Rawhide Kid #1

“Always remember, Tommy--a gun is neither good nor bad! It depends on who is wearing it! In the hands of the Rawhide Kid, it is something wonderful!”

That echoing of a classic line in both the book and film version of Shane gives you the measure of this comic-book character. It’s akin to your 1950s TV Westerns for kids, or B-Western programmers aimed at the younger set.

With that said, there is still something charming about its “squareness.”

Issue #1 gives us two stories featuring the Kid, including his origin story—Rawhide refers to the town he’s from and not his apparel. There is also one stand-alone Western story, and to my surprise a short prose piece.

Again, the target was youths of a different time, but I still enjoyed this toe in the water to get a flavor for this character.