The Rawhide Kid....

...has had two incarnations.

He first debuted in a 16-issue series, (March 1955-Sept. 1957), from the 1950s Publisher, Atlas Comics, (the predecessor of today's Marvel Comics).

Most of this series' covers were by highly acclaimed artists of the time, usually either Joe Maneely or John Severin, but at times had Russ Heath and Fred Kida doing the cover honors. Interior art for the first five issues was by Bob Brown, with Dick Ayers taking over on the remainder of the series.

I had missed those earlier issues when they first came out, as comics were bought for me then, and did not include westerns. It appears I saw enough of those on TV, (Roy Rogers and the like), so this genre was not bought for me.

After a short hiatus, the Rawhide Kid was revamped  by writer Stan Lee and penciler Jack Kirby and inker Ayers. The publisher continued the Atlas numbering with issue #17 (Aug. 1960), as at the time there was no 'imprint' identifying the publisher. 'Marvel' comics had not come into existence as of yet, and the publisher was limited to the total number of books that he could print each month by his distributor.

The title was among the more popular of the western comic books that Marvel Comics printed during the early 1960's as westerns were still a popular mainstream genre in books, tv and comics. I enjoyed this series, but my personal favorite was Kid Colt, Outlaw. The Big Three Western Comics for Marvel at the time were Rawhide Kid, Kid Colt, and the Two-Gun Kid. At times Marvel had two or three of the Kids meet up in each others' books.... those were great cross-overs!!

However, as superheroes become increasingly ascendant in comics and sales of all companies' Western titles dropped, the Rawhide Kid comic book became primarily a reprint title.  The only thing new would be covers by such recognized artists as Gene Colan, Gil Kane and Paul Gulacy. The series ended publication with issue #151 (May 1979).

The Rawhide Kid would later appear as a more middle-aged character in a four-issue limited comic book series, (Aug.-Nov. 1985), by writer Bill Mantlo with penciler Herb Trimpe.  

In 2003 a controversial limited series from the Marvel MAX imprint, the five-issue Rawhide Kid,  revealed him to be gay in this Marvel alternate universe. The only problem was, that it wasn't clearly defined to be an alternate universe, and I personally hate most retcons, as the character that I grew up with would be almost totally changed!

The series has been a good seller for us, possibly due to the re-emergence lately of western comic books.  There is a market for this genre, not everyone wants to read superheroes! 

For those interested in western comic books, we have them listed in our eBay Featured Store.

Thanks for reading this pop culture / comic book blog post, and feel free to comment below!

Roy Rogers,

King of the Cowboys...

...in the Westerns and on TV also had a couple of series of comic books from  Dell Comics.

The 'Roy Rogers Comics' series ran for 145 issues from January 1948 to September 1961.

There had been a few 'Four Color Comics' from the Dell series #2 prior to Dell giving Roy his own title, prior to 1948.

Roy Roger's horse Trigger received his own title running for 17 issues from September 1951 to June 1955. 

I was born in the early 1950's so caught a lot of westerns on TV during their heyday and later in the theatrical movies of the 1960's especially John Wayne and Audie Murphy flicks.

Of all the singing cowboys my favorite was Roy Rogers and his troupe, one member of which was Gabby Hayes. 

Gabby Hayes was in 40 westerns between 1939 to 1946, usually with Roy Rogers, Gene Autry, or Wild Bill Elliott ! 

So far there are not too many Roy Rogers comics submitted for third party grading. It appears that only the comics thought to be in really high grade are being submitted... so this would be a title or genre that is still affordable and readable since they would not be encapsulated!!

For those interested in Roy Rogers Comics run we have several unslabbed  comics listed in our eBay Featured Store.

...was the singing cowboy star of several Movies and a TV Show.

Would you believe that he also had several series of comic books from both Fawcett and Dell Comics??

The Fawcett comic book series ran for 12 issues from January 1942 to February 1944.

The Dell series 'Gene Autry Comics' ran for 101 issues from June 1946 to July 1955, when it changed to 'Gene Autry and Champion' from #102 to #121, ending in 1959. (Dell had earlier printed some 'Four Color Comics before giving Gene his own title.) 

Gene and his horse Champion were so popular in the 1950's, that Champion even had his own series, 'Gene Autry's Champion' for 19 issues from 1951 to 1955 ! 

I was born in the early 1950's so caught a lot of westerns on the television set during their heyday and later in the theatrical movies in the 1960's. .

Of all the singing cowboys my favorite was Roy Rogers and his troupe, but Gene ran a close second.  I was in the Orange County area when Gene owned the California Angels and really rooted for them to make it to the World Series while he was still alive... to no avail.  I even stayed at the Gene Autry Hotel in Palm Desert one time.... when the Angels were at Spring Training. 

So far there are not too many Gene Autry comics submitted for third party grading. It appears that only the comics thought to be in high grade are being submitted... so this would be a title or genre that is still affordable and readable since they would not be encapsulated!!

For those interested in Gene Autry Comics we have several unslabbed  comics listed in our eBay Featured Store.

Thanks for reading this pop culture / comicbook blog post, and feel free to comment !

Michael