The Rawhide Kid is my favorite western comics character and one of my favorite comics characters period. Something about the short of stature (but big on courage and fighting skills) Johnny Clay spoke to the short of stature (but big on comics-reading skills) teenage Tony Isabella. After rereading the Kid’s earliest adventures when Marvel Comics reprinted them in a pair of Marvel Masterworks and an Essential Rawhide Kid volume, I wanted to reacquire every Rawhide Kid comic, reread them and write about them in this bloggy thing of mine. This is the 75th installment in that series.
The Rawhide Kid #90 [August 1971] finds Kid Colt still riding the range with his friend. The cover is penciled by Larry Lieber with inks by either Mike Esposito or John Tartaglione. To save you the trouble of counting them, there are 15 background figures either shooting at the Kids or getting into position to shoot at the Kids. The “Captain Obvious” word balloons notwithstanding, it’s a pretty good cover.
“Guns Below the Border” is another 14-page story, written and drawn by Lieber with inks by Tartaglione. According to the Grand Comics Database, it’s never been reprinted in the United States. However, it was reprinted in 1972 in Norway and the Netherlands. Both comics included a Hopalong Cassidy reprint from the DC Comics title with art by Gene Colan, the Bill Everett non-series story reprinted in The Rawhide Kid #88 and the Dick Ayers non-series story reprinted in this issue.
SPOILERS AHEAD
SPOILERS AHEAD
SPOILERS AHEAD
SPOILERS AHEAD
SPOILERS AHEAD
SPOILERS AHEAD
SPOILERS AHEAD
SPOILERS AHEAD
The story opens with the Kids riding south across desert country. They come across Pedro, a young boy lying in the sand. Reviving him with water, they learn he has fled from a Mexican village under the cruel grip of the evil El Tirano. E.T.’s philosophy:
The rich and powerful must rule with an iron hand...while the poor and the weak must serve and suffer!
El Tirano has the hots for Teresa, Pedro’s beautiful sister. She refuses to marry him. Knowing his people are farmers, not gunmen, Pedro came north to find men with guns who are not afraid to fight. Rawhide and Colt admire the boy’s grit and, since they don’t like tyrants much, they decide to give the villagers a helping gun hand.
Arriving at the villain, the Kids see two El Tirano thugs bullying an old man. They tell the thugs to back off, the thugs draw on them and the thugs die.
Our heroes take the bodies to El Tirano and tell him it’s no longer open season on unarmed farmers. They are protecting the villagers now. E.T. is smart enough to realize that, outnumbered or not, his men can’t beat these legendary gunman in a fair fight. So he lures them into a trap and captures them. This is what Han Solo tried to tell Luke about getting cocky.
The Kids are captured, disarmed and put in a cage for the villagers to see. E.T. gloats:
They will serve as a grim reminder of the fate that awaiting those who defy me.
Teresa and the farmers take it another way. They distract a guard, knocking him out and getting his keys. Teresa feigns willingness to marry El Tirano to give the Kids a chance to get back their guns. Bullets fly and bad men die.
E.T. tries to use Teresa as a shield. He’ll kill her if Rawhide and Colt don’t drop their guns. Teresa stomps on Tirano’s foot and, in that split-second, there’s one less bad man in the world. The town is free.
Naturally, the Kids ride off into the north. Because why would they stay in a town where the law doesn’t pursue them and where all the people love them? Sigh.
Whatever your own countrymen may think of you –- here you will be remembered with love and gratitude forever!
SPOILERS OVER
SPOILERS OVER
SPOILERS OVER
SPOILERS OVER
SPOILERS OVER
SPOILERS OVER
SPOILERS OVER
SPOILERS OVER
This story moves very fast. It’s an exciting adventure, but there’s little nuance to any of the characters or events. Sometime between the end of this story and the start of the Rawhide Kid’s next new adventure, the Kids part company and go their separate ways. That was probably for the best as the young heroes are nearly identical in so many ways.
As usual, the half-page Mighty Marvel Checklist ran after page 6 of the Rawhide Kid story. The highlights of the month were Avengers #90 with a chapter of the classic Kree-Skrull War by Roy Thomas and Sal Buscema and Incredible Hulk #142 by Roy Thomas and Herb Trimpe.The story in the latter revolved around a fundraiser held for the Hulk, a bit of social satire that made me chuckle. Thomas was my favorite Marvel writer during this period.
The rest of the page had the fan club Marvelmania selling Spider-Man and Daredevil portfolios said to include “original unpublished art,” complete reprints of each hero’s first issue, checklists and more. The cost of the portfolios (with shipping) was $2.25 each or you get both for $4. I’ve never seen either of these portfolios, so I don’t know if they were actually manufactured.
There was nothing new in the “classified” ads this time around. In future Rawhide Kid Wednesday bloggy things, I’ll only mention these ads when there’s something new to mention.
This issue’s non-series reprint tale was the mostly silent “And Not a Word Was Spoken!” (5 pages) by Stan Lee and Dick Ayers. It first saw print in Two Gun Kid #61 [January 1963]. The script consists of the title, a caption informing readers that no words are needed to tell this story and a poster in the final panel. Okay, some words were needed, but, just the same, it’s the great Ayers storytelling and drawing that do most of the heavy lifting.
SPOILERS AHEAD
SPOILERS AHEAD
SPOILERS AHEAD
SPOILERS AHEAD
SPOILERS AHEAD
SPOILERS AHEAD
SPOILERS AHEAD
SPOILERS AHEAD
A brutish gunman enters a saloon, terrifying everyone in the place save for a skinny cowboy with his legs on a table and, apparently, taking a nap. The brute bullies the bartender and a couple patrons before he spots the skinny cowboy.
The brute kicks the cowboy’s chair out from under him. He slaps the cowboy around a bit, goading him into a gunfight. With incredible speed and accuracy, the skinny guy shoots the bully’s guns out of his hands and shoots the brute himself in the shoulder. The wounded gunman doesn’t understand what the heck just happened.
The skinny cowboy rides out of town and, as he does so, he passes a poster on a wall. It has his picture on it and some copy:
SPOILERS OVER
SPOILERS OVER
SPOILERS OVER
SPOILERS OVER
SPOILERS OVER
SPOILERS OVER
SPOILERS OVER
SPOILERS OVER
The “Marvel Bullpen Bulletins” page was always an interesting mix of news, items about creators and plugs for the ever-growing line of Marvel Comics. The lead item this month was a plug for Amazing Spider-Man #100, a notable issue whose end-of-the-issue cliffhanger found our wall-crawling hero with four extra arms.
There was a shout-out to Tom Wolfe, whose book Radical Chic was the inspiration for this month's issue of Incredible Hulk. It was announced that EC Comics legends Reed Crandall and Al Williamson would be drawing stories for Marvel.
There was an item about Stan Lee speaking at various universities which include a plea that students stop asking the Bullpen for help with their term papers and the like. Marvel was flattered by such interest, but they had comic books to make.
Another announcement reported John Severin was moving to Colorado “where men are men and the taxes are lower.” The item also talked about Severin and sister Marie collaborating on the second issue of Kull the Conqueror, a truly gorgeous issue.
Other news: Gene Colan was teaching a part-time course on comics at a high school in New Jersey. Red Wolf was getting his own series to be written by Gardner Fox and drawn by Syd Shores.
There were more shout-outs to celebrities of sorts: Lynn Wolley, a radio news reporter from Texas; Mike Turner, a disc jockey from New York and Doug Kenney, the editor of National Lampoon. Even before the blockbuster super-hero movies, Marvel was getting some pretty good press.
Finally, this month’s “Stan’s Soapbox” was a salute to the Marvel artists. They had to draw great, they had to be able to co-plot the stores and they had to do it on tight deadlines. By the time I got to Marvel, I was writing detailed plots - usually panel by panel - for the artists. Now, of course, the full script is once again in vogue at most mainstream publishers.
The issue’s “Ridin’ the Trail with Rawhide” letters page didn’t get interesting until it got a bit creepy. Troy Turner of Philadelphia asked if Rawhide Kid was a monthly or bimonthly - it was a monthly - and expressed his regard for Western Gunfighters and the series “Gunhawk,” “The Renegades” and “Tales of Fort Rango.”
Walter Clay of Chicago wanted to know how the Kid got so fast with his guns and asked Marvel to send him a copy of the first issue of the Kid’s adventures. Marvel answered that they didn’t stock back issues and that the Kid got to be so fast with his guns due to lots of practice and lots of people shooting at him.
Bill Morgan of Staten Island requested a Rawhide Kid Annual, which was already on the schedule.
David Hayes asked how the Rawhide Kid became an outlaw...and Marvel responded in a somewhat inaccurate fashion. Here’s the story from my very first Rawhide Kid Wednesday:
“When the Rawhide Kid Turned...Outlaw!” is the story of how the Kid ended up on the wrong side of the law. Basically, after exposing a rustler, he fled the scene when the sheriff showed up. His big crime was leaving the scene of a crime. Even back then, some folks went overboard with the “tough on crime” stuff.
However, as the series progressed, Rawhide would make more serious errors of judgment, get framed for various crimes, and take the rap for crimes committed by others. Within a few issues, the “outlaw” brand, undeserved though it might be, makes more sense.
Andy Keeler of Humbolt, Arizona took exception to various elements of the series when he wrote:
I read RAWHIDE KID all the time, but one word of advice. If I were the Kid, being a fugitive, I’d change my outfit occasionally, and I wouldn’t keep calling myself the Rawhide Kid. Another thing: not everyone in the west carried Colt .45s or lever-action Winchesters. How about it? Study your history a little bit.
Marvel’s creepy response?
Hmmm...Let’s see now...Andy Keeler, Box one-thirty-four, Humbolt, Arizona, zip 86329. There! Okay, fella! We got it...
Did anyone ever hear from Andy after this?
“Guns Below the Border” is another 14-page story, written and drawn by Lieber with inks by Tartaglione. According to the Grand Comics Database, it’s never been reprinted in the United States. However, it was reprinted in 1972 in Norway and the Netherlands. Both comics included a Hopalong Cassidy reprint from the DC Comics title with art by Gene Colan, the Bill Everett non-series story reprinted in The Rawhide Kid #88 and the Dick Ayers non-series story reprinted in this issue.
SPOILERS AHEAD
SPOILERS AHEAD
SPOILERS AHEAD
SPOILERS AHEAD
SPOILERS AHEAD
SPOILERS AHEAD
SPOILERS AHEAD
SPOILERS AHEAD
The story opens with the Kids riding south across desert country. They come across Pedro, a young boy lying in the sand. Reviving him with water, they learn he has fled from a Mexican village under the cruel grip of the evil El Tirano. E.T.’s philosophy:
The rich and powerful must rule with an iron hand...while the poor and the weak must serve and suffer!
El Tirano has the hots for Teresa, Pedro’s beautiful sister. She refuses to marry him. Knowing his people are farmers, not gunmen, Pedro came north to find men with guns who are not afraid to fight. Rawhide and Colt admire the boy’s grit and, since they don’t like tyrants much, they decide to give the villagers a helping gun hand.
Arriving at the villain, the Kids see two El Tirano thugs bullying an old man. They tell the thugs to back off, the thugs draw on them and the thugs die.
Our heroes take the bodies to El Tirano and tell him it’s no longer open season on unarmed farmers. They are protecting the villagers now. E.T. is smart enough to realize that, outnumbered or not, his men can’t beat these legendary gunman in a fair fight. So he lures them into a trap and captures them. This is what Han Solo tried to tell Luke about getting cocky.
The Kids are captured, disarmed and put in a cage for the villagers to see. E.T. gloats:
They will serve as a grim reminder of the fate that awaiting those who defy me.
Teresa and the farmers take it another way. They distract a guard, knocking him out and getting his keys. Teresa feigns willingness to marry El Tirano to give the Kids a chance to get back their guns. Bullets fly and bad men die.
E.T. tries to use Teresa as a shield. He’ll kill her if Rawhide and Colt don’t drop their guns. Teresa stomps on Tirano’s foot and, in that split-second, there’s one less bad man in the world. The town is free.
Naturally, the Kids ride off into the north. Because why would they stay in a town where the law doesn’t pursue them and where all the people love them? Sigh.
Whatever your own countrymen may think of you –- here you will be remembered with love and gratitude forever!
SPOILERS OVER
SPOILERS OVER
SPOILERS OVER
SPOILERS OVER
SPOILERS OVER
SPOILERS OVER
SPOILERS OVER
SPOILERS OVER
This story moves very fast. It’s an exciting adventure, but there’s little nuance to any of the characters or events. Sometime between the end of this story and the start of the Rawhide Kid’s next new adventure, the Kids part company and go their separate ways. That was probably for the best as the young heroes are nearly identical in so many ways.
As usual, the half-page Mighty Marvel Checklist ran after page 6 of the Rawhide Kid story. The highlights of the month were Avengers #90 with a chapter of the classic Kree-Skrull War by Roy Thomas and Sal Buscema and Incredible Hulk #142 by Roy Thomas and Herb Trimpe.The story in the latter revolved around a fundraiser held for the Hulk, a bit of social satire that made me chuckle. Thomas was my favorite Marvel writer during this period.
The rest of the page had the fan club Marvelmania selling Spider-Man and Daredevil portfolios said to include “original unpublished art,” complete reprints of each hero’s first issue, checklists and more. The cost of the portfolios (with shipping) was $2.25 each or you get both for $4. I’ve never seen either of these portfolios, so I don’t know if they were actually manufactured.
There was nothing new in the “classified” ads this time around. In future Rawhide Kid Wednesday bloggy things, I’ll only mention these ads when there’s something new to mention.
This issue’s non-series reprint tale was the mostly silent “And Not a Word Was Spoken!” (5 pages) by Stan Lee and Dick Ayers. It first saw print in Two Gun Kid #61 [January 1963]. The script consists of the title, a caption informing readers that no words are needed to tell this story and a poster in the final panel. Okay, some words were needed, but, just the same, it’s the great Ayers storytelling and drawing that do most of the heavy lifting.
SPOILERS AHEAD
SPOILERS AHEAD
SPOILERS AHEAD
SPOILERS AHEAD
SPOILERS AHEAD
SPOILERS AHEAD
SPOILERS AHEAD
SPOILERS AHEAD
A brutish gunman enters a saloon, terrifying everyone in the place save for a skinny cowboy with his legs on a table and, apparently, taking a nap. The brute bullies the bartender and a couple patrons before he spots the skinny cowboy.
The brute kicks the cowboy’s chair out from under him. He slaps the cowboy around a bit, goading him into a gunfight. With incredible speed and accuracy, the skinny guy shoots the bully’s guns out of his hands and shoots the brute himself in the shoulder. The wounded gunman doesn’t understand what the heck just happened.
The skinny cowboy rides out of town and, as he does so, he passes a poster on a wall. It has his picture on it and some copy:
DON’T MISS THE
BIG RODEO
STARRING
SKINNY SMITHERS
THE GREATEST
GUNMAN
SINCE
ANNIE OAKLEY
BIG RODEO
STARRING
SKINNY SMITHERS
THE GREATEST
GUNMAN
SINCE
ANNIE OAKLEY
SPOILERS OVER
SPOILERS OVER
SPOILERS OVER
SPOILERS OVER
SPOILERS OVER
SPOILERS OVER
SPOILERS OVER
SPOILERS OVER
The “Marvel Bullpen Bulletins” page was always an interesting mix of news, items about creators and plugs for the ever-growing line of Marvel Comics. The lead item this month was a plug for Amazing Spider-Man #100, a notable issue whose end-of-the-issue cliffhanger found our wall-crawling hero with four extra arms.
There was a shout-out to Tom Wolfe, whose book Radical Chic was the inspiration for this month's issue of Incredible Hulk. It was announced that EC Comics legends Reed Crandall and Al Williamson would be drawing stories for Marvel.
There was an item about Stan Lee speaking at various universities which include a plea that students stop asking the Bullpen for help with their term papers and the like. Marvel was flattered by such interest, but they had comic books to make.
Another announcement reported John Severin was moving to Colorado “where men are men and the taxes are lower.” The item also talked about Severin and sister Marie collaborating on the second issue of Kull the Conqueror, a truly gorgeous issue.
Other news: Gene Colan was teaching a part-time course on comics at a high school in New Jersey. Red Wolf was getting his own series to be written by Gardner Fox and drawn by Syd Shores.
There were more shout-outs to celebrities of sorts: Lynn Wolley, a radio news reporter from Texas; Mike Turner, a disc jockey from New York and Doug Kenney, the editor of National Lampoon. Even before the blockbuster super-hero movies, Marvel was getting some pretty good press.
Finally, this month’s “Stan’s Soapbox” was a salute to the Marvel artists. They had to draw great, they had to be able to co-plot the stores and they had to do it on tight deadlines. By the time I got to Marvel, I was writing detailed plots - usually panel by panel - for the artists. Now, of course, the full script is once again in vogue at most mainstream publishers.
The issue’s “Ridin’ the Trail with Rawhide” letters page didn’t get interesting until it got a bit creepy. Troy Turner of Philadelphia asked if Rawhide Kid was a monthly or bimonthly - it was a monthly - and expressed his regard for Western Gunfighters and the series “Gunhawk,” “The Renegades” and “Tales of Fort Rango.”
Walter Clay of Chicago wanted to know how the Kid got so fast with his guns and asked Marvel to send him a copy of the first issue of the Kid’s adventures. Marvel answered that they didn’t stock back issues and that the Kid got to be so fast with his guns due to lots of practice and lots of people shooting at him.
Bill Morgan of Staten Island requested a Rawhide Kid Annual, which was already on the schedule.
David Hayes asked how the Rawhide Kid became an outlaw...and Marvel responded in a somewhat inaccurate fashion. Here’s the story from my very first Rawhide Kid Wednesday:
“When the Rawhide Kid Turned...Outlaw!” is the story of how the Kid ended up on the wrong side of the law. Basically, after exposing a rustler, he fled the scene when the sheriff showed up. His big crime was leaving the scene of a crime. Even back then, some folks went overboard with the “tough on crime” stuff.
However, as the series progressed, Rawhide would make more serious errors of judgment, get framed for various crimes, and take the rap for crimes committed by others. Within a few issues, the “outlaw” brand, undeserved though it might be, makes more sense.
Andy Keeler of Humbolt, Arizona took exception to various elements of the series when he wrote:
I read RAWHIDE KID all the time, but one word of advice. If I were the Kid, being a fugitive, I’d change my outfit occasionally, and I wouldn’t keep calling myself the Rawhide Kid. Another thing: not everyone in the west carried Colt .45s or lever-action Winchesters. How about it? Study your history a little bit.
Marvel’s creepy response?
Hmmm...Let’s see now...Andy Keeler, Box one-thirty-four, Humbolt, Arizona, zip 86329. There! Okay, fella! We got it...
Did anyone ever hear from Andy after this?
The final editorial material in the issue is a full-page ad for the 68-page Western Gunfighters #6 [September 1971]. This would be the next-to-last issue of the title at this size and featuring any new material. With issue #8, it would go down to standard size and all reprints.
The cover is by Herb Trimpe with the bottom tier being scenes from the interior stories. There was 20 pages of new material this time around: 10-page stories of the Ghost Rider and Gunhawk. Here’s the contents:
The Ghost Rider in “Now Rides the Pale Horseman” (10 pages) by Len Wein (writer), Dick Ayers (pencils) and Syd Shores (inks). In this story, the current Ghost Rider is killed. He’ll be replaced by his brother in the next issue.
Black Mask in an untitled story (6 pages) drawn by Syd Shores and originally published in Black Rider #23 [July 1954]. I don’t know why the Black Rider had his name changed here, but he would be back to his real name in the next issue.
Wyatt Earp in “Outlawed” (5 pages) with art by Dick Ayers. It was originally published in Wyatt Earp #13 [August 1957].
“The Badge of the Deputy” (4 pages), a non-series story written by Stan Lee and drawn by Paul Reinman. It comes from Frontier Western #1 [February 1956].
Apache Kid in “The Trail of the Coyote” (5 pages). This story was originally published in Apache Kid #6 [June 1951] and was drawn by Werner Roth.
The Western Kid in an untitled five-page tale drawn by John Romita. It’s from Western Kid #5 [August 1955].
“The Sky Pilot” (4 pages) a non-series story from Western Kid #12 [October 1956]. It’s written by Stan Lee and drawn by Joe Sinnott.
“The Gunfighter” (4 pages) was another non-series story. Written by Stan Lee and drawn by Dick Ayers, it first saw publication in Wyatt Earp #8 [January 1957].
Gunhawk in “Triple Cross!” (10 pages). It’s a new story by scripter Allyn Brodsky, penciler Werner Roth and inker Bill Everett.
When I complete my Rawhide Kid collection, Western Gunfighters will be one of the Marvel westerns I’ll start searching out and buying as funds permit. The others will be Ghost Rider, Kid Colt Outlaw, The Mighty Marvel Western and Two Gun Kid.
We’re a long road from the end of my “Rawhide Kid Wednesday” bloggy things. My plan after that is to switch to the brilliantly-titled “Western Wednesday” in which I’ll write about whatever issues I’ve acquired. I do look ahead, don’t I?
I’ll be back tomorrow with a bloggy about a clueless cosplayer and what I think is an important discussion. See you then.
© 2016 Tony Isabella
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