Billy the Kid's Old Timey Oddities is a four issue American comic book

American comic book

An American comic book is a small magazine originating in the United States and containing a narrative in the form of comics. Since 1975 the dimensions have standardized at 6 5/8" x 10 ¼" , down from 6 ¾" x 10 ¼" in the Silver Age, although larger formats appeared in the past...

 limited series

Limited series

A limited series is a comic book series with a set number of installments. A limited series differs from an ongoing series in that the number of issues is determined before production and it differs from a one shot in that it is composed of multiple issues....

 published in 2005

2005 in comics

- January :* January 3: Will Eisner, creator of The Spirit, dies at age 87.-April:*April 13:**DC Comics announces the discontinuation of its Humanoids and 2000 A.D. titles....

, by Dark Horse Comics

Dark Horse Comics

Dark Horse Comics is the largest independent American comic book and manga publisher.Dark Horse Comics was founded in 1986 by Mike Richardson in Milwaukie, Oregon, with the concept of establishing an ideal atmosphere for creative professionals. Richardson started out by opening his first comic book...

. The series stars a fictional

Fictional character

A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...

 version of 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...

, still alive in the year 1881 after the real life Billy the Kid was allegedly killed by Pat Garrett

Pat Garrett

Patrick Floyd "Pat" Garrett was an American Old West lawman, bartender, and customs agent who was best known for killing Billy the Kid...

.

Written by Eric Powell, with artwork provided by Kyle Hotz, the series teams Billy the Kid with members of a travelling freak show

Freak show

A freak show is an exhibition of biological rarities, referred to as "freaks of nature". Typical features would be physically unusual humans, such as those uncommonly large or small, those with both male and female secondary sexual characteristics, people with other extraordinary diseases and...

 in a quest to retrieve a powerful object from the castle of Dr. Victor Frankenstein

Victor Frankenstein

Victor Frankenstein was born in Napoli, is a Swiss fictional character and the protagonist of the 1818 novel Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus, written by Mary Shelley...

.

Characters

• Billy the Kid: Based on the historic figure, this fictional version is an uncouth, foul mouthed man. A childhood filled with abuse, that resulted in claustrophobia
  Claustrophobia
  Claustrophobia is the fear of having no escape and being closed in small spaces or rooms...
  
  , is depicted in flashbacks throughout the series.

• Fineas Sproule: The owner and leader of Sproule's Biological Curiosities. Sproule has functional hands instead of feet and bills himself as the Human Spider.

• Aldwin Callahan: Born with reptilian skin and features, Callahan bills himself as the Alligator Man.

• Isadora Mavrites: The show's Tattoo
  Tattoo
  A tattoo is made by inserting indelible ink into the dermis layer of the skin to change the pigment. Tattoos on humans are a type of body modification, and tattoos on other animals are most commonly used for identification purposes...
  
  ed lady, Isadora's tattoos are supernatural in nature, shifting to give hints of future events.

• Hector Delgado: Born with features that make him resemble a werewolf
  Werewolf
  A werewolf, also known as a lycanthrope , is a mythological or folkloric human with the ability to shapeshift into a wolf or an anthropomorphic wolf-like creature, either purposely or after being placed under a curse...
  
  , Delgado bills himself as the Wolf Boy.

• Jeffrey Tinsle: Billed as the Miniature Boy, Jeffrey is a young man of extremely small size.

• Watta the Wild Man: No other name is known for this giant of a man. Watta appears to have a savage nature and is very protective of Jeffrey Tinsle.

Issue #1

After faking his own death, William H. Bonney, A.K.A Billy the Kid, encounters a man named Fineas Sproule on a train. Sproule proposes that Bonney follow him back to his traveling carnival. In exchange for giving him shelter, Bonney will accompany Sproule and a small group of his performers to Europe where they intend to steal a powerful supernatural object with an evil history known as the Golem's Heart from the castle of Dr. Victor Frankenstein.

After a number of introductions and a dinner that results with most of the carnival members disliking Bonney, the carnival is attacked by Leonard Abradale, a former associate of Sproule who wants the Golem's Heart all for himself. The fight is short and Abradale retreats.

Issue #2

Billy the Kid and his allies arrive in the small village surrounding the castle of Victor Frankenstein and rent out some rooms at the local inn. Sproule sends Callahan and Delgado to scout out the castle. After a point where they are an hour late for their time of return, the tattoos on Isadora's right shoulder shift into a skull like image. Moments after this a misshapen creature appears at the window and is shot by Billy the Kid.

Issue #3

Billy the kid and his allies are attacked and captured by the creations of Victor Frankenstien. After waking up in a dungeon, they are greeted and invited to dinner by Victor Frankenstein himself. At dinner Frankenstein uncovers a platter in the center of the table, revealing the severed head of Hector Delgado and orders Billy the Kid and his allies chained to a nearby wall. Frankenstein chooses Jeffrey to be dissected and ties the young man to a nearby table. As he prepares for the operation, Frankenstein explains how he used the Golem's Heart to create his creatures.

A verbal confrontation between Billy the Kid and Frankenstein results in Billy the Kid being locked in a trunk and thrown outside the castle.

Issue #4

An enraged Watta breaks free from his chains and frees Jeffrey who flees. In response, an emotionless Frankenstein runs a sword through Watta's torso from behind, killing him.

Now outside the castle, Jeffrey finds the trunk containing Billy the Kid, who is whimpering in fear caused by his claustrophobia. After being freed and taking some time to recover, Billy the Kid returns to the castle which is now under attack from a tank like machine operated by Leonard Abradale. Abradale is quickly killed by Frankenstein's creations.

Abradale's death proves to be a good distraction for Billy the Kid as he attacks Frankenstein's creations. In the chaos Jeffrey gains control of the Golem's Heart and orders Frankenstein's creations to attack and kill their creator.

When everything calms down, Sproule reveals the reasons why he and his companions wanted the Golem's Heart. The decision is then made to destroy it. When this is done all of Frankenstein's creations fall dead.

External links

• Review of issue #1 - thefourthrail.com