"The Caper" Comic

BASIC PREMISE
"The Caper" is a masked vigilante inspired by silver/Bronze Age comic characters, especially Batman and similar characters, who hunts down criminals in the Chicago mob and other crime syndicates. However, unlike the Caped Crusader, the Caper is willing to kill the criminals he catches and does not work under any specific moral code. As an actual comic, "The Caper" would mostly be a 'Noir-lite' story represented similarly to the Pre-Crisis 50's and 60's Batman runs.

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Illinois native Richard (Rick) Evans is an average lawyer working for the Office of the Public Defender. Due to his clientele, Evans lives in the shadier areas of downtown Chicago, although he is mostly desensitized to the criminal brutality around him. One day, as Evans is returning from work after an unsuccessful trial for a known Mob affiliate, Evans is beaten and mugged by a pusher as a 'warning' from the Mob not to let them down. Although Evans is not too badly injured by his assailant, the incident wakes him up to the dangers of his life dealing with Chicago's criminal underground. The psychological effect of the attack begins taking its toll on Evans at his job, and so he resigns from the OPD and instead pursues a career as a Police Detective. Due to his familiarity with the Chicago crime world, Evans manages to make Detective within the year, and close friends from both of his careers host a joke party for him during which he gains the cliched Detective costume that becomes his trademark. On his way home from the party Evans is attacked by the same pusher as before, but this time he shoots the mugger in self defense - an act which sets him on his murderous path to bring down the Chicago Crime Syndicate.

CHARACTER POWERS AND ABILITIES

Although the Caper does not possess any super-human qualities, he is imbued with high, trained intelligence - especially in matters relating to legal and detective work, which he constantly uses in both his day job and vigilante efforts. Later in his crime-fighting career, the Caper develops some more profound physical abilities, especially in his proficiency in stealth and firearms use. As he adopts his new persona more seriously, the Caper will also begin to use more equipment to aid in his efforts, such as his two pistols and other myriad gear he may bring for dangerous outings. Finally, the Caper has access to the combined forces of the Chicago PD and some friends in the Courts, which he can use in desperate situations such as calling for backup with a police radio or erasing any link between his Vigilante and Detective career.

SILVER/BRONZE AGE COMIC REFERENCES

As a 'style parody' of Silver and Bronze Age comics, "The Caper" would contain several tropes common in these runs. These include both the Caper's background story (An average person with some amount of police or detective background becomes a superhero) and overly-cliched theme costume, in this case, a Trench Coat and Trilby, which one character remarks "... Makes you [Evans] look like a detective right out of an old caper story." Also, the paneling and artwork would preferably be a callback to Silver and Bronze Age comics as well, especially earlier Batman runs with part-cartoon, part-noir influences.