Wednesday, July 23, 2014

A VERY SPECIAL RAWHIDE KID WEDNESDAY

Bloggy thing reader Tom Batiuk is the creator of Funky Winkerbean and Crankshaft, two popular newspaper comic strips. My friend and neighbor Tom is also a comic-book fan, which should be obvious from his frequent use of comic-book cover homages in Funky.  I love when he does this because it’s both a clever use of a Sunday page and in keeping with my own comic-book fanaticism.

Tom used the Larry Lieber cover of The Rawhide Kid #70 [June, 1969] a few weeks back for his July 6 strip. If you’re not reading the strip, Les Moore is a schoolteacher and writer. His book about his first wife, who fought against but ultimately died from cancer, was optioned by Hollywood. Cue the ominous music.


I knew Rawhide was going to appear in Funky Winkerbean, but I was caught completely off guard by Dan Thompson’s Brevity for July 20. What a treat to see so many Marvel super-heroes in the 1970s style outfits. The Rawhide Kid is among them, but you might have to look real hard to find him.

Give up? The Kid can be seen - barely - just behind Luke Cage and just under the Wasp.

I’m going to take credit for raising awareness of the Rawhide Kid - the real Rawhide Kid - in the comics community. I think the least Marvel could do at this point is continuing reprinting the stories of my friend Larry Lieber. I also wouldn’t say no if they asked me to write new Rawhide Kid stories. Even if neither of those come to pass, my reward is knowing I’m fostering well-deserved recognition for a terrific character and the equally terrific work Larry Lieber did on that character.

One more note. I still need a few dozen issues to complete my own Rawhide Kid collection. If you have any of the following issues andare willing to part with them for a price I can afford, I would be very interesting in buying them from you.

The issues: 92, 93, 101, 102, 103, 105, 106, 107, 108, 109, 111, 112, 113, 118, 119, 120, 122, 123, 125, 127, 129, 130, 131, 132, 133, 134, 135, 136, 137, 138, 139, 140, 141, 142, 143, 144, 145, 146, 148, 149, 150 and 151.

I’m also interested in other Marvel comics that featured the Kid. E-mail me if you’re selling any of the Rawhide Kid issues I need or any of those other appearances. Thanks.

I’ll be back tomorrow with more stuff.

© 2014 Tony Isabella

1 comment:

  1. Tony, I've got several of these comics. Guess it's time to find them a new home. Will contact you through hotmail.
    John Judge

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