The Blue Flame is a 2021 comic book published by Vault Comics. It is written by Christopher Cantwell, with art by Adam Gorham, colors by Kurt Michael Russell, and letters by Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou.
The Blue Flame is a cosmic hero, called to the center of the universe in order to defend humanity. The Blue Flame is a DIY hero working with his fellow team of superheroes, the Night Brigade, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The Blue Flame is Sam Brausam, an HVAC-repairman just trying to make a living.
As Sam tries to get over a traumatic event, he has to figure out which of these identities are real and which are not, especially since it might not just he his life on the line. All of humanity might be on trial... and in order to save humanity, the Blue Flame needs to save himself first.
Tropes in The Blue Flame:
- Badass Normal: None of the Night Brigade appear to have powers, but they still work as superheroes. They even mention taking down a smuggling ring, for which the D.A. wants them to testify. However, this ends up subverted at the end of the first issue, where the car show that they appear at is subject to a mass shooting.
- Civvie Spandex: The Night Brigade all wear costumes... except the Crimson Visage, who wears a full red face mask and goggles, but, aside from that, just regular clothes.
- Cool Helmet: The Blue Flames wears one. In the Milwaukee scenes, it looks more like a motorcycle helmet with a visor.
- Humanity on Trial: A group of aliens have decided to put humanity itself on trial and have called the Blue Flame to a planet at the center of the universe so that he will be the barrister for humanity.
- Jet Pack: How the Blue Flame flies around the cosmos. On Earth, however, he drives a car.
- Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane: Is the Blue Flame actually a cosmic hero or is he suffering from delusions after the mass shooting? The two Blue Flames don't seem connected at first until the end of the first issue, but it's still unknown of either one is real or if both of them are.
- No Name Given: When we first see the Night Brigade, all of them are given their code-names and real names, except for the Crimson Visage. His just says, "Real Name: Unknown."
- Red Is Heroic: One of the members of the Night Brigade is the Crimson Visage. Unlike the others, however, he seems to keep his secret identity close, with nobody else in the team knowing his name. Even Sam calls him "Crim".
- The Team Benefactor: Swiftbird mentions how she has maxed out two credit cards paying for things the team needs. Crimson Visage is grateful towards her, although he also mentions that he needs a new axel for the car after it broke during their last mission.
- Two Girls to a Team: The Night Brigade has five members and two girls (Swiftbird and Theia).
