Owlhoots and Hombres: Western Hero Appreciation

[MajorHoy]

However, just because I am being pedantic, I do have to point out that, back in the 19th century Phantom Rider and Ghost Rider were the same character. He just had a name change retcon (from Ghost to Phantom) when the motorcycle riding Ghost Rider was created. As explained in the link.

And for those who weren't aware, the Ghost Rider character was originally a guy named Rex Fury in comic books published by Magazine Enterprises in the late 1940s/1950s.



Also, between being Ghost Rider and then Phantom Rider, Marvel tried a different name for the character in the 1970s reprints:

Ah, Colt Cape, you say that only because there aren't any; none on current t.v., no western comics titles, hardly any movies at all [what since The Hateful Eight?]. Westerns ignored? Ignored, shunted away, shunned! Alas, poor west. I reread my Jonah Hex nearly every year. It comforts me.

There may not be any new Western TV shows and movies these days, but at least there are plenty of cable channels that air reruns of the classic TV shows and the old movies during certain times/days.

[MajorHoy]

Magazine Enterprises' "Ghost Rider" (Rex Fury) did later get reused by AC Comics (the company that does FemForce) in the 1970s and later, though he was renamed "The Haunted Horseman" then.


Also, Marvel's "Night Rider", aside from being renamed for reprints, did show up with that name in other stories before eventually being renamed "Phantom Rider".

[MajorHoy]

By the way, if you want to talk about a "forgotten" Western hero from Marvel, there's always The Dakota Kid.


This version was Cliff Morgan, who appeared in that one story with Rawhide Kid back in 1973.

Back in the days of Atlas Comics in the 1950s, there was another "Dakota Kid":

This "Kid" was Frank Yarrow.

[Colt Cape]

Ah, Colt Cape, you say that only because there aren't any; none on current t.v., no western comics titles, hardly any movies at all [what since The Hateful Eight?]. Westerns ignored? Ignored, shunted away, shunned! Alas, poor west. I reread my Jonah Hex nearly every year. It comforts me.

I love me some Jonah Hex too. Honestly it's a Shame that westerns have all but died off. They're a HUGE part of American culture, and as a member of Gen Y I feel a bit sad that people of my generation don't really have many traditional western Tales to grow up on.

[Kaine322]

If this is a new updated look for Arizona Annie I definitely like the tight pigtail hairstyle on her.

Where is this art from?

[Kaine322]

I have finally finished my research into the Black Rider

He first appeared in All Western Winners # 2, Winter 1948

Matthew Masters was the Black Rider. His background is a little convoluted. In Texas, the Davis Gang ran wild. A young cowboy calling himself “the Cactus Kid” came to town, went to the local saloon, got on the wrong side of the Davis Gang--and killed them all. Later, the governor of Texas, seeing that the Cactus Kid is young (17 years old), gives him amnesty--because, you know, all he did was kill a bunch of people--and he convinces the kid to give up his life as a cowboy. The kid (Masters) promises to never use a gun or take a life again. He decides to become a doctor.



Time passes. He becomes a doctor and sets up shop in Leadville.

Yeah. Leadville. No foreshadowing there!

Masters meets Jim Lathrop, his daughter Marie and her boyfriend, who was wounded by Blast Burroughs. Apparently people fall in love with Marie fairly regularly. The boyfriend did, and Masters does. And then Burroughs enters the office and asks Marie to marry him. When she refuses, he kills the boyfriend. Lathrop asks Masters to help track down Burroughs, but true to his promise Masters states he has no gun. Marie is not impressed. Lathrop goes out and gets wounded too. This gets Marie to call Masters a coward.

Later, Masters is still conflicted between the feeling he should do something and the feeling that he should keep his promise. Then he learns that Burroughs is planning to burn down the Lathrop ranch. Grabbing his old guns, Masters breaks into a merchandise store and creates a disguise for himself. (Don’t worry: he left money to pay for the garb.) He cals himself the Black Rider. He gets his horse, Ichabod, and re-names the horse “Satan.”

Now these western comics do tend to have wonder horses, and Ichabod/Satan is one of those. This horse knows how to modify his personality as a disguise. When he is with Masters as Ichabod, he is a mild-mannered, sleepy horse. But when he is ridden by the Black Rider, he is a fiery stallion.

Anyway, the Black Rider rescues Marie and kills Burroughs and, surprise surprise, Marie instantly falls in love with the masked man. He is so heroic, unlike that cowardly Doctor Masters.



And so the Black Rider goes on to fight for justice in the Old West. Eventually, Marie’s brother Bobby will accidentally learn Masters secret. He keeps the secret but gets great fun out of playing on Marie disliking Doc Masters while loving the Black Rider.

In later stories, the Black Rider’s history was retconned a little to state that Masters parents were killed when he was 5 by a looter named Luke Davis. This is what motivates him to become the Cactus Kid and he eventually tracks down Luke Davis and shoots him dead. I suppose the thought was that that would explain his wholesale slaughter of the Davis Gang later.

The Black Rider’s publishing history is also convoluted. He started in All Western Winners # 2 (there was no “All Western Winners #1...the first issue was just called All Winners #1 had featured such characters as the Torch and Toro, Sub-Mariner and Captain America & Bucky--so quite a change between the two issues). By issue # 5 it was just called “Western Winners.” Western Winners #7 did NOT feature the Black Rider, but then the next issue was re-titled “Black Rider #8”--which is the photo cover with Stan Lee disguised as the Rider that was posted earlier in this thread. “Black Rider” went from #8 to #27, when it changed to “Western Tales of Black Rider” for issues #28 to #31. Issue #31 was dated November 1955.

The book got renamed “Gunsmoke Western” (for issues #32 through #77) but the Black Rider only appeared in issues #s 47 and 51, as a backup feature. He also appeared in backup stories in “Wild Western” between 1949 and 1957, as well as in “Kid Colt Outlaw,” “Ringo Kid” and “Two-Gun Kid” (as well as a couple other omnibus titles) in the 1950s.

In 1957, there was “Black Rider Rides Again!”--but it appears to have only lasted one issue. For all practical purposes, the character was done. Marvel reprinted some of his stories in “Western Gunfighters” #s 3-16 in the early 1970s. In 2006, he was in another one-shot “The Mighty Marvel Western featuring Strange Westerns starring the Black Rider.”

The 2006 one-shot was great, IMO. Written by Englehart and beautifully rendered by the great Marshall Rogers, it read as if there was a series coming down the line, which unfortunately could not happe. Plus, it even had a young Ancient One as a guest star.

[MajorHoy]

I have finally finished my research into the Black Rider

. . . Marvel reprinted some of his stories in “Western Gunfighters” #s 3-16 in the early 1970s.

And, they also renamed the character in some of those reprints.

A story that originally published in 1954's Black Rider #23


instead had a slight change when reprinted in Western Gunfighters #3 sixteen years later.

[Tulku]

And, they also renamed the character in some of those reprints.

Interesting! I did not know that. Come to think of it, it doesn't look like Marvel Wikia knows about it, either, as it doesn't seem to have an entry for "Black Mask." I wonder why the name change? We know why they dropped "Night Rider" for the Ghost/Phantom Rider...but is there some stigma attached to the phrase "Black Rider"?

[616MarvelYear is LeapYear]

Thing was, a lot of Marvel's western output were reprints of the earlier Atlas westerns.

I am sorry. I should have been clearer on that when discussing the Ringo Kid. Ringo Kid Western ("RKW" for short) and Wild Western both contained Ringo Kid stories, but those were both Atlas Era books from the 1950s. Marvel's 1970s book The Ringo Kid ("RK" for short) was purely a reprint book of those Atlas stories. RKW ran 21 issues, while RK went for 30 issues--but that was just because of reprints of reprints. For example RK #30 was reprinting RK #7, which had reprinted the stories from RKW #7.

Whaa..

As far as I can tell, the only Marvel Era "new" Ringo Kid action occurred in Avengers #142 (December 1975). The Avengers are chasing Kang through time and end up in 1873 in Tombstone, Arizona, where they meet Two-Gun Kid, Rawhide Kid, Kid Colt, Night Rider and the Ringo Kid. In the issue, the Ringo Kid helps save Hawkeye by clubbing an owlhoot preparing to shoot Clint. Kudos to writer Steve Englehart for doing his research because he has Ringo then comment: "My mother was an Indian. I shouldn't have struck him from behind--but he used the word to insult you, Hawkeye." In that one line, Englehart captures both Ringo Kid's mixed heritage and his sense of honor. Legend has it that Englehart intended to write an ongoing Western with the Ringo Kid, but plans fell through.

But that is it, as far as I can tell. The Kid's one and only new Marvel Era action. Oh, he had a cameo in Avengers #143, but he didn't do anything

Oh well, at least better than a reprint of a reprint story.

[mrbrklyn]

[Tulku]

Yes, they did. If you are interested, you can learn more at the The Western Hero Appreciation Thread

[JudicatorPrime]

Yep, and a few of them even showed up as allies for the modern day teams, like the Avengers.

[mrbrklyn]

Jonahex made appearances in the JLA cartoons, but as its own genre, westerns seem to be dead. You would think that the independents could exploit a decent storyline and run with it.

[mrbrklyn]

[Hypestyle]

are there going to be any Western mini series this year? Those that don't involve time travel or anachronistic tech?