Kid Colt
Encyclopedia
Kid Colt is the name of two fictional character
s in comic books published by Marvel Comics
. The first is a cowboy
whose adventures have taken place in numerous western
themed comic book
series published by Marvel. The second is a cowboy-themed horse
-like superhero
.
Old West
cowboy
character who starred in the comic book
series Kid Colt Outlaw, as well as in several other titles. He is the longest-running cowboy star in American comic-book publishing, featured in stories for a 31-year stretch from 1948–1979, though from 1966 most of the published stories were reprints. A brief publishing hiatus occurred between issues #139 (April 1968) and #140 (Oct. 1969).
Some of Kid Colt's earliest adventures, beginning with Kid Colt Outlaw #14 (May 1951) were written and drawn by Pete Tumlinson
. Artist Jack Keller
began his long association with the character starting with Kid Colt, Outlaw #25 (March 1953). Marvel editor Stan Lee
would later take over writing chores on the title. Cover artists included such notables as Joe Maneely
, John Severin
, and Russ Heath
, until the frequent Marvel cover team of penciller Jack Kirby
and inker Dick Ayers
took over for the bulk of them from 1959-1965.
Kid Colt and his horse Steel first appeared in Kid Colt #1 (August 1948), from Marvel predecessor Timely Comics
. Originally his cover logo was subtitled "Hero of the West" but by issue three this was changed to "Outlaw". His origin, as told in Kid Colt #11 (Sept. 1950), involved Colt being wrongly accused of murder (he killed his father's murderer in a fair gun battle) and becoming a fugitive from the law, along the way engaging in heroic good acts in an effort to restore his reputation. This origin is similar to that of the Rawhide Kid
, another Western character from Marvel's 1950s iteration, Atlas Comics
.
Kid Colt appeared in numerous series through that decade, including All Western Winners, Two-Gun Western, and Gunsmoke Western
. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, he appeared in the reprint title Mighty Marvel Western along with the Two-Gun Kid
and the Rawhide Kid; he additionally headlined the three-issue Giant-Size Kid Colt reprint series. His signature series ended with #229 (April 1979), making it the longest-running Western comic book.
The character has appeared sporadically in Marvel universe
superhero
titles, usually in stories involving time travel
between the current era and Western times. These have included The Avengers
#141-43 (1975), The Fantastic Four vol. 3, #33-34 (2000) and The Black Panther
vol. 3, #46-47 (2002).
It was not until 2000, with the miniseries
Blaze of Glory
, by writer John Ostrander
and artist Leonardo Manco
, that a Western series again featured Kid Colt. The gritty miniseries — which featured different-looking versions of Marvel Western characters and retcon
ned that the naively clean-cut Marvel Western stories of years past were merely dime novel
fictions of their actual lives — killed off Kid Colt in the series' conclusion (#4, March 2000). He reappears in the present day as an old man in Skaar, King of the Savage Land where it is revealed his death was a hoax.
The character appears in 2010's Rawhide Kid
: The Sensational Seven.
character in the Marvel Comics
universe
who has appeared as a member of the modern-day Young Allies
. Created by Fabian Nicieza
and Mark Bagley
, he debuted in Heroes Reborn
: Young Allies #1 (Jan. 2000).
Born to hippies, Elric was a normal child, until government agents paid his parents to let them give him special "tests" (which were attempts to fuse his DNA
with the DNA of the equine aliens known as the Kymellian
s). The tests were successful, and young Elric changed into a strange, bipedal horse-like creature. Hearing stories of the wild west, Elric assumed the identity of Kid Colt, and began to use his newfound powers to help those in need. He was eventually recruited by the Young Allies
to help them free two alien beings. Elric decided to remain with the team.
Elric is a hybrid of human and Kymellian
. Due to his alien
DNA
, he can shapeshift into a humanoid horse, and teleport
short distances. He can store items in sub-space "closets", pockets of extra-dimensional space which can hold items as large as a human being until Elric needs them. By creating multiple pockets which are linked together, Elric can run through them, and seem to rapidly blink in-and-out of existence. When he is not in his horse form, Elric wears a cowboy-themed costume in homage to the original Kid Colt. Due to his horse-like digestive system, Elric is a vegetarian (but still loves a good bowl of ice cream).
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
s in comic books published by Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics
Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
. The first is a cowboy
Cowboy
A cowboy is an animal herder who tends cattle on ranches in North America, traditionally on horseback, and often performs a multitude of other ranch-related tasks. The historic American cowboy of the late 19th century arose from the vaquero traditions of northern Mexico and became a figure of...
whose adventures have taken place in numerous western
Western (genre)
The Western is a genre of various visual arts, such as film, television, radio, literature, painting and others. Westerns are devoted to telling stories set primarily in the latter half of the 19th century in the American Old West, hence the name. Some Westerns are set as early as the Battle of...
themed comic book
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
series published by Marvel. The second is a cowboy-themed horse
Horse
The horse is one of two extant subspecies of Equus ferus, or the wild horse. It is a single-hooved mammal belonging to the taxonomic family Equidae. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million years from a small multi-toed creature into the large, single-toed animal of today...
-like superhero
Superhero
A superhero is a type of stock character, possessing "extraordinary or superhuman powers", dedicated to protecting the public. Since the debut of the prototypical superhero Superman in 1938, stories of superheroes — ranging from brief episodic adventures to continuing years-long sagas —...
.
Kid Colt (Western hero)
Kid Colt (real name: Blaine Colt) is an AmericanUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Old West
Western comics
Western comics is a comics genre usually depicting the American Old West frontier and typically set during the late nineteenth century...
cowboy
Cowboy
A cowboy is an animal herder who tends cattle on ranches in North America, traditionally on horseback, and often performs a multitude of other ranch-related tasks. The historic American cowboy of the late 19th century arose from the vaquero traditions of northern Mexico and became a figure of...
character who starred in the comic book
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
series Kid Colt Outlaw, as well as in several other titles. He is the longest-running cowboy star in American comic-book publishing, featured in stories for a 31-year stretch from 1948–1979, though from 1966 most of the published stories were reprints. A brief publishing hiatus occurred between issues #139 (April 1968) and #140 (Oct. 1969).
Some of Kid Colt's earliest adventures, beginning with Kid Colt Outlaw #14 (May 1951) were written and drawn by Pete Tumlinson
Pete Tumlinson
Howard Peter "Pete" Tumlinson was an American book illustrator and a comic book artist whose worked appeared from the late 1940s through the 1950s in titles published by the Marvel Comics predecessors Timely Comics and Atlas Comics...
. Artist Jack Keller
Jack Keller (comics)
Jack R. Keller was an American comic book artist best known for his 1950s and '60s work on the Marvel Comics Western character Kid Colt, and for his later hot rod and racecar series at Charlton Comics.-Early life and career:...
began his long association with the character starting with Kid Colt, Outlaw #25 (March 1953). Marvel editor Stan Lee
Stan Lee
Stan Lee is an American comic book writer, editor, actor, producer, publisher, television personality, and the former president and chairman of Marvel Comics....
would later take over writing chores on the title. Cover artists included such notables as Joe Maneely
Joe Maneely
Joseph "Joe" Maneely is an American comic book artist best known for his work at Marvel Comics' 1950s predecessor, Atlas Comics, where he co-created the Marvel characters the Black Knight, the Ringo Kid, the Yellow Claw, and Jimmy Woo.An exquisite draftsman whose delicate yet solid, fine-line...
, John Severin
John Severin
John Powers Severin is an American comic book artist noted for his distinctive work with EC Comics, primarily on the war comics Two-Fisted Tales and Frontline Combat; for Marvel Comics, primarily on its war and Western comics; and for the satiric magazine Cracked...
, and Russ Heath
Russ Heath
Russell Heath, Jr. is an American artist best known for his comic book work — particularly his DC Comics war stories for several decades and his 1960s art for Playboy magazine's Little Annie Fanny featurettes — and for his commercial art, two pieces of which, depicting Roman and...
, until the frequent Marvel cover team of penciller Jack Kirby
Jack Kirby
Jack Kirby , born Jacob Kurtzberg, was an American comic book artist, writer and editor regarded by historians and fans as one of the major innovators and most influential creators in the comic book medium....
and inker Dick Ayers
Dick Ayers
Richard "Dick" Ayers is an American comic book artist and cartoonist best known for his work as one of Jack Kirby's inkers during the late-1950s and 1960s period known as the Silver Age of Comics, including on some of the earliest issues of Marvel Comics' The Fantastic Four, and as the signature...
took over for the bulk of them from 1959-1965.
Kid Colt and his horse Steel first appeared in Kid Colt #1 (August 1948), from Marvel predecessor Timely Comics
Timely Comics
Timely Comics, an imprint of Timely Publications, was the earliest comic book arm of American publisher Martin Goodman, and the entity that would evolve by the 1960s to become Marvel Comics....
. Originally his cover logo was subtitled "Hero of the West" but by issue three this was changed to "Outlaw". His origin, as told in Kid Colt #11 (Sept. 1950), involved Colt being wrongly accused of murder (he killed his father's murderer in a fair gun battle) and becoming a fugitive from the law, along the way engaging in heroic good acts in an effort to restore his reputation. This origin is similar to that of the Rawhide Kid
Rawhide Kid
The Rawhide Kid is a fictional Old West cowboy in comic books published by Marvel Comics. A heroic gunfighter of the 19th-century American West who was unjustly wanted as an outlaw, he is one of Marvel's most prolific Western characters...
, another Western character from Marvel's 1950s iteration, Atlas Comics
Atlas Comics (1950s)
Atlas Comics is the term used to describe the 1950s comic book publishing company that would evolve into Marvel Comics. Magazine and paperback novel publisher Martin Goodman, whose business strategy involved having a multitude of corporate entities, used Atlas as the umbrella name for his comic...
.
Kid Colt appeared in numerous series through that decade, including All Western Winners, Two-Gun Western, and Gunsmoke Western
Gunsmoke Western
Gunsmoke Western was an American comic book series published initially by Atlas Comics, the 1950s forerunner of Marvel Comics, and then into the 1960s by Marvel...
. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, he appeared in the reprint title Mighty Marvel Western along with the Two-Gun Kid
Two-Gun Kid
The Two-Gun Kid is a fictional character, a cowboy gunslinger in the Wild West of Marvel Comics' shared universe, the Marvel Universe.-Publication history:...
and the Rawhide Kid; he additionally headlined the three-issue Giant-Size Kid Colt reprint series. His signature series ended with #229 (April 1979), making it the longest-running Western comic book.
The character has appeared sporadically in Marvel universe
Marvel Universe
The Marvel Universe is the shared fictional universe where most comic book titles and other media published by Marvel Entertainment take place, including those featuring Marvel's most familiar characters, such as Spider-Man, the Hulk, the X-Men, and the Avengers.The Marvel Universe is further...
superhero
Superhero
A superhero is a type of stock character, possessing "extraordinary or superhuman powers", dedicated to protecting the public. Since the debut of the prototypical superhero Superman in 1938, stories of superheroes — ranging from brief episodic adventures to continuing years-long sagas —...
titles, usually in stories involving time travel
Time travel
Time travel is the concept of moving between different points in time in a manner analogous to moving between different points in space. Time travel could hypothetically involve moving backward in time to a moment earlier than the starting point, or forward to the future of that point without the...
between the current era and Western times. These have included The Avengers
Avengers (comics)
The Avengers is a fictional team of superheroes, appearing in magazines published by Marvel Comics. The team made its debut in The Avengers #1 The Avengers is a fictional team of superheroes, appearing in magazines published by Marvel Comics. The team made its debut in The Avengers #1 The Avengers...
#141-43 (1975), The Fantastic Four vol. 3, #33-34 (2000) and The Black Panther
Black Panther (comics)
The Black Panther is a fictional character in the Marvel Comics universe. Created by writer-editor Stan Lee and penciller-co-plotter Jack Kirby, he first appeared in Fantastic Four #52...
vol. 3, #46-47 (2002).
It was not until 2000, with the miniseries
Miniseries
A miniseries , in a serial storytelling medium, is a television show production which tells a story in a limited number of episodes. The exact number is open to interpretation; however, they are usually limited to fewer than a whole season. The term "miniseries" is generally a North American term...
Blaze of Glory
Blaze of Glory (comics)
Blaze of Glory is a four-issue comic book limited series published in 2000 by Marvel Comics. It was written by John Ostrander and drawn by Leonardo Manco....
, by writer John Ostrander
John Ostrander
John Ostrander is an American writer of comic books. He is best known for his work on Suicide Squad, Grimjack and Star Wars: Legacy, series he helped create.-Career:...
and artist Leonardo Manco
Leonardo Manco
Leonardo Manco is an Argentine comic book artist and penciller.-Bibliography:Manco is best known for his dark and gritty style on such titles as Hellstorm , Blaze of Glory , Apache Skies , Deathlok Vol.3 and Hellblazer .Other work by Manco has included Archangel #1 , Werewolf By...
, that a Western series again featured Kid Colt. The gritty miniseries — which featured different-looking versions of Marvel Western characters and retcon
Retcon
Retroactive continuity is the alteration of previously established facts in a fictional work. Retcons are done for many reasons, including the accommodation of sequels or further derivative works in a series, wherein newer authors or creators want to revise the in-story history to allow a course...
ned that the naively clean-cut Marvel Western stories of years past were merely dime novel
Dime novel
Dime novel, though it has a specific meaning, has also become a catch-all term for several different forms of late 19th-century and early 20th-century U.S...
fictions of their actual lives — killed off Kid Colt in the series' conclusion (#4, March 2000). He reappears in the present day as an old man in Skaar, King of the Savage Land where it is revealed his death was a hoax.
The character appears in 2010's Rawhide Kid
Rawhide Kid
The Rawhide Kid is a fictional Old West cowboy in comic books published by Marvel Comics. A heroic gunfighter of the 19th-century American West who was unjustly wanted as an outlaw, he is one of Marvel's most prolific Western characters...
: The Sensational Seven.
Kid Colt (superhero)
Kid Colt (real name: Elric Freedom Whitemane) is a contemporary superheroSuperhero
A superhero is a type of stock character, possessing "extraordinary or superhuman powers", dedicated to protecting the public. Since the debut of the prototypical superhero Superman in 1938, stories of superheroes — ranging from brief episodic adventures to continuing years-long sagas —...
character in the Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics
Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
universe
Marvel Universe
The Marvel Universe is the shared fictional universe where most comic book titles and other media published by Marvel Entertainment take place, including those featuring Marvel's most familiar characters, such as Spider-Man, the Hulk, the X-Men, and the Avengers.The Marvel Universe is further...
who has appeared as a member of the modern-day Young Allies
Young Allies
Young Allies is the name of three superhero teams in the .-Golden Age:The Golden Age's Young Allies were a gang of kids who fought the Axis...
. Created by Fabian Nicieza
Fabian Nicieza
Fabian Nicieza is an American comic book writer and editor who is best known for his work on Marvel titles such as X-Men, X-Force, New Warriors, Cable and Deadpool, and Thunderbolts, for all of which he helped create numerous characters.-Early life:The son of Omar and Irma Riguetti Nicieza, Fabian...
and Mark Bagley
Mark Bagley
Mark Bagley is an American comic book artist. He has worked for Marvel Comics and DC Comics on such titles as The Amazing Spider-Man, Thunderbolts, New Warriors, and Ultimate Spider-Man.- Early life and career :...
, he debuted in Heroes Reborn
Heroes Reborn
"Heroes Reborn" was a 1996-1997 crossover story arc among comic-book series published by the American company Marvel Comics. During this one-year, multi-title story arc, Marvel temporarily outsourced the production of several of its most famous comic books to the studios of its popular former...
: Young Allies #1 (Jan. 2000).
Born to hippies, Elric was a normal child, until government agents paid his parents to let them give him special "tests" (which were attempts to fuse his DNA
DNA
Deoxyribonucleic acid is a nucleic acid that contains the genetic instructions used in the development and functioning of all known living organisms . The DNA segments that carry this genetic information are called genes, but other DNA sequences have structural purposes, or are involved in...
with the DNA of the equine aliens known as the Kymellian
Kymellian
The Kymellians are a fictional extraterrestrial race that have appeared in many Marvel Comics. They were introduced in Power Pack #1 .-Fictional biography:...
s). The tests were successful, and young Elric changed into a strange, bipedal horse-like creature. Hearing stories of the wild west, Elric assumed the identity of Kid Colt, and began to use his newfound powers to help those in need. He was eventually recruited by the Young Allies
Young Allies
Young Allies is the name of three superhero teams in the .-Golden Age:The Golden Age's Young Allies were a gang of kids who fought the Axis...
to help them free two alien beings. Elric decided to remain with the team.
Elric is a hybrid of human and Kymellian
Kymellian
The Kymellians are a fictional extraterrestrial race that have appeared in many Marvel Comics. They were introduced in Power Pack #1 .-Fictional biography:...
. Due to his alien
Extraterrestrial life in popular culture
In popular cultures, "extraterrestrials" are life forms — especially intelligent life forms— that are of extraterrestrial origin .-Historical ideas:-Pre-modern:...
DNA
DNA
Deoxyribonucleic acid is a nucleic acid that contains the genetic instructions used in the development and functioning of all known living organisms . The DNA segments that carry this genetic information are called genes, but other DNA sequences have structural purposes, or are involved in...
, he can shapeshift into a humanoid horse, and teleport
Teleportation
Teleportation is the fictional or imagined process by which matter is instantaneously transferred from one place to another.Teleportation may also refer to:*Quantum teleportation, a method of transmitting quantum data...
short distances. He can store items in sub-space "closets", pockets of extra-dimensional space which can hold items as large as a human being until Elric needs them. By creating multiple pockets which are linked together, Elric can run through them, and seem to rapidly blink in-and-out of existence. When he is not in his horse form, Elric wears a cowboy-themed costume in homage to the original Kid Colt. Due to his horse-like digestive system, Elric is a vegetarian (but still loves a good bowl of ice cream).