Rainbow Man,
Rainbow Man
Does whatever a rainbow can
Spins a wheel,
colorized;
Spinning hues
with his guys.
Look out,
here comes the Rainbow Man
Is he smart?
Listen Bud;
Vigilante lands with a thud.
Can he swing
at your head?
Give him lip
and you're dead.
Hey, there!
There goes the Rainbow Man
In the chill of the night
At the scene of a crime
Like a streak of light
He departs just in time
Rainbow Man,
Rainbow Man
Vigilante foe, Rainbow Man
Wealth and fame,
he's adored
Color is
his reward
Look out,
here comes the Rainbow Man
Rainbow Man,
Rainbow Man
Vigilante foe, Rainbow Man
Rainbow globes,
he employs.
Colored lights
he deploys.
To him,
life is a great big bang up
Whenever there's a hang up
You'll find the Rainbow Man!
7 comments:
The only part of Rainbow Man's scheme that makes any sense to me is where he gets distracted by the thought of pies.
Perhaps they were delicious Hostess Fruit Pies. That seems about his speed.
Perhaps there was an editorial snafu where the Vigilante faced the wrong villain. Meanwhile, in another comic, the Star-Spangled Kid has brought fruit pies to a shootout with Black Bart.
Here's the best pie-oriented comic I know of:
http://comicsalliance.com/bizarro-back-issues-captain-marvel-battles-the-pie-plot-1951/
That's not The Right Stuff, it's just Stuff.
"Perhaps there was an editorial snafu where the Vigilante faced the wrong villain."
The Vigilante wasn't an old west character, he was a contemporary of Green Arrow and Speedy (alongside whom he served in the Seven Soldiers of Victory) and other golden age heroes. He starred in a radio program and rode a motorcycle, not a horse. One of his most persistent enemies (both in his own feature (four times) and with the Soldiers (twice)) was The Dummy, not exactly the cowboy type. Per the GCD, the Rainbow Man fought the Vigilante a staggering TWELVE times, indisputably qualifying him as the Vigilante's pre-modern archenemy (the Dummy later claimed that title by killing sidekick Stuff). Other recurring enemies included the Fiddler (Ben Bowe, not Isaac Bowin) and Shakes the Underworld Poet.
The Vigilante was one of the longest-lasting of DC's golden age heroes, enduring until Action Comics #198 (1954). If he'd only held on for just two more years, he'd have still been around when Barry Allen hit the scene and changed everything, in which case he might have coasted into the silver age as Green Arrow and Speedy and Aquaman did. So it goes.
I kind of wonder about the line of thought that resulted in the Seven Soldiers, a team which, in contrast to the everything-AND-the-kitchen-sink approach of the JSA, consisted entirely of non-powered heroes who relied solely on athletic training and/or *relatively* "ordinary" weapons...except for the one guy with enchanted armor and a winged horse. Which sort of undermined what one might have reasonably presumed to be the team's basic premise. Oh well.
You know your Vigilante well sir. I trust you've seen this, Greg Saunders' best appearance anywhere:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMaYVfm4cEE
I don't find the Shining Knight's magical accoutrements as thematically incongruous as you do: what else the Seven Soldiers all have in common is how their methods are all un-super and indeed un-modern. Bows, guns, swords, and fists are a contrast against super-speed, magic rings, gravity rods, (spear and) magic helmet, divine instruments of wrath, and pills.
I look at these panels, and I naturally start thinking about a Rainbow Man HeroClix figure: Perplex for sure, and Mastermind, Ranged Combat Expert, Close Combat Expert, and possibly even Shape Change as likely attributes.
And I knew about the Vigilante serial, but not about the radio program. Will have to check that out.
Earthling...
When our eternal soul
leaves our mortal body
to meet our Maker,
only four, last things remain:
death, judgement, Heaven or Hell
according to the deeds WEE mortals
accomplished in our expired existence.
⬆️I'm a re-boot NDE⬇️
If you're RIGHT,
you'll see LIGHT -
follow that to the Elysian Fields.
Let's be tethered2forever Upstairs.
Find-out what RCIA means and join.
Make Your Choice -SAW
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