''Kid Colt, Outlaw'' is a

comic book A comic book, comic-magazine, or simply comic is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panel (comics), panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are often accompanied by descriptive prose and wri ...

title featuring the character Kid Colt originally published by Atlas Comics beginning in 1948 and later

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is a New York City–based comic book publishing, publisher, a property of the Walt Disney Company since December 31, 2009, and a subsidiary of Disney Publishing Worldwide since March 2023. Marvel was founded in 1939 by Martin G ...

Publication history

Kid Colt and his horse Steel

first appeared In comic books and other stories with a long history, first appearance refers to the first issue to feature a fictional character. These issues are often highly valued by collectors due to their rarity and iconic status. Reader interest in fir ...

in ''Kid Colt'' #1 (August 1948), from Marvel predecessor

Timely Comics Timely Comics was the common name for the group of corporations that was the earliest comic book arm of American publisher Martin Goodman (publisher), Martin Goodman, and the entity that would evolve by the 1960s to become Marvel Comics. "Timely P ...

. Originally his cover logo was subtitled "''Hero of the West''" but by issue three this was changed to "''Outlaw''". His origin was told in ''Kid Colt'' #11 (Sept. 1950), and is similar to that of the

Rawhide Kid The Rawhide Kid (real name: Johnny Bart, originally given as Johnny Clay) is a fictional Old West cowboy appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. A heroic gunfighter of the 19th-century American West who was unjustly wanted a ...

, another Western character from Marvel's 1950s iteration, Atlas Comics. Pete Tumlinson was the primary artist on ''Kid Colt, Outlaw'' from issues #14-24 (May 1951 - Jan. 1953) for some of Kid Colt's earliest adventures; Tumlinson had previously drawn an anthological Western story, "The Magic of Manitou", for ''Kid Colt, Outlaw'' #13 (March 1951). Artist Jack Keller began his long association with Kid Colt in ''Kid Colt, Outlaw'' #25 (March 1953), and stayed with the character for at least a dozen years in that signature title. Comics writer and historian

Tony Isabella Jenny Blake Isabella (born December 22, 1951), who writes under the names Tony Isabella and Jenny Blake, is an Americans, American comic book writer, editor, actor, artist and critic. She is the creator of Marvel Comics superhero Bill Foster (com ...

wrote that Keller "drew more Kid Colt stories than any other artist and may hold the record for drawing the most stories of any Marvel character." Marvel editor

Stan Lee Stan Lee (born Stanley Martin Lieber ; December 28, 1922 – November 12, 2018) was an American comic book author, writer, editor, publisher, and producer. He rose through the ranks of a family-run business called Timely Comics which later bec ...

would later take over writing chores on the title. Cover artists included such notables as

Joe Maneely Joseph Maneely (; February 18, 1926 – June 7, 1958) was an American comic book artist best known for his work at Marvel Comics' 1950s predecessor, Atlas Comics (1950s), Atlas Comics, where he co-created the Marvel characters the Black Knight (Si ...

John Severin John Powers Severin (; December 26, 1921 – February 12, 2012) was an American comics artist noted for his distinctive work with EC Comics, primarily on the war comics '' Two-Fisted Tales'' and ''Frontline Combat''; for Marvel Comics, e ...

, and Russ Heath, until the frequent Marvel cover team of penciller

Jack Kirby Jack Kirby (; born Jacob Kurtzberg; August 28, 1917 – February 6, 1994) was an American comics artist, comic book artist, widely regarded as one of the medium's major innovators and one of its most prolific and influential creators. He grew ...

and inker

Dick Ayers Richard Bache Ayers (; April 28, 1924 – May 4, 2014) was an American comic book artist and cartoonist best known for his work as one of Jack Kirby's inkers during the late-1950s and 1960s period known as the Silver Age of Comics, including on s ...

took over for the bulk of them from 1959-1965. A brief publishing hiatus occurred between issues #139 (April 1968) and #140 (Oct. 1969). The series ended with #229 (April 1979), making it the longest-running Western comic book. Kid Colt additionally headlined the three-issue ''Giant-Size Kid Colt'' (January 1975 - July 1975), which consisted entirely of reprints except for one new story in each of the latter two issues. Aside from assisting with backgrounds for artist Tom Gill, the artist

Herb Trimpe Herbert William Trimpe (; May 26, 1939 – April 13, 2015) was an American comics artist and occasional writer, best known as the seminal 1970s artist on '' The Incredible Hulk'' and as the first artist to draw for publication the character Wol ...

made his professional comics debut with two Kid Colt

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

stories, in ''Kid Colt, Outlaw'' #134–135 (May and July 1967).

Awards

''Kid Colt, Outlaw'' won the Alley Award for Best Western Title in 1966.

References

External links

* * *{{comicbookdb, type=title, id=10746, title=''Kid Colt Outlaw''
Atlas Tales: Kid Colt, Outlaw
1948 comics debuts 1979 comics endings Atlas Comics titles Marvel Comics titles Western (genre) comics