Rogues Gallery Pt. I — Richard A. Knaak

ROGUES GALLERYA Chicago not unlike our own, yet not quite, in a time midway between two world wars. Here, there are the costumed adventurers and villains seeking gain, power, and fear. They might very well overwhelm the police and other forces for justice --- including briefly-known heroes such as the Dial --- but ever standing in their way is one man who they cannot defeat. The Legionary has protected the city for over ten years and in that time many a criminal has fallen or been incarcerated. Some have returned again and again, but always to be foiled.Until now. Until the Legionary's vanishing. More than a month has passed since his last sighting, since his last foe defeated. At first, a lull hovered over Chicago. Certain that it was a trick, villains held back as they awaited the Legionary's miraculous return at any moment. After all, he had vanished once before for more than two weeks.But finally, the first daring rogues committed their audacious crimes --- and still the city's hero did not this time return to stop them. And so, anarchy arose. Unfettered from their fear of defeat and capture, villains swarmed over the city, looting, murdering, and destroying. The police sought to stem the tide, but they were washed away by it instead.And then, the unthinkable happened...