[3][4] The Crimson Avenger had many similarities to The Green Hornet, including a sidekick named Wing who was an Asian valet, and a gas gun that he used to subdue opponents.

[8] According to Jess Nevins' Encyclopedia of Golden Age Superheroes, "most of his opponents are ordinary, but there is the Boss and his zombies, the occasional mad scientist, and some name villains like Echo, Methuselah, and the crime genius the Brain".

[9] In 1941, the Crimson Avenger joined the Seven Soldiers of Victory, a second superteam styled after the popular Justice Society of America appearing in All-Star Comics.

Taking place in late October 1938, it depicts Lee Walter Travis, the young publisher of the Globe-Leader, a paper devoted to progressive causes.

This is the night of Orson Welles' famous broadcast of The War of the Worlds and — having gotten advance notice of the radio show — a group of criminals dressed in alien-like costumes take advantage of the ensuing panic to rob the party guests.

[11] The use of Orson Welles' War of the Worlds in the story was inspired by the fact that the Crimson Avenger's first comic book appearance was dated Oct 1938, the same month as the radio broadcast.

Set shortly after the Crimson's debut in the latter days of 1938, the story revolves around the growing global hostilities, as Japan advances through China, Germany moves into eastern Europe, and the soon-to-be-Allies hesitate to act.

The Crimson finds himself in the middle of a plot he doesn't quite grasp, with enigmatic foreign women, strange objects, and shadowy conspirators weaving around him.

Grant Morrison has established that in various Justice League stories, the original mask, hat and cloak of the Crimson Avenger are used in a special ritual whenever a new member joins the JLA, in honor of him being, in the Martian Manhunter's words, "the first of our kind".

In The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Black Dossier, the Crimson Avenger is briefly mentioned as having met with Allan Quatermain and Mina Murray during the two's self-exile from Britain during the years of the Ingsoc government.

The Crimson Avenger makes an appearance in the Justice League of America 80-Page Giant #1 comic (November 2009) in a story titled Zatanna & Black Canary in Fishnet Femmes Fatales!, when the two heroines are tossed back in time by the supervillain Epoch.

In this new timeline, Lee Travis is now a female African American reporter, borrowing features from the original Crimson Avenger's successor, Jill Carlyle.