The Cavalier is a Superhero from The Golden Age of Comic Books, created by Sam Cooper and published by Nedor in Thrilling Comics #53-54 and The Fighting Yank #25.
Rance Raleigh owns a curio shop, in which hangs a portrait of his ancestor the Duke de Chantrey. Said portrait is enchanted, and frowns whenever danger is nearby. Whenever Raleigh notices his ancestor's scowl, he dresses like a classical swashbuckler and brings justice to the unjust with the help of his assistant Rocky.
The Cavalier has appeared in Tom Strong. This page is for his Golden Age appearances. Despite the name and similar appearance, this character has no relation to the Batman villain of the same name.
This comic contains examples of:
- Blood Knight: Rocky absolutely adores adventure and combat, which makes him very helpful muscle for the Cavalier.
- Co-Dragons: Felice Long has two goons, Stan and Vinnie, at her beck and call. They never appear apart.
- Domino Mask: Rance wears one as part of his Cavalier getup.
- Eating the Eye Candy: Rocky likes to make mental notes of attractive women who enter the shop.
- Evil All Along: At first it seems like Carla Stone, from The Fighting Yank #25, is an innocent woman being harassed by goons, but it turns out she's an art thief.
- Good All Along: The fat man from The Fighting Yank #25 seems like a thug pursuing an innocent woman, but he's a private detective and she's an art thief. Rocky even makes note of how suspicious he was compared to the real baddies.
- Honey Trap: In The Fighting Yank #25 Rance asks Carla on a lunch date to see if he can gather information on why the fat man is pursuing her for the map. She doesn't spill the beans, but he does notice her hiding a note under a bowl of sugar which blows the case wide open.
- He Knows Too Much: The baddies of Thrilling Comics #54 kill a reporter who's about to reveal that they're Nazi agents. Unfortunately for them, they do the murder right in front of the Cavalier's shop.
- Improbable Use of a Weapon: In Thrilling Comics #53 Felice Long makes it look like a strong man killed Waldo Key by fashioning a dagger into an arrow.
- MacGuffin: The conflict of The Fighting Yank #25 centers around an old map that turns out to have hidden in it the location for some stolen art.
- Make It Look Like an Accident: The villains of Thrilling Comics #54 eliminate a snooping reporter in a way that resembles a car accident. However, he manages to tell Rance it wasn't an accident before expiring.
- Mole in Charge: Purvis, the Big Bad of Thrilling Comics #54, is a munitions plant owner who has been sabotaging his own product.
- Portent of Doom: Rance knows danger is afoot when a portrait of his ancestor scowls.
- Protagonist Title
- Royal Rapier: As part of his suave swashbuckler schtick, the Cavalier wilds a rapier.
- Starter Villain: Felice Long, who murdered her father figure to cover up forgery and is arrested by issue's end.
- Swashbuckler: Rance dresses in this style for his costume.
- Why Don't You Just Shoot Him?: The baddies of Thrilling Comics #54 elect to beat the Cavalier to death because a gunshot would attract attention. Naturally, Rocky interrupts and our heroes make short work of the goons.
