Encyclopedia of Weird Westerns
Page 30
A gunfighter maintains his fast draw status by turning his victims into vampires.
Pulp Heroes
[Comic book; WW]
First publication: 1997; Publisher: DC Comics.
A series of comic book annuals under various umbrella titles including Weird Western Tales. A tribute to the pulp magazine genres of the past including Young Romance, Suspense Detective, My Greatest Adventure and Tales of the Unexpected. Each title had a distinctive cover painting in the style of the pulp artists of old.
“WEIRD WESTERN TALES” TITLES:
Adventures of Superman Annual #9
“TERROR OF THE SIERRA MADRE”
First publication: September 1997; Story: John Rozum; Art: Enrique Alcatena; Publisher: DC Comics.
An alien released from life-term imprisonment does battle with Superman Blue.
“THE RETURN OF SAGANOWAHNA”
Story: Mike W. Barr; Art: Dale Eaglesham, Scott Koblish.
Superman Blue must stop a Native American who is utilizing the powers of Super-Chief to force an Indian tribe into selling their land to make way for a gambling resort.
“THE JOURNEY OF THE HORSEMAN”
Story: Paul Grist; Art: Enrique Villagra.
An alien attempts to save the Earth.
Hitman Annual #1
“A COFFIN FULL OF DOLLARS”
First publication: October 1997; Story: Garth Ennis; Art: Carlos Ezquerra (Part 1 & 3), Steve Pugh (Part 2); Publisher: DC Comics.
Hitman Tommy Monaghan and partner “Natt The Hat” Walls must overcome the super-human speed of the gunman Manko, Sheriff Halliday and gang leader Santiago to gain possession of a coffin full of stolen money buried in a Texan cemetery. This modern Weird Western pays homage to Italian spaghetti Western director Sergio Leone.
Impulse Annual #2
“SHOWDOWN”
First publication: 1997; Story: Willaim Messner-Loebs; Art: Craig Rousseau, Barbara Kaalberg; Publisher: DC Comics.
Impulse and Max Mercury come to the aid of Vigilante as he confronts opposition to his plans to transform Mesa City into a “Dude Ranch of the Future.”
“THUNDER IN MESA CITY” CH. 2: “LIGHTNING STRIKES AGAIN”
Story: Tom Peyer; Art: Anthony Castrillo, Sam Glanzman.
In the Old West of 1881, Max Mercury alias Windrunner meets Johnny Tane before he became Johnny Thunder.
Robin Annual #6
“THE LAW WEST OF GOTHAM”
First publication: 1997; Story: Chuck Dixon; Art: Eduardo Barreto; Publisher: DC Comics.
Robin teams up with Nighthawk and Pow-Wow Smith to help defeat the Trigger Twins, Tad and Tom, whom they track to an Old West Theme Park in the environs of Gotham City. The story also features Huntress, Shotgun Smith and Paige Willingham alias Tonya Trigger. The Nighthawk and Pow-Wow Smith featured in this story are not related to the classic heroes from DC Comics history.
Purgatory
(1999) [Telefilm; WW]
Premiere: January 10, 1999; Main Cast: Sam Shepard as Sheriff Forrest/Wild Bill Hickok, Eric Roberts as Blackjack Britton, Randy Quaid as Doc Woods/Doc Holliday; Executive Producer: David A. Rosemont; Story: Gordon Dawson; Director: Uli Edel; 94 min.; Rosemont Productions, TNT; Color.
An outlaw gang discovers the town of Refuge is actually the spiritual way station of Purgatory.
I Quattro dell'apocalisse
(1975) [Film; Italy; WW]
Premiere: August 12, 1975; Main Cast: Fabio Testi as Stubby Preston, Lynne Frederick as Emanuelle “Bunny” O'Neill, Michael J. Pollard as Clem; Story: Francis Brett Harte, Ennio De Concini; Director: Lucio Fulci; 104 min.; Coralta Cinematografica; Color.
An Italian horror spaghetti Western tale of torture, brutality and a madman who sees and speaks to dead people.
See: Four of the Apocalypse
Queen Emeraldas
(1998) [OVA; Japan; SFW]
Voice Cast: Reiko Tajima as Emeraldas, Megumi Hayashibara as Hiroshi Umino, Hirotaka Suzuoki as Eldomein; Animation: Oriental Light and Magic; Screenplay: Mugi Kamio; Director: Yuji Asada; Bandai Visual; 4 × 30 min.; Creator: Leiji Matsumoto; Original video animation; Color.
Emeraldas roams the galaxies in the distinctive Queen Emeraldas starship complete with skull and crossbones insignia, fighting for the oppressed and haunted by the memory of her lost love.
Departure; Release date: May 6, 1998.
Emeraldas visits Planet Daibaran, a wasteland with an Old West–style frontier town populated by various gunslingers. Coming to the aid of adolescent orphan Hiroshi Umino, she becomes involved in a shootout with the leader of the Afressians, Colonel Eldomain.
Eternal Emblem; Release date: October 7, 1998.
Eldomain kidnaps Horishi and the townspeople of Daibaran in an attempt to force Emeraldas into battle.
Two further OVAs were released in 1999: Friendship (August 6, 1999) and Siren (December 18, 1999).
“Queen of the Martian Catacombs”
[Pulp fiction; SW]
Author: Leigh Brackett; First publication: Planet Stories (Summer 1949); Publisher: Love Romances, Inc.
Eric John Stark avoids prison by working as a mercenary for Kynon in a war in the Martian Drylands. He also becomes a double agent for his mentor Simon Ashton, leader of the Earth Police Control. When he meets Kynon's queen, he learns of her secret in the city of Sinharat.
This first appearance of Eric John Stark was followed by “Enchantress of Venus” (Fall 1949). Queen of the Martian Catacombs was extended into the novel The Secret of Sinharat in 1964.
“Quest of the Starstone”
[Pulp fiction; SW]
Authors: C. L. Moore with Henry Kuttner; First publication: Weird Tales (November 1937).
Jirel, warrior maid of Joiry, gains possession of the magical jewel known as the Starstone. Northwest Smith, initially hired by Franga to retrieve the jewel, changes sides and helps Yarol and Jirel defeat the warlock.
Both men stood on the spongy ground with feet braced, bodies balanced in the easy tautness which characterizes the gunman, hands light on their weapons, eyes very steady, very deadly.
The Quick & the Dead
[RPG book; WW]
Authors: Shane Lacy Hensley, John Hopler; First publication: 1997; Setting: Deadlands: The Weird West; Publisher: Pinnacle Entertainment Group.
The original setting book for Deadlands: The Weird West includes the reference guide “Tombstone Epitaph's Guide to the Weird West.”
The Quick and the Undead
(2006) [Film; WW]
Premiere: February 2, 2006; Main Cast: Clint Glenn as Ryn Baskin, Nicola Giacobbe as Hans Tubman, Parrish Randall as Blythe Remington; Producers: Clint Glenn, Gerald Nott; Story-Director: Gerald Nott; 90 min.; Nott Entertainment; Color.
A virus is turning the population into the living dead. Bounty hunter Ryn Baskin kills zombies and cuts off their fingers for the bounty money. But when an outlaw gang betrays him, he has more than zombies on his mind as he seeks revenge.
Quick Draw El Kabong
(1999) [Animated film short; WW]
Air date: 1999; Story: Dave Berg; Director: George Evelyn; Wild Brain Productions, 2 min.; Cartoon Network, Color.
Masked vigilante El Kabong alias Quick Draw McGraw saves a Mexican village of skeleton townsfolk from the resident “Bad Guy” in this revisionist take on the Hanna-Barbera character.
Quick Gun Murugan
(2008) [Film; India; WW]
Premiere: April 15, 2008; Main Cast: Rajendraprasad as Quick Gun Murugan, Shanmugha Rajan as Gun Powder, Ashwin Mushran as Dr. Django, Rambha as Mango Dolly; Executive Producers: Junaid Pandrowala, Kumud Radhika Shahi; Story: Rajesh Devraj; Director: Shashanka Ghosh; Phat Phish Motion Pictures; Color.
Surreal Western spoof featuring a reincarnated karmic cowboy cow protector in modern India in a battle of vegetarianism vs. non-vegetarianism.
Quicksilver
[Comic book character; SFW]
First appearance: National Comics #5 (Novemb
er, 1940); Publisher: Quality Comics, DC Comics.
The first incarnation of Max Mercury.
Radio Ranch
(1940) [Film; SFW]
Alternative title for Men with Steel Faces.
Rain o' Terror
[RPG book; WW]
Author: Anthony Ragan; First publication: 2000; Setting: Deadlands: The Weird West; Publisher: Pinnacle Entertainment Group.
Fineas Von Landingham's airship has been stolen together with his new “doomsday device.” But nobody has a clue who stole it.
Rakar
[Comic book character; France; WW]
First appearances: Zembla #60; Special-Zemba #23 (1968); Story: Franco Frecura; Art: Ivo Pavone.
1. Costumed avenger with the secret identity of a Lakota chief who fights to preserve law and order in the Old West, alongside Briton Piquefouille and Pawnee Casanova.
2. This modern-day descendent of the 19th century Rakar possesses superhuman strength, senses, speed, reflexes, and stamina. Francis White River served in the U.S. Army Marines Corps before his resignation. He is a member of the super-team Hexagon.
Page from Rakar. Story: Franco Frecura; Art: Ivo Pavone. © Mosaic Multimedia. Used with permission.
The Rangers
[Comic book characters; WW]
First appearance: Incredible Hulk #265 (November 1981); Creators: Bill Mantlo, Sal Buscema, Publisher: Marvel Comics.
A superhero group that includes the Weird Western characters Phantom Rider, Red Wolf, Texas Twister and Shooting Star. They initially formed after defeating super-villain Corruptor and also featured in West Coast Avengers #8 and Civil War #7.
See: Ghost Rider
Rapunzel's Revenge
[Juvenile book; WW]
Authors: Shannon and Dean Hale; Illustrator: Nathan Hale; First publication: New York: Bloomsbury, 2008.
Rapunzel, using her long red hair, escapes her enclosed world joins forces with an outlaw named Jack and his goose. Together they encounter magic in the territory of Gothel's Reach as they search for Rapunzel's mother, who is being held captive by the witch Gothel.
An updated version of the classic fairy tale in comic book form, set in a mythical landscape based on the American West.
Rascals, Varmints & Critters
[RPG book; WW]
Authors: Tim Beach, Hal Mangold, etc.; First publication: 1998; Setting: Deadlands: The Weird West; Publisher: Pinnacle Entertainment Group.
Bestiary for Deadlands: The Weird West.
Rascals, Varmints & Critters 2: The Book of Curses
[RPG book; WW]
Author: John Goff; First publication: 2000; Setting: Deadlands: The Weird West; Publisher: Pinnacle Entertainment Group.
The second bestiary for Deadlands: The Weird West includes profiles of Dracula, Frankenstein, and Springheel Jack.
Ravenous
(1999) [Film; WW]
Premiere: March 19, 1999; Main Cast: Robert Carlyle as Col. Ives/F.W. Colqhoun, David Arquette as Pvt. Cleaves, Guy Pearce as Capt. John Boyd; Story: Ted Griffin; Director: Antonia Bird; 101 min.; ETIC Films; Color.
A story of the cannibalistic Windigo at the isolated Fort Spencer in the years following the Mexican-American war of 1847.
Ravenstorm
[Comic book character; WW]
“GHOST TOWN”
First publication: Marvel Two-in-One #14 (March 1976); Story: Bill Mantlo; Art: Herb Trimpe, John Tartaglione; Publisher: Marvel Comics.
Demon spirit Kthara takes possession of the reanimated Jedediah Ravenstorm, a part Cherokee who had previously cursed the townsfolk of Lawless, Arizona, at the gallows one hundred years ago.
Rawhide Kid
[Comic book; WW]
First appearance: Rawhide Kid #1, March 1955; Creators: Stan Lee, Bob Brown; Publisher: Atlas Comics–Marvel Comics.
1. The original Atlas Comics title was a standard Western comic book title lasting 16 issues before cancellation in September 1957.
2. Stan Lee and Jack Kirby provided Rawhide Kid with a back-story when the title was revived by Marvel Comics in August 1960. He started life as Johnny Clay before taking the surname of his adoptive father Texas Ranger Ben Bart following his parents' massacre by Cheyenne Indians. When Ben Bart was killed by outlaws, Johnny vowed to exact revenge. Although he decided on a life of helping others in trouble, he quickly gained an unjust reputation as an outlaw.
Weird Menace villains included an outlaw named Raven who dressed in a maroon bird costume and jumped on his victims from a great height; Red Raven, who was similar to Raven but learned to glide on the air currents; skilled athlete and gymnast The Rattler who dressed from head to foot in a green reptile costume; and pick-pocket Bullet-Proof Man, who swapped live bullets for blanks and was considered invulnerable by his opponents.
Weird Western storylines:
“THE LIVING TOTEM” [WW]
First publication: #22 (June 1961); Story: Stan Lee; Art: Jack Kirby, Dick Ayers.
The giant Living Totem, a hostile extraterrestrial whose spaceship crashed to Earth, is buried underground by Native Americans. A silver mine foreman accidentally releases him during mining operations. Now he plans to regain control of humans.
“THE APE STRIKES” [SFW]
First publication: #39 (April 1964); Story: Stan Lee; Art: Dick Ayers.
When a trained gorilla exhibits human skills such as accurately firing a rifle, the Rawhide Kid begins to suspect that mad scientist Dr. Karlbad's brain has been transplanted into the ape.
“WHEN THE SCORPION STRIKES” [SFW]
First publication: #57 (April 1967); Story: Larry Lieber; Art: Larry Lieber, John Tartaglione.
When Matt Cody humiliates apothecary Jim Evans in front of his girlfriend the latter seeks revenge by adopting a secret identity as the Scorpion and creating pellets that paralyze his victims.
See: Ghost Rider
3. The original Rawhide Kid was reduced to a dime novel creation in the 2000 mini-series Blaze of Glory.
4. In 2004, the five-issue mini-series Rawhide Kid: Slap Leather provided Rawhide Kid with a new homosexual persona.
The Rawhide Terror
(1934) [Film; WMW]
Premiere: 1934; Main Cast: Art Mix as Al, Edmund Cobb as the Sheriff, Bill Desmond as Tom Blake, William Barrymore as Brent, Tommy Bupp as Jimmy Brent; Producer: Denver Dixon (Victor Adamson); Story: A. V. Anderson (Victor Adamson), Jack Nelson; Director: Jack Nelson, Bruce Mitchell; 52 min.; Security Pictures; B/W.
A phantom killer terrorizes the townsfolk of Red Dog, leaving behind his calling card, a strip of rawhide with the inscription “Remember ten years ago.” This re-edited first part of an aborted serial was marketed as the first horror Western.
Co-written and co-produced by the eccentric Victor Adamson who was renowned for his two-day shoots, extremely low budgets and his hiring of near-incompetent crew members.
Razored Saddles
[Book anthology; WW]
Editors: Joe R. Lansdale, Pat LoBrutto; Illustrations: Rick Araluce; First publication: Arlington Heights IL: Dark Harvest, 1989.
Anthology of horror, science-fiction and contemporary Western stories: Black Boots by Robert R. McCammon, Thirteen Days of Glory by Scott A. Cupp, Gold by Lewis Shiner, The Tenth Toe by F. Paul Wilson, Sedalia by David J. Schow, Trapline by Ardath Mayhar, Trail of the Chromium Bandits by Al Sarrantonio, Dinker's Pond by Richard Laymon, Stampede by Melissa Mia Hall, Razored Saddles by Robert Petitt, Tony Red Dog by Neal Barrett, Jr., The Passing of the Western by Howard Waldrop, Eldon's Penitente by Lenore Carroll, The Job by Joe R. Lansdale, I'm Always Here by Richard Christian Matheson and Yore Skin's Jes's Soft 'N Purty..He Said by Chet Williamson.
Real American #1
[Comic book character; WMW]
First appearance: Daredevil Comics #2 (August 1941); Creator: Dick Briefer; Publisher: Lev Gleason Publications.
Jeff Dixon, full-blooded Indian and prominent lawyer, becomes the Bronze Terror in order to save his people from the wicke
d, cruel and corrupt vermin that are oppressing them.
Following the framing of his father for murder, Apache lawyer Jeff Dixon adopts a new, terrifying persona that includes a skull-mask for himself and his gray stallion.
Real Western Stories
[Pulp magazine; WW]
First publication: December 1949; Publisher: Columbia Publications.
Real Western Stories began life as Real Western Magazine in January 1935. It was initially published by Ace Books and edited by A. A. Wyn; Robert W. Lowndes became the editor when Ace Books was taken over by Columbia Publications.
The title changed to Real Western Stories in December 1949 and lasted until April 1960. In February 1959 it became a digest-size magazine. One-hundred-thirty-five issues were published between 1935 and 1960. The title is remembered today for featuring the Weird West adventures of Lee Winters by Lon Williams.
The Reavers of Skaith
[Novel; SW]
Author: Leigh Brackett; First publication: New York: Ballantine Books, 1976.
On a brutal, lawless planet, a betrayed Eric John Stark plans to bring freedom to the oppressed people of Skaith and make his escape. The final book in the Skaith trilogy.