The Children's Crusade (Vertigo comics)
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The Children's Crusade is a two issue Vertigo mini-series. Written in 1993 by Neil Gaiman, this two-issue one shot marks the first attempt by the then-newly-created Vertigo comic line to do a crossover within its titles. The crossover ran through the titles Animal Man, Swamp Thing, Doom Patrol, Black Orchid and The Books of Magic, and featured the children that played major roles in these books: Maxine Baker, Tefe, Dorothy Spinner, Suzy, and Timothy Hunter respectively.
The order of the Children's Crusade books goes as follows: Children's Crusade 1, Black Orchid Annual 1, Animal Man Annual 1, Swamp Thing Annual 7, Doom Patrol Annual 2, Arcane Annual 1, and Children's Crusade 2.
[edit] Plot summaries
The story starts with the ghosts of two boys, Edwin and Charles (Seen previously in issue #24 of The Sandman (DC Comics/Vertigo) and later in The Dead Boy Detectives), who have set up shop as detectives for hire, with nothing but the knowledge of the great mystery novels and films. The two boys are approached by a young girl that finds their ad and enlists them to locate her brother who, along with several other children, disappeared from the small English hamlet they all live in, called Flaxdown.
It turns out that all the children of the village as well as all other children who have ever disappeared (see The Children's Crusade & The Pied Piper of Hamelin) were taken to a place called "Free Country". Free Country is a place where children never grow old and are free from the abuse and tyranny of adults (child abuse is a recurring theme). Free Country is run by a council of various children who have existed there hundreds of years. The council is attempting to bring over all the children in the world, but unfortunately Free Country is having trouble supporting them all. To help bolster Free Country's power they bring over five innately powerful children. As long as the children stay in Free Country they provide the place with power.
The comics include many references to the works of Robert Browning.
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