I have to admit that, when I was a kid, I was never a big fan of western comics - I was more into super-heroes. (Shows what I knew.)But I would occasionally pick up one of Marvel's western comics. There were three that enjoyed long runs: Kid Colt, The Rawhide Kid and Two-Gun Kid.
The first two were very similar in concept - a young gunslinger is mistakenly accused of being a criminal and goes on the run, hoping to prove his innocence someday. The Two-Gun Kid is modeled after a typical super-hero, complete with a secret identity (in real life he's frontier attorney Matt Hawk), a mask and a regular supporting cast, including love interest Nancy Carter and best friend Boom-Boom (who must be an ancestor of Dum-Dum Dugan).
The difference is, Two-Gun works with the law. This issue is a solid example of the usual Stan Lee - Dick Ayers stories, as an old enemy assembles a small army of desperadoes and takes over the town of Tombstone. The story's actually pretty silly, as Two-Gun uses several unlikely tricks - and a convenient calvary charge - to deal with the army of criminals.
This issue from 1963 is a great showcase for some terrific artists, including: a strong cover by the excellent Don Heck; solid, professional storytelling in the main story by Dick Ayers; and a nifty little backup story that is credited to Ayers but sure looks like Gene Colan to me.
Since I wasn't smart enough to pick up these westerns when I was a kid, I make it point to track them down when I can. This issue, for example, was obtained at a recent comics convention.
I've also been reading the recent Essentials collection of The Rawhide Kid and enjoying those all-out action tales by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby.
Hey, better late than never!
Grade: B-
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1 comment:
Yep, that second story is definitely by Colan. At the time Colan was working on westerns for Stan, so the Ayers credit here may have simply been an error.
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