashion something of career off his oft
times
radical articles. Usually dealing with the areas of crime, justice,
corruption, and modern superheroes (places where Taylor can claim some
expertise after all) he has managed to see print in not just local
papers
but even some abroad, including a sporadic column in the old New York
Global-Leader.
WEAPONS & POWERS
The Crimson Avenger has no super powers of any kind. He survives
merely on
his wits and determination. He does carry a variety of equipment with
him,
most of it common enough, including a brace of .45 pistols. Although
he
attempts to find alternate means whenever possible, he is not above
using
them. There is a very clear line to him between the lives of innocents
and
the lives of criminals, and he knows which among the two he values
higher.
He is also competent in hand to hand combat and possesses some
detective
skills from Taylor's time on the Detroit PD.
It should be noted that the Crimson Avenger is not a full time hero so
to
speak. That is to say he does not regularly patrol the streets of
Detroit
(such as Batman does in Gotham). He picks and chooses his cases,
usually
participating only in those that baffle the police or slip through the
holes.
