Potty-mouth Paul Williams just ain't right!

I recently figured out what real-world events might have led to the new Rawhide Kid's debut in 1960. The book that was cancelled to make way for the Kid was Wyatt Earp. The Wyatt Earp TV show started in 1955 and was a huge hit. Dell published the official licensed Wyatt Earp comic, but since Wyatt was a real person, Atlas and Charlton could publish their own Wyatt Earp comics as long as they didn't imitate the TV show.

Five years later, the Earp TV show's ratings had cooled off. The new hit Western TV series was Rawhide, which started midseason in January 1959. Martin Goodman realized that he already had the title "Rawhide Kid" trademarked, so he could revive that title and take advantage of the show's popularity without having to pay to license it.

That theory is consistent with the fact that the other western Marvel continued to publish was Gunsmoke Western, which probably garnered more than a few extra purchases from unwary readers thinking it was related to the TV show Gunsmoke, which continued to strong ratings for years to come. Gunsmoke Western served as a second vehicle for lead feature Kid Colt through 1963, with several Two-Gun Kid and Wyatt Earp stories supporting Colt from the back pages of the comics.

Rawhide Kid #40, June 1964

“The Rawhide Kid Meets the Two-Gun Kid”, 18 pgs
Written by Stan Lee
Drawn by Dick Ayers
Lettered by Artie Simek



Cover by Jack Kirby and Sol Brodsky

Summary:

Rawhide has reached the county line, on the other side of which he is a wanted man (the jurisdictional concerns in Rawhide’s tales seem mighty inconsistent; in other stories, he seems to be fair game for any bounty hunter that happens upon him, anywhere. In any case, I doubt a bounty hunter would respect a border marker that he could easily drag the Kid back over, if’n he could corral the red-headed ranny).



The sound of gunfire from the other side of the line draws Rawhide reluctantly into the danger zone, where he recognizes the Two-Gun Kid under fire. (He’s seen Two-Gun’s picture “enough times to know”, which I have a hard time buying, given the distance, the costume, and the quality of reproduction available in the press at the time of the old west, but let’s assume Rawhide also knows he’s close to Two-Gun’s territory of Tombstone—remember that, as a local lawyer, Two-Gun was more tied down than Marvel’s outlaw cowboys.)



A ricocheting bullet strikes Two-Gun in the head and conks him out, and it’s Rawhide to the defense, discovering that Two-Gun’s assailant is…a rifle-totin’, bullet-proof grizzly bear?!



The bear makes off with a stolen Pony Express mail sack, and Rawhide goes to the aid of the fallen Pony Express rider, shrugging off the bear for now, and thinking about how odd that he’s now run into two animal enemies in a row (having tangled with a trained gorilla last month in issue 39!).

The delivery man is only slightly injured, but the arrival of the law leaves Rawhide under arrest for the robbery. Two-Gun awakens from unconsciousness to overhear the accusations.
The lawmen accuse Two-Gun of hiding the missing mail-pouch and ride him off to the hoosegow, Rawhide protesting his innocence all the way. Two-Gun, still out of sight but within earshot, was unconscious when Rawhide made the scene, so, like any good lawyer, reserves judgement for now.

Rawhide’s wriggled loose of his ropes and, still astride his majestic horse Nightwind, high-tails it out of pistol range. The law can’t match his steed’s speed, and hopes for Two-Gun Kid to be able to recover the fugitive.

Rawhide, having put sufficient distance between himself and the law, ponders Two-Gun—maybe he was mixed up in the robbery? After all, he wears a mask, despite his law-keepin’ rep! And with those suspicions presented to the reader, the two meet up, and start to tussle.



After their little donnybrook, Two-Gun convinces Rawhide to return to face trial and clear his name, offering the services of his friend, lawyer Matt Hawk (in reality, Two-Gun himself, of course!).
Rawhide turns himself in to the sheriff, and someone else turns up in town, gambler Ace Fester, who warns that Rawhide probably trained that grizzly, which will sure as shootin’ turn up to rescue his master!

While Rawhide awaits trial, Ace Fester riles up the town-folk for a lynchin’, before that b’ar hits the town. The sheriff ain’t havin’ none o’ that kinda talk, and Ace and the fellas back down: “Alright, but don’t say I didn’t warn you if the grizzly returns and trees the whole town!”

The day of the trial, Matt Hawk makes a strong case for acquittal, based on the missing mail-sack and the circumstantial nature of the evidence against Rawhide, when, just as Ace warned, the grizzly returns.



The grizzly does just as predicted: grabs the Rawhide Kid and flees the courtroom, with Rawhide urging all to “Stay back! Let him go! Don’t let any innocent people be hurt!” Matt sneaks out to don the garb of the Two-Gun Kid, and the grizzly, who don’t look quite natural from up close, leads Rawhide into a nearby barn.

The “bear”, now talking, much to Rawhide’s surprise, announces his intent to appear to turn on his master, leave him dead, and escape with the loot. Rawhide’s only weapon of defense is a bamboo pole, that doesn’t hold off the much more powerful bear-man for long, but an empty barrel trips the beast up, and Rawhide pulls off the grizzly’s headpiece; he can see a man inside, but Rawhide just happens to blink right then and doesn’t recognize him while he’s fleeing the scene.

Two-Gun arrives with Rawhide’s holster and handguns, and they both discover the full grizzly costume left behind: a fur-covered mechanical marvel with armor and an elaborate system of pulleys and gears the user could operate from inside. They still don’t know who was wearin’ it, though! But Two-Gun has a plan, and the pair head to the saloon to pull it off.
Once through the swinging saloon doors, Two-Gun and Rawhide announce to all: “Too bad, Grizzly! You might have made good your escape, except for one little mistake you made—one mistake which gave your identity away!” To which Ace foolishly blurts out a denial that reveals him to be the Grizzly.

Ace claims to not only be “the fastest card-sharp in town” but to have an equally quick draw on the six-shooter, readying for a showdown with Rawhide. In response to Rawhide’s question of why someone so inventive would use his brains and talent for crime, Fester’s only response is “A man like me deserves the best of everything—so I intend to get it, any way I can!” So, it’s just greed, Rawhide surmises.
Well, it turns out Ace Fester isn’t the fast draw he thinks he is, and Rawhide shoots the irons out of Ace’s hands and shoots the heels off his boots before Ace can pull the trigger! Ace confesses his plan to pin the job on Rawhide, and the sheriff makes the arrest. Two-Gun escorts Rawhide to the county line and sets him on his way safely, both hoping to meet again some time.
In a final note, Stan Lee invites letters, should readers want to see the two adventurers meet again.

Comments:

So there’s our first Western Team-Up! I told you, Stan Lee was applying lessons from what was working in his superhero line and applying them to the westerns, and this is a clear example. It would take only trivial changes to present this identical plot as, say, a Daredevil/Hawkeye story.

A fair enough yarn, though, and I’m sure it got some attention from the fans of the time as a significant event in a line of comics that wasn’t accustomed to significant events, aside from those in which characters—such as Rawhide and Two-Gun themselves—were rebooted into completely different characters.

The footnote on the splash says “by special arrangement with the publishers of Two-Gun Kid magazine”. This kind of announcement was something Stan used in the early super-hero crossovers, too, and I wonder how the readers interpreted that. Obviously the credits showed these books were mostly “written” or edited by the same guy, and came out with “Marvel Comics Group” on the cover, but this line suggests they had to have some kind of negotiation to make a deal for using one character in the other’s comic. But it does imply that these crossovers are somehow special, not easily arranged or accomplished, so don’t expect ‘em often, kids!

But assuming those readers were OK with out-of-place story elements like super-villains who could cook up bullet-proof grizzly bear costumes in which to commit crimes, I’d guess they were OK with this team-up. The contention between the two Kids is forced and unconvincing, and is swept away pretty quickly, only there to justify the obligatory initial combat without making either hero into the straight-up wrong-headed one.

Dick Ayers’ artwork is up to the job. His self-inking is usually welcome, and he consistently depicts Rawhide as being short, like he’s supposed to be. He’d do a few issues of Rawhide around this time as it transitioned from Jack Davis to Larry Lieber, and he was handling Two-Gun Kid around then as well, staying as its regular artist for a few more years until Ogden Whitney came on board.
Stan also indulges his usual gift of gab, with the two Kids engaging in quite a lot of dialogue. This talkiness is something that plagued Lee and Ayers on Sgt. Fury as well; I don’t think it works as well in these period pieces like it does in the superhero stories. That’s one lesson I wish Stan hadn’t applied here, but it’s a part of the Marvel vibe, right?

Bonus:

A page of Dick Ayers' original art from this issue:



Coming Attractions:

It won't take long for those letters to come in and encourage Stan to up the ante with a three-way team-up between the full slate of Marvel's then-active western stars But first, we've got one new acquaintance to establish and a repeat partnership. 
After that, we'll be looking at examples of camaraderie in the "New Wave of Westerns"!

Here's the thing......not picking a fight........if this is years of research, then, how about citing a few references to back up statements?  Otherwise, it reads as an interpretation of the person's job, rather than a factual description.  It is a certainty that the Marvel style of an artist working from a plot leads to the artist crafting much of the story without the writer's input; but, that doesn't mean the writer is only doing the dialogue, as it was usually the writer's plot summary that was the launching point for the artist.  It has been well established by several Silver Age Marvel artists that Stan had looser and tighter plots, depending on who he was working with.  With Kirby and Ditko, it could be as simple as Doc Ock or the Sub-Mariner will be the villain in the issue and those guys pretty much did the heavy load lifting.  With others, who weren't as strong doing the story formation, he had more detailed plots.


So, when you say "Dick Ayers-story & art" and Stan Lee-dialogue," I have to wonder about the plot.  I don't recall reading an interview with Dick Ayer's where he ever said he was just working from a story idea and not an actual plot.  I don't claim to have read every fanzine or even every interview in the big ones (TCJ, CBG, etc...).  So, when I see something like that, I kind of want to know the source for that, so I can track it down and read what was said, in full context, just our of curiosity. 

Good comparison, as Daredevil was the lawyer in civilian life, while early Hawkeye went from criminal to surly Avenger--in other words, he was as much of an outsider as the Rawhide Kid. As you've pointed out in earlier posts, the western titles were trying out more fantastic elements not associated with western titles, and yes, this story had Stan Lee's mark all over it, as he was rather relentless in trying out new ideas until they worked, or boosted sales, so team-up? Check. Bear costume with mechanics advanced for the century the story was set it? Check. Very much Stan Lee creative hallmarks.




That was a clever marketing tool: make each title seem so important, that its characters could not just hop over to another title unless they had the so-named "special arrangement."

I neglected to note that this was the first we've seen, among the issues covered so far, of artist Jack Keller. Keller's an appreciated change of pace from Lieber and Ayers, to my eyes, anyway. Keller's most remembered for his automobile-focused work at Charlton, but he did an extensive stint on Kid Colt. It may not be flashy, but it's full of character, it's consistent, it's competently composed, clean, and clear. And probably a few other "C" words. I like it a lot, although this particular work isn't as charming as some of the other examples I've seen. We'll see more of Keller's work in our next installment.