RAWHIDE KID WEDNESDAY 137

RESOLVED: The Rawhide Kid is my favorite western comics character and one of my favorite comics characters period.  This is why I’ve written over a hundred columns about him. Something about his short stature, but large courage, honor and fighting skills speaks to me.  After rereading the Kid’s earliest adventures when Marvel reprinted them in a pair of Marvel Masterworks and an Essential Rawhide Kid volume, I decide to reacquire every Rawhide Kid comic, reread them and write about them. We’ve reached the title’s extended twilight.  We’ve seen the last new Rawhide Kid story that will appear in the now-bimonthly reprint series. This is the 137th installment of my “Rawhide Kid Wednesday” columns.

The Rawhide Kid #150 [March 1979] has a new cover by Tony DeZuniga. This is the next-to-last issue of the long-running title. Which is, at least, going out with some spiffy new covers by some of Marvel’s top artists.
                                                                                

The issue reprints “The Gun and the Arrow!” (14 pages) from Rawhide Kid #98 [April 1972]. The cover to that issue was pencilled by Larry Lieber and inked by Bill Everett. The story was written and pencilled by Larry Lieber with inks by George Roussos. I wrote about this story on August 24, 2016. You can read that column here.
                                                                                  

The inside front cover is an ad for Invasion of the Body Snatchers, the 1978 remake of the 1956 movie. There were two other remakes and a fourth is currently in development. The original movie scared the crap out of me. I watched it in the auditorium of Sts. Phillip and James Church and School.

The Church would show movies on Sunday afternoon to give parents a break from their kids and make a few bucks selling tickets, candy and popcorn. The original concept was to present good and wholesome films. We kids didn’t want to see those. So, slowly but surely, the movies changed from various inspirational tales of folks overcoming adversity with faith and such to thrillers in which science dealt (or tried to deal with) adversaries like Gorgo, the Giant Behemoth, Martians declaring war on our world and alien pod people. Now that was how to spend a Sunday afternoon!

There were two-and-a-half pages of classified ads and a smattering of half-page ads recruiting readers to sell cheap crap of one kind or another or cutting out the middleman and selling directly to those readers. Several full-page ads offered more novelty items, celebrity posters, toy soldiers, even more novelty items and more opportunities to make money selling stuff.

Comics fandom was growing and there were 28 ads for comics retail, up three from the previous issue. There was also an ad offering 3 mil comics storage bags at three bucks per hundred.
                                                                                        

A full-page house ad touted the new Shogun Warriors title by writer Doug Moench and artist Herb Trimpe.
                                                                                   

Heroes World had its usual full-page pitch. They offered Battlestar Galactic items and Marvel super-hero stuff.
                                                                                

The usual full-page Marvel subscription ad was updated with a new drawing by Marie Severin. If you subscribed to any two titles, you also got a Spider-Man marking pen.

Pizzazz was represented by the same full-page ad that had blandly been pitching the magazine for several issues.
                                                                                 

New to this issue was a half-page ad combining a pitch for all five Spider-Man comics - “America’s Number One Super-Hero” - with useful information on Marvel’s subscription service.
                                                                                

The launch of Power Man and Iron Fist, which kept the numbering from Luke Cage’s now-cancelled solo series, got the full-page house ad treatment as well. I guess combining the two titles worked out because the new series would run 59 issues.
                                                                                  

The Outlaw Kid reprint comes from The Outlaw Kid #16 [March 1957]. Joe Maneely was the cover artist.
                                                                                

“Treachery on the Trail!” (4 pages) was drawn by Doug Wildey. The writer has not yet been identified. This is the third reprinting of the tale. It also appeared in Outlaw Kid #7 [August 1971] and #23 [August 1974].

SPOILERS AHEAD
SPOILERS AHEAD
SPOILERS AHEAD
SPOILERS AHEAD

This is another fast-paced story. The Outlaw Kid sees a stagecoach being robbed. The Kid’s drives them off with his return gunfire. One of the coach’s drivers has been wounded. The injured man can’t travel, but the stage was carrying a $20,000 payroll to the town.

The Kid will take the stage back to town to get a doctor and also deliver the payroll. The robbers follow him.

The Kid outsmarts them by cutting lose the stage from its horses. The robbers flee for their lives.

The Kid gets the payroll to town safely. In his secret identity as rancher Lance Temple, his girlfriend Belle tells him she would like him to be a little bit like the Outlaw Kid.

SPOILERS ENDED
SPOILERS ENDED
SPOILERS ENDED
SPOILERS ENDED                                                                                 

The “Bullpen Bulletins” page starts with Stan Lee using his “Stan’s Soapbox” column to talk about the creation of Irving Forbush. You can read that amazing revelation below along with the rest of the page. As I’ve mentioned before, the Jim Shooter era Bullpen pages do nothing for me. 

                                                                                 

                                                           
The single-page Marvel/Hostess single-page comics advertisement is “The Incredible Hulk Changes His Mind!” He’s angry at puny humans, but cools down when a young boy gives him Hostess Cup Cakes. I’ve posted a scan of the page below.
                                                                                

There is only one more issue before The Rawhide Kid finish its long run. I’ll write about that issue next Wednesday.

Tomorrow, I’ll be writing about one of my not-so-recent adventures. That will be followed by more reports on my more recent adventures at conventions and elsewhere. I hope to get current on those trip reports before the end of the month.

Thanks for stopping by. See you tomorrow.

© 2018 Tony Isabella

TONY'S TIPS #250

This week in TONY ISABELLA'S BLOGGY THING...Marvel Masterworks: Daredevil Volume 12 with a new introduction by me and four Daredevil stories by me (as well as a new intro by Marv Wolfman and several of his DD stories); Valiant's Ninja-K #1-4 by Christos Gage with artists Tomas Giorello and Ariel Olivetti; and the wild final issues of U.S.Avengers by Al Ewing and Paco Diaz!

WEEKEND UPDATE

My big weekend plans involve being the Comics Guest of Honor at the Cleveland ConCoction convention Friday through Sunday, March 9-11, at the Bertram Inn and Convention Center in Aurora, Ohio. I wrote about this convention on Monday and Tuesday...and you can learn more by visiting the event’s website.

I’ll be pacing myself the rest of this week and into next week as I work through a long list of odds and ends. There will be bloggy things next week, but I don’t know if they will start before next Tuesday. More on that in a bit.

My appearance schedule is filling up swiftly. I don’t anticipate adding any shows to March or April, but I never say never. If you are putting on a convention or some other event and would like me there, e-mail me and I’ll give you my conditions for my appearances. And, as always, it’s no foul if you can’t meet my conditions. I’m a great date, but I’m not a cheap date and, having worked with my pal Roger Price on dozens of his Mid-Ohio-Con shows, I know that money can get tight for promoters.

Here’s my current 2018 schedule...

March 24: Cleveland Public Library Coffee and Comics

April 27-29: East Coast Comicon

May 5: Toys Time Forgot (Free Comic Book Day)

May 18-19: East Coast Black Age of Comics Convention

June 8-10: Fingerlakes Comic Con

July 13-15: G-Fest

August 17-18: TerrifiCon (Connecticut)

August 19: NEO Comic Con (North Olmsted)

September 8-9: Hall of Heroes Museum

September 28-30: Baltimore Comic Con

November 3-4: Akron Comicon

November 9-11: Grand Rapids Comic Con

November 17-18: Great American Comic Convention (Las Vegas)

To answer a frequently asked question, I’m not currently planning to attend this year’s Comic-Con International in San Diego. I’m leaving the dates open if something changes and I am able to attend, but, for the present, it’s most likely I won’t be there.

What will “pacing myself” look like next week?

As regards the bloggy thing, you can expect several trip reports. Though it happened last year, I want to write about my trip to New York City for a special screening of The Defenders. It was a very cool visit and I want to share it with you. It will certainly take more than one day's worth of bloggy things.

I’ve got some things to say about Marvel Legacy and my quick trip to Brooklyn, New York to be interviewed on camera for a documentary project about that publisher’s legacy. That also might run to two days.

After that, I hope to regale you with my convention reports on the one-day Action! event in Windsor, the glorious Pensacon in Florida and, of course, the Cleveland ConCoction.

Besides writing the travel bloggy things, I’ll be planning upcoming interviews, finalizing my convention plans and deciding on my next writing projects. Clearly, I do not completely grasp the concept of “pacing myself.”

This is an exciting and insanely busy time for me. But it would not have happened without the support of my family, my friends and my readers. I’ll do my best to never take any of you lightly.

Thanks for stopping by. I’ll see you next week.

© 2018 Tony Isabella

TONY'S TIPS #249

This week in TONY'S TIPS at Tales of Wonder... Bill Schelly’s Sense of Wonder: My Life in Comic Fandom–The Whole Story; Timely Confidential: When the Golden Age of Comic Books Was Young by Allen Bellman with editing by Dr. Michael J. Vassallo and Audrey Parente; and Rick Norwood’s Comics Revue #381-382!

RAWHIDE KID WEDNESDAY 136

RESOLVED: The Rawhide Kid is my favorite western comics character and one of my favorite comics characters period.  This is why I’ve written over a hundred columns about him. Something about his short stature, but large courage, honor and fighting skills speaks to me.  After rereading the Kid’s earliest adventures when Marvel reprinted them in a pair of Marvel Masterworks and an Essential Rawhide Kid volume, I decide to reacquire every Rawhide Kid comic, reread them and write about them. We’ve reached the title’s extended twilight.  We’ve seen the last new Rawhide Kid story that will appear in the now-bimonthly reprint series. This is the 136th installment of my “Rawhide Kid Wednesday” columns.

The Rawhide Kid #149 [January 1979] has a new cover by Gene Colan with inks by Bob McLeod. The cover kind of sort of depicts a scene from the story, save that the startled individual by the campfire is much younger inside the comic.
                                                                                     

This issue reprints “The Young Gun” (14 pages) from Rawhide Kid #97 [March 1972]. The cover to that issue was pencilled by Larry Lieber and inked by Bill Everett. The story was written and pencilled by Larry Lieber with inks by George Roussos. I wrote about this story on July 27, 2016 and you can read that column here.

The inside front cover is the ad for that Amazing Energized Spider-Man that ran in the previous issue! The thirteen-and-a-half inches tall toy came from Remco and the company also offered an energized Green Goblin. Also repeated: a full-page subscription ads offering savings on Marvel’s top titles. If you ordered five subscriptions, you got a free sub for Star Wars.
                                                                              

                  
Simon & Schuster has a full-page ad proclaiming “1979 Heralds a New Year of Marvel Greatness!” The volumes offered: Marvel’s Greatest Super-Hero Battles, The Mighty World of Marvel Pin-Up Book, Marvel Mazes, the Silver Surfer graphic novel by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, The Incredible Hulk Calendar, The Incredible Hulk and others.

There are two pages of classified advertisements. There are 25 ads from mail-order comic-book dealers, the regular ad for 3 mil comics storage bags at three bucks per hundred, and a large-ish for “The world’s biggest and best comic convention.” Given the ad was placed by Adam Malin, I’m guessing this event was the first or, at least, an early Creation con.
                                                                                    

Clark Bars has a half-page ad for “The Famous Clark Bar Superhero Posters!” Your choices are Superman, Batman, Spider-Man, the Hulk, Captain America, Shazam, Thor or Wonder Woman. These posters were  $2.75 apiece with six wrappers from any famous Clark or Holloway candy. That’s six wrappers for each poster. That’s also a whole lot of candy to consume.
                                                                                 

The Heroes World ad is a Star Wars special pitching dozens of cool action figures, stand-up posters and more. I’ve scanned and posted this ad at a large size, but I think you’ll still need a magnifying glass to see all the items and how much they cost.

There are two half-page and six full-page ads in this issue.  The half-page ads are from Fun Factory (novelty items) and Grit (sell the newspaper and make $2-$10 per week). The full-page ads are for Blammo Soft ‘n SugarFree Gum; Crossman Air Guns; Safety Wing Bike Reflector in conjunction with Whoppers malted melt candy; 100 toy soldiers for $1.75; full color posters of Shaun Cassidy and other 1970s celebrities on the inside back cover; and Lego Expert Builder toys on the back cover.
                                                                                   

There’s a half-page ad for Marvel’s full-color adaptation of Jaws 2. The magazine-size comic was written by editor Rick Marshall with art by Gene Colan and Tom Palmer. It was reproduced directly from Palmer’s hand-painted originals. Also in the magazine: an exclusive interview with Jaws 2 director Jeannot Swarc.

The full-page bare bones Pizzazz subscription ad from the previous issue is back in this issue. It offered a free six-month sub to any one of these Marvel comics: Amazing Spider-Man, Avengers, Captain America, Defenders, Fantastic Four, Incredible Hulk, Invaders, Marvel Tales, Thor or Star Wars.
                                                                            

The Outlaw Kid reprint comes from The Outlaw Kid #17 [May 1957]. John Severin was the cover artist.
                                                                              

“Fists of Steel” (4 pages) was drawn by Doug Wildey. The writer has not yet been identified. This is the second reprinting of the tale. It also appeared in Outlaw Kid #5 [April 1971]. I’m going to skip the usual spoiler warnings because, well, because there’s not much going on here that we haven’t seen before.

The Outlaw Kid is again cast as the guy who takes down bullies. In this story, its miners who come into town every Saturday and make life miserable for the citizens with their bullying and carousing. When they start shooting up a saloon, the Outlaw Kid shoots their guns out of their hands. He accepts a challenge to duke it out with the main bully. He beats him easily and then, when the others try to gun him down, again shoots the guns out of their hands. Ordered to pay for the damage they have caused, the miners mend their ways. Now the town enjoys their weekend visits.

Though the story is familiar - most of the Outlaw Kid reprints in Rawhide Kid have this same basic theme - I sort of like the notion of a masked bully-tamer. Someone should develop the idea for a new and contemporary hero. Maybe it’ll be me.
                                                                             

The issue’s “Bullpen Bulletins” page kicks off with Stan Lee using his “Stan’s Soapbox” column to talk about the Marvel philosophy on making comic books. It’s a subject Stan returned to on a number of occasions. The rest of the page, which you can read if you click on the image above this paragraph, is the usual less-than-thrilling plugs for upcoming projects. In the Jim Shooter era, these kinds of plugs just lack the sassy fun of editorial administrations before his reign.
                                                                                   

This issue’s Marvel/Hostess single-page crossover is “Captain Marvel Meets the Dreadnought.” The Dreadnought is a raider ship that has hijacked the Omega Space Station’s shipment of Hostess Fruit Pies. The moral of the extremely short “story” is that it’s not right for evil to rule men’s destiny or to deprive them of their fruit pies. I dunno. I expect a more thought-provoking moral from a cosmically aware super-hero.

There are only two more issues before The Rawhide Kid ends its long run. I’ll be back tomorrow with more stuff and back next Wednesday  with a new installment of “Rawhide Kid Wednesday.”

Happy trails to you, my bloggy friends.

© 2018 Tony Isabella

IF ALL GOES AS PLANNED...

If March is not too late to make a New Year’s resolution, I have a new one to share with you. I will never again end a bloggy with the sentence “If all goes as planned, I will have a new bloggy thing for you tomorrow.”

Things did not go as planned on Monday. Everything on my “must do” list took twice and sometimes thrice as long as planned. I started writing a column about Marvel Legacy and the publisher flying me to New York to be part of a documentary about Marvel’s legacy. The writing did not go well. Rather than rush a bloggy thing on such an important subject, I’m pushing that column to Thursday.

On the plus side, Cleveland ConCoction has released two posters for the upcoming event. If you read yesterday’s bloggy thing, you know I’ll be at the convention. Heck, I’m named as their Comics Guest of Honor, yet another honor in this most amazing and surprising third act of mine.

At the top of today’s bloggy thing is the poster showing my smiling face and the faces of the other guests of honor. Right below this paragraph is the poster showing the incredible array of fantasy and science fiction authors who will also be appearing at this event. That’s a lot of wordsmiths in one place.
                                                                                   

If you read yesterday’s bloggy thing, you also know how excited I am to be attending Cleveland ConCoction. I’m hoping I see some of my readers there as well.

Tomorrow’s “Rawhide Kid Wednesday” column is already written and ready to go. Fingers crossed.

See you tomorrow. I hope.

© 2018 Tony Isabella

CLEVELAND CONCOCTION PREVIEW

The Cleveland ConCoction is my next convention appearance. It’s a multi-fandom convention that will be taking place Friday, March 9 through Sunday, March 11, at the Bertram Inn and Conference Center in Aurora, Ohio.

The event embraces all kinds of fan activities and interests. I’m there from the world of comics. Actor Sean Owen Roberts, who you’ve seen on Painkiller Jane, Supernatural, The Flash and various other genre TV shows, will be there. A whole bunch of fantasy, horror and science fiction authors are on the guest list. Cosplay, gaming and filk singing are also part of the programming.

Roberts is someone I’m hoping to chat with at length. Besides all the TV work, he was also in Ice Road Terror (2011). That was a cool monster movie that aired on the SyFy channel. As you know, my love of giant monster movies - I define giant monsters as anything freakishly bigger than it ought to be, like the Dumpster President’s ego and sense of entitlement - is second only to my love of the comics art form. Of course, with three days of convention events taking place late into the evenings, I expect I’ll have time to chat with many interesting creators and fans.

Registration for ConCoction starts at 10 am on Friday and 9 am on Saturday and Sunday. Adult membership in the convention is $50 for all three days and half that for children ages 7-12. There are also single day rates for adults and children.

Just glancing at the extensive programming schedule, I see panels on gaming, fandom, writing, anime, cosplaying, the Teenage Mutant Ninja turtles, steampunk, Star Trek and even belly dancing. Don’t worry. I am prohibited by federal injunction from belly dancing in public...and I think the world is better for that.

I’ll be participating in two programming events. On Friday, March 9 at 6 pm in the McKinley Room A, I’ll be doing a Q&A session. Just the place to ask me questions about comics I wrote 45 years ago and me squirm as I try to remember them. Or you can ask me about Black Lightning, my six-issue Black Lightning: Cold Dead Hands series and the Tuesday night Black Lightning television series that’s pulling in the best ratings the CW has ever had in that time slot. Really, you can ask me just about anything. The worst that could happen is my pleading the Fifth.

On Sunday, March 11 at 10 am in Garfield Room C, the convention’s programming schedule will present “Coffee Hour with Tony Isabella.” While there’s always the possibility this hour will consist of me yawning while trying to recover for Saturday night’s parties, I’ll endeavor to be entertaining and informative.

When I’m not at these two programming events...or other programming events...or wandering around the convention...or checking out the art show, con suite or authors alley...I’ll be at my tables in the exhibit hall. As usual before a convention, I’m still figuring out what I’ll be bringing to sell at those tables.

I will be selling Black Lightning: Cold Dead Hands #1-5, though I  only have a few copies of the fifth issue at this time. It appears my reorders of the Black Lightning trade paperbacks - Volume 1 and 2 - will arrive in time for the convention. I’ll have copies of my script for Black Lightning: Cold Dead Hands #1 and the unique Black Lightning poster created by Ohio artist Lee Smith. I’ll also have mini-posters featuring Daredevil and Luke Cage.

I’m putting together boxes of Isabella-written items, non-Isabella-written hardcovers and trade paperbacks, and comic books priced at just one dollar each. There’s some real cool stuff in these boxes and the prices are best described as “bargain.”

I will not be charging for my signature at this convention. But I do ask that, if you bring me a tall stack of stuff to sign, you be cognizant of the line behind you. If there is a line behind you, I would sign some of your books and then ask you to either go to the back of line or return at a later time. I don’t want a fan standing in my line so long they miss out on all the wonderful stuff going on at the Cleveland ConCoction.

If you want to interview me during the convention, please contact me before the convention. E-mail is the best way to contact me on this and any other matter.

For more information on the Cleveland ConCoction, please visit the event’s website.

I’m looking forward to my first appearance at this convention. I’m hoping to see some of you there as well.

That’s all for today, my bloggy friends. If all goes as planned, I will have a new bloggy thing for you tomorrow.

© 2018 Tony Isabella