Alec Logan was a wealthy dilettante living the high life in Chicago. Last in a line of blue bloods, Logan spent most of his time bouncing between high society functions and traveling around the world.  His one great talent, other than socializing, turned out to be an uncanny skill with firearms, particularly with pistols, and under the training of world class marksman Heinrich Luger he became a crack shot, wining competitions all over the world.

        Although he sponsored several charities with his fortune, Logan never claimed to have a true "social conscience", doing these things more because it is what was expected of the aristocracy rather than any real concerns for the public.  All that changed when he met a beautiful reporter, Sarah Saunders.

    Saunders was a driven reporter who tackled tough social issues. From the plight of the poor and homeless to unfair labor practices to the   rampant crime and political corruption in Chicago, Saunders was there trying to expose the truth.  Logan was captivated by her charm, her strength, and her belief in the public's power to bring about social reform.   Never before had he met anyone as selfless and caring as Saunders.  He fell deeply in love with the crusading reporter, and soon she fell in love with the charming socialite.  The two were engaged to be married.

        Two months before the wedding, Sarah Saunders received a tip that could break a story she had been tracking wide open.  The information could uncover a nest of corrupt police officers under the control of the various mobs in Chicago.  Alec was out of the country for another marksmanship tournament at the time, and the daring reporter decided to follow up the story alone.

        She arrived at a warehouse late at night and found that the corruption went far beyond anything she had ever imagined.  The police commissioner, Omar Stillwell, was there along with several of his deputies and many other high ranking police officers.  She had stumbled onto a major story, as the top officials of the Chicago police met with their organized crime masters.  The story would explode the corrupt cop ring and cripple mob activity in Chicago.

        Unfortunately the mob had its own informants and one of them was a co-worker of Saunders.  He tipped off the mob about the story Saunders was about to release and they in turn gave the information to Stillwell, who moved quickly and brutally.

        Logan returned immediately upon hearing of his fiancé's murder.  She had apparently been chased down by an unknown assailant through the dark streets of Chicago.  She had been savagely beaten and shot to death, six bullets having cut her down at close range.

        Logan was appalled by the police's inability to solve the crime and became obsessed with solving it himself.  Slowly the true picture began to take shape and with each piece Logan felt a dark stirring in his soul.  The forensics report had been "lost", but Logan was able to obtain the evidence package which included the slugs taken from her body.  He recognized .38 slugs when he saw them, the same caliber that the police use.  His search was blocked at every turn, usually by police actions, and Logan's frustrations and suspicions grew.  Finally he had the break he needed when he had a run in with the reporter who had tipped off the mob.

        That night Logan paid the reporter a visit, clad in a black trenchcoat and black wide brimmed hat, wearing a dark red mask to conceal his features.  At gunpoint he confronted the reporter who fearfully confessed how he had turned Sarah over to the mob.  More importantly, the reporter had secretly kept a copy of Sarah's notes, which he had held on to as insurance against the day the police or the mob should tire of his services.  The terrified reporter turned the notes over to Logan.   As Logan began to read the notes, the reporter pulled a revolver from his desk. Logan snapped up with both his .45's and unloaded into the reporter at point blank range, splattering himself with the cowardly reporter's blood.  Logan had taken his first life, his first piece of vengeance, and the dark parts of his soul rejoiced.

        The morning sun shone into Logan's study.  Still clad in his blood soaked coat, he had read ever page of Sarah's notes.  The depths of the cities corruption hit him like a hammer, rage built in his heart and called out for satisfaction.  These cold-hearted beasts had killed the woman he loved, had bled dry the city they had sworn to protect, and there would be retribution.  Inspired by the blood covering his coat, he created the costume and identity with which he would strike back; a blood red coat and hat.  The final piece would be a golden death's head mask, a reflection of what his soul had become.  That day, the Crimson Fury was born.

        Over the next few weeks the streets of Chicago were rocked by murders.  Mobsters and policemen alike were cut down like grain in a harvest.  With his slain lover's notes as his guide, the Crimson Fury struck down the killers who'd preyed on the city for so long.  The bodies he left behind bore small spikes in their bodies, topped with golden skulls.  The survivors he left, and there were not many, had faces splattered in crimson dye and told crazed tails of the bloody avenger in the golden half-skull mask, who's reflexes were like lightning and who's guns never missed their target.  Fear gripped the streets, but for once the fear was in the hearts of the killers and thieves.

        Commissioner Stillwell was not in a good mood.  On the one hand was Alec Logan and the press, who had been pushing hard with the public for the Police to find Sarah Saunder's killer.  Now a masked vigilante was loose on the streets, killing off crooked cops.  At first Stillwell tried to make the two forces fight each other, he revealed that the police had evidence that the Crimson Fury had killed Saunders.  To his delight Logan seized upon this, condemning the Crimson Fury in public and even assisting the police directly in their attempts to apprehend him.  But gradually Stillwell began to suspect that he'd made a mistake.  He realized finally that every cop that turned up with a gold skull pin in his corpse had been in attendance at the warehouse meeting.  Every cop who ended up alive, scared, and with a face full of red dye had not been there.  The Fury wasn't picky about the mob targets he took out, but he was hitting a very select list of cops, and he was getting closer to Stillwell.  The Fury must have had access to Saunder's notes, and the most likely candidate to have Saunder's notes would be her fiancé, the crack pistol shot.

        Logan had known Stillwell would catch on and was ready.  In the press Logan redoubled his attacks on the Crimson Fury, accusing the Fury of being a coward and publicly challenging him to a duel.  Stillwell was getting closer, but he couldn't act without conclusive proof, because of Logan's high profile position.  Still, if Logan's bullet-riddled body turned up with a skull pin in it, of which Stillwell now had quite a collection, that would be a tidy solution to his problems.

        Logan struck first.  He and Stillwell, along with a trusted reporter, worked together on a sting operation to snag the Fury.  Much to Stillwell's amazement, the Crimson Fury arrived and a fierce running gun battle ensued while the police, led by Logan, pursued the vigilante. Finally Stillwell and the reporter caught up to the Fury and Logan, who were facing each other on the roof of a building.  Stillwell couldn't believe his eyes as the two figures squared off, guns holstered, and waited.

        There was a flash of movement, each man's arm moving faster than Stillwell could see, then the crack of two gunshots.  Alec Logan hit the roof hard, his gun tumbling away as he clutched his bloody shoulder.  The Crimson Fury, victorious, walked menacingly towards his fallen opponent. "You're good Logan, but not that good," came the vigilante's chilling voice. "If I'd killed the reporter, I'd have wanted you dead too.  If I'd wanted you dead, I'd have shot you in the head.  I get what I want Mister Logan," the gold skull-mask turned chillingly towards the police commissioner, "and you are not the one I want."

        Stillwell dove off the side of the roof, he didn't care what was beneath him.

        The reporter's account of the two gunmen's duel hit the headlines the next day.  That and the all-too real .45 slug that was dug out of Alec Logan's shoulder at the hospital were more than enough to lay any suspicions to rest.  Alec Logan was not the Crimson Fury, at least in the public's mind.  The body of Commissioner Omar Stillwell turned up several days later. He'd apparently broken his leg in the fall but still managed to get away from the duel and out of Chicago.  His body was found in a seedy hotel in Indiana; one .45 slug in his head, one gold skull pin in his chest, and one copy of Sarah Saunder's notes exposing the whole corruption ring in his pocket.

        Three months later, his shoulder healing from the Fury's bullet, Alec Logan was burying the one other person he cared about in this world. Heinrich Luger had died of cancer.  Luger had known of his impending death, but had concealed it from his student just long enough to perform one last favor for him.  As he left the cemetery, Logan smiled slightly.  Luger always had been the faster draw.

        Alec Logan flexed his shoulder.  It was still sore, but solid enough.  A new protection racket had started up on the north side and he had much work to do.

        In the years that followed, the Crimson Fury continued his bloody assault on crime and corruption in Chicago.  During the Legion crisis, he was contacted by a covert government organization known as CURE.  CURE was recruiting vigilantes from across the country to work in the shadows against Legion, who at that time possessed the president of the United States.  The Crimson Fury reluctantly agreed to work with the team, known as the Suicide Squad, although he refused to admit that he had "joined" the group.  After the Legion crisis was resolved, the Crimson Fury returned to Chicago to continue his war.  He has occasionally worked again with the Suicide Squad, but continues to avoid claiming membership.  The Crimson Fury is still wanted for numerous murder charges and Alec Logan continues to openly challenge the Crimson Fury's actions.

{Image by Steve Mollett}