Billy the Kid (Charlton Comics)
Encyclopedia
Billy the Kid is a Western
comic book
series published by Charlton Comics
, with stories of a fiction
al 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 (Nov. 1957 - March 1983). The Billy the Kid character made his first appearance in Masked Raider #6.
Regular backup features in the book included Bounty Hunter Shawn O'Meara, Tenderfoot Sheriff John Lind, Mr. Young Of The Boothill Gazette, and Apache Red.
Regular contributors to the title included writer Joe Gill
, and artists Pat Boyette
, Jose Delbo, Jack Keller
, Sanho Kim
, Rocke Mastroserio
, Charles Nicholas, Warren Sattler
, and Carl Wessler
.
), starring a masked gunfighter and his pet Golden Eagle
Talon. With issue #6 the book was titled Masked Raider Presents Billy the Kid. This title lasted three issues, through cover-date July 1957. With issue #9, the full cover title was Billy the Kid: Western Outlaw, lasting through issue #37.
Billy the Kid was twice put under publication hiatus, first between #121 and #122 (Jan.–Aug. 1977), and then from #123 to #124 (Nov. 1977–Jan. 1978). From that point the end of the run, Billy the Kid was a reprint title.
stories appeared in issues #68, 77, and 86. Tenderfoot Sheriff John Lind appeared in issues #73, 85, 90, 93, 147, and 152. Mr. Young Of The Boothill Gazette stories were featured in issues #88-98, 100, 102, and 104-110. Apache Red stories appeared in issues #112, 114-116, and 119-123.
Western comics
Western comics is a comics genre usually depicting the American Old West frontier and typically set during the late nineteenth century...
comic book
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
series published by 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...
, with stories of a fiction
Fiction
Fiction is the form of any narrative or informative work that deals, in part or in whole, with information or events that are not factual, but rather, imaginary—that is, invented by the author. Although fiction describes a major branch of literary work, it may also refer to theatrical,...
al character based on the historical 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...
. Taking over the numbering of a previous Western comic, Masked Raider, Billy the Kid was published from issues #9-153 (Nov. 1957 - March 1983). The Billy the Kid character made his first appearance in Masked Raider #6.
Regular backup features in the book included Bounty Hunter Shawn O'Meara, Tenderfoot Sheriff John Lind, Mr. Young Of The Boothill Gazette, and Apache Red.
Regular contributors to the title included writer Joe Gill
Joe Gill
Joseph Gill was an American magazine writer and highly prolific comic book scripter. Most of his work was for Charlton Comics, where he co-created the superheroes Captain Atom, Peacemaker, and Judomaster, among others. Comics historians consider Gill a top contender as the comic-book field's most...
, and artists 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...
, Jose Delbo, Jack Keller
Jack Keller (comics)
Jack R. Keller was an American comic book artist best known for his 1950s and '60s work on the Marvel Comics Western character Kid Colt, and for his later hot rod and racecar series at Charlton Comics.-Early life and career:...
, Sanho Kim
Sanho Kim
Sanho Kim is a Korean comic book artist, considered the first artist working in a manhwa style to be published regularly in the United States...
, 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:...
, Charles Nicholas, Warren Sattler
Warren Sattler
Warren Sattler is an American artist and cartoonist, who contributed work to many popular publications from the early 1960s through the 1990s....
, and Carl Wessler
Carl Wessler
Carroll O. "Carl" Wessler was an American animator of the 1930s and a comic book writer from the 1940s though the 1970s for such companies as DC Comics, EC Comics, Marvel Comics, and Warren Publishing....
.
Publication history
The book's first five issues (June 1955 - Aug. 1956) were titled Masked Raider (not to be confused with the Timely Comics characterMasked 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...
), starring a masked gunfighter and his pet Golden Eagle
Golden Eagle
The Golden Eagle is one of the best known birds of prey in the Northern Hemisphere. Like all eagles, it belongs to the family Accipitridae. Once widespread across the Holarctic, it has disappeared from many of the more heavily populated areas...
Talon. With issue #6 the book was titled Masked Raider Presents Billy the Kid. This title lasted three issues, through cover-date July 1957. With issue #9, the full cover title was Billy the Kid: Western Outlaw, lasting through issue #37.
Billy the Kid was twice put under publication hiatus, first between #121 and #122 (Jan.–Aug. 1977), and then from #123 to #124 (Nov. 1977–Jan. 1978). From that point the end of the run, Billy the Kid was a reprint title.
Recurring features
The Cheyenne Kid made appearances in issues #19, 117, 118, 127-129, 134, 135, and 138-141. Bounty Hunter (Shawn O'Meara) stories were featured in issues #66-78, 80, 81, 83, and 87. Fictional Doc HollidayDoc Holliday
John Henry "Doc" Holliday was an American gambler, gunfighter and dentist of the American Old West, who is usually remembered for his friendship with Wyatt Earp and his involvement in the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral...
stories appeared in issues #68, 77, and 86. Tenderfoot Sheriff John Lind appeared in issues #73, 85, 90, 93, 147, and 152. Mr. Young Of The Boothill Gazette stories were featured in issues #88-98, 100, 102, and 104-110. Apache Red stories appeared in issues #112, 114-116, and 119-123.