This is an intermediary story between the two arcs in this volume.
Before he started C.O.W.L., Geoffrey Warner fought for Chicago as the city's first hero, THE GREY RAVEN! But what started him down the path of crime fighting? Witness the origin of Chicago Superheroes, the War Years, and the formation of C.O.W.L. as told in the sellout issue written by C.O.W.L reporter and comic book writer Randall Winters.
This story is a flashback to the Grey Raven's origin and heyday as a hero, before C.O.W.L. It is drawn in a more pseudo-Golden-Age style than the normal issues.
Geoffrey Warner grows up as the favored son of a hero cop in Chicago. He wants to grow up in his dad's footsteps.
However, when he is accepted into the police academy at the age of 18, he sees his father engaged in a shady deal with some mobsters. His father says this is the way the world works and he needs to get used to it. Geoffrey is crushed and turns to boxing instead.
He becomes a quick favorite, but again runs into corruption when he is asked to throw a fight. He quits and becomes a private detective so he can do things his own way. However he has a hard time getting the police to listen to the evidence he finds on his cases.
When a costumed criminal called the Robber starts robbing banks without being caught, Geoffrey decides to make his own disguise and take matters into his own hands. He calls himself the Grey Raven. When he clashes with the Robber, he finds out that the Robber's getaway driver is his father. Geoffrey manages to catch them both, and starts his career as Chicago's first costumed hero.
This issue features parodic advertisements from the era of comics in which it was supposedly made. It is the first issue to not feature a bio of a character.
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