The Crusaders were originally a fictional team of superheroes appearing in Earth-One comic books during World War II.

The Crusaders then appeared "for real" on Earth-One during the 1970's, offering their services to New York City District Attorney David Pearson to help capture the Freedom Fighters, who were at that time fugitives because they were believed to have been working with the villainous Silver Ghost. Pearson gave the Crusaders the authority to pursue Uncle Sam and his group after a report that they had caused a blackout in upstate New York.

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