Before Percy Jackson was...Nature Boy!

Long before Percy Jackson met the Olympians and fought a Sea of Monsters, there was another teen given amazing powers by ancient gods...
Rich teenager David Crandall was yachting with his parents when a storm sank the boat and David was stranded!
Rescued by "gods" who control various aspects of nature, he is given a portion of each of their powers...
Neptune--water
Gusto--wind
Furo--fire
Eartha--earth
Electra--lightning
Allura--love
Azura--skies
Friga--cold
(Yeah, I know a couple of them overlap, and only one was an actual mythological god, but why quibble?)
David used his new powers to return home and reunite with his still-alive family.
He also decided to battle evil in various forms as Nature Boy, since he controlled the forces of nature, and the gods gave him a spiffy new outfit to show off!

He only had three issues of his own title (which started with #3*) before he disappeared from the comics scene..until now!
But, within those three issues, the seeds were planted for an entire superfamily of Nature-heroes including Nature Man (an adult version of the hero from the future) and female counterpart Nature Girl.
This isn't surprising, since he was created by Jerry Siegel (co-creator of Superman) who knew a thing or two about that sort of thing.
To add to his hero cred, Nature Boy was drawn by the great John Buscema who later did Conan, Avengers, Fantastic Four, and damn near everything at Marvel in the 70s thru the 90s, so even if the stories were a bit silly, they looked spectacular!
You can read several of his tales at our "brother" blog, Hero Histories™!

Technically, Nature Boy should be considered one of the last Golden Age heroes as his premiere was in 1956, just a couple of months before The Flash re-emerged in Showcase #4.
However, like Captain Flash, and the Martian Manhunter, though he predates The Flash, he's thought to be one of the first Silver Age characters instead!
On that basis, we at Atomic Kommie Comics™ have revived Nature Boy as part of our Lost Heroes of the Silver Age of Comics™ line, on t-shirts, messenger bags, mugs and other kool kollectibles!
He was one of the first, but hardly one of the worst...

*To save money on paying for a new second-class mailing permit,  comics publishers would often just rename an existing comic, rather than start a new one!
Today, with #1 issues being such "hot" collector's items, publishers wouldn't dream of doing that sort of thing!

The Red Menace vs...the Avenger!

There's an interesting sub-genre of superheroes, known as the "inspired-bys".
These are characters who are inspired by other characters to take up the mask and seek justice.
Usually they're family members who take up the same identity as their predecessor (The Phantom, Black Canary, Silk Spectre of The Watchmen, The Black Hood, HourMan, etc.)
Sometimes, as in this case, they're inspired by an unrelated hero who just happened to be published by the same company!
The best-known example is WildCat, inspired by the Golden Age Green Lantern to become a crimefighter.

The Avenger had a similar origin.
When his brother is taken hostage by Communist spies who wanted his prototype StarJet aircraft, inventor Roger Wright is inspired by stories of the Original Ghost Rider to take up a masked identity to rescue him!
Proclaiming himself "an Avenger against the evils of Communism",  Roger dons a red costume in defiance (Communists were often described as "the Red Menace" because their flags were predominiantly red) and uses his StarJet to attempt a rescue.
Unfortunately, his brother, who had attempted to escape, was already dead!
Roger captured the spies, and declaring "No man can be complacent while such as you are bent on enslaving all Mankind", began a one-man war against Communists everywhere!

The war lasted only four issues.
The Avenger, like Nature Boy and several other mid-1950s heroes came along just before the audience was ready for the return of superheroes, who had all but disappeared from comics in 1949!
It wasn't until an updated version of The Flash appeared in Showcase #4 (a year after the last issue of The Avenger) that the Silver Age of Comics, and the resulting explosion of superhero books, got under way.

We at Atomic Kommie Comics™ have digitally-restored and remastered what we believe to be his first and best cover appearance on an assortment of pop-culture collectibles, including t-shirts, messenger bags, mugs and other goodies, in the Solo Heroes section of our Lost Heroes of the Golden Age of Comics™ line!

Show you believe in capitalism and buy an Classic Avenger goodie or two.
You don't want him thinking you're a Communist, do you? ;-)

Note: this character is in no way related to the earlier pulp/comic character The Avenger published by the same company as Doc Savage and The Shadow, and currently being revived by both DC Comics and Moonstone Publishing.