| Three people have used the moniker the Vigilante in fighting
crime. The first was created by Mort Weisinger and Mort
Meskin and first appeared in Action Comics #42 in November
1941. The second was created by Marv Wolfman and George
Perez and first appeared in 1983 in The New Teen Titans
Annual #2. The third was created by Mark Waid and Jerome
Morre and first appeared in Deathstroke, the Terminator #9
in April 1992.
The original Vigilante was Greg Sanders, an actor and singer
whose family had a long history of law enforcement in the Old
West. When Sanders' father, a sheriff in Wyoming was killed
by robbers, Sanders returned to his family's home. Dressing
up as a cowboy, with spurs, boots, cowboy hat, and with his face
covered by a bandana, Sanders hunted down his father's killers
and brought them to justice. When Sanders returned to New York,
he decided to continue his fight against crime as the Vigilante.
Originally, the Vigilante paired up with a middle age owner of
an arcade named Billy Gunn, but soon after, Gunn retired from
crime fighting. The Vigilante was part of a group of heroes
called The Law's Legionaires, which included The Shining
Knight, The Crimson Avenger and Wing, and The Star-
Spangled Kid and Stripsey. Sanders also was joined by
another sidekick for a time. While on an adventure in
Chinatown, Sanders teamed up with Jimmy Leong, a young
Chinese boy, who adventured under the name Stuff, the
Chinatown Kid.
The Vigilante and Stuff later became members of both the
Justice Society of America and the All-Star Squadron. He
fought crime with his knowledge of hand-to-hand combat and
his trusty six-shooter.
The second person to use the name the Vigilante was Adrian
Chase, a New York district attorney. When Chase sought to
take on organized crime in New York, with the help of Robin and
the Teen Titans, the mob fought back by bombing his apartment.
The blast killed both Chase's wife and daughter. Chase survived
and adopted the costumed identity of the Vigilante. He began
to hunt down those who broke the law and brought them to justice,
often killing them. The Vigilante was armed with a number of
conventional weapons and was skilled in their use.
Chase's crusade against crime eventually led to him killing one
of his own friends in a fit of rage. Realizing that he was
becoming the very thing that he was fighting against, Chase took
his own life with a gun.
The third adventurer who used the name the Vigilante was
Patricia Trayce, a police officer in the Gotham City
police department. When Trayce's partner was killed by a
criminal named Barker, she longed to see him brought to
justice. Barker, however, turned state's evidence, and was
going to go free, when he was captured by Deathstroke, the
Terminator, a super-powered soldier of fortune. Trayce,
while trying to track down Deathstroke, was given the equipment
of Adrian Chase by one of his friends. She adopted the
identity of the Vigilante and teamed up with Deathstroke to
clear her name. | 
