Western Action #1
Published and © by Atlas (Seaboard), February 1975
Title: “Birth of a Badman!”
Synopsis: When a cattle baron’s men gun down Tom Corbett’s parents, he takes up twin Colts to become Kid Cody.
Writer: Larry Lieber
Artist: Doug Wildey
Review: There’s nothing much new in this by-the-book Western story by Larry Lieber, but the art, by Doug Wildey, is quite nice. The artist uses a mix of confident brushwork and mechanical tones to give this lead feature a unique, comic-strip-inspired look. One of the better-drawn Atlas (Seaboard) stories.
•••
Title: “Vengeance Trail”
Synopsis: Kid Comanche – a white man raised by an Indian tribe but later banished – avenges the murder of a boy’s grandfather.
Writer: Steve Skeates
Penciler: Jack Abel
Inker: Al Milgrom
Review: While still pretty pedestrian, this Steve Skeates’ story offers a bit more pathos. Jack Abel’s art is surprisingly strong.
Grade (for the entire issue): B
Second opinion: “Tried-and-True Western Formula #11, or, as we call it in 2003, a lot of culturally ignorant and borderline-racist nonsense.” – Mike Hall, Comic Effect #34, April-May 2003 … “ ‘Comics are entertainment’ proclaimed atlas all over their text pages. This wasn’t.” – Adrian P. Snowdon, FantaCo’s Chronicle’s Series Annual #1, 1983
Cool factor: Nice art.
Not-so-cool factor: Weak stories.
Character quotable: “I’ll get my experience sending Blackwell to Boothill!” – Kid Cody, gunfighter
Editor’s note: This review was originally published by Comics Bronze Age on July 5, 2010.
