Western comics
Encyclopedia
Western comics is a comics
genre usually depicting the American Old West
frontier (usually anywhere west of the Mississippi River
) and typically set during the late nineteenth century. The term is generally associated with an American comic books genre published from the late 1940s through the 1950s (though the genre had continuing popularity in Europe, and persists in limited form in American comics today). Western comics of the period typically featured dramatic scripts about cowboy
s, gunfighters, lawmen, bounty hunter
s, outlaw
s, and Native American
s. Accompanying artwork depicted a rural America populated with such iconic images as guns, cowboy hat
s, vests, horses, saloons, ranches, and deserts, contemporaneous with the setting.
from the late 1930s to the 1960s.
Western comics first appeared in syndicated newspaper strips
in the late 1920s. Harry O'Neill
's Young Buffalo Bill (later changed to Buckaroo Bill and then, finally, Broncho Bill), distributed by United Feature Syndicate beginning in 1928, was about a group of Boy ranger
s, and was a pioneering example of the form. Starting in the 1930s, Red Ryder
and Little Joe
were syndicated in hundreds of newspapers across the United States. Garrett Price's White Boy (later changed to Skull Valley) was another syndicated strip from the 1930s, though not as popular as Red Ryder or Little Joe.
The first Western stories to appear in the comics were in the mid-1930s: National Allied's New Fun Comics #1 (Feb. 1935) ran the modern-West feature "Jack Woods" and the Old West feature "Buckskin Jim"; and Centaur Publications
' The Comics Magazine #1 (May 1936) ran the feature "Captain Bill of the Rangers". Dell Comics
' The Funnies
published a run of short adaptations of B-movie
Westerns starting in vol. 2, issue #20 (May 1938). Whitman Comics
' Crackajack Funnies ran regular Western features (including Tom Mix
stories) beginning with issue #1 in June 1938.
The first stand-alone Western comics titles were published by Centaur Publications
. Star Ranger and Western Picture Stories both debuted from the publisher in late 1936, cover-dated Feb. 1937. Star Ranger ran for 12 issues, becoming Cowboy Comics for a couple of issues, and then becoming Star Ranger Funnies. The series ended in October 1939. Western Picture Stories ran four issues in 1937. Dell Comics
published Western Action Thrillers #1 shortly thereafter (cover-date Apr. 1937), and began publishing Red Ryder Comics, initially reprinting the long-running comic strip, in 1941.
, when hip comics readers found crime-busting superheroes in tights and trunks a thing of the past. Adult comics readership had grown during the war years, and returning servicemen wanted subjects other than superheroes in their books. The popularity of the Western genre in comic strips and other media gave birth to Western comics, many of which began being published around 1948.
Most of the larger publishers of the period jumped headfirst into the Western arena during this period. The six-issue 1950 Harvey Comics
series Boys' Ranch
, by Joe Simon
and Jack Kirby
, was a seminal example of the genre. Marvel Comics
' flagship Western title Kid Colt Outlaw debuted in 1948, running until 1979 (though it was primarily a reprint title after 1967). Other notable long-running Western comics published by Atlas Comics
, Timely Comics
(precursors of Marvel Comics
), and Marvel included Rawhide Kid
, Two-Gun Kid
, and Wild Western. DC Comics
published the long-running series All-Star Western
and Western Comics
.
Charlton Comics
published Billy the Kid
, Cheyenne Kid, Outlaws of the West, Texas Rangers in Action, and the unusual title Black Fury, about a horse
that roamed the West righting wrongs. Both Dell Comics
and Fawcett Comics
published a number of Western titles, including The Lone Ranger
(Dell) and Hopalong Cassidy
(Fawcett, later continued by DC after Fawcett folded in 1953). Avon Comics published a number of Western comics, the most notable titles being based on historical figures like Jesse James
and Wild Bill Hickock. Youthful
published the Western titles Gunsmoke, Indian Fighter, and Redskin (later known as Famous Western Badmen). And Toby Press
published its own Billy the Kid
Adventure Magazine.
, published by Timely Comics
beginning in 1939. Other Timely/Atlas/Marvel characters from the genre's peak include Apache Kid, Black Rider
, Kid Colt
, Outlaw Kid
, Phantom Rider
, Rawhide Kid
, Ringo Kid
, Two-Gun Kid
, and Western Kid
. Early DC Comics
Western characters included Johnny Thunder, Nighthawk
, Pow Wow Smith
, Tomahawk
, the Trigger Twins
, Vigilante
, and the Wyoming Kid. Charlton Comics
featured Billy the Kid
and the Cheyenne Kid. Dell Comics
featured the Lone Ranger, and Dell's Lobo
(debuting in 1965) was the medium's first African-American character to headline his own series.
published Allan Lane
, Monte Hale
, Gabby Hayes, Lash LaRue, Tex Ritter
, and Tom Mix
comics; Dell published Gene Autry
, Rex Allen
, Roy Rogers
, and Wild Bill Elliott
comics; Magazine Enterprises
published Charles Starrett
and Tim Holt
comics; Toby Press
published a John Wayne
title; and DC produced short-lived Dale Evans
and Jimmy Wakely
titles. (Dale Evans and Reno Browne
were the only two Western actresses to have comics based on their characters.) Most of the cowboy actor titles featured photo covers of the stars; most series had been canceled by 1957.
Writer Paul S. Newman
and artist Tom Gill
had an 11-year run on Dell
's The Lone Ranger
, a 107-issue run that marks one of the longest of any writer/artist team on a comic-book series. Carl Pfeufer
was the longtime artist of Fawcett's Tom Mix
comics. Artist Fred Guardineer
had a long run on Magazine Enterprises
' The Durango Kid.
Pete Tumlinson
illustrated most of Kid Colt
's early stories. Later, Tumlinson drew Western stories for Atlas Comics' Outlaw Fighters, Two-Gun Western, and Wild Western. Larry Lieber
spent a long stint as writer-artist of Marvel's Rawhide Kid
. Russ Heath
drew a corral-full of Western stories for such Timely
comics as Wild Western, All Western Winners, Arizona Kid, Black Rider
, Western Outlaws, and Reno Browne, Hollywood's Greatest Cowgirl. Vic Carrabotta
worked on such Marvel Westerns as Apache Kid, Kid Colt: Outlaw, The Outlaw Kid, and Western Outlaws. Artist John Severin
was known for his 1950s Western comics art for Atlas. Artist Mike Sekowsky
drew such characters as the Apache Kid, the Black Rider
, and Kid Colt
for Atlas Comics
; he later freelanced for other companies, drawing the TV-series spin-offs Gunsmoke
and Buffalo Bill Jr.
for Dell Comics
.
Artist Rocke Mastroserio
specialized in Western stories for such Charlton series as Billy the Kid
, Black Fury, Jim Bowie
, Rocky Lane's Black Jack, Sheriff of Tombstone, Six-Gun Heroes, Texas Rangers
in Action, and Wyatt Earp
, Frontier Marshal. Pat Boyette
worked on such Charlton Western series as Billy the Kid
, Cheyenne Kid, and Outlaws of the West.
. Increasingly, the genre reflected a Romantic
, dishonest view of the American West — and American history in general. As the country grappled with the cultural issues of the 1960s
and the Vietnam War
, the genre seemed increasingly out of touch.
As the American
public's interest in the genre waned, Western literature — including comics — began to lose its appeal as well. At the same time, the comics industry was shifting back to superheroes (entering its "Silver Age
") and away from some of the other genres which had flourished during the 1950s. In fact, of the original Western comics series begun in the late 1940s and early 1950s, only a handful of titles survived the 1950s. Charlton's low production costs enabled it to continue producing a number of Western titles, but otherwise Dell's The Lone Ranger
, and Marvel's Gunsmoke Western, Kid Colt Outlaw, and Rawhide Kid
were the only Western titles to make it through the 1960s.
Gary Friedrich
, Mike Esposito
, and Ogden Whitney
are three of the few notable Western comics creators from the 1960s.
film. Elements include a darker, more cynical tone, with focus on the lawlessness of the time period, favoring realism over romanticism, and an interest in greater historical authenticity. Anti-heroes were common, as were stronger roles for women and more-sympathetic portrayal of Native Americans and Mexicans. The films were often critical of big business, the American government, and masculine figures (including the military and their policies).
Reflecting the trend, in 1968 DC debuted the new character Bat Lash
, who starred in a short-lived series. They also revived the All-Star Western
title, starting volume two of the series in 1970. In 1972, All-Star Western changed its name to Weird Western Tales
, with many stories featuring the newly created Western antihero Jonah Hex
(who beginning in 1975 had his own title). Weird Western Tales (sister title of Weird War Tales
) defined a new multi-genre form: "Weird West
," a combination of the Western with another literary genre, usually horror
, occult
, or fantasy
. Other Western characters DC created during this period include the heroes Scalphunter
and El Diablo
, and the villains El Papagayo
, Terra-Man
, and Quentin Turnbull
.
The short-lived publisher Skywald Publications
attempted a line of Western titles in the early 1970s, but nothing came of it.
Weird Western Tales survived until 1980, and Jonah Hex until 1985. By then no major publishers were producing Western titles, though iconic characters from the DC and Marvel canons would occasionally make cameo appearances in other books.
The DC Comics
imprint Vertigo reintroduced the Western genre in 1995 with Preacher
, set in a contemporary version of the West. In the 1990s and 2000s, the Western comic leaned toward the Weird West sub-genre, usually involving supernatural monsters. However, more traditional Western comics are found throughout this period, from Jonah Hex
to Loveless. Series like Desperadoes
, High Moon
, and Scalped
demonstrate the genre's continuing appeal. Creators like Joe R. Lansdale
, Michael Fleisher
, and Tony DeZuniga
were notable contributors to Western comics from this period.
In addition, publishers like America's Comics Group and AC Comics
have reprinted a number of Western comics from the genre's "Golden Age."
, France
, Belgium
, and England
. Many European countries published reprints of American-made Western comics (translated into the respective country's native language). The Italian publishers Sergio Bonelli Editore
and Editorial Novaro led the field — Editorial Novaro's Gene Autry
title ran 424 issues from 1954–1984. The Swedish publisher Se-Bladene and the British publisher L. Miller & Son were also particularly known for their Western comics reprint titles. Se-Bladene's Texas ran 606 issues between 1954–1975. The Australian publishers
Ayers & James, Cleland, Federal Publishing, Gredown, and Horwitz Publications all published reprints of American Western comics during the 1950s and 1960s.
and Aurelio Galleppini
's Tex (starring Tex Willer
), first published in 1948. Tex is among the most popular characters in Italian comics, and has been translated into numerous languages, including Portuguese
, Finnish
, Norwegian
, Turkish
, Slovenian, Serbo-Croatian
, and Hebrew.
Captain Miki
, by the trio EsseGesse
, was published in Italy
(and translated into many other languages) throughout the 1950s. Characters in the comic were inspired by Gabby Hayes and the popular 1939 Western film Stagecoach. EsseGesse also produced the popular series Il Grande Blek
. Benito Jacovitti
's Cocco Bill
is a Western humor comic produced since the mid-1950s.
Sergio Bonelli
and Gallieno Ferri
's Zagor
was first published in Italy by Sergio Bonelli Editore
in 1961. Carlo Boscarato
and Claudio Nizzi
's Larry Yuma
was a popular character in the Italian magazine Il Giornalino
throughout the 1970s. Giancarlo Berardi
and Ivo Milazzo
's Ken Parker is a popular Western hero appearing in Italian comics since 1977.
In the late 1990s and early 2000s, writer Gianfranco Manfredi's Magico Vento
was a popular title from Sergio Bonelli Editore
. Since the late 1990s, Enrico Teodorani's Djustine
has been featured in erotic "Weird West
" stories in Italy and the United States.
, published since 1946, is one of the most popular and best-selling comic-book series in continental Europe. Popular in Canada, about half of the series' adventures have been translated into English. Lucky Luke comics have been translated into 23 languages, including many European languages, and some African and Asian languages.
The comics magazine Tintin
featured Western-themed comics starting in 1948 with Paul Cuvelier
's character Corentin
.
Jean-Michel Charlier
and Jean "Moebius" Giraud's Blueberry is a Western series published beginning in 1963 and continuing until the present day. The Belgian publisher Le Lombard
produced the title Buddy Longway
, by Swiss comics writer Derib
, from 1972–1987, and from 2002–2006.
, Kid Dynamite Western Comic, Pancho Villa
Western Comic, and Rocky Mountain King Western Comic, all published in the 1950s.
Hugo Pratt
and Héctor Germán Oesterheld
's Sergeant Kirk
was a popular Western comics title in Argentina during the 1950s. Additional Sargent Kirk stories were published into the early 1970s.
Hyung Min-woo's manhwa
series Priest
was published in Korea and the U.S. from 1998–2007.
Comics
Comics denotes a hybrid medium having verbal side of its vocabulary tightly tied to its visual side in order to convey narrative or information only, the latter in case of non-fiction comics, seeking synergy by using both visual and verbal side in...
genre usually depicting the American Old West
American Old West
The American Old West, or the Wild West, comprises the history, geography, people, lore, and cultural expression of life in the Western United States, most often referring to the latter half of the 19th century, between the American Civil War and the end of the century...
frontier (usually anywhere west of the Mississippi River
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...
) and typically set during the late nineteenth century. The term is generally associated with an American comic books genre published from the late 1940s through the 1950s (though the genre had continuing popularity in Europe, and persists in limited form in American comics today). Western comics of the period typically featured dramatic scripts about 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...
s, gunfighters, lawmen, bounty hunter
Bounty hunter
A bounty hunter captures fugitives for a monetary reward . Other names, mainly used in the United States, include bail enforcement agent and fugitive recovery agent.-Laws in the U.S.:...
s, outlaw
Outlaw
In historical legal systems, an outlaw is declared as outside the protection of the law. In pre-modern societies, this takes the burden of active prosecution of a criminal from the authorities. Instead, the criminal is withdrawn all legal protection, so that anyone is legally empowered to persecute...
s, and Native American
Indigenous peoples of the Americas
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
s. Accompanying artwork depicted a rural America populated with such iconic images as guns, cowboy hat
Cowboy hat
The cowboy hat is a high-crowned, wide-brimmed hat best known as the defining piece of attire for the North American cowboy. Today it is worn by many people, and is particularly associated with ranch workers in the western and southern United States, western Canada and northern Mexico, with...
s, vests, horses, saloons, ranches, and deserts, contemporaneous with the setting.
Origins
Western novels, films, and pulp magazines were extremely popular in the United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
from the late 1930s to the 1960s.
Western comics first appeared in syndicated newspaper strips
Comic strip
A comic strip is a sequence of drawings arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions....
in the late 1920s. Harry O'Neill
Harry O'Neill
Harry O'Neill may refer to:*Harry P. O'Neill , U.S. Representative from Pennsylvania*Harry O'Neill , a character from the soap opera One Life to Live *Harry O'Neill , Major League Baseball pitcher, 1922–1923...
's Young Buffalo Bill (later changed to Buckaroo Bill and then, finally, Broncho Bill), distributed by United Feature Syndicate beginning in 1928, was about a group of Boy ranger
Ranger
-Law enforcement:* Arizona Rangers* California State Rangers* Colorado Mounted Rangers* Council ranger, a type of officer in Australia* Newfoundland Rangers* New Mexico Rangers* Pakistan Rangers, a Pakistani paramilitary force* Texas Ranger Division...
s, and was a pioneering example of the form. Starting in the 1930s, Red Ryder
Red Ryder
Red Ryder was a popular long-running Western comic strip created by Stephen Slesinger and artist Fred Harman. Beginning Sunday, November 6, 1938, Red Ryder was syndicated by Newspaper Enterprise Association, expanding over the following decade to 750 newspapers, translations into ten languages and...
and Little Joe
Little Joe (comic strip)
Little Joe was a Western comic strip, created in the early 1930s by Ed Leffingwell and later continued by his brother, Robert Leffingwell. Distributed by the Chicago Tribune Syndicate, this Sunday strip had a long run spanning four decades...
were syndicated in hundreds of newspapers across the United States. Garrett Price's White Boy (later changed to Skull Valley) was another syndicated strip from the 1930s, though not as popular as Red Ryder or Little Joe.
The first Western stories to appear in the comics were in the mid-1930s: National Allied's New Fun Comics #1 (Feb. 1935) ran the modern-West feature "Jack Woods" and the Old West feature "Buckskin Jim"; and Centaur Publications
Centaur Publications
Centaur Publications was one of the earliest American comic book publishers. During their short existence, they created several colorful characters, including Bill Everett's Amazing Man....
' The Comics Magazine #1 (May 1936) ran the feature "Captain Bill of the Rangers". Dell Comics
Dell Comics
Dell Comics was the comic book publishing arm of Dell Publishing, which got its start in pulp magazines. It published comics from 1929 to 1973. At its peak, it was the most prominent and successful American company in the medium...
' The Funnies
The Funnies
The Funnies was the name of two American publications from Dell Publishing, the first of these a seminal, 1920s precursor of comic books, and the second a standard 1930s comic book.-The Funnies :In 1929, George T...
published a run of short adaptations of B-movie
B-movie
A B movie is a low-budget commercial motion picture that is not definitively an arthouse or pornographic film. In its original usage, during the Golden Age of Hollywood, the term more precisely identified a film intended for distribution as the less-publicized, bottom half of a double feature....
Westerns starting in vol. 2, issue #20 (May 1938). Whitman Comics
Dell Comics
Dell Comics was the comic book publishing arm of Dell Publishing, which got its start in pulp magazines. It published comics from 1929 to 1973. At its peak, it was the most prominent and successful American company in the medium...
' Crackajack Funnies ran regular Western features (including Tom Mix
Tom Mix
Thomas Edwin "Tom" Mix was an American film actor and the star of many early Western movies. He made a reported 336 films between 1910 and 1935, all but nine of which were silent features...
stories) beginning with issue #1 in June 1938.
The first stand-alone Western comics titles were published by Centaur Publications
Centaur Publications
Centaur Publications was one of the earliest American comic book publishers. During their short existence, they created several colorful characters, including Bill Everett's Amazing Man....
. Star Ranger and Western Picture Stories both debuted from the publisher in late 1936, cover-dated Feb. 1937. Star Ranger ran for 12 issues, becoming Cowboy Comics for a couple of issues, and then becoming Star Ranger Funnies. The series ended in October 1939. Western Picture Stories ran four issues in 1937. Dell Comics
Dell Comics
Dell Comics was the comic book publishing arm of Dell Publishing, which got its start in pulp magazines. It published comics from 1929 to 1973. At its peak, it was the most prominent and successful American company in the medium...
published Western Action Thrillers #1 shortly thereafter (cover-date Apr. 1937), and began publishing Red Ryder Comics, initially reprinting the long-running comic strip, in 1941.
"Golden Age": 1948–1960
Western comics became popular in the years immediately following World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, when hip comics readers found crime-busting superheroes in tights and trunks a thing of the past. Adult comics readership had grown during the war years, and returning servicemen wanted subjects other than superheroes in their books. The popularity of the Western genre in comic strips and other media gave birth to Western comics, many of which began being published around 1948.
Most of the larger publishers of the period jumped headfirst into the Western arena during this period. The six-issue 1950 Harvey Comics
Harvey Comics
Harvey Comics was an American comic book publisher, founded in New York City by Alfred Harvey in 1941, after buying out the small publisher Brookwood Publications. His brothers Robert B...
series Boys' Ranch
Boys' Ranch
Boys' Ranch was a six-issue American comic book series created by the veteran writer-artist team of Joe Simon and Jack Kirby for Harvey Comics in 1950...
, by Joe Simon
Joe Simon
Joseph Henry "Joe" Simon is an American comic book writer, artist, editor, and publisher. Simon created or co-created many important characters in the 1930s-1940s Golden Age of Comic Books and served as the first editor of Timely Comics, the company that would evolve into Marvel Comics.With his...
and 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....
, was a seminal example of the genre. 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...
' flagship Western title Kid Colt Outlaw debuted in 1948, running until 1979 (though it was primarily a reprint title after 1967). Other notable long-running Western comics published by 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...
, 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....
(precursors of 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...
), and Marvel included 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...
, 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 Wild Western. DC Comics
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
published the long-running series All-Star Western
All-Star Western
All-Star Western was the name of three American comic book series published by DC Comics, each a Western fiction omnibus featuring both continuing characters and anthological stories. The first ran from 1951 to 1961, the second from 1970 to 1972 and the third is part of the DC New 52 released in...
and Western Comics
Western Comics
Western Comics was a Western comic book series published by DC Comics. DC's longest-running Western title, it published 85 issues from 1948 to 1961. Western Comics was an anthology series, featuring such characters as the wandering cowboy the Wyoming Kid, the Native American lawman Pow Wow Smith,...
.
Charlton Comics
Charlton Comics
Charlton Comics was an American comic book publishing company that existed from 1946 to 1985, having begun under a different name in 1944. It was based in Derby, Connecticut...
published Billy the Kid
Billy the Kid (Charlton Comics)
Billy the Kid is a Western comic book series published by Charlton Comics, with stories of a fictional character based on the historical Billy the Kid. Taking over the numbering of a previous Western comic, Masked Raider, Billy the Kid was published from issues #9-153...
, Cheyenne Kid, Outlaws of the West, Texas Rangers in Action, and the unusual title Black Fury, about a 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...
that roamed the West righting wrongs. Both Dell Comics
Dell Comics
Dell Comics was the comic book publishing arm of Dell Publishing, which got its start in pulp magazines. It published comics from 1929 to 1973. At its peak, it was the most prominent and successful American company in the medium...
and Fawcett Comics
Fawcett Comics
Fawcett Comics, a division of Fawcett Publications, was one of several successful comic book publishers during the Golden Age of Comic Books in the 1940s...
published a number of Western titles, including The Lone Ranger
The Lone Ranger
The Lone Ranger is a fictional masked Texas Ranger who, with his Native American companion Tonto, fights injustice in the American Old West. The character has become an enduring icon of American culture....
(Dell) and Hopalong Cassidy
Hopalong Cassidy
Hopalong Cassidy is a fictional cowboy hero created in 1904 by the author Clarence E. Mulford, who wrote a series of popular short stories and twenty-eight novels based on the character....
(Fawcett, later continued by DC after Fawcett folded in 1953). Avon Comics published a number of Western comics, the most notable titles being based on historical figures like Jesse James
Jesse James
Jesse Woodson James was an American outlaw, gang leader, bank robber, train robber, and murderer from the state of Missouri and the most famous member of the James-Younger Gang. He also faked his own death and was known as J.M James. Already a celebrity when he was alive, he became a legendary...
and Wild Bill Hickock. Youthful
Youthful (publisher)
Youthful was an American comic book publisher that operated from 1949–1954. The company was owned by attorney Bill Friedman and his wife Sophie, with Bill holding the title of Publisher...
published the Western titles Gunsmoke, Indian Fighter, and Redskin (later known as Famous Western Badmen). And Toby Press
Toby Press
Toby Press was an American comic-book company that published from 1949 to 1955. Founded by Elliott Caplin, brother of cartoonist Al Capp and himself an established comic strip writer, the company published reprints of Capp's Li'l Abner strip; licensed-character comics starring such film and...
published its own Billy the Kid
Billy the Kid
William H. Bonney William H. Bonney William H. Bonney (born William Henry McCarty, Jr. est. November 23, 1859 – c. July 14, 1881, better known as Billy the Kid but also known as Henry Antrim, was a 19th-century American gunman who participated in the Lincoln County War and became a frontier...
Adventure Magazine.
Characters
The first Western hero to have his adventures published in the comics was the Masked RaiderMasked Raider
The Masked Raider is an American comic book character who appeared in American comic books published during the 1930s and 1940s period known as the Golden Age of Comic Books. Created by writer-artist Al Anders, he first appeared in the Timely Comics' anthology series Marvel Comics #1 , and ran...
, published by 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....
beginning in 1939. Other Timely/Atlas/Marvel characters from the genre's peak include Apache Kid, Black Rider
Black Rider (comics)
The Black Rider is a fictional Western character in comic books published by Marvel Comics. He first appeared in All-Western Winners #2 , from the company's 1940s forerunner, Timely Comics.-Publication history:...
, Kid Colt
Kid Colt
Kid Colt is the name of two fictional characters 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...
, Outlaw Kid
Outlaw Kid
The Outlaw Kid is a fictional Western hero in Marvel Comics' shared universe, the Marvel Universe, whose comic book series was originally released by the company's 1950s iteration, Atlas Comics...
, Phantom Rider
Phantom Rider
The Phantom Rider is the name of several fictional characters, Old West heroic gunfighters appearing in comic books in the Marvel Comics universe...
, 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...
, Ringo Kid
Ringo Kid
The Ringo Kid is a fictional Western hero in the Marvel Comics' universe, whose comic book series was originally released by the company's 1950s predecessor, Atlas Comics...
, 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 Western Kid
Western Kid
The Western Kid is a fictional Old West character in Marvel Comics' shared universe, the Marvel Universe, and the star of Western feature published by Marvel's 1950s precursor, Atlas Comics.-Publication history:...
. Early DC Comics
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
Western characters included Johnny Thunder, Nighthawk
Nighthawk (DC Comics)
Nighthawk is a fictional character, a cowboy in the DC Comics universe. His real name is Hannibal Hawkes and he first appeared in Western Comics #5. In his secret identity, he worked as a traveling repairman...
, Pow Wow Smith
Pow Wow Smith
Ohiyesa "Pow Wow" Smith is a fictional Western hero published by DC Comics. Created by writer Don Cameron and penciler Carmine Infantino, he is a Sioux who is the sheriff of the small Western town of Elkhorn, where he is known as a master detective...
, Tomahawk
Tomahawk (comics)
Tomahawk is a comic book character whose adventures were published by DC Comics during the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s as a backup feature in Star Spangled Comics and World's Finest Comics and in his own eponymous series...
, the Trigger Twins
Trigger Twins
The Trigger Twins are the names of two sets of fictional Western themed comic book characters published by DC Comics.-Heroes:The Trigger Twins first appear in All-Star Western #58 , the first issue of that title under its new name , and was one of the features that replaced the previous stars, the...
, Vigilante
Vigilante (comics)
Vigilante is the name used by several fictional characters appearing in DC Comics. The original character was one of the first DC Comics characters adapted for live-action film, beating Superman by one year.-Greg Saunders:...
, and the Wyoming Kid. Charlton Comics
Charlton Comics
Charlton Comics was an American comic book publishing company that existed from 1946 to 1985, having begun under a different name in 1944. It was based in Derby, Connecticut...
featured Billy the Kid
Billy the Kid (Charlton Comics)
Billy the Kid is a Western comic book series published by Charlton Comics, with stories of a fictional character based on the historical Billy the Kid. Taking over the numbering of a previous Western comic, Masked Raider, Billy the Kid was published from issues #9-153...
and the Cheyenne Kid. Dell Comics
Dell Comics
Dell Comics was the comic book publishing arm of Dell Publishing, which got its start in pulp magazines. It published comics from 1929 to 1973. At its peak, it was the most prominent and successful American company in the medium...
featured the Lone Ranger, and Dell's Lobo
Lobo (Dell Comics)
Lobo is a fictional Western comic book hero who is the medium's first African-American character to headline his own series.-Publication history:...
(debuting in 1965) was the medium's first African-American character to headline his own series.
Cowboy actor comics
The years 1946–1949 saw an explosion of titles "starring" Western film actors and cowboy singers. Almost every star, major or minor, had their own title at some point; and almost every publisher got in on the action: FawcettFawcett Comics
Fawcett Comics, a division of Fawcett Publications, was one of several successful comic book publishers during the Golden Age of Comic Books in the 1940s...
published Allan Lane
Allan Lane
Allan "Rocky" Lane was a studio leading man and the star of many cowboy B-movies in the 1940s and 1950s. He appeared in more than 125 films and TV shows in a career lasting from 1929 to 1966...
, Monte Hale
Monte Hale
Monte Hale was a Country singer and movie actor of B-Western films. Often reported to have been born in San Angelo, Texas, Hale was really born in Ada, Oklahoma, but a Texan location sounded better for the movies...
, Gabby Hayes, Lash LaRue, Tex Ritter
Tex Ritter
Woodward Maurice Ritter , better known as Tex Ritter, was an American country music singer and movie actor popular from the mid-1930s into the 1960s, and the patriarch of the Ritter family in acting...
, and Tom Mix
Tom Mix
Thomas Edwin "Tom" Mix was an American film actor and the star of many early Western movies. He made a reported 336 films between 1910 and 1935, all but nine of which were silent features...
comics; Dell published Gene Autry
Gene Autry
Orvon Grover Autry , better known as Gene Autry, was an American performer who gained fame as The Singing Cowboy on the radio, in movies and on television for more than three decades beginning in the 1930s...
, Rex Allen
Rex Allen
Rex Elvie Allen was an American film actor, singer and songwriter, known as the Arizona Cowboy, particularly known as the narrator in many Disney nature and Western film productions. For contributions to the recording industry, Allen was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.-Family...
, Roy Rogers
Roy Rogers
Roy Rogers, born Leonard Franklin Slye , was an American singer and cowboy actor, one of the most heavily marketed and merchandised stars of his era, as well as being the namesake of the Roy Rogers Restaurants franchised chain...
, and Wild Bill Elliott
Wild Bill Elliott
Wild Bill Elliott was an American film actor. He specialized in playing the rugged heroes of B-Westerns, particularly in the Red Ryder series of films.-Early life:...
comics; Magazine Enterprises
Magazine Enterprises
Magazine Enterprises was an American comic book company lasting from 1943 to 1958, which published primarily Western, humor, crime, adventure, and children's comics, with virtually no superheroes...
published Charles Starrett
Charles Starrett
Charles Starrett was an American actor best known for his starring role in the Durango Kid Columbia Pictures western series. He was born in Athol, Massachusetts.-Career:...
and Tim Holt
Tim Holt
Tim Holt was an American film actor perhaps best known for co-starring in the 1948 film The Treasure of the Sierra Madre.-Early life:...
comics; Toby Press
Toby Press
Toby Press was an American comic-book company that published from 1949 to 1955. Founded by Elliott Caplin, brother of cartoonist Al Capp and himself an established comic strip writer, the company published reprints of Capp's Li'l Abner strip; licensed-character comics starring such film and...
published a John Wayne
John Wayne
Marion Mitchell Morrison , better known by his stage name John Wayne, was an American film actor, director and producer. He epitomized rugged masculinity and became an enduring American icon. He is famous for his distinctive calm voice, walk, and height...
title; and DC produced short-lived Dale Evans
Dale Evans
Dale Evans, was an American writer, movie star, and singer-songwriter. She was the third wife of singing cowboy Roy Rogers.-Early life:...
and Jimmy Wakely
Jimmy Wakely
James Clarence Wakeley , better known as Jimmy Wakely, was an American country-Western singer and actor, one of the last crooning cowpokes following World War II...
titles. (Dale Evans and Reno Browne
Reno Browne
Reno Browne, sometimes billed as Reno Blair was an accomplished equestrian and B-movie actress during the late 1940s and into the 1950s, with most of her films being in 1949....
were the only two Western actresses to have comics based on their characters.) Most of the cowboy actor titles featured photo covers of the stars; most series had been canceled by 1957.
Creators
Since Westerns were such a popular genre in the 1950s, many of the period's notable creators spent at least some time doing Western comics.Writer Paul S. Newman
Paul S. Newman
Paul S. Newman was an American writer of comic books, comic strips, and books, whose career spanned the 1940s to the 1990s...
and artist Tom Gill
Tom Gill (comics)
Thomas P. Gill is an American comic book artist best known for his nearly 11-year run drawing The Lone Ranger.-Early life and career:...
had an 11-year run on Dell
Dell Comics
Dell Comics was the comic book publishing arm of Dell Publishing, which got its start in pulp magazines. It published comics from 1929 to 1973. At its peak, it was the most prominent and successful American company in the medium...
's The Lone Ranger
The Lone Ranger
The Lone Ranger is a fictional masked Texas Ranger who, with his Native American companion Tonto, fights injustice in the American Old West. The character has become an enduring icon of American culture....
, a 107-issue run that marks one of the longest of any writer/artist team on a comic-book series. Carl Pfeufer
Carl Pfeufer
Carl T. Pfeufer was an American comic-book artist, magazine illustrator, painter and sculptor best known as one of the earliest contributors to American comic books; one of the primary early artists of the Marvel Comics superhero the Sub-Mariner; and the longtime artist of Western hero Tom Mix's...
was the longtime artist of Fawcett's Tom Mix
Tom Mix
Thomas Edwin "Tom" Mix was an American film actor and the star of many early Western movies. He made a reported 336 films between 1910 and 1935, all but nine of which were silent features...
comics. Artist Fred Guardineer
Fred Guardineer
Frederick B. Guardineer was an American illustrator and comic book writer-artist best known for his work in the 1930s and 1940s during what historians and fans call the Golden Age of Comic Books, and for his 1950s art on the Western comic-book series The Durango Kid.A pioneer of the medium...
had a long run on Magazine Enterprises
Magazine Enterprises
Magazine Enterprises was an American comic book company lasting from 1943 to 1958, which published primarily Western, humor, crime, adventure, and children's comics, with virtually no superheroes...
' The Durango Kid.
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...
illustrated most of Kid Colt
Kid Colt
Kid Colt is the name of two fictional characters 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...
's early stories. Later, Tumlinson drew Western stories for Atlas Comics' Outlaw Fighters, Two-Gun Western, and Wild Western. Larry Lieber
Larry Lieber
Lawrence D. "Larry" Lieber is an American comic book artist and writer, and the younger brother of Marvel Comics' writer, editor and publisher Stan Lee....
spent a long stint as writer-artist of Marvel'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...
. 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...
drew a corral-full of Western stories for such Timely
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....
comics as Wild Western, All Western Winners, Arizona Kid, Black Rider
Black Rider (comics)
The Black Rider is a fictional Western character in comic books published by Marvel Comics. He first appeared in All-Western Winners #2 , from the company's 1940s forerunner, Timely Comics.-Publication history:...
, Western Outlaws, and Reno Browne, Hollywood's Greatest Cowgirl. Vic Carrabotta
Vic Carrabotta
Vic Carrabotta is an American comic book artist and advertising art director whose career stretches to the early 1950s...
worked on such Marvel Westerns as Apache Kid, Kid Colt: Outlaw, The Outlaw Kid, and Western Outlaws. Artist 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...
was known for his 1950s Western comics art for Atlas. Artist Mike Sekowsky
Mike Sekowsky
Michael Sekowsky was a Jewish American comic book artist best known as the exclusive penciler for DC Comics' Justice League of America during most of the 1960s, and as the regular writer and artist on Wonder Woman during the late 1960s and early 1970s.-Early life and career:Mike Sekowsky began...
drew such characters as the Apache Kid, the Black Rider
Black Rider
Black Rider may refer to:* The Third Horseman of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse* Black Rider , a Marvel Comics Western character* The Black Rider, a 1990 stage musical by Tom Waits, Robert Wilson and William S...
, and Kid Colt
Kid Colt
Kid Colt is the name of two fictional characters 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...
for 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...
; he later freelanced for other companies, drawing the TV-series spin-offs Gunsmoke
Gunsmoke
Gunsmoke is an American radio and television Western drama series created by director Norman MacDonnell and writer John Meston. The stories take place in and around Dodge City, Kansas, during the settlement of the American West....
and Buffalo Bill Jr.
Buffalo Bill Jr.
Buffalo Bill, Jr. is an American Western television series starring Dickie Jones that aired in syndication from March 1, 1955, until September 21, 1956.-Synopsis:...
for Dell Comics
Dell Comics
Dell Comics was the comic book publishing arm of Dell Publishing, which got its start in pulp magazines. It published comics from 1929 to 1973. At its peak, it was the most prominent and successful American company in the medium...
.
Artist Rocke Mastroserio
Rocke Mastroserio
Rocco "Rocke" Mastroserio , who sometimes signed his work "Rocke M.", "RM", "Rocke" or "RAM", was an American comic book artist best known as a penciler and inker for Charlton Comics.-Early career:...
specialized in Western stories for such Charlton series as Billy the Kid
Billy the Kid (Charlton Comics)
Billy the Kid is a Western comic book series published by Charlton Comics, with stories of a fictional character based on the historical Billy the Kid. Taking over the numbering of a previous Western comic, Masked Raider, Billy the Kid was published from issues #9-153...
, Black Fury, Jim Bowie
Jim Bowie
James "Jim" Bowie , a 19th-century American pioneer, slave trader, land speculator, and soldier, played a prominent role in the Texas Revolution, culminating in his death at the Battle of the Alamo...
, Rocky Lane's Black Jack, Sheriff of Tombstone, Six-Gun Heroes, Texas Rangers
Texas Ranger Division
The Texas Ranger Division, commonly called the Texas Rangers, is a law enforcement agency with statewide jurisdiction in Texas, and is based in Austin, Texas...
in Action, and Wyatt Earp
Wyatt Earp
Wyatt Berry Stapp Earp was an American gambler, investor, and law enforcement officer who served in several Western frontier towns. He was also at different times a farmer, teamster, bouncer, saloon-keeper, miner and boxing referee. However, he was never a drover or cowboy. He is most well known...
, Frontier Marshal. Pat Boyette
Pat Boyette
Pat Boyette Pat Boyette Pat Boyette (July 27, 1923, San Antonio, Texas – January 14, 2000, was an American broadcasting personality and news producer, and later a comic book artist best known for two decades of work for Charlton Comics, where he co-created the character The Peacemaker...
worked on such Charlton Western series as Billy the Kid
Billy the Kid (Charlton Comics)
Billy the Kid is a Western comic book series published by Charlton Comics, with stories of a fictional character based on the historical Billy the Kid. Taking over the numbering of a previous Western comic, Masked Raider, Billy the Kid was published from issues #9-153...
, Cheyenne Kid, and Outlaws of the West.
1960s decline
The Western genre in general peaked around 1960, largely due to the tremendous number of Westerns on American televisionTelevision
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
. Increasingly, the genre reflected a Romantic
Romanticism
Romanticism was an artistic, literary and intellectual movement that originated in the second half of the 18th century in Europe, and gained strength in reaction to the Industrial Revolution...
, dishonest view of the American West — and American history in general. As the country grappled with the cultural issues of the 1960s
1960s
The 1960s was the decade that started on January 1, 1960, and ended on December 31, 1969. It was the seventh decade of the 20th century.The 1960s term also refers to an era more often called The Sixties, denoting the complex of inter-related cultural and political trends across the globe...
and the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
, the genre seemed increasingly out of touch.
As the American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
public's interest in the genre waned, Western literature — including comics — began to lose its appeal as well. At the same time, the comics industry was shifting back to superheroes (entering its "Silver Age
Silver Age of Comic Books
The Silver Age of Comic Books was a period of artistic advancement and commercial success in mainstream American comic books, predominantly those in the superhero genre. Following the Golden Age of Comic Books and an interregnum in the early to mid-1950s, the Silver Age is considered to cover the...
") and away from some of the other genres which had flourished during the 1950s. In fact, of the original Western comics series begun in the late 1940s and early 1950s, only a handful of titles survived the 1950s. Charlton's low production costs enabled it to continue producing a number of Western titles, but otherwise Dell's The Lone Ranger
The Lone Ranger
The Lone Ranger is a fictional masked Texas Ranger who, with his Native American companion Tonto, fights injustice in the American Old West. The character has become an enduring icon of American culture....
, and Marvel's Gunsmoke Western, Kid Colt Outlaw, and 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...
were the only Western titles to make it through the 1960s.
Gary Friedrich
Gary Friedrich
Gary Friedrich . is an American comic book writer best known for his Silver Age stories for Marvel Comics' Sgt...
, Mike Esposito
Mike Esposito (comics)
Mike Esposito , who sometimes used the pseudonyms Mickey Demeo, Mickey Dee, Michael Dee, and Joe Gaudioso, was an American comic book artist whose work for DC Comics, Marvel Comics and others spanned the 1950s to the 2000s...
, and Ogden Whitney
Ogden Whitney
Ogden Whitney was an American comic-book artist and sometime writer active from the 1930s-1940s Golden Age of comics through the 1960s Silver Age. He is best known as co-creator of the aviator hero the Skyman and of the superpowered novelty character Herbie Popnecker and his alter ego, the satiric...
are three of the few notable Western comics creators from the 1960s.
Weird West and continuing appeal
The late 1960s and early 1970s saw the rise of revisionist WesternRevisionist Western
The Revisionist Western, Modern Western or Anti-Western traces to the mid 1960s and early 1970s as a sub-genre of the Western movie....
film. Elements include a darker, more cynical tone, with focus on the lawlessness of the time period, favoring realism over romanticism, and an interest in greater historical authenticity. Anti-heroes were common, as were stronger roles for women and more-sympathetic portrayal of Native Americans and Mexicans. The films were often critical of big business, the American government, and masculine figures (including the military and their policies).
Reflecting the trend, in 1968 DC debuted the new character Bat Lash
Bat Lash
Bartholomew "Bat" Alouysius Lash is a fictional Western character in the DC Universe. A self-professed pacifist, ladies' man, and gambler, Bat Lash's adventures have been published by DC Comics since 1968.-Character origin:...
, who starred in a short-lived series. They also revived the All-Star Western
All-Star Western
All-Star Western was the name of three American comic book series published by DC Comics, each a Western fiction omnibus featuring both continuing characters and anthological stories. The first ran from 1951 to 1961, the second from 1970 to 1972 and the third is part of the DC New 52 released in...
title, starting volume two of the series in 1970. In 1972, All-Star Western changed its name to Weird Western Tales
Weird Western Tales
Weird Western Tales is a Western genre comic book title published by DC Comics which ran from June-July 1972 to August 1980. It is perhaps best known for featuring the adventures of Jonah Hex until #38 when the character was promoted to his own eponymous series...
, with many stories featuring the newly created Western antihero Jonah Hex
Jonah Hex
Jonah Woodson Hex is a Western comic book antihero created by writer John Albano and artist Tony DeZuniga and published by DC Comics. Hex is a surly and cynical bounty hunter whose face is horribly scarred on the right side. Despite his poor reputation and personality, Hex is bound by a personal...
(who beginning in 1975 had his own title). Weird Western Tales (sister title of Weird War Tales
Weird War Tales
Weird War Tales was a war comic book title with supernatural overtones published by DC Comics which ran from September 1971 to June 1983.-Background:...
) defined a new multi-genre form: "Weird West
Weird West
Weird West is used to describe a combination of the Western with another literary genre, usually horror, occult, or fantasy.DC's Weird Western Tales appeared in the early 1970s and the weird Western was further popularized by Joe R...
," a combination of the Western with another literary genre, usually horror
Horror comics
Horror comics are comic books, graphic novels, black-and-white comics magazines, and manga focusing on horror fiction. Horror comic books reached a peak in the late 1940s through the mid-1950s, when concern over content and the imposition of the self-censorship Comics Code Authority contributed to...
, occult
Occult
The word occult comes from the Latin word occultus , referring to "knowledge of the hidden". In the medical sense it is used to refer to a structure or process that is hidden, e.g...
, or fantasy
Fantasy comics
A number of fantasy themed comic books exist. For example:* Arion* Arrowsmith* Battle Chasers* Bone* Cerebus The Aardvark* Conan* Conan The Barbarian* The Dark Tower* Dungeon Siege: The Battle for Aranna...
. Other Western characters DC created during this period include the heroes Scalphunter
Scalphunter (DC Comics)
Scalphunter is a fictional character, a Wild West hero in the DC Comics Universe. Scalphunter first appeared in Weird Western Tales #39 and was created by Sergio Aragones and Joe Orlando.-Fictional character biography:...
and El Diablo
El Diablo (comics)
El Diablo is a name shared by several fictional characters published by DC Comics. Lazarus Lane the first El Diablo debuted in All-Star Western #2 , and was created by Robert Kanigher and Gray Morrow.-Publication history:...
, and the villains El Papagayo
El Papagayo
El Papagayo is a fictional character, a comic book western criminal created by Michael Fleisher and José Luis García-López and published by DC Comics and first appearing in Jonah Hex #2 .“El Papagayo” is Spanish for “The Parrot”....
, Terra-Man
Terra-Man
Terra-Man is a fictional character and supervillain who appears in Superman stories published by DC Comics. Terra-Man first appeared in Superman #249, March 1972.-Pre-Crisis:...
, and Quentin Turnbull
Quentin Turnbull
Quentin Turnbull is a comic book western criminal created by Michael Fleisher and Tony DeZuniga and published by DC Comics and first appearing in Weird Western Tales #22 .-Fictional character biography:...
.
The short-lived publisher Skywald Publications
Skywald Publications
Skywald Publications is a 1970s publisher of black-and-white comics magazines, primarily the horror anthologies Nightmare, Psycho, and Scream. It also published a small line of comic books and other magazines....
attempted a line of Western titles in the early 1970s, but nothing came of it.
Weird Western Tales survived until 1980, and Jonah Hex until 1985. By then no major publishers were producing Western titles, though iconic characters from the DC and Marvel canons would occasionally make cameo appearances in other books.
The DC Comics
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
imprint Vertigo reintroduced the Western genre in 1995 with Preacher
Preacher (comics)
Preacher is a comic book series created by writer Garth Ennis and artist Steve Dillon, published by the American comic book label Vertigo , with painted covers by Glenn Fabry....
, set in a contemporary version of the West. In the 1990s and 2000s, the Western comic leaned toward the Weird West sub-genre, usually involving supernatural monsters. However, more traditional Western comics are found throughout this period, from Jonah Hex
Jonah Hex
Jonah Woodson Hex is a Western comic book antihero created by writer John Albano and artist Tony DeZuniga and published by DC Comics. Hex is a surly and cynical bounty hunter whose face is horribly scarred on the right side. Despite his poor reputation and personality, Hex is bound by a personal...
to Loveless. Series like Desperadoes
Desperadoes
Desperadoes is a Weird West-style comic book series written by Jeff Mariotte. It is currently being published by IDW Publishing.-Publication:Each story arc is a limited series which has been collected in a number of volumes:...
, High Moon
High Moon
High Moon is an award-winning werewolf western webcomic series, developed in 2004 with a debut in 2007 as a part of Zuda, DC Comics' webcomic imprint. The first season concluded on July 8, 2008. Season two ran from August 16 to November 25, 2008...
, and Scalped
Scalped
Scalped is a critically acclaimed ongoing crime/western comic book series written by Jason Aaron and illustrated by R. M. Guéra, published monthly by Vertigo Comics...
demonstrate the genre's continuing appeal. Creators like Joe R. Lansdale
Joe R. Lansdale
Joe R. Lansdale is an American author and martial-arts expert. He has written novels and stories in many genres, including Western, horror, science fiction, mystery, and suspense...
, Michael Fleisher
Michael Fleisher
Michael L. "Mike" Fleisher is an American writer known for his DC Comics of the 1970s and 1980s, particularly for the characters the Spectre and Jonah Hex.-Early life and career:...
, and Tony DeZuniga
Tony DeZuniga
Tony DeZuniga is a Filipino comic-book artist best known for his work for DC Comics, where he co-created the characters Jonah Hex and Black Orchid.-Early life and career:...
were notable contributors to Western comics from this period.
In addition, publishers like America's Comics Group and AC Comics
AC Comics
AC Comics is a comic book publishing company started by Bill Black.AC Comics specializes in reprints of Golden Age comics from now-defunct companies whose properties lapsed into public domain and were not reprinted elsewhere...
have reprinted a number of Western comics from the genre's "Golden Age."
Outside of the United States
The Western genre's overall popularity in Europe spawned a Western comics trend, particularly in ItalyItaly
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
, and England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. Many European countries published reprints of American-made Western comics (translated into the respective country's native language). The Italian publishers Sergio Bonelli Editore
Sergio Bonelli Editore
Sergio Bonelli Editore is a publishing house of Italian comics. It takes its name from its president and comic book author, Sergio Bonelli....
and Editorial Novaro led the field — Editorial Novaro's Gene Autry
Gene Autry
Orvon Grover Autry , better known as Gene Autry, was an American performer who gained fame as The Singing Cowboy on the radio, in movies and on television for more than three decades beginning in the 1930s...
title ran 424 issues from 1954–1984. The Swedish publisher Se-Bladene and the British publisher L. Miller & Son were also particularly known for their Western comics reprint titles. Se-Bladene's Texas ran 606 issues between 1954–1975. The Australian publishers
Comics in Australia
Australian comics have been published since 1921 and Australian comics creators have gone to produce influential work in the global comics industry ,-1900s:...
Ayers & James, Cleland, Federal Publishing, Gredown, and Horwitz Publications all published reprints of American Western comics during the 1950s and 1960s.
Italy
The most popular and long-running Italian-produced Western comic is Gian Luigi BonelliGian Luigi Bonelli
Giovanni Luigi Bonelli , was an Italian comic book author and writer.Born in Milan, he is best remembered as the co-creator of Tex Willer, together with artist Aurelio Galleppini. His son Sergio Bonelli was also a comic book writer, as well as the publisher of Tex Willer series until his own death...
and Aurelio Galleppini
Aurelio Galleppini
Aurelio Galleppini , better known with his nickname Galep, was an Italian comics artist and illustrator....
's Tex (starring Tex Willer
Tex Willer
Tex Willer is the main fictional character of the Italian comics series Tex, created by writer Gian Luigi Bonelli and illustrator Aurelio Galleppini, and first published in Italy on 30 September 1948. It is among the most popular characters of Italian comics, with translations to numerous ...
), first published in 1948. Tex is among the most popular characters in Italian comics, and has been translated into numerous languages, including Portuguese
Portuguese language
Portuguese is a Romance language that arose in the medieval Kingdom of Galicia, nowadays Galicia and Northern Portugal. The southern part of the Kingdom of Galicia became independent as the County of Portugal in 1095...
, Finnish
Finnish language
Finnish is the language spoken by the majority of the population in Finland Primarily for use by restaurant menus and by ethnic Finns outside Finland. It is one of the two official languages of Finland and an official minority language in Sweden. In Sweden, both standard Finnish and Meänkieli, a...
, Norwegian
Norwegian language
Norwegian is a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Norway, where it is the official language. Together with Swedish and Danish, Norwegian forms a continuum of more or less mutually intelligible local and regional variants .These Scandinavian languages together with the Faroese language...
, Turkish
Turkish language
Turkish is a language spoken as a native language by over 83 million people worldwide, making it the most commonly spoken of the Turkic languages. Its speakers are located predominantly in Turkey and Northern Cyprus with smaller groups in Iraq, Greece, Bulgaria, the Republic of Macedonia, Kosovo,...
, Slovenian, Serbo-Croatian
Serbo-Croatian
Serbo-Croatian or Serbo-Croat, less commonly Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian , is a South Slavic language with multiple standards and the primary language of Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro...
, and Hebrew.
Captain Miki
Captain Miki
Captain Miki is an Italian comic book, created by the trio EsseGesse. Miki was first published in Italy on July 1, 1951.Miki is a young boy who, after carrying out a number of successful missions is promoted, in spite of his young age, in rank of captain of rangers in Nevada. Miki has young...
, by the trio EsseGesse
EsseGesse
EsseGesse was an Italian team of cartoonists, most famous for their Western comics, which was hugely popular in the 1950s, and were translated to French, Serbo-Croatian, Turkish, Greek, Swedish, Danish and Norwegian....
, was published in Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
(and translated into many other languages) throughout the 1950s. Characters in the comic were inspired by Gabby Hayes and the popular 1939 Western film Stagecoach. EsseGesse also produced the popular series Il Grande Blek
Il Grande Blek
Il Grande Blek is an Italian western comic book, first published in Italy on October 3, 1954 by Editoriale Dardo. Blek was written and illustrated by the trio EsseGesse....
. Benito Jacovitti
Benito Jacovitti
Benito Jacovitti was an Italian comic artist.Benito Jacovitti was born in Termoli, Molise in the southern part of the country. He was still a kid when he started drawing on the pavement of the village's streets. The son of a railwayman, Benito entered Macerata's art school at age 11, graduating to...
's Cocco Bill
Cocco Bill
Cocco Bill is an Italian comics character by Benito Jacovitti. He is the star of a parody Western comic set in hypothetical places in the Far West. He is a hot-tempered gunslinger who drinks chamomile tea. Occasionally mocked for this, Bill responds with violence...
is a Western humor comic produced since the mid-1950s.
Sergio Bonelli
Sergio Bonelli
Sergio Bonelli was an Italian comic book author and publisher.Sergio Bonelli was born in Milan, the son of Gian Luigi Bonelli, the creator of Tex Willer and many other Italian comic strips. In order to distinguish himself from his father, he usually wrote his scripts under the pen name Guido Nolitta...
and Gallieno Ferri
Gallieno Ferri
Gallieno Ferri , is an Italian comic book artist and illustrator.In 1960 Ferri met writer Sergio Bonelli and they created the comic book Zagor. Ferri illustrated Zagor from the first issue, drawing numerous stories...
's Zagor
Zagor
Zagor is an Italian comic book created by editor and writer Sergio Bonelli and artist Gallieno Ferri. Zagor was first published In Italy by Sergio Bonelli Editore in 1961.-Character:...
was first published in Italy by Sergio Bonelli Editore
Sergio Bonelli Editore
Sergio Bonelli Editore is a publishing house of Italian comics. It takes its name from its president and comic book author, Sergio Bonelli....
in 1961. Carlo Boscarato
Carlo Boscarato
Carlo Boscarato was an Italian cartoonist and comics artist. He was born in Treviso.In 1971, together with writer Claudio Nizzi, Boscarato created the western series Larry Yuma. He also realized several reductions of literary masterworks such as The Treasure Island.- External links :**...
and Claudio Nizzi
Claudio Nizzi
Claudio Nizzi is an Italian comic author.He started his career as comic scriptwriter in 1963, writing for the "Vittorioso", a comic newspaper. During 1969 he started to work for Il Giornalino creating many characters...
's Larry Yuma
Larry Yuma
Larry Yuma is an Italian comics western series featuring the character of the same name, created by Carlo Boscarato and Claudio Nizzi, and first published in Italy in the magazine Il Giornalino in 1970....
was a popular character in the Italian magazine Il Giornalino
Il Giornalino
Il Giornalino was an Italian comics magazine published by the Catholic publisher Edizioni San Paolo of Alba, founded in 1924.During its history, the magazine published the Italian translation of numerous American and European comics series, such as Looney Tunes, The Smurfs, Lucky Luke, Popeye,...
throughout the 1970s. Giancarlo Berardi
Giancarlo Berardi
Giancarlo Berardi is an Italian comic book writer. Born in Genoa, he is most famous as creator of comics Ken Parker and Julia .- External links :*...
and Ivo Milazzo
Ivo Milazzo
Ivo Milazzo is an Italian comic book artist.He was born in Tortona, and worked mainly for Sergio Bonelli Editore. Together with his friend, writer Giancarlo Berardi, in 1974 he created Ken Parker, one of the most appreciated western characters of European comics.His style is somewhat reminiscent...
's Ken Parker is a popular Western hero appearing in Italian comics since 1977.
In the late 1990s and early 2000s, writer Gianfranco Manfredi's Magico Vento
Magico Vento
Magico Vento is the character of an Italian comics book/western with the same name, issued monthly by Sergio Bonelli Editore. Magico Vento's true name is Ned Ellis, a former member of US Army who had become an Indian shaman...
was a popular title from Sergio Bonelli Editore
Sergio Bonelli Editore
Sergio Bonelli Editore is a publishing house of Italian comics. It takes its name from its president and comic book author, Sergio Bonelli....
. Since the late 1990s, Enrico Teodorani's Djustine
Djustine
Djustine is an Italian comic book series written by Enrico Teodorani.The Djustine character was created from a fusion of Sergio Corbucci's film character Django, and the Marquis de Sade's titular "Justine".- Publication history :...
has been featured in erotic "Weird West
Weird West
Weird West is used to describe a combination of the Western with another literary genre, usually horror, occult, or fantasy.DC's Weird Western Tales appeared in the early 1970s and the weird Western was further popularized by Joe R...
" stories in Italy and the United States.
Franco-Belgian Western comics
The Western humor comic Lucky LukeLucky Luke
Lucky Luke is a Belgian comics series created by Belgian cartoonist, Maurice De Bevere better known as Morris, the original artist, and was for one period written by René Goscinny...
, published since 1946, is one of the most popular and best-selling comic-book series in continental Europe. Popular in Canada, about half of the series' adventures have been translated into English. Lucky Luke comics have been translated into 23 languages, including many European languages, and some African and Asian languages.
The comics magazine Tintin
Tintin (magazine)
Le journal de Tintin or Kuifje , was a weekly Belgian comics magazine of the second half of the 20th century...
featured Western-themed comics starting in 1948 with Paul Cuvelier
Paul Cuvelier
Paul Cuvelier was a Belgian comics artist best known for the comic series Corentin, published by Le Lombard, which first appeared in the first issue of Tintin.-Biography:...
's character Corentin
Corentin
Corentin is a name of Breton origin. It is the name of a saint, Corentin of Quimper. It can also refer to:Places*St. Corentin's Cathedral, Quimper*Corentin Celton *Corentin Cariou People*Corentin Corre, Breton cyclist...
.
Jean-Michel Charlier
Jean-Michel Charlier
Jean-Michel Charlier was a Belgian script writer best known as a writer of realistic European comics. He was a co-founder of the famed European comics magazine Pilote.-Biography:...
and Jean "Moebius" Giraud's Blueberry is a Western series published beginning in 1963 and continuing until the present day. The Belgian publisher Le Lombard
Le Lombard
Le Lombard or Lombard Editions is a Belgian comic book publisher established in 1946 when the Tintin magazine was launched. In 1986 the company was acquired by Média-Participations.-Titles:Lombard's more famous series include:*Clifton...
produced the title Buddy Longway
Buddy Longway
Buddy Longway is a western comic book written by the Swiss comic book writer Derib. It is published under the Le Lombard publishing house. The first issue came out in 1972, and 16 issues were published until 1987 until Derib restarted the series in 2002, continuing with four further issues until...
, by Swiss comics writer Derib
Derib
Derib is a Swiss francophone comics creator, one of the most famous in Europe, who started his professional career at Peyo's studio...
, from 1972–1987, and from 2002–2006.
Other countries
England's L. Miller & Son's original Western comics titles included Colorado Kid, Davy CrockettDavy Crockett
David "Davy" Crockett was a celebrated 19th century American folk hero, frontiersman, soldier and politician. He is commonly referred to in popular culture by the epithet "King of the Wild Frontier". He represented Tennessee in the U.S...
, Kid Dynamite Western Comic, Pancho Villa
Pancho Villa
José Doroteo Arango Arámbula – better known by his pseudonym Francisco Villa or its hypocorism Pancho Villa – was one of the most prominent Mexican Revolutionary generals....
Western Comic, and Rocky Mountain King Western Comic, all published in the 1950s.
Hugo Pratt
Hugo Pratt
Hugo Eugenio Pratt was an Italian comic book creator who was known for combining strong storytelling with extensive historical research on works such as Corto Maltese...
and Héctor Germán Oesterheld
Héctor Germán Oesterheld
Héctor Germán Oesterheld , also known as his common abbreviation HGO, was an Argentine journalist and writer of graphic novels and comics who has come to be celebrated as a master in his field....
's Sergeant Kirk
Sergeant Kirk
Sergeant Kirk, El Sargento Kirk or Sgt. Kirk, is the title and main character of a western comics series by Italian comic book creator Hugo Pratt and Argentine author Héctor Germán Oesterheld.-Publication history:...
was a popular Western comics title in Argentina during the 1950s. Additional Sargent Kirk stories were published into the early 1970s.
Hyung Min-woo's manhwa
Manhwa
Manhwa is the general Korean term for comics and print cartoons . Outside of Korea, the term usually refers specifically to South Korean comics. The term, along with manga, is a cognate of the Chinese manhua...
series Priest
Priest (manhwa)
Priest was a manhwa series created by Hyung Min-woo. It fuses the Western genre with supernatural horror and dark fantasy themes and is notable for its unusual, angular art style...
was published in Korea and the U.S. from 1998–2007.
"Golden Age"
- All-Star WesternAll-Star WesternAll-Star Western was the name of three American comic book series published by DC Comics, each a Western fiction omnibus featuring both continuing characters and anthological stories. The first ran from 1951 to 1961, the second from 1970 to 1972 and the third is part of the DC New 52 released in...
(DC, 1951–1961, 1970–1972) — second volume becomes Weird Western TalesWeird Western TalesWeird Western Tales is a Western genre comic book title published by DC Comics which ran from June-July 1972 to August 1980. It is perhaps best known for featuring the adventures of Jonah Hex until #38 when the character was promoted to his own eponymous series... - Billy the KidBilly the Kid (Charlton Comics)Billy the Kid is a Western comic book series published by Charlton Comics, with stories of a fictional character based on the historical Billy the Kid. Taking over the numbering of a previous Western comic, Masked Raider, Billy the Kid was published from issues #9-153...
(Charlton, 1957–1983) - Black Fury (Charlton, 1955–1966)
- Cheyenne Kid (Charlton, 1957–1973)
- The Cisco KidThe Cisco KidThe Cisco Kid refers to a character found in numerous film, radio, television and comic book series based on the fictional Western character created by O. Henry in his 1907 short story "The Caballero's Way", published in the collection Heart of the West...
(Dell, 1951–1958) - Crack Western (Quality ComicsQuality ComicsQuality Comics was an American comic book publishing company that operated from 1939 to 1956 and was an influential creative force in what historians and fans call the Golden Age of comic books....
, 1949–1953) — took over the numbering of Quality's Crack ComicsCrack ComicsCrack Comics was an anthology comic book series published by Quality Comics during the Golden Age of Comic Books. It featured such characters as The Clock, Black Condor, Captain Triumph, Alias the Spider, Madame Fatal, Jane Arden, Molly the Model, and Red Torpedo...
, which began in 1940 - Gunsmoke Western (Marvel, 1948–1963) — began as All Winners ComicsAll Winners ComicsAll Winners Comics was the name of two American comic book series of the 1940s, both published by Marvel Comics' predecessor, Timely Comics, during the period fans and historians call the Golden Age of Comic Books. A superhero anthology comic in both cases, they variously featured such star...
, vol. 2, before being retitled and reformatted as the Western anthology All-Western Winners (#2-4), Western Winners (#5-7), Black RiderBlack RiderBlack Rider may refer to:* The Third Horseman of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse* Black Rider , a Marvel Comics Western character* The Black Rider, a 1990 stage musical by Tom Waits, Robert Wilson and William S...
(#8-27), Western Tales of Black Rider (#28-31), and, finally, Gunsmoke Western (#32-77), the last primarily starring Kid Colt, Outlaw - Hopalong CassidyHopalong CassidyHopalong Cassidy is a fictional cowboy hero created in 1904 by the author Clarence E. Mulford, who wrote a series of popular short stories and twenty-eight novels based on the character....
(Fawcett/DC, 1946–1959) - Kid Colt Outlaw (Marvel, 1949–1979)
- The Lone RangerThe Lone RangerThe Lone Ranger is a fictional masked Texas Ranger who, with his Native American companion Tonto, fights injustice in the American Old West. The character has become an enduring icon of American culture....
(Dell, 1948–1962) - The Lone Ranger's Famous Horse Hi-Yo Silver (Dell, 1952–1960)
- Outlaws of the West (Charlton, 1957–1980)
- Prize Comics Western (Prize Comics, 1948–1956)
- Rawhide KidRawhide KidThe 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...
(Marvel, 1955–1957, 1960–1979) - Red RyderRed RyderRed Ryder was a popular long-running Western comic strip created by Stephen Slesinger and artist Fred Harman. Beginning Sunday, November 6, 1938, Red Ryder was syndicated by Newspaper Enterprise Association, expanding over the following decade to 750 newspapers, translations into ten languages and...
(Dell, 1941–1956) — initially reprints of the long-running syndicated newspaper strip. With issue #47 (June 1947), began producing original material. - Straight Arrow (Magazine Enterprises, 1950–1956)
- Texas Rangers in Action (Charlton, 1956–1970)
- Two-Gun KidTwo-Gun KidThe Two-Gun Kid is a fictional character, a cowboy gunslinger in the Wild West of Marvel Comics' shared universe, the Marvel Universe.-Publication history:...
(Marvel, 1948–1962) - Western ComicsWestern ComicsWestern Comics was a Western comic book series published by DC Comics. DC's longest-running Western title, it published 85 issues from 1948 to 1961. Western Comics was an anthology series, featuring such characters as the wandering cowboy the Wyoming Kid, the Native American lawman Pow Wow Smith,...
(DC, 1948–1961) - Wild Western (Marvel, 1948–1957)
- Wrangler Great Moments in Rodeo (American Comics GroupAmerican Comics GroupAmerican Comics Group was a New York City-based comic book publisher which operated during the Golden and Silver Age of comic books. ACG published one of the first horror comics titles, Adventures into the Unknown. Another of ACG's claims to fame was the character of Herbie Popnecker, who starred...
, 1955 - 1966)
Cowboy actor comics
- Charles StarrettCharles StarrettCharles Starrett was an American actor best known for his starring role in the Durango Kid Columbia Pictures western series. He was born in Athol, Massachusetts.-Career:...
as the Durango Kid (Magazine Enterprises, 1949–1955) - Dale EvansDale EvansDale Evans, was an American writer, movie star, and singer-songwriter. She was the third wife of singing cowboy Roy Rogers.-Early life:...
Comics (DC, 1948–1952) - Gabby Hayes Western (Fawcett/Charlton, 1948–1957)
- Gene AutryGene AutryOrvon Grover Autry , better known as Gene Autry, was an American performer who gained fame as The Singing Cowboy on the radio, in movies and on television for more than three decades beginning in the 1930s...
(Dell, 1946–1955) - Jimmy WakelyJimmy WakelyJames Clarence Wakeley , better known as Jimmy Wakely, was an American country-Western singer and actor, one of the last crooning cowpokes following World War II...
(DC, 1949–1952) - John WayneJohn WayneMarion Mitchell Morrison , better known by his stage name John Wayne, was an American film actor, director and producer. He epitomized rugged masculinity and became an enduring American icon. He is famous for his distinctive calm voice, walk, and height...
Adventure Comics (Toby Press, 1949–1955) - Lash LaRue Western (Fawcett/Charlton, 1949–1961)
- Monte HaleMonte HaleMonte Hale was a Country singer and movie actor of B-Western films. Often reported to have been born in San Angelo, Texas, Hale was really born in Ada, Oklahoma, but a Texan location sounded better for the movies...
Western (Fawcett/Charlton, 1948–1956) - Rex AllenRex AllenRex Elvie Allen was an American film actor, singer and songwriter, known as the Arizona Cowboy, particularly known as the narrator in many Disney nature and Western film productions. For contributions to the recording industry, Allen was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.-Family...
(Dell, 1951–1959) - Rocky Lane Western (Fawcett/Charlton, 1949–1959) — many issues featured Slim PickensSlim PickensLouis Burton Lindley, Jr. , better known by the stage name Slim Pickens, was an American rodeo performer and film and television actor who epitomized the profane, tough, sardonic cowboy, but who is best remembered for his comic roles, notably in Dr...
backup stories - Roy RogersRoy RogersRoy Rogers, born Leonard Franklin Slye , was an American singer and cowboy actor, one of the most heavily marketed and merchandised stars of his era, as well as being the namesake of the Roy Rogers Restaurants franchised chain...
Comics (Dell, 1948–1961) - Six-Gun Heroes (Fawcett/Charlton, 1950–1965) — featured cowboy actors like Allan "Rocky" Lane, Lash LaRue, Monte HaleMonte HaleMonte Hale was a Country singer and movie actor of B-Western films. Often reported to have been born in San Angelo, Texas, Hale was really born in Ada, Oklahoma, but a Texan location sounded better for the movies...
, Smiley BurnetteSmiley BurnetteLester Alvin Burnett , better known as Smiley Burnette, was a popular American country music performer and a comedic actor in Western films and on radio and TV, playing sidekick to Gene Autry and other B-movie cowboys. He was also a prolific singer-songwriter who could play as many as 100 musical...
, and Tex RitterTex RitterWoodward Maurice Ritter , better known as Tex Ritter, was an American country music singer and movie actor popular from the mid-1930s into the 1960s, and the patriarch of the Ritter family in acting... - Tex RitterTex RitterWoodward Maurice Ritter , better known as Tex Ritter, was an American country music singer and movie actor popular from the mid-1930s into the 1960s, and the patriarch of the Ritter family in acting...
Western (Fawcett/Charlton, 1950–1959) - Tim HoltTim HoltTim Holt was an American film actor perhaps best known for co-starring in the 1948 film The Treasure of the Sierra Madre.-Early life:...
(Magazine Enterprises, 1948–1954) - Tom MixTom MixThomas Edwin "Tom" Mix was an American film actor and the star of many early Western movies. He made a reported 336 films between 1910 and 1935, all but nine of which were silent features...
Western (Fawcett, 1948–1953) - Western Hero (Fawcett, 1948–1952)— featured cowboy actors like Tom MixTom MixThomas Edwin "Tom" Mix was an American film actor and the star of many early Western movies. He made a reported 336 films between 1910 and 1935, all but nine of which were silent features...
and Monte HaleMonte HaleMonte Hale was a Country singer and movie actor of B-Western films. Often reported to have been born in San Angelo, Texas, Hale was really born in Ada, Oklahoma, but a Texan location sounded better for the movies... - Wild Bill ElliottWild Bill ElliottWild Bill Elliott was an American film actor. He specialized in playing the rugged heroes of B-Westerns, particularly in the Red Ryder series of films.-Early life:...
(Dell, 1950–1955)
Contemporary titles
- DesperadoesDesperadoesDesperadoes is a Weird West-style comic book series written by Jeff Mariotte. It is currently being published by IDW Publishing.-Publication:Each story arc is a limited series which has been collected in a number of volumes:...
(Homage/Wildstorm, 1997–2002; IDW, 2005–2007) - Jonah HexJonah HexJonah Woodson Hex is a Western comic book antihero created by writer John Albano and artist Tony DeZuniga and published by DC Comics. Hex is a surly and cynical bounty hunter whose face is horribly scarred on the right side. Despite his poor reputation and personality, Hex is bound by a personal...
(DC, 1977–1985; DC/Vertigo, 2005–present) - High MoonHigh MoonHigh Moon is an award-winning werewolf western webcomic series, developed in 2004 with a debut in 2007 as a part of Zuda, DC Comics' webcomic imprint. The first season concluded on July 8, 2008. Season two ran from August 16 to November 25, 2008...
(DC/Zuda, 2007–present) - Loveless (DC/Vertigo, 2005–2008)
- PreacherPreacher (comics)Preacher is a comic book series created by writer Garth Ennis and artist Steve Dillon, published by the American comic book label Vertigo , with painted covers by Glenn Fabry....
(DC/Vertigo, 1995–2000) - ScalpedScalpedScalped is a critically acclaimed ongoing crime/western comic book series written by Jason Aaron and illustrated by R. M. Guéra, published monthly by Vertigo Comics...
(DC/Vertigo, 2007–present) - Weird Western TalesWeird Western TalesWeird Western Tales is a Western genre comic book title published by DC Comics which ran from June-July 1972 to August 1980. It is perhaps best known for featuring the adventures of Jonah Hex until #38 when the character was promoted to his own eponymous series...
(DC, 1972–1980) — began in 1970 as volume two of All-Star WesternAll-Star WesternAll-Star Western was the name of three American comic book series published by DC Comics, each a Western fiction omnibus featuring both continuing characters and anthological stories. The first ran from 1951 to 1961, the second from 1970 to 1972 and the third is part of the DC New 52 released in...
Sources consulted
- Grand Comic Book Databse
- Grost, Michael E. "Western Comics," MikeGrost.com. Accessed July 4, 2011.
- "Cowboy Comic Books - an Overview," The Old Corral. Accessed July 10, 2011.