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Post by Red Oak Kid on May 23, 2017 13:42:35 GMT -5
I just became aware of the character Matt Savage, Trail Boss who appeared in nine issues of DC's Western Comics in 1959-60. I just read his origin story reprinted in Action Comics 437. This looks like a great series. I have read reprints of Pow Wow Smith but he seems more like a Batman in buckskin than a western hero. And Matt Savage is not one of the countless "Kids" that made up most western comic book heroes. IMO, Matt Savage Trail Boss was inspired by the TV series Rawhide. Rawhide began in January of 1959. The first appearance of Matt Savage was in Western Comics 77 cover dated Oct. 1959. Tho DC was not known for it's ability to quickly jump on a trend(that was more Martin Goodman's MO.) I think the character of Gil Favor, trail boss on Rawhide was where DC got the idea for Matt Savage. I'm going to try and get all the MS reprints; two in Action Comics and two in DC Super Special. Now let's head 'em up and move 'em out!  (Edit) And I feel sorry for Gil Kane who had to draw a herd of longhorn cattle in every other panel. ![]() |
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Post by wildfire2099 on May 23, 2017 14:06:36 GMT -5
Heh, funnily enough, I was meaning to look up Matt Savage, as he's mentioned in the letters pages of Weird Western Tales (apparently, a letter writer there was mad that he couldn't be the father of Brian, aka Scalphunter, even though it was implied he was).. did they ever get into that anywhere?
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Crimebuster
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Making comics!
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Post by Crimebuster on May 23, 2017 14:15:58 GMT -5
Heh, funnily enough, I was meaning to look up Matt Savage, as he's mentioned in the letters pages of Weird Western Tales (apparently, a letter writer there was mad that he couldn't be the father of Brian, aka Scalphunter, even though it was implied he was).. did they ever get into that anywhere? Yes, this was eventually addressed in the pages of Starman. If you haven't read Starman, no spoilers, but let's just say that Scalphunter plays an important and very unlikely role in the series. It's also established in Starman that Matt Savage and Brian Savage were both related to World War I ace Lt. Steve Savage, Balloon Buster.   |
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Post by Slam_Bradley on May 23, 2017 14:27:07 GMT -5
Matt Savage also puts in an appearance in The Kents #11. A comic miniseries that I heartily endorse.
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Post by Prince Hal on May 23, 2017 14:32:29 GMT -5
Red Oak Kid , I think oyu may be right about Rawhide being an insiration, but it's also clear that Matt Savage's appearnace is based on John Wayne, whose cattle drive movie, Red River, may also have palyed a part in the strip's creation. Here's a cover in which it looks as if Savage/Wayne is fighting a Rock Hudson look-alike: 
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Post by Red Oak Kid on May 23, 2017 15:07:24 GMT -5
Prince, I also noticed the resemblance to Wayne on the covers. I just added an image of Western Comics 78 to my original post which clearly looks like Wayne. I dunno about Red River. It was made in 1948 and while it was well remembered, it's wasn't easy to see it in 1959 before tapes and dvds made it available. On the other hand, it wouldn't surprise me if it took 11 years for DC to make it into a comic book.  Also while researching this I ran across a DC comic called Frontier Fighters from the same period which featured Davey Crockett. Clearly an attempt to make a quick buck off the Disney series which was taking the country by storm. |
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Post by Prince Hal on May 23, 2017 15:16:38 GMT -5
Prince, I also noticed the resemblance to Wayne on the covers. I just added an image of Western Comics 78 to my original post which clearly looks like Wayne. I dunno about Red River. It was made in 1948 and while it was well remembered, it's wasn't easy to see it in 1959 before tapes and dvds made it available. On the other hand, it wouldn't surprise me if it took 11 years for DC to make it into a comic book. Also while researching this I ran across a DC comic called Frontier Fighters from the same period which featured Davey Crockett. Clearly an attempt to make a quick buck off the Disney series which was taking the country by storm. And you know they did a book called Legends of Daniel Boone, too, right? Nice Nick Cardy art in those!  Edit: Meant to say also that the outlaw in the background of Western 78 reminds me of Johnny Yuma, lead in The Rebel TV show, who was played by Nick Adams. |
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Post by wildfire2099 on May 23, 2017 16:12:44 GMT -5
Matt Savage also puts in an appearance in The Kents #11. A comic miniseries that I heartily endorse. Oh, it him that is in the Kents? Someone else told me it was Brian. I have Times Past, and I know about the spoilers Crimebuster didn't post, but I don't recall it to that level of detail... I'll have to pull'em out... that issue is the reason I know who the heck Scalphunter is, and why I got some of his comics  . Also, yeah, that's clearly meant to look like John Wayne.. that's pretty fun... it he always drawn that way, or just on the covers? |
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Post by Prince Hal on May 23, 2017 16:21:45 GMT -5
Matt Savage also puts in an appearance in The Kents #11. A comic miniseries that I heartily endorse. Oh, it him that is in the Kents? Someone else told me it was Brian. I have Times Past, and I know about the spoilers Crimebuster didn't post, but I don't recall it to that level of detail... I'll have to pull'em out... that issue is the reason I know who the heck Scalphunter is, and why I got some of his comics . Also, yeah, that's clearly meant to look like John Wayne.. that's pretty fun... it he always drawn that way, or just on the covers? Here he is inside... So, yeah. Especially that middle panel on the bottom.  |
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Post by Red Oak Kid on May 23, 2017 16:49:34 GMT -5
I think I was only vaguely aware of the Daniel Boone book.
In the first Matt Savage story, he collects his crew. The rebel and yank you see on that cover are Clay Dixon and Jim Grant. Even tho the Civil War has ended, they continue to fight it. Definitely what you want on a cattle drive. Tho I haven't read that story, it was a common plot on Rawhide for the drovers to get mad at Favor and try to take over the herd.
Another recruit is Luther Jones, a young kid who is quick on the draw. You could say he has more in common with the Montgomery Clift character in Red River than with Clint Eastwood in Rawhide. Next is the cook named Biscuits Baker. He is a dead ringer for Wishbone, the cook on Rawhide. There are three others, one of which is Spanish.
The Matt Savage story in Western Comics 82 is titled "Showdown at Rawhide Gulch".
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Post by foxley on May 23, 2017 17:46:58 GMT -5
Matt Savage also makes a cameo in Armageddon: The Alien Agenda #3, along wih a bunch of DC's other western characters.
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Post by Prince Hal on May 23, 2017 17:52:50 GMT -5
I think I was only vaguely aware of the Daniel Boone book. In the first Matt Savage story, he collects his crew. The rebel and yank you see on that cover are Clay Dixon and Jim Grant. Even tho the Civil War has ended, they continue to fight it. Definitely what you want on a cattle drive. Tho I haven't read that story, it was a common plot on Rawhide for the drovers to get mad at Favor and try to take over the herd. Another recruit is Luther Jones, a young kid who is quick on the draw. You could say he has more in common with the Montgomery Clift character in Red River than with Clint Eastwood in Rawhide. Next is the cook named Biscuits Baker. He is a dead ringer for Wishbone, the cook on Rawhide. There are three others, one of which is Spanish. The Matt Savage story in Western Comics 82 is titled "Showdown at Rawhide Gulch". There are only so many Westerns, after all.  |
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Post by dcindexer on May 24, 2017 3:13:45 GMT -5
Also while researching this I ran across a DC comic called Frontier Fighters from the same period which featured Davey Crockett. Clearly an attempt to make a quick buck off the Disney series which was taking the country by storm. DC wasn't the only publisher trying to tie in to the frontier fan of 1955. Dell published 4 direct tie-ins to the Walt Disney version of Davy Crockett in 1955 as part of their Four Color series (#631, #639, #664, and #671), plus a 100-page one-shot. Charlton published 8 issues of Davy Crockett from 1955-1956. DC had the Frontier Fighters series which ran 8 issues from 1955-1956 which also featured Buffalo Bill and Kit Carson. Two issues of Harvey's Western Tales from 1955 also feature Davy Crockett. At the same time, Daniel Boone was an even bigger draw with four publishers simultaneously issuing comics devoted to the character. Magazine Enterprises published 8 issue of Dan'l Boone from 1955-1957. Quality published 6 issues of Exploits of Daniel Boone from 1955-1956. Charlton published 4 issues of Frontier Scout Dan'l Boone from 1955-1956. DC published 8 issues of Legends of Daniel Boone from 1955-1956. Even DC's activity mag It's Gametime which began in 1955 had a character wearing a coonskin cap on the cover. Considering that american kids (or their parents) were buying 5000 coonskin caps per day in 1955, I'd say it was a fad that many businesses were trying to cash in on. Shockingly, Martin Goodman, who was the king of publishing short-lived titles to cash in on the latest trend, didn't have a Davy Crockett or Daniel Boone title of his own. Marvel did launch Billy Buckskin in 1955, but that was about it. |
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Post by MDG on May 24, 2017 5:36:55 GMT -5
I dunno about Red River. It was made in 1948 and while it was well remembered, it's wasn't easy to see it in 1959 before tapes and dvds made it available. Except in cities like NY (where most comics creators at the time were based) and LA that had a lot of revival theaters and grindhouses that would show older movies. And Red River--a big, successful John Wayne movie--would be available to less urban audiences as well. From the great Greenbriar Picture Shows blog: Don't know about the rest of territories, but NC had Red River flowing through hardtop/drive-ins well into the 70's. Our Starlite encored it often, as late as '74, and whenever corn-dog lots needed a third for John Wayne all-nighters, it would invariably be Red River welcoming the dawn behind likes of Donovan's Reef or The War Wagon. |
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