Issuu

“ WI L D W E ST ” I SS U E ! AUGUST

2010

N$o7..4925

MICHAEL FLEISHER DISCUSSES ®

82658 27762 1

Tim Truman’s SCOUT [ Herb Trimpe’s RAWHIDE KID [ TWO-GUN KID joins THE AVENGERS Plus: VIGILANTE [ DC’s WEIRD WESTERNS [ RED WOLF [ CALEB HAMMER [ NIGHT RIDER

IN A RARE INTERVIEW!

THE RETRO COMICS EXPERIENCE!

Edited by MICHAEL EURY, BACK ISSUE magazine celebrates comic books of the 1970s, 1980s, and today through recurring (and rotating) departments like “Pro2Pro” (dialogue between professionals), “BackStage Pass” (behind-the-scenes of comicsbased media), “Greatest Stories Never Told” (spotlighting unrealized comics series or stories), and more!

Go to www.twomorrows.com for other issues, and an ULTIMATE BUNDLE, with all the issues at HALF-PRICE!

BACK ISSUE #28

BACK ISSUE #29

BACK ISSUE #30

“Heroes Behaving Badly!” Hulk vs. Thing tirades with RON WILSON, HERB TRIMPE, and JIM SHOOTER; CARY BATES and CARMINE INFANTINO on “Trial of the Flash”; JOHN BYRNE’s heroes who cross the line; Teen Titan Terra, Kid Miracleman, Mark Shaw Manhunter, and others who went bad, featuring LAYTON, MICHELINIE, WOLFMAN, and PÉREZ, and more! New cover by DARWYN COOKE!

“Mutants” issue! CLAREMONT, BYRNE, SMITH, and ROMITA, JR.’s X-Men work, NOCENTI and ARTHUR ADAMS’ Longshot, McLEOD and SIENKIEWICZ’s New Mutants, the UK’s CAPTAIN BRITAIN series, lost Angel stories, Beast’s tenure with the Avengers, the return of the original X-Men in X-Factor, the revelation of Nightcrawler’s “original” father, a history of DC’s mutant, Captain Comet, and more! Cover by DAVE COCKRUM!

“Saturday Morning Heroes!” Interviews with TV Captain Marvels JACKSON BOSTWICK and JOHN DAVEY, MAGGIN and SAVIUK’s lost Superman/”Captain Thunder” sequel, Space Ghost interviews with GARY OWENS and STEVE RUDE, MARV WOLFMAN guest editorial, Super Friends, unproduced fourth wave Super Powers action figures, Astro Boy, ADAM HUGHES tribute to DAVE STEVENS, and a new cover by ALEX ROSS!

(100-page magazine) $6.95 (Digital edition) $2.95

(100-page magazine) $6.95 US (Digital edition) $2.95

BACK ISSUE #31

BACK ISSUE #32

BACK ISSUE #33

BACK ISSUE #34

BACK ISSUE #35

“STEVE GERBER Salute!” In-depth look at his Howard the Duck, Man-Thing, Omega the Unknown, Defenders, Metal Men, Mister Miracle, Thundarr the Barbarian, and more! Plus: Creators pay tribute to Steve Gerber, featuring art by and commentary from BRUNNER, BUCKLER, COLAN, GOLDEN, STAN LEE, LEVITZ, MAYERIK, MOONEY, PLOOG, SIMONSON, and others. Cover painting by FRANK BRUNNER!

“Tech, Data, and Hardware!” The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe, WEIN, WOLFMAN, and GREENBERGER on DC’s Who’s Who, SAVIUK, STATON, and VAN SCIVER on Drawing Green Lantern, ED HANNIGAN Art Gallery, history of Rom: Spaceknight, story of BILL MANTLO, Dial H for Hero, Richie Rich’s Inventions, and a Spider-Mobile schematic cover by ELIOT BROWN and DUSTY ABELL!

“Teen Heroes!” Teen Titans in the 1970s & 1980s, with CARDY, GARCÍA-LÓPEZ, PÉREZ, TUSKA, and WOLFMAN, BARON and GUICE on the Flash, interviews with TV Billy Batson MICHAEL GRAY and writer STEVE SKEATES, NICIEZA and BAGLEY’s New Warriors, Legion of Super-Heroes 1970s art gallery, James Bond Jr., and… the Archies! New Teen Titans cover by GEORGE PÉREZ and colored by GENE HA!

“New World Order!” Adam Warlock examined with JIM STARLIN and ROY THOMAS, the history of Miracleman with ALAN DAVIS & GARRY LEACH, JIM SHOOTER interview, Marvel’s post-STAN LEE editors-in-chief on New Universe, Logan’s Run, Star Hunters, BOB WIACEK on Star Wars and Star-Lord, DICK GIORDANO revisits Crisis on Infinite Earths and “The Post-Crisis DC Universe You Didn’t See,” new cover by JIM STARLIN!

“Villains!” MIKE ZECK and J.M. DeMATTEIS discuss “Kraven’s Last Hunt”, history of the Hobgoblin is exposed, the Joker’s short-lived series, Secret Society of Super-Villains and Kobra, a Magneto biography, Luthor and Brainiac’s malevolent makeovers, interview with Secret Society artist MIKE VOSBURG, plus contributions from BYRNE, CONWAY, FRENZ, NOVICK, ROMITA JR., STERN, WOLFMAN, and a cover by MIKE ZECK!

(100-page magazine) $6.95 US (Digital edition) $2.95

BACK ISSUE #36

BACK ISSUE #37

BACK ISSUE #38

“Monsters!” Frankenstein in Comics timeline and a look at BERNIE WRIGHTSON’s and Marvel’s versions, histories of Vampirella and Morbius, ISABELLA and AYERS discuss It the Living Colossus, REDONDO’s Swamp Thing, Man-Bat, monster art gallery, interview with TONY DeZUNIGA, art and commentary from ARTHUR ADAMS, COLÓN, KALUTA, NEBRES, PLOOG, SUTTON, VEITCH, and a painted cover by EARL NOREM!

“Comics Go to War!” KUBERT/KANIGHER’s Sgt. Rock, EVANIER and SPIEGLE’s Blackhawk, GEORGE PRATT’s Enemy Ace, plus Unknown Soldier, Wonder Woman’s return to WWII, the Invaders, Combat Kelly, Vietnam Journal, Sad Sack, the Joe Kubert School, art and commentary from AYERS, HEATH, KIRBY, ROBBINS, ROMITA SR., SINNOTT, and the return of GERRY TALAOC! JOE KUBERT cover!

“Family!” JOHN BYRNE’s Fantastic Four, SIMONSON, BRIGMAN, and BOGDANOVE on Power Pack, LEVITZ and STATON on the Huntress, Henry Pym’s “son” Ultron, Wonder Twins, Commissioner Gordon & Batgirl’s relationship, and Return of the New Gods. With art and commentary from BUCKLER, BUSIEK, FRADON, HECK, INFANTINO, NEWTON, and WOLFMAN, and a Norman Rockwell-inspired BYRNE cover!

“April Fools”! GIFFEN and LOREN FLEMING on Ambush Bug, BYRNE’s She-Hulk, interviews with HEMBECK, ALAN KUPPERBERG, Flaming Carrot’s BOB BURDEN, and DAVID CHELSEA, Spider-Ham, Forbush-Man, Reid Fleming, MAD in the 1970s, art and commentary from DICK DeBARTOLO, TOM DeFALCO, AL FELDSTEIN, AL JAFFEE, STAN LEE, DAVE SIM, and a Spider-Ham cover by MIKE WIERINGO, inked by KARL KESEL!

(NOW 8x/YEAR, WITH 16 COLOR PAGES!) “Cat People!” Catwoman, Black Cat, Hellcat, Vixen, Atlas’ Tiger-Man and Cougar, White Tiger and the Sons of the Tiger, Wildcat, Thundercats, Josie and the Pussycats, and the Badger! With art and commentary from BOLLAND, BRENNERT, COLON, CONWAY, DITKO, GOLDBERG, LEVITZ, MILGROM, MST3000’s MIKE NELSON, and more. Cover by JOE STATON and FREDDY LOPEZ, JR.!

(100-page magazine) $6.95 US (Digital edition) $2.95

(84-page magazine with COLOR) $7.95 US • (Digital edition) $2.95

BACK ISSUE #39

BACK ISSUE #40

Volume 1, Number 42 August 2010 Celebrating the Best Comics of the '70s, '80s, and Beyond!

The Retro Comics Experience!

EDITOR Michael Eury PUBLISHER John Morrow DESIGNER Rich J. Fowlks

BACK SEAT DRIVER: Editorial by Michael Eury . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2

COVER ARTIST Tony DeZuniga

INTERVIEW: Michael Fleisher and Jonah Hex . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3 The celebrated writer from the Bronze Age recalls his controversial comics stories

COVER DESIGNER Michael Kronenberg

FLASHBACK: The Failed Comeback Cowboy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16 The brief, brutal, and brilliant adventures of Earth-One’s Vigilante

SPECIAL THANKS Michael Ambrose Roger Ash Michael Aushenker Dick Ayers Michael Browning John Byrne DC Comics Chuck Dixon Luis Dominguez Scott Edelman Steve Englehart Michael Fleisher Dennis Fujitake Peter B. Gillis Mike Gold Grand Comic-Book Database Ed Hannigan Brian Heiler Flint Henry Heritage Comics Auctions Tony Isabella Dan Johnson James Kingman Bill Kunkel Gary Kwapisz Tom Mandrake Mego Museum

Ian Millsted Fabian Nicieza Dennis O’Neil Don Perlin Greg Sanders Peter Sanderson John Schwirian Jim Shooter Beau Smith Anthony Snyder Roger Stern Tom Taggart Roy Thomas Herb Trimpe Timothy Truman John Wells

FLASHBACK: Two-Gun Kid: Right Between the Eons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23 The story behind the time-traveling cowboy and his days as an Avenger FLASHBACK: The All-Star Weird Western Heroes of DC Comics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .31 Bat Lash, Firehair, El Diablo, Scalphunter, and more—DC’s new breed of Westerns ART GALLERY: Jonah Hex . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .41 The gruesome gunslinger stars in a full-color gallery of gut-grabbing images ART GALLERY: Mego Western Art . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .44 From the Mego Museum, Gray Morrow’s package art from the “Heroes of the American West” toy line FLASHBACK: Red Wolf . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .46 A man torn between two worlds, with comments from Roy Thomas and Fabian Nicieza ROUGH STUFF . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .54 Pistol-packin’ pencil art from the Tom Ziuko archives BEYOND CAPES: A Night To Remember: The Original Ghost Rider . . . . . . . . . . . .60 Marvel’s sinister cyclist has his roots in Dick Ayers’ Old West incarnation of Ghost Rider FLASHBACK: Charlton 1970s Western Roundup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .63 From Apache Red to Yang, Bronze Age cowboy comics from that house in Derby, Connecticut INTERVIEW: Rawhide Kid: The Last Gunfight . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .66 Artist Herb Trimpe remembers the 1985 Rawhide Kid miniseries FLASHBACK: The Coming of Caleb Hammer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .68 The story of Marvel’s attempt to create a new Western hero BEYOND CAPES: The Savage Future of Timothy Truman’s Scout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .70 Apache warrior Emanuel Santana’s struggles to survive in post-apocalyptic America BACK TALK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .78 Reader feedback on “Cat People” issue #40 and more BACK ISSUE™ is published 8 times a year by TwoMorrows Publishing, 10407 Bedfordtown Drive, Raleigh, NC 27614. Michael Eury, Editor. John Morrow, Publisher. Editorial Office: BACK ISSUE, c/o Michael Eury, Editor, 118 Edgewood Avenue NE, Concord, NC 28025. Email: euryman@gmail.com. Six-issue subscriptions: $60 Standard US, $85 Canada, $107 Surface International. Please send subscription orders and funds to TwoMorrows, NOT to the editorial office. Cover art by Tony DeZuniga. Jonah Hex TM & © DC Entertainment. All Rights Reserved. All characters are © their respective companies. All material © their creators unless otherwise noted. All editorial matter © 2010 Michael Eury and TwoMorrows Publishing. BACK ISSUE is a TM of TwoMorrows Publishing. ISSN 1932-6904. Printed in Canada. FIRST PRINTING.

Wild West Issue

•

BACK ISSUE • 1

PROOFREADERS John Morrow and Eric Nolen-Weathington

Michael Eury

While I grew up watching Gunsmoke and Bonanza (and reruns of The Lone Ranger) on television, I was never a fan of Western comic books. Sure, I picked up an occasional Jonah Hex during the 1970s (starting with his first appearance in All-Star Western #10), but routinely avoided Marvel’s This-and-That Kid titles and comics’ other cowboys, preferring my good guys in capes and cowls rather than bandanas and spurs. Then, in the late 1970s, I discovered in the back-issue bins DC Comics’ late-Silver Age gem Bat Lash (with its amazing Nick Cardy art) at about the same time a local TV station was airing afternoon reruns of its inspiration, Maverick. Both concepts featured flawed but likable, non-traditional protagonists. Through comics shops (what few there were back then) and ads in what was then known as The Buyer’s Guide to Comics Fandom, I pieced together a collection of Dell’s Maverick comics (featuring delightful photo covers and beautiful interior art by Dan Spiegle). Still, I wasn’t a Western comics convert. That really hasn’t changed, although I do sample the occasional Jonah Hex issue or story arc. While many of you will disagree with my lack of interest in Westerns (and let’s just agree to disagree, okay? It ain’t worth “steppin’ outside” over…), there are many more comics readers who are like me and have little or no interest in Westerns. Even if you don’t like Western comics, you should find lots of interest in this issue. As with our “Comics Go to War” issue

(BACK ISSUE #37), several of our articles feature superheroes, and our lead feature, Michael Browning’s superb interview with the elusive Michael Fleisher, should be a crowd-pleaser for anyone who read DC comics in the 1970s. And if you do like Western comics, then you’re in for a treat— our Wild West issue corrals the best of the West!

THE INVINCIBLE GENE COLAN BENEFIT AUCTION From writer Clifford Meth comes the following announcement about someone who is no stranger to BACK ISSUE’s pages, artist Gene Colan: Gene has a badly broken shoulder and is unable to work. The episode will cost him at least three months (likely more) without being able to earn, to say nothing of hospital and physical rehab bills. So Gene’s friends are assembling an auction to help him make it through this rough patch. Want to help? Contribute. Bid. Spread the word. When items post, please bid on multiple items—this allows us to combine shipping. To bid, send LOT #, description, and bid via email to cliffmeth@aol.com (put “Colan Bid” in subject). If your bid is winning, your initials will be posted next to the item that evening. The auction can be found at: www.genecolan.blogspot.com. Here’s wishing Gentleman Gene a speedy recovery!

Michael Browning

Michael Fleisher wrote nearly 700 comic-book stories in his 20-year career. But it’s his Jonah Hex stories that are his best remembered. Jonah Hex is a scarred, Western bounty hunter who first appeared in All-Star Western #10 (Feb.-Mar. 1972) and has arguably been DC Comics’ most popular Western hero for nearly four decades. Fleisher was a new writer at DC Comics when he got the assignment. He’d written three volumes of the Encyclopedia of Comic Book Heroes before scripting the Spectre series in Adventure Comics for a run of very controversial stories with artist Jim Aparo. Fleisher took over Jonah Hex after the character’s co-creator John Albano and writer Arnold Drake both walked away from the Western series. Albano, who co-created Jonah Hex with artist Tony DeZuniga, wrote Jonah Hex stories for the last three issues of All-Star Western and then wrote Hex stories for Weird Western Tales #14, 16-19, and finally, Weird Western Tales #21. Drake, who said he never liked writing Westerns, wrote only one issue, Weird Western Tales #20, and Albano returned to write one last story before he handed the writing reins to Fleisher. Fleisher started writing Jonah Hex stories with Weird Western Tales #22 (May-June 1974), a tale called “Showdown at Hard Times,” and continued as the sole scribe of the character’s adventures in the Old West and beyond all throughout the 1970s and into the late 1980s. For 92 straight issues of the Jonah Hex series and 18 of the futuristic Hex, Fleisher guided his favorite character from bounty to bounty, leaving a trail of bloodshed and terror in his wake. While Albano’s and Drake’s stories were gritty and realistic, they added little to the character. Fleisher gave Jonah an origin story, a villain from his past, and introduced Jonah to his only love interest, Mei Ling, who would soon become Hex’s wife— but only for a short time. Along the way, Hex was

Fleisher Favorites Writer Michael Fleisher’s two most popular DC characters, the Spectre and Jonah Hex, in a terrific commissioned illustration by Tom Mandrake. From the collection of Michael Browning. TM & © DC Entertainment.

Wild West Issue

•

BACK ISSUE • 3

Beginnings: Encyclopedia of Comic Book Heroes

Milestones: House of Mystery / House of Secrets / The Spectre in Adventure Comics / Weird Western Tales / Jonah Hex / The Brute / The Grim Ghost / Ironjaw / Morlock 2001 / Weird Suspense featuring the Tarantula / Shade the Changing Man / Spider-Woman / Ghost Rider / Creepy / Man-Thing / Conan the Barbarian / The Savage Sword of Conan / Hex / Little Shop of Horrors / Haywire / Advanced Dungeons and Dragons / 2000 AD / Chasing Hairy

Work in Progress: Shambler

Michael Fleisher

nearly killed by scores of bad guys, all of whom met their fate at the hands of a man whose name was spoken in whispers. Fleisher worked with several different artists on the book, including Tony DeZuniga, José Luis García-López, Ernie Chan, Luis Dominguez, Dick Ayers, Mark Texeira, Doug Wildey, Noly Panaligan, George Moliterni, Ron Wagner, Gerald Forton, Ross Andru, Rich Buckler, Keith Giffen, and Russ Heath. Fleisher and Heath crafted what many consider one of the Jonah Hex classics: DC Special Series #16, also known as the “Jonah Hex Spectacular,” published in the fall of 1978, which featured the death of the title character at the age of 66. Killing off a character while his book was still very popular was something unheard of at the time and was controversial, but well received. In the Jonah Hex Spectacular, Hex dies at the hands of George Barrow, who is then shot down by a lawman. Jonah’s corpse is then bought by a circus owner, stuffed, and dressed up and paraded around so people could see the famous gunfighter—after they paid their admission fee, of course. When Jonah Hex’s sales declined in the mid-1980s, DC canceled his series with issue #92 (Aug. 1985), but Fleisher wasn’t finished with the charcter. A fan of the Mad Max/Road Warrior movies, Fleisher took Jonah into the future for an 18-issue run of postapocalyptic adventures in a series simply entitled Hex. At the end of the series, Jonah meets up with his stuffed corpse in a closet. Fleisher worked for Marvel and DC and then Fleetwood Publishing on 2000 AD before abruptly leaving comics behind to pursue other interests, mainly going back to school at the University of Michigan. His last work in comics was written for 2000 AD in 1991. Since then, he’s written another novel (his first, Chasing Hairy, was published in the early 1980s) and is living with his wife in Oregon. Fleisher has been largely absent from the comics scene for almost as long as he was a part of it. In his first interview in two decades, Fleisher opens up about working on Jonah Hex and touches on his early Spectre stories and what he thinks about superheroes. - Michael Browning MICHAEL BROWNING: You had written three volumes of The Encyclopedia of Comic Book Heroes and a series of controversial Spectre stories for Adventure Comics, then you took over the writing of Jonah Hex in Weird Western Tales #22. How did you get the writing assignment on that series? MICHAEL FLEISHER: I had gotten permission from DC Comics [to work on the encyclopedias]. DC had a small library containing every comic DC had ever published and, as a matter of fact, I remember there was a sort of open metal container on a shelf

“Poisen” Pen An unused version of the Jonah Hex cover to Weird Western Tales #19 (Sept.-Oct. 1973), by illustrator Tony DeZuniga. Courtesy of Heritage Comics Auctions (www.ha.com). TM & © DC Entertainment.

4 • BACK ISSUE • Wild West Issue

that contained about a half-dozen Action Comics #1s. No one ever dreamed at the time that they’d sell for half a million dollars, something utterly absurd. [Editor’s note: A copy of Action #1 sold for 1.5 million in late March 2010!] I spent a lot of time in that library making notes for the Encyclopedia of Comic Book Heroes. What happened at DC was that John Albano was writing Jonah Hex and fairly early in the game, [he] quit it. John Albano quit Jonah Hex after a very brief run, and I begged Joe Orlando to let me write the series. I don’t remember how many issues [Albano] did, but it wasn’t many. I was very eager to do it. Joe Orlando was my favorite editor there and the person with whom I mostly worked, and he turned the series over to me. I was ecstatic to get it. BROWNING: After the Spectre and having done so much research for your Encyclopedias, did you have to make a big change to write a Western comic, which is very different from writing superheroes? FLEISHER: It wasn’t tough writing a Western. My parents divorced when I was four. Divorce was actually quite infrequent in 1946 or 1947 and I remember in all of my elementary school, I only met one other student whose parents were divorced. So it was very unusual being the child of parents who were divorced. Every Saturday, my father would pick me up at my mother’s home where I lived and we would go to a double-feature Western. I saw two Westerns every Saturday for years. So it wasn’t very hard to write at all. I really thought the Jonah Hex character had huge potential and I begged Joe Orlando to give it to me and I was thrilled to get it. I read the Albano issues and the idea of the character was somehow exciting to me, and when Albano dropped out of it I was overjoyed. There was something about it that struck home for me, and I wanted to do it very much.

I never thought it out in very great detail before I took the job. And also, it came very, very easy for me. I lived in New York City at the time and I can remember being in my apartment and, on a single afternoon, I plotted four Jonah Hex stories in a row. It was effortless for me. I always had ideas for it. It was a dream job. I never had any doubts and never paced the floor thinking about ideas. Sometimes, I had an idea for a story, a sort-of kernel of an idea for a story, and it took a while to work it out, but I always had ideas for it and they always came easily. The stories went very quickly. It was really a lot of fun—of very great contrast, by the way, to my very great difficulty in writing about superheroes. BROWNING: You found it difficult to write superheroes? FLEISHER: I think it’s safe to say that I was a bad superhero writer. I worked mostly for DC, but I worked for Marvel, also, and I worked for a fair number of comic-book companies, but I always felt awkward with superheroes.

Wild West Issue

Trailblazing Tony DeZuniga (left) A Jonah Hex sketch by the bounty hunter’s co-creator, Tony DeZuniga, from the Michael Browning collection. (below) A DeZuniga Hex commission, courtesy of Jerry Boyd. TM & © DC Entertainment.

•

BACK ISSUE • 5

As the relevancy era of comics, a time of social activism for most DC superheroes, kicked into high gear at the dawn of the 1970s, writer Denny O’Neil introduced the Earth-One version of the Vigilante in Justice League of America #78 (Feb. 1970). Right at the beginning of “The Coming of the Doomsters,” Vig, as he was known for short, came out guns blazing in his civilian identity of Greg Sanders, lowly night watchman for a smoke-belching industrial factory outside of Green Arrow’s home turf, Star City. Though similar to his Earth-Two counterpart—both were popular Country/Western singing stars known as the “Prairie Troubadour” and both had fought crime as the Vigilante for years—the Earth-One Sanders had long ago retired as a crimefighter. Those crimefighting instincts still served him well, for in his job as a night watchman Sanders had stumbled onto a diabolical plot to destroy the Earth through pollution. As he and the Justice League would soon discover, the men he was shooting at were not human at all, but extraterrestrial androids ordered to kill him for learning too much. Shortly after surviving that incident and with the aid of Green Arrow, Sanders donned his blue-and-red Vigilante garb, holster and six-guns, and red bandana and cowboy hat to conceal his identity, and joined forces with the JLA on the case. However, his comeback appeared in dire straits at issue’s end as he, Batman, Black Canary, and the Atom were lowered into a vat of acid by the aliens. Fortunately, Green Arrow rescued them all in the next issue (Justice League of America #79, Mar. 1970). But between O’Neil packing so much explanation for the aliens—revealed to the Justice League as the Doomsters from the planet Monsan (led by the aptly named Chokh)—and the Vigilante and JLA’s action-packed defeat of them, Vig’s future prospects were left by the wayside. The Vigilante’s plans could have been acknowledged on the last page, but instead it was hogged by the budding romance between Green Arrow and Black Canary and the Arrow’s despair over how mankind itself was ruining the planet. Still, for all intent and purpose, the Vigilante had made a successful comeback.

BACK IN THE SADDLE AGAIN

“The Vigilante was a childhood favorite,” recalls Denny O’Neil, “so I probably suggested using him to editor Julius Schwartz. It didn’t bother me that there was a pre-existing Earth-Two Vigilante. And I had no plans to include him as a member of the JLA.” Mysteriously, however, the comeback stumbled and the Vigilante would not be seen again for two years, appearing next as a backup feature beginning in Adventure Comics #417 (Mar. 1972). It was not a very consistent comeback within a comeback as Vig would appear in only three more issues over the course of a year: Adventure Comics #422 (Aug. 1972), 426 (Feb.-Mar. 1973), and 427 (Apr.-May, 1973). Adventure #417’s “The Cop Killer,” written by Marv Wolfman and Steve Skeates and illustrated by Gray Morrow, was, as far as good

The Prairie Troubadour From the original Who’s Who series, Gray Morrow artwork for the Vigilante entry. TM & © DC Entertainment.

16 • BACK ISSUE • Wild West Issue

Jim Kingman

comics storytelling goes, a solid return to solo action for the crimefighting cowboy. However, it was not a solid return in the personal sense, as Greg Sanders was a little rusty in the crimefighting department. Encouraged by the JLA, Sanders had stuck to his revival as the Vigilante. He had bought himself a motorcycle and traveled throughout America, arriving on the streets of San Francisco just as two plainclothes policemen were on the verge of apprehending a cop killer. Unfortunately, the Vigilante mistook the policemen for criminals themselves and hauled them down, allowing the killer to get away. Chastised and embarrassed, the Vigilante vowed to bring in the killer himself. Even then he came up short; during his battle with the crazed killer Vig was on the verge of defeat. Only the timely assistance of a gun-wielding, with the African-American kids. I dug “their” music sure-shot Chinese woman prevented Vigilante from (Temptations, Four Tops, Jackson 5) and Afros, becoming a victim. and many of them became good friends. I remember Five months later, the Vigilante returned in inviting some of my new “colored” pals to our Adventure #422. “Rodeo of Death,” written by family home down the street from school, the virtually unknown Bill Meredith and and for some reason this didn’t sit well illustrated by Morrow, is a gut-and-heartwith my neighborhood friends (while wrenching, sadly overlooked episode, my parents didn’t seem to mind). that alongside Green Lantern/Green Arrow These friends didn’t say anything #89’s “…And Through Him Save a out loud, but there was an odd World” stands as the best the relevancy feeling I was picking up from them, era had to offer. a colder look in their expressions, Please bear with me a few moments like I was doing something wrong. while I get personal. When I was a That’s how matters stood for the kid in 1972, all of ten years old, rest of third grade, through fourth, just starting collecting DC comics, I didn’t and well into fifth. GRAY MORROW understand bigotry. Four months into collecting School busing to achieve desegrecomics, in late June of 1972, I read gation started in Pasadena, California, the Vigilante story in the back of Adventure Comics #422. as I entered the third grade of elementary school in Then I understood bigotry. What the neighborhood 1969. I soon found myself getting along splendidly kids were feeling, what I was feeling in reaction to

Wild West Issue

Have Cycle, Will Motor (left) The Earth-One Vig guest-stars in Justice League of America #78 (Feb. 1970). Cover by Gil Kane. (above) A Vigilante cover appearance on Adventure Comics #426 (Feb.-Mar. 1976). Art by Dick Giordano. TM & © DC Entertainment.

•

BACK ISSUE • 17

TM & © DC Entertainment.

Gotham. Having seen Stuff, Jr. through a video camera, the Dummy mistook the boy for the ghost of Stuff and began cracking up. The Vigilante and his posse were able to defeat a gang of Killercyclers and their laser cannons then bring the Dummy to justice. In the final panels, Vig accepted Stuff, Jr. as his new partner, and it seemed the stage had been set for the Vigilante’s adventures to continue in an intriguing new direction. Unfortunately, this was the end of his ’70s comebacks. The Earth-One Vigilante simply rode off into comics limbo. Ditko’s the Creeper replaced him in World’s Finest Comics #249. “It was originally supposed to be a seven-story arc,” Kunkel recalls, “but DC made me clean it all up in the last installment which was one hell of a rush job, I can tell you. Since the ‘origin story’ stuff we ran in ‘Son of a Gun’ made it pretty clear that Vig had been around for quite a while, we were going to have to explain his failure to age. The last four installments were going to be Greg explaining to Stuff (I was going to eliminate the ‘Jr.’) how he and the original Stuff had basically wandered into a big superhero free-for-all that was out of their class and wound up embarrassing a young supervillain. The battle threw both Vig and the baddie into suspended animation so the second story arc would have been the return of that villain, since, like Greg, he had also returned from the extended sleep. “Instead, I had to make the Dummy battle the climax. I literally found out that I had one more installment to wrap it up so there wasn’t much to do except use the exploding motorcycle gag again against the Dummy and his minions. So the aging thing, it’s a story that was never even written, but that’s what I planned at the time.” Sadly, Gray Morrow, who worked in the comics industry for decades and took his own life in 2001 when palsy prevented him from illustrating, has never

JLA Pre-Origin Finding Vig on this crowded cover is like a “Where’s Waldo” puzzle, but he’s there. Cover to JLA #144 (July 1977) by Dick Dillin and Frank McLaughlin. TM & © DC Entertainment.

22 • BACK ISSUE • Wild West Issue

received a lot of credit for his Vigilante work. He brought a realistic tone to the character that also suited the more modern Western style in comic books. He drew exactly half of the Earth-One Vigilante’s appearances, therefore making him, in this humble fan’s opinion, the definitive Vigilante artist of the Bronze Age of Comics. “Gray loved doing the cowboy and period stuff,” Kunkel fondly remembers, “which is why ‘Son of a Gun’ (the only origin story I know of for Vig) was so perfect for him. But he was so eccentric that he drove DC nuts. He sent in those beautiful pages not only penciled, but also inked, colored, and lettered. The printers and color sep people went bonzo. But, man, if you could have seen the originals of those pages. Breathtaking. And the scene of Stuff hanging with the note pinned to him, that was just great comic-book art. It’s incredibly sad that he isn’t still here to create those incredible stories or get the recognition he deserves. I first discovered his art in Creepy and Eerie and Witzend, magazines like that, and when I was told I was working with him, it was just the greatest feeling.” A rare, if quite possibly the only, look at one of the Earth-One Vigilante’s early exploits was chronicled during the flashback sequence in Justice League of America #144 (July 1977). Writer Steve Englehart’s retro look at the Martian Manhunter’s early history on Earth before the JLA formed was crammed with over 30 characters from DC’s vast 1950s cast, so the Vigilante wasn’t allowed a lot of room to shine, but it was nice that Englehart chose to include him in what has become a classic tale from the 1970s. In “Riddles in the Dark,” published in Detective Comics #493 (Aug. 1980), it was revealed that Greg Sanders’ nephew, Michael Carter, had become a costumed crimefighter in his own right, the promising Swashbuckler. Though the Vigilante warranted no more than a floating headshot as the Batman recalled him fondly, this solid detective thriller by writer Cary Burkett and artists Don Newton and Dan Adkins should have been the setup for the Vigilante’s early1980s comeback in a supporting role in a possible Swashbuckler series. However, the Swashbuckler was never heard from again. The Earth-One Vigilante’s history would combine with that of the Earth-Two Vigilante in the post-Crisis universe, with some changes to past continuity (such as Stuff living to a ripe old age), and that legacy would be given a sterling coda in El Diablo #12 (Aug. 1990). While the Vigilante’s somewhat haphazard string of 1970s exploits failed to develop a larger reading audience, it was not due to lack of quality. The chroniclers of Vig’s adventures, both writers and artists, respected the character, and it shows in these two fistfuls of stories. They’ve held up. To any interested reader, I recommend seeking them out. The Vigilante’s sturdy past is just waiting on its mechanical steed to emerge with the sunrise. No failed comeback there, pardner. JIM KINGMAN purchased his first comic book, DC’s World’s Finest Comics #211, on a family road trip in March of 1972, and has been reading and collecting comic books ever since (with no end in sight). He has been writing about comics since 1993, and currently edits and publishes Comic Effect, a small-press fanzine emphasizing the fun in reading comics.

Jarrod Buttery

Not all cowboys remain in the Wild West. From Westerns to superheroes, Marvel Comics’ first cowboy has had more time-travel experiences than most sci-fi characters. The Two-Gun Kid was Marvel’s first Western character. A singing cowboy, Clay Harder wandered the Wild West thwarting evildoers. First appearing in Two-Gun Kid #1 (Mar. 1948), the axe fell on his series with issue #59 (Apr. 1961). Two-Gun Kid returned to the spinner racks in November 1962 with the numbering continuing with issue #60. However, Stan Lee and Jack Kirby had built a new character around an old title: a Western with a superhero motif. Tombstone lawyer Matt Hawk decides to fight injustice outside the courtroom as well as in, adopting the masked identity of “a fictitious gun-fighter named the Two-Gun Kid” in a nod to the previous incarnation. In this issue we meet (don’t mix them up) his trusty steed, Thunder, and his true love, schoolmarm Nancy Carter. Subsequent issues feature local law enforcer—and regular ally—Sheriff Brett Barton. Adept at disarming (but rarely killing) rustlers and robbers, the superheroinspired cowboy also encountered costumed foes such as the Purple Phantom (issue #68, Mar. 1964) and the Rattler (issue #88, July 1967); not to mention Roaring Bear, the Apache chief who drinks a growth potion to become a giant (issue #65, Sept. 1963)—two months before Hank Pym tried the same trick in Tales to Astonish #49 (Nov. 1963). The novelty of a cowboy with a secret identity lasted until issue #92 (Mar. 1968). However, Two-Gun resurfaced again, with issue #93 (July 1970), as a reprint book. Most of these comics reprinted (in random order) Matt Hawk stories, except issues #99104 (July 1971-May 1972), which reprinted Clay Harder stories—with retouched artwork to dress Clay in Matt Hawk’s distinctive outfit.

Wild West Issue

•

BACK ISSUE • 23

TIME BANDITS

Cowboy Avenger A time-displaced Two-Gun Kid as one of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. Page 1 (left) and original art (right) to page 6 of The Avengers #142 (Dec. 1975), written by Steve Englehart, penciled by George Pérez, and inked by Vince Colletta. Courtesy of Anthony Snyder (www.anthonysnyder.com). © 2010 Marvel Characters, Inc.

nearby town of Tombstone, and the office of Matthew J. Hawk, where they are reunited with Hawkeye. Until the mid-’70s, Marvel’s cowboys existed in their own continuity. However, in late 1975, Avengers scribe The cowboys explain that Two-Gun brought them all Steve Englehart wrote a story that unequivocally integrated together because the Avengers’ time-traveling foe, Kang the Conqueror, has enslaved the town. Immortus the Western characters into the Marvel Universe. Diana Schutz interviewed Englehart for Fantaco’s explains, “To conquer the 20th century, he will first conquer the 19th!” The second half of the issue is pure Chronicles #4 (June 1982), wherein Englehart stated that Western, gorgeously illustrated by George Pérez he believed in Marvel continuity and in tying the in only his second issue on the title, as the Marvel Universe together: “I thought it would group foil an attempted train robbery by be nice to tie the Western characters, Kang’s collaborators. another aspect of Marvel, back into “Right Between the Eons” in things—exactly as I’d done with Avengers #143 (Jan. 1976) is a pivotal Patsy Walker (Amazing Adventures issue in Avengers history. During his #13, July 1972). And as with Patsy run, Englehart had revitalized Kang Walker, it wasn’t just for shtick; I thought and turned him into the Avengers’ to myself, ‘Let’s bring one of them most implacable foe, but issue #143 into the future and play with that.’” featured Kang’s final defeat (for [Editor’s note: See BACK ISSUE #40 for almost ten years—an eternity in a history of Patsy Walker, Hellcat.] comics). Two-Gun insists on joining In previous Avengers issues, STEVE ENGLEHART the fight: “Tombstone is my town Hawkeye, searching for a time-lost and that means the Two-Gun Kid colleague (the Black Knight), became lost himself. Seeking their friend, fellow plays this hand through.” He, Hawkeye, and Avengers Thor and Moondragon enlist the aid of Moondragon face Kang’s monster while Kang overloads Immortus, Master of Limbo, to traverse the his energy suit during his battle with Thor: “His very atoms timestream. The threesome emerge in 1873 in split and spread throughout all time.” This could’ve Avengers #141 (Nov. 1975). “Go West Young Gods” concluded the tale but one last twist came in the (Avengers #142, Dec. 1975) opens with our modern-day following issue. During farewells, Two-Gun asks a favor: heroes meeting Marvel’s Western heroes: Kid Colt, “Take me with you. I’ve always been more of an Phantom Rider, Rawhide Kid, Ringo Kid, and the Two-Gun adventurer than a simple lawman, and there are more Kid. Two-Gun leads the cowboys and Avengers to the adventures to be found with y’all than in my own time.”

24 • BACK ISSUE • Wild West Issue

When asked again about Marvel’s cowboys, and his choice to showcase Two-Gun, Englehart explains, “As a Marvel fan before I started writing, I read everything they’d done that I could find, including long runs of the Westerns, and Patsy & Hedy, and so on. I’m sure I did reread a lot of that when I wrote those stories, but I already knew the characters. It’s part of why I considered anything from Marvel to be part of the Marvel Universe (MU). “I think the differences between the characters were subtle. Kid Colt was an upright guy, Two-Gun a little more intelligent (as a lawyer), and Rawhide a little more … raw—more Jimmy Cagney, the little guy with some attitude. Colt was basically the generic Marvel cowboy, the other two, variations on him. So I tried to show them to their best advantage, and there wasn’t a whole lot more to show for those last two. Two-Gun, because he had a secret identity and was a lawyer, had been given more characterization (limited as it was), and because he had a secret identity, he was the obvious choice if I wanted to do more with someone in that group for the Avengers. “My basic idea, which I still like and have never been able to do [since], was to bring this guy who was the master of his small, contained Western world, to New York City in the modern age. He’d be alongside a god and guys with various superpowers, in a world with cars and planes and Quinjets, and his great power was … he could shoot pistols well. I was intrigued with the culture shock and the heroism involved in adapting to the new world and succeeding with such a limited power—i.e., seeing the hero in him shine through. Certainly, a good way to ease into that was to work with Hawkeye, whose powers were not so much better than his, really. In this pre-West Coast Avengers era, I thought I could explore Hawkeye as a friend and mentor better than Hawkeye as #5 or so on the Avengers roster. The cowboy and the arrow-guy made sense in and of itself.” Avengers #145-146 were fill-ins, but issue #147 (May 1976) saw the Avengers—and Two-Gun—return to the modern day, and Hawkeye leaving the group to travel the West with Two-Gun. The letters pages of the time (alongside missives from Jo Duffy, Peter B. Gillis, Fred Hembeck, and Peter Sanderson) made mention of upcoming stories featuring Hawkeye and Two-Gun. Issue #149’s letters page, in referring to the duo, specifically stated: “The oneshot (a series pilot, of course) will be along in Marvel Spotlight fairly shortly.” However, no such story appeared. Englehart admits, “As I say, I wanted to do it, but I just didn’t have the time. I’d overbooked myself with the Giant-Size Avengers and my other titles, and I just couldn’t get around to doing the Two-Gun stories. It was entirely my responsibility. (On the other hand, those weren’t time-critical stories, so I figured I could get to them when my time freed up a little, and I did leave Marvel before that happened.) So it was a combination of factors. “I rarely plotted things too far in advance. [But] I just know Two-Gun would have been overwhelmed by the future, stood up to it, gone out with the Avengers, and been overwhelmed once more by the magnitude of the villainy they faced. He would then pick himself up and quietly determine to make himself effective in this world. I might have had him try “super-guns” or something, but if so, he’d reject them because he was, at heart, a 19th century cowboy who would have felt silly with fancy guns. He’d go the Hawkeye route of being exceptional with unexceptional weapons. But that’s just what I felt. Once the stories started, they’d have led me wherever they wanted to go.”

DISPLACED

“Cowboy and Quasi-Indian”

Steve Englehart left The Avengers, and Marvel, with issue #151 (Sept. 1976). Five months later, Two-Gun and Hawkeye appeared as guest stars in The Champions. Issue #11 (Feb. 1977), written by Bill Mantlo, finds the Ghost Rider (Johnny Blaze) in Arizona. He encounters Hawkeye, who quickly introduces the Two-Gun Kid. Nicely acknowledging Two-Gun’s impact on Western history, Ghost Rider exclaims, “The Two-Gun..!?? You’ve gotta be kidding!” However, without time to reflect, the trio discover a flying saucer and hypnotized ranchers. Two-Gun—as usual—uses his pistols to disarm his mesmerized opponents, but his guns have no effect on the shadows moving by themselves. The heroes realize they’re facing Warlord Kaa and his soldiers, alien shadow creatures who first appeared in Strange Tales #79 (Dec. 1960). Ghost Rider infuses one of Hawkeye’s blast arrows with Hellfire and the enhanced explosive flare eradicates the shadowy creatures. Asked whether this issue was specifically written to guest-star Hawkeye and Two-Gun, Champions artist

Wild West Issue

•

BACK ISSUE • 25

Marvel Universe lists Brett Barton as Clint’s ancestor, but this wasn’t planned by Thomas, who concedes, “I’m happy if Brett Barton is listed now as an ancestor of Clint Barton, and that’s probably what I’d have done if I had consciously recalled Brett … but I didn’t.” Comics historian Peter Sanderson has a plausible explanation: “Since Handbook editor/ creator Mark Gruenwald had particular interest in Hawkeye, I suspect that it was Mark who added Brett Barton to the Hawkeye entry.” Regardless, Hawkeye and Two-Gun have more connections than previously realized.

THE ’90S AND BEYOND

Two-Gun Kid appeared in a Mike W. Barr short story, disarming three outlaws in Marvel Fanfare #49 (Feb. 1990), followed by a Dan Slott tale in Marvel Comics Presents #116 (Nov. 1992). It would be naïve to believe that the Two-Gun Kid only ever shot to disarm, but here he kills 12 men within three pages. The ultra-violent ’90s had arrived.

30 • BACK ISSUE • Wild West Issue

The 1995 miniseries Two-Gun Kid: Sunset Riders portrays a melancholy Matt Hawk. Set in 1885, the series establishes that, during his time in the future, Matt had learned the date of his own death. We also learn that Matt’s real surname is Liebowicz and that he eventually married Nancy—but she died in childbirth. Their daughter, Eve, was killed by rubella at age four. Craftily surviving Matt Hawk’s “death,” our hero appears in the 2000 miniseries, Blaze of Glory. Retired from gunplay, Matt is practicing law under the alias of Clay Harder. Volunteering for action one last time, he dies heroically, in 1885. Yet time-travel stories open all possibilities. In the third issue of the fourth volume of She-Hulk’s series, writer Dan Slott has She-Hulk retrieve the Two-Gun Kid from the timestream. Once again in the modern day, Two-Gun currently serves as leader of the Desert Stars, a supergroup based in Arizona. Finally, sometime in our future, Matt makes one final trip back to his own time. Closing the circle, he passes away as an old man in 1938 after inspiring the first of a new age of heroes. Writer Ed Brubaker’s The Marvels Project marks a reverential tribute to Marvel’s first—and best-traveled— cowboy. The author would like to express his sincere gratitude to John Byrne, Scott Edelman, Steve Englehart, Don Perlin, Denny O’Neil, Peter Sanderson, Jim Shooter, Roger Stern, and Roy Thomas. Special thanks also to J. C. Vaughn. JARROD BUTTERY was killed by the Riddler in Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #188. Plucked from the timestream, he now resides in the Wild West— Western Australia, that is—and is an accomplished time traveler (one direction only).

John Wells

In 1961, the last of DC Comics’ Old West heroes rode off into the sunset. For the longest time, it seemed like they’d never return. With TV Westerns at the height of their popularity, DC’s abandonment of the genre seemed counterintuitive. That same popularity could be seen as a glut, though, and sales on Western Comics and All Star Western were falling. Editor Julius Schwartz and star creators Gardner Fox, Gil Kane, and Carmine Infantino worked to boost sales, introducing John Waynelookalike Matt Savage and a full-fledged NativeAmerican superhero called Super-Chief (really!), while revamping the Western line’s flagship hero Johnny Thunder with an updated origin and recurring outlaw love interest Madame .44. In contrast to Stan Lee and Jack Kirby’s more successful reboots of Two-Gun Kid and Rawhide Kid at Marvel, Schwartz’s efforts failed. Modernized superheroes were clearly DC’s growth industry. Better to direct Schwartz and company toward that genre than persist in having them shore up dying books. DC’s long-running Tomahawk comic survived although technically speaking it wasn’t a Western, with its eastern seaboard Revolutionary War setting. Still, the title character’s buckskin clothing and the regular presence of Indians made it at least a kissin’ cousin of the genre. However esthetically displeasing it may have been to purists, Tomahawk survived as a melting pot of genres—whether as a frontier comic or war or superheroes or monsters—through the end of 1967.

WILL THEY SAVE THE WEST … OR RUIN IT?

The year 1967 famously saw the long-running TV series Gunsmoke spared from cancellation and shifted to a new time slot on Monday nights that resulted in a sustained ratings surge. Whether this influenced DC’s editorial team is unknown, but the company rushed a stand-alone Western to the stands near year’s end. Sporting a Russ Heath-illustrated cover and a “Top Gun” logo, issue #72 of the tryout series Showcase featured reprints of the Trigger Twins, Johnny Thunder, and “Epics of the Texas Rangers” as selected by editor Robert Kanigher. DC’s newly installed editorial director Carmine Infantino recognized the void in his company’s lineup. Unable to articulate precisely what was needed, he was clear on what he didn’t want: the strait-laced, upright Western hero of the 1950s. Under Infantino’s direction, newly arrived editor Joe Orlando sketched a cryptic house ad with a shadowed scraggly cowboy holding a rifle alongside this tagline: “Will our new Western hero save the West? Or ruin it?” Somewhere between that ad and Showcase #76 (Aug. 1968), a character echoing Clint Eastwood’s Man with No Name from Sergio Leone’s 1960s

His Name Isn’t Savage An unfinished Scalphunter page by George Evans, featuring the series’ intended title. Courtesy of Heritage Comics Auctions. TM & © DC Entertainment.

Wild West Issue

•

BACK ISSUE • 31

Handsome Rogue (right) Among the prototypes for DC’s Bat Lash, Don and Maggie Thompson once remarked, was James Coburn’s character in the 1967 Western film Waterhole #3. Movie poster art by Jack Davis. Art courtesy of Heritage Hollywood Auctions (www.ha.com). (above) Compare it to Nick Cardy’s roguish Bat Lash from the cover of the character’s first issue (Oct.-Nov. 1968), and you’ll agree the Thompsons may have been right! Waterhole #3 © 1967 Paramount Pictures. Bat Lash TM & © DC Entertainment.

“spaghetti Westerns” turned into someone more akin to James Garner’s Bret Maverick. Named after real-life cowboy star Lash Larue and Old West lawman Bat Masterson, Bat Lash was a Robert Redford lookalike who loved women, good food, and beautiful flowers. “I just cain’t tolerate violence,” he’d declare, but repeatedly found himself drawn into fights and gunplay thanks to his eye for ladies with jealous boyfriends and the temptation of riches. Batton A. Lash (later changed to Bartholomew Aloysius in 1985’s Who’s Who #2) was more of an anti-hero than anything else, but too charming not to like. (Beyond the Maverick parallel, comics journalists Don and Maggie Thompson once observed Bat’s resemblance to James Coburn’s character Lewton Cole from Blake Edwards’ 1967 film Waterhole #3 including a detail in which he put a flower in his hat.) The particulars of Bat Lash’s creation may never be properly sorted out, but the character began with a script presentation from industry veteran Sheldon Mayer that was deemed unsatisfactory and significantly reshaped into the series that debuted in Showcase and Bat Lash #1 (Oct.-Nov. 1968). Undeniably, artist Nick Cardy was key to the book’s creative success with a lush pen-line, expressive faces, and versatile straddling between cartoony and realistic styles. Orlando would sometimes feel that Cardy overdid the humorous approach. Humor came naturally to Bat Lash plotter Sergio Aragonés, whose stories were subsequently dialogued by Denny O’Neil. When Bat himself and a Mexican bandit that Cardy modeled after Aragonés resorted to armed robbery in issue #5, the Comics Code cried foul and the series abruptly became more somber with issue #6. The tonal shift didn’t appreciably impact sales and Infantino pulled the plug with #7 (Oct.-Nov. 1969).

32 • BACK ISSUE • Wild West Issue

As Bat Lash was dying, Infantino worked with groundbreaking cartoonist Joe Kubert on another Western that incorporated elements of race relations and pacifism that had become part of the national dialogue. Introduced in Showcase #85-87 (Sept.-Dec. 1969), “Firehair” was a white boy who’d been taken in by Chief Grey Cloud of the Blackfoot Indians after his parents and their expedition were slain by the tribe. Named for his long, red hair, the young man was a pariah to Indians and whites alike. At the end of the first issue, Firehair left the tribe on a quixotic quest for understanding among cultures. Kubert’s art was eye-popping, enhanced through boundary-pushing layouts and the texture and shading created by a grease pencil. Although his passion for the feature failed to translate into strong sales, the cartoonist wasn’t going to give up on his creation. DC could be forgiven for hedging its bets on the cover of late 1969’s DC Special #6. The reprint Giant’s theme was “The Wild Frontier” and Neal Adams’ cover image was certainly wild enough in its depiction of a battle between a cowboy and Indians being interrupted by the touchdown of a spacecraft. The comparatively more sedate interiors consisted of 1950s reprints intermingled with a present-day framing sequence (by Len Wein, Gil Kane, and Vince Colletta) involving an old man and his grandsons that culminated with their meeting Indians from Outer Space. Honest! Sales on the Dick Giordano-edited special encouraged two simultaneously released follow-ups in the summer of 1970 with more reprints in Super DC Giant #S-14 and S-15 (“Top Guns of the West” and “Western Comics”). A second “Top Guns” collection (Super DC Giant #S-22) appeared at the end of the year.

Bridging the Silver Age to the Bronze (top left) Showcase #85 (Sept. 1969) introduced Joe Kubert’s Firehair. (top right) Neal Adams’ imaginationstaggering cover to DC Special #6 (Jan.Mar. 1970) hid its rather traditional Western reprints inside. (bottom) Kubert covers graced back-to-back issues of Super DC Giant that repackaged vintage DC cowboy tales. TM & © DC Entertainment.

Wild West Issue

•

BACK ISSUE • 33

John Schwirian

Sundown on the prairie, sittin’ around the campfire with the boys. As I prepare to rattle ’em with a few good ghost stories, I’m interrupted by the distant howl of a wolf. The boys look frightened, but I laugh. “That’s just old Lobo you’re hearing,” I tell ’em. “He’s partners with the Western superhero Red Wolf.” Curious, they bombard me with questions about Red Wolf. Is he a cowboy? Where’d he come from? How’d he get his powers? Who does he fight? I start to tell ’em more, but I realize that I don’t even know that much myself. Heck, I’m confused as to what his real name is and if he’s full-blooded Indian or not. So I promise the boys I’d learn the full story of Red Wolf and tell ’em all about him the next time we camp out. And if I’m goin’ to be able to do that, I’d better start with the master of Marvel Comics lore himself, Roy Thomas. 46 • BACK ISSUE • Wild West Issue

CALL OF THE WOLF It all began back in 1970, when newspaper headlines told of conflict between Native Americans and white American culture. “Native Americans’ rights and protests were in the news,” Roy Thomas explains, “so I thought it was time [to do an Indian superhero].” After reading magazine articles and other sources on Amerindians, Thomas spoke with artist John Buscema about how the character should look. “I instructed him that I’d like Red Wolf to be bare-chested, wearing Indian leggings and the like, with a wolf head used as a mask,” Thomas says. “John, of course, executed those instructions beautifully.” While developing Red Wolf’s origin, Thomas wanted to keep the character “from being just a stereotype, [making] the character more realistic, more in tune with what was going on in the world at the

time.” With the concept now in place, Roy Thomas took Red Wolf for a killer. The Vision escorted Red Wolf introduced Red Wolf in the pages of Avengers #80-81 to Avengers mansion, where the Cheyenne told his (Sept.-Oct. 1970). “I was the writer of The Avengers,” story. Even though the Avengers were in the midst of Thomas says, “and it seemed a more likely place to tracking down the members of the criminal group introduce him than most.” Zodiac, the Vision, Scarlet Witch, and Goliath split In this two-part tale, William Talltrees is a Cheyenne from the team to help Red Wolf find his family’s killers. Indian whose family was murdered by Cornelius van The Avengers accompanied Red Wolf back to his Lunt (also known as Taurus of the criminal cartel homeland and together they drove van Lunt’s Zodiac) after they refused to sell their men off the property, but not before both property. As van Lunt seemed untouchable Red Wolf and van Lunt apparently by local law, Talltrees sought justice perished in the destruction of van another way. Donning the ceremonial Lunt’s dam. As the Avengers prepared garb of the legendary protector of his to leave, Will Talltrees appeared and people, Talltrees performed a sacred greeted his uncle, offering to help ceremony and was visited by the spirit his people build again. being Owayodata. The mighty spirit A LEGACY BEGINS being said that not only had the While Red Wolf did not become an Cheyenne’s ancient protector returned, overnight sensation, his debut did but that Talltrees would be that receive fan support. “I don’t recall how protector—he was now Red Wolf! ROY THOMAS strong it was,” observes Thomas, As Talltrees came down from the “but fairly [strong], I believe … and sacred place up on the mountain, he was quite positive. Perhaps a couple of people objected to forced to slay a she-wolf that attacked him. He then found her orphaned cub, which he adopted and raised something-or-other, perhaps because of the elemental nature of the story, but most reaction was good.” to be his companion, his spirit guide, Lobo. Tracking van Lunt’s men to New York, he hunted So good, in fact, that [publisher] Stan Lee decided down the killer of his people, only to be stopped by to use Red Wolf to launch a new tryout title, the Avengers’ android member, the Vision, who mis- Marvel Spotlight. [Editor’s note: Marvel Spotlight #1

Wild West Issue

Across the (Marvel) Universe (left) Red Wolf and Lobo’s first appearance, written by Roy Thomas, in The Avengers #80 (Sept. 1970). Cover by John Buscema and Tom Palmer. (right) Red Wolf becomes a legacy character in his tryout issue, Marvel Spotlight #1 (Nov. 1971). Cover by Neal Adams. © 2010 Marvel Characters, Inc.

•

BACK ISSUE • 47

To m Z i u k o

Yeee-HAW!!! Howdy, pardners! Time to grab a plate of beans, have a sit-down, and join me here ’round the ol’ wagon train campfire, as we pull back the veils of time and revisit the Wild, Wild West— ROUGH STUFF style! We open with two gorgeous commission pieces. The first is my personal favorite Western comic-book character—that heartbreakin’, love-makin’, money-takin’ rascal Bat Lash, as drawn by his definitive artist, the one and only Nick Cardy (from 2004). The second is the OG Swashbuckler himself, Zorro, masterfully captured by the versatile Tom Yeates (from 2008). Bat Lash TM & © DC Entertainment. Zorro © 2010 Zorro Productions, Inc.

54 • BACK ISSUE • Wild West Issue

Don’t be deceived by his long, flaxen hair, or boyish appearance— stare deep into those deadset eyes, and you know this gunslinger means business! It’s Angel, from that 1950s classic, The Kid Cowboys of Boys’ Ranch, taken from Jack Kirby’s Valentine’s Day sketchbook for his wife, Roz, from the early to mid-’70s. © Harvey Entertainment.

Wild West Issue

•

BACK ISSUE • 55

Michael Ambrose

Charlton Comics was no stranger to Westerns. Of its more than 3700 comics issued between 1944 and 1970, fully 20 percent fell into that category. Charlton had its own brand of gunfighters, owlhoots, maverick sheriffs, intelligent horses, and “friendly Indians”: Cowboy Western Comics, Six-Gun Heroes, Space Western (a bizarre melding of the Western with SF), Black Fury, Kid Montana, and Young Eagle crowded the racks along with comics featuring B-movie stars Sunset Carson, Lash LaRue, Monte Hale, and Tex Ritter and historical figures Annie Oakley, Wild Bill Hickock, Jim Bowie, and Wyatt Earp. Most offered simple plots and undistinguished art, but some creators stood out from the herd, including Steve Ditko, Pete Morisi, Dick Giordano, Rocke Mastroserio, John Severin, Sam Glanzman, Gene Colan, and Al Williamson. The rise of superheroes to the top of the spinner racks in the 1960s saw the decline of Westerns across all companies, and Charlton’s output dwindled. By 1970, just four Westerns appeared under the Charlton logo: Billy the Kid, Cheyenne Kid, Outlaws of the West, and Texas Rangers in Action. Only two survived past that year. But Charlton wasn’t ready to hang up its six-shooters for good. Editor George Wildman experimented with new titles and backup features, keeping Westerns in his stable of ghost, war, romance, and animated kiddie titles. Charlton imploded in 1976, and its output shrank to a handful of mostly reprint books. Billy the Kid’s last ride was #153 (Mar. 1983), and the final Charlton Western was Gunfighters #85 (July 1984). But Charlton’s 1970s Westerns are well worth a retrospective.

Wild West Issue

•

BACK ISSUE • 63

(left) Billy the Kid #103 (Aug. 1973), cover by Jose Delbo. (right) Billy the Kid #113 (June 1975), cover by Warren Sattler. (below) Cheyenne Kid #95 (Mar. 1973), detail from the cover by Sanho Kim. © 1973 and 1975 Charlton Comics Group.

BILLY THE KID Billy the Kid (first issue #9, Nov. 1957) was not only Charlton’s longest-running Western but also one of its most enduring titles in any genre. Future DC star Jose Delbo took the artist’s saddle in 1966, breathing new life into a stale character. Delbo had an almost unbroken run through 1974 before Warren Sattler grabbed the artistic reins with #111 (Feb. 1975). Sattler, who co-created Charlton’s Western/martial-arts hero Yang in 1973 with writer Joe Gill, brought a fresh new look to Billy’s adventures and contributed gorgeous watercolor covers to the end of the book’s original run in 1976.

CHEYENNE KID

Cheyenne Kid, another lone gunfighter (first issue #8, July 1957), was Charlton’s second-longest-running Western. Many hands worked the art chores, with colorful runs in the late 1960s by Luis Dominguez and Pat Boyette. South Korean artist Sanho Kim took over in 1969, holding that post almost to the end in 1973.

GERNONIMO JONES

Geronimo Jones was one of two new Charlton Western titles in the 1970s; “Introducing a New Saga of Yesterday” said the cover of #1 (Sept. 1971). It was created and written by veteran freelance artist and packager Tony Tallarico, who shared art chores with Jose Delbo. Young Horace Jones leaves school to join the Army in 1844; back home two years later, he finds his family killed by outlaws. Jones vows revenge and tracks down the killers, his ferocity in a fight earning him the nickname “Geronimo.” By the third issue he becomes a lone wanderer, following increasingly bizarre trails to confront a camel-riding armored knight who terrorizes Indians with roman candles, a gang of pistolpacking nuns, freebooting pirates, a rampaging Tyrannosaurus Rex, a genie in a bottle, and, going out on a high note in the final issue (#9, Jan. 1973), no less than Adolf Hitler and a squad of Nazi commandos, whisked back to 1846 via a time machine.

64 • BACK ISSUE • Wild West Issue

YANG Yang, set in the 1890s, chronicles the adventures of Chung Hui, who in the first issue (Nov. 1973) adopts the name “Yang” after his mandarin father is murdered by gangsters: “Be Yang to all men … the source of warmth and light and righteousness!” are his father’s dying words. Scholarly Yang sets his scrolls aside and embarks on a mission of vengeance. Captured, taken to America, and enslaved on a railroad gang in a Western desert, he uses his martial-arts skills to wreck the work train and escape. Thirteen issues through May 1976 take Yang to San Francisco, the Rocky Mountain deserts, and Alaska. Along the way he combats his lovely nemesis, Yin Li (his “Yin” opposite and with whom he has an on/off romantic relationship), and has run-ins with crooked mining magnates, opium smugglers, Bigfoot (!), vigilante gangs, and other malefactors perennially out to kill him. Parallels with the Kung Fu TV series (ABC, 1972-1975) are obvious, but Yang is a very different martial-arts fighter, aggressive and as apt to use his brains or a gun to defeat bad guys as feet and hands. Sattler’s painted covers, beginning with #7 (Apr. 1975), are prime examples of the look that distinguished mid-’70s Charltons.

MR. YOUNG OF THE BOOTHILL GAZETTE

Billy the Kid backup feature “Mr. Young of the Boothill Gazette” is a minor classic that pays revisiting. In #88 (Dec. 1971), Philadelphian Abel Young

arrives in lawless 1875 Boothill, Texas, “with a brand new college diploma and an unbending belief in right and wrong and a rigid sense of personal honor.” Tenderfoot Young is mugged by local owlhoots but resorts to fisticuffs to save the day. In nearly 20 wryly humorous installments through #110 (Dec. 1974), Young encounters gunmen, outlaws, and crooked gamblers, and though forced to get physical time and again he never loses his gentlemanly composure— all in the pursuit of a story for the Boothill Gazette. Art is by the versatile Pat Boyette and scripts are likely by Joe Gill.

(left) Yang #12 (Mar. 1976), cover by Warren Sattler. (right) Billy the Kid #109 (Oct. 1974), Mr. Young of the Boothill Gazette: “A Notch on a Killer’s Gun!” page 1, by Pat Boyette and Joe Gill.

APACHE RED

“Apache Red” began as a backup in Cheyenne Kid #88 (Jan. 1972) and continued for nearly 20 adventures there and later in Billy the Kid, ending in 1977. Apache Red, carrot-topped half-breed son of Apache chief El Rojo and his captured Irish wife Brigit O’Leary, is caught between two very different worlds but makes his way with intelligence and credibility. Art is by Fred Himes (with an occasional fill-in by others, including Warren Sattler) and scripts are by Joe Gill.

MICHAEL AMBROSE is the editor of Charlton Spotlight, an irregularly published fanzine devoted to the publications and history of the Derby, Connecticut, comic-book publisher. For more information, visit www.ramonschenk.nl/ charltoncomics/charltonspotlight/.

Wild West Issue

•

BACK ISSUE • 65

“The bombs never fell. They didn’t have to. Russia’s pact with Japan, Africa, and South America kept her fat and cozy. To America, half the world became closed. Her few remaining friends bled the frightened giant dry, while her spoiled children ate well. “As ever, America pretended it wasn’t happening. She wanted more, and found the cupboards bare.” (Scout #1, Sept. 1985) With those words, the stage was set for Scout, creator Timothy Truman’s story of the adventures of an Apache warrior named Emanuel Santana and his attempts to survive in the post-apocalyptic landscape that is America in the future. Truman was doing quite well illustrating the adventures of GrimJack for First Comics with writer John Ostrander. So why break away from a successful book to pursue Scout? “I was enjoying working with TIMOTHY TRUMAN John Ostrander on GrimJack— we’re like brothers,” says Truman. “However, my wife Beth and I had just had a son, Ben, and First Comics had fallen woefully behind in their payments to me. I’d met cat yronwode and Dean Mullaney of Eclipse Comics while visiting my friend Tom Yeates in California, and they asked me if I waned to do a creator-owned project. I was itching to write and draw my own stuff at the time, so I leaped at the chance. It seemed like a good time to move on.” Truman’s inspirations for Scout are quite varied. “Scout was a synthesis of just about everything I had an interest in at the time—Native-American history, motorcycle flicks, post-apocalyptic fiction, stuff like that,” Truman says. “I wanted to use the story as a springboard for venting some of my frustrations concerning the Reagan-era politics of the time, but do it in the context of a big adventure story.”

Timothy Truman’s Scout Detail from the cover of Scout: War Shaman #1 (Mar. 1988). Unless otherwise noted, art scans in this article are courtesy of Roger Ash. TM & © Timothy Truman.

70 • BACK ISSUE • Wild West Issue

Roger Ash

GONNA PARTY LIKE IT’S 1999 Surprisingly, the story did not take place in the far future, but 1999, a mere 14 years after the first issue was published. Why set it so close? “It seemed a long way off at the time!” Truman recalls. “I was only in my late 20s, after all. I suppose I would have handled things differently today. I remember seeing a review a few years ago, after the first [Scout] graphic-novel reprint came out. They mentioned the fact that, in the timeline of the book, the world was ruined in only about 12-15 years. When I saw it, I realized I wasn’t too far off the mark—it only took the Clinton and Bush administrations a little longer than that!” Once at Eclipse, Truman worked with editor cat yronwode on Scout. “We got along great,” Truman says. “Looking back on my career, I’ve always worked best with women editors and art directors. In a work situation, I’ve found that women always seem more direct. They get things done.” The story begins with Scout searching for something. Trouble is, he’s not sure what he’s searching for. Traveling the desolate American Southwest on his motorcycle, Emanuel encounters a Gahn, an Apache spirit guide, who tells him that four monsters of Apache legend have returned: Owl-man Giant, Buffalo, Eagle, and Antelope. They were summoned by US President Jerry Grail. The first six issues feature Scout’s attempts to destroy these monsters and confront the President in the nation’s new provisional capital— the Astrodome in Houston, Texas. The Gahn most often appeared as a gopher and had quite an attitude. “He’s a big favorite with everyone. Unexpectedly so,” says Truman. “He gives voice to Scout’s conscience. Instead of giving him stereotypical pseudo-mystic ‘Indian’ dialogue, I wrote him with this wry, wise-cracking, ‘modern’ voice—like real folks talk. That’s one of the things that makes him work.” The first monster Scout faces is the Owl-man Giant, who is disguised as Al Bonanza, a pornographer who has high-level connections. After Scout defeats him in battle, one of Al’s girls, a teenage runaway named Missy, becomes Scout’s traveling companion. At the end of the story, Scout learns that the Buffalo monster is the Secretary of Agriculture, “Chippy” Waltz. In Houston, Scout’s attack has not gone unnoticed. Presidential advisor Bill Loper—a televangelist—brings in two Rangers, Rosanna (Rosa) Winter and Raymond Vaughn, to go after Scout. These two are former classmates of Scout’s and Rosa is also his former lover. Vice President Carver is kept out of the loop, but that’s par for the course. She was an idealistic politician who was added to the ticket only to get the women’s vote and is now kept in a constant drug-induced stupor. If the names of the Rangers (Scout included) sound familiar, that’s not a surprise. “I’m a music fanboy— more so than a comics fanboy, in every way,” reveals Truman. “So it was a shout-out to some of my heroes— Carlos Santana, Stevie Ray Vaughn (whom no one had heard about at the time), and Johnny Winter (Rosa Winter’s last name was a tribute to him).” Scout defeats the Buffalo Monster at a governmentrun farm and continues on the road to Houston. In Houston, Scout and Missy hook up with a band of refugees including the preacher Reverend Deluxe, his simple follower, Doody, and Guitar Man and his multi-ethnic blues band. However, Rosa and Ray also find them and attack. Rosa has Scout in her sights, but for some reason, does not fire.

Scout and his friends intend to break into the President’s TV studio to broadcast a message of revolution instead of the usual propaganda that the President and Loper send out over the airwaves. On the way to do this, Scout kills the Eagle Monster, who is disguised as Senior Energy Advisor Vince Eagre. In the control room, Scout faces the Antelope monster— a bank of video equipment come to life. Finally, Scout assassinates President Grail and goes on the run. Rosa kills Ray when he attempts to kill Vice President Carver, who takes over as president, although Loper is still running things behind the scenes.

A Few of His Favorite Things Native-American lore, motorcycle movies, and post-apocalyptic ficion were blended by Truman into his Eclipse Comics series. Cover to Scout #1 (Sept. 1985).

TAKING AIM ON SCOUT

Since Native-American lore is a big part of this storyline, and both Scout series, was that a subject that interested Truman? “Very much so,” replies Truman. “At the time I was particularly interested in Southwestern NativeAmerican culture and history. However, my great grandmother, Belle Truman, was a full-blooded Cherokee. An uncle told me that her Cherokee name Wild West Issue

•

BACK ISSUE • 71

Back Issue #42