But, as the world changed, so did our tastes and the Western hero faded away into the sunset.
Until now.
Although it is a brief and apparently final appearance, the classic Marvel Comic Western heroes have recently returned in a four issue limited series entitled BLAZE OF GLORY: THE LAST RIDE OF THE WESTERN HEROES. Written by scribe extraordinaire John Ostrander and illustrated by the equally talented Leonardo Manco, this is a loving tribute to a group of heroes whose time has truly passed.
Set between the “West of fact” and the “West of legend”, BLAZE OF GLORY begins with a brief history lesson which explains the feel of this country in the 1870’s and 1880’s. And it also sets the scene to introduce to some and reintroduce to others the “legends” of the Old West; legends including Wyatt Earp, Buffalo Bill, Billy the Kid, Kid Colt...
Kid Colt? A legend? Oh yeah-this is the Marvel Universe, where “real” lawmen rub shoulders with fictional ones.
It’s 1885 and Reno Jones, formerly of The Gunhawks, has moved away from his gunslinger days with his partner Kid Cassidy, and has managed to settle down and raise a family. He explains to both his son and the reading audience how he and the Kid came to an apparently fatal parting of the ways some time ago. The important thing to remember, he tells his son, is that just because a tale was written in a book it doesn’t mean it was the God’s honest truth.
And soon, the peaceful town of Wonderment is shattered by the marauding band of masked terrorists know as The Nightriders, who come in and unleash their reign of terror upon the quiet little town. After a town meeting on the problem, Jones and a trapper by the name of Marcel Fournier ride out in search of hired guns to help them eliminate the scourge of The Nightriders. Fournier stops at Fort Thunder along the way to meet up with a former associate who we all know/knew as the Two Gun Kid while Jones rides on. His first stop takes him to Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show where the legendary Rawhide Kid is performing riding stunts and displays of marksmanship. At the same time, Kid Colt has also arrived.
Yes, this was a time when it seemed the whole comic universe was filled with “Kids” of one type or another.
So off ride Jones, Rawhide Kid and Kid Colt Outlaw, in search of others to lend a hand to the cause. Unbeknownst to them, the Gunhawk is on their tail. He’s a bounty hunter looking to collect on the price which has been placed upon Kid Colt’s head. So to is Caleb Hammer, who is also looking to bring the rogue to justice.
Several days pass and Fournier hooks up with the gunslingers. He explains to them that the Two Gun Kid is dead. In actuality, Two Gun Kid is now a lawyer named Clay Harder who has put down his guns forever. But that’s okay because they are soon joined by Lance Temple who is hunting The Outlaw Kid.
By the way, Temple IS The Outlaw Kid. Seems his father’s death has left him with a bit of a split personality. When he’s Temple, he’s a scared youth looking for revenge on the man who killed his father. When he IS that man, he’s as great as a gunfighter as he ever was.
The five ride out and are joined by a surprisingly alive Two Gun Kid who decided he “got tired” of being dead. They try to make their way back into Wonderment, only to be ambushed at a treacherous pass which apparently costs Reno Jones his life. It takes the appearance of another Western hero, Red Wolf, to clear the way for the riders triumphant return to Wonderment, where they drive the masked Nightriders out. Taking up residence here, the gunslingers begin training the town to defend themselves.
Meanwhile, Caleb Hammer happens upon the Nightriders who give him the choice of “join or die”. Not much of a choice at all. And the options get thinner when Gunhawk shows up and the two men decide to battle it out for the rights to take down Kid Colt.
That’s when the true masked gunfighter, the original Ghost Rider, arrives hurling threats and mystical promises down upon the rebels.
And that’s just the beginning as, before the seriers is through, a traitor is exposed, a young boy comes of age, a town battles for it’s freedom, identities are revealed, revenge is enacted and even legends die.
While it is not your typical comic tale as most fans know comics, this is a true defining moment of the genre one which, in my opinion, ranks up there with WATCHMEN, KINGDOM COME, DARK KNIGHT RETURNS, and V FOR VENDETTA. This is a marvelous (no pun intended) tale of the Old West and some of it’s heroes. In it’s own way, it owes a lot to DC’s way of handling the last days of Jonah Hex where the disfigured gunman tried to give up his ways but ends up being killed and gets stuffed, becoming an exhibit at a Wild West show. It provides closure to a group of characters who have outlived the usefulness of the company they once were employed by. Rather than allowing them to fade into our memories, they have been given new life; even if it is only for one final fling.
John Ostrander has written some amazing stories in his many years in the business most noticible of which was his work on the short lived horror title WASTELAND and specificvally his tales of Jim Corrigan in THE SPECTRE. But this could be one of his most personal pieces yet. There are a great deal of references to death and dying and how everyone must die some day. Ostrander lost his wife only a few years ago. I’m sure that has provided a highly personal edge to a tale of this type.
The characters leap off the page. Now I know this sounds REALLY cliched and contrived, but it’s true. This stuff is much better than any “penny dreadful” or “dime novel” which frequented the historical period and beyond. But, at the same time, it captures much of the flair of the “larger than life” gunfighter that every young boy wanted to grow up and become. That’s a concept played on over and over in the eyes and mind of Reno Jones’ son. Early on, the boy romanticises about his father’s adventures with Kid Cassidy. Following the news of his father’s death, the boy asks Kid Colt to teach him the ways of the gun, in order to avenge his father. Kid Colt declines, even as the young boy recites the life story of Kid Cot-how his father was slain by men who stole his land and how Colt had to avenge him. The gunslinger corrects the boy, telling him that it was his anger which led him to kill those UNARMED men. “Anger is like a bronce,” he tells the child. “ Tame it and it can serve you. Don’t and it might kill you. I won’t lead you down the path I walk.”
But it’s more than that. BLAZE OF GLORY is a tale of revenge because that’s what everyone is seeking. Jones wants to avenge the horror that has been committed upon this ethnically diverse town. Hammer and Gunhawk are attempting, in their own way, to avenge the murder of two unarmed men by Kid Colt. Lance Temple is seeking revenge on The Outlaw Kid who, in the young man’s warped mind, was responsible for the death of the senior temple. And the leader of the Night Riders has his own personal agenda. It isn’t totally about the whites and the blacks and the Indians who live in Wonderment. It’s about one man who allegedly wronged this masked stranger some years ago. It’s a personal vendetta which has developed into an all consuming rage which will kill anyone and anything which stands between him and his chosen victim.
Most importantly, it is a tale of legends who have come to the end of their road. These are truly characters who have outlived their cooperate usefulness. Except for occasional cameos in Marvel superhero titles(most notably in both THE AVENGERS and the recent AVENGERS FOREVER) or inspired, at least in purposes of name, modern superheroes (when Marvel “created” the motorcycling riding Ghost Rider, the 70’ reprints of the Western Ghost Rider suddenly became the NIGHT RIDER to avoid confusion. It’s nice to see Ostrander utilize both characters and make the Ghost Rider the hero and Night Rider the villain.), they have nothing left to offer the comic fan of today. And that’s where Ostrander steps in and breaks the traditional mold of what Western comics were. These are characters with real character. When one of them meets their end, it’s a true event, not just some tossed off killing for the sake of moving the story along.
And let’s not forget the incredible artwork of Leonardo Manco. Here is a talent who, despite eye-popping turns on WEREWOLF BY NIGHT and DEATHLOK, is just now coming into his own and has much better work ahead of him. That is not to say this his work on this mini-series isn’t awesome, because it CERTAINLY IS. From the beautifully rendered covers of each issue to the single and double page spreads, the feel of the Old West comes shining through. Of special note is the spectacular two page spread of Western heroes, fact and fictional, that adorns issue #1, along with the multiple splash pages in issue #3 where each of the Marvel heroes gets a full page biography as they are battling it out in Wonderment. Additional kudos are in order to Marianna Manco for applying the colors which help to texture the entire feel of this series. I can't stress enough how this big is a rare gem in comicland. It is sympathetic to its characters, conveys the feel of a time gone by and is just a fun read. Track down the back issues or petition Marvel to put them out as a TPB. Just do yourself the favor and READ THIS MINI-SERIES. It is, by far, my vote for Best mini-series of the Year.