Billy the Kid Western Annual [1958]

[1957] Annual. Original price 6/.
96 pages. Tone art contents.
World Distributors (Manchester) Ltd.

Painted cover by Walt Howarth (signed)

Contents:

 2 UNTITLED endpaper; illustrated by UNKNOWN (uncredited).

 4 Indicia

 5 Billy the Kid Western Annual title page; illustrated by UNKNOWN (uncredited).

 6 Contents illustrated by UNKNOWN (uncredited).

 7 A Man Called Wyatt Earp text story by Hart Cooper; illustrated by UNKNOWN (uncredited).

19 "The Mystery of Black Canyon" w: UNKNOWN (uncredited); a: UNKNOWN (uncredited).

r: UNKNOWN.

27 Texas Vengeance text story by J.L. Morrissey; illustrated by UNKNOWN (uncredited).

41 "Trouble at Hatteras Ferry" w: UNKNOWN (uncredited); a: UNKNOWN (uncredited).

r: UNKNOWN.

49 The Saving of Little Wolf text story by Hart Cooper; illustrated by UNKNOWN (uncredited).

61 "The Devil Buys Cattle" w: UNKNOWN (uncredited); a: UNKNOWN (uncredited).

r: UNKNOWN.

69 Bill Cody's Baptism text story by Hart Cooper; illustrated by UNKNOWN (uncredited).

80 The Durango Kid Biggest Badhat of Them All! w: UNKNOWN (uncredited); a: Fred Guardineer (signed).

r: Charles Starrett as the Durango Kid (Magazine Enterprises) #37 (Apr 1955).

86 The Hermit of Saddle Creek text story by John Barton; illustrated by UNKNOWN (uncredited).

94 UNTITLED endpaper; illustrated by UNKNOWN (uncredited).

Once again the cover boasts a sumptuous depiction of the west, with a confrontation between Billy the Kid and a group of natives. The matter of this engagement is unmentioned, though one can assume, given that Billy is reaching for his weapon, that things won't end well. Its interior illustration, with a Chief on horseback overseeing a passing train, isn't quite to the same standard, though gives an indication that this is attempting to show more of the west than the usual conflicts.

While nowhere near as historically accurate or precise in its approach, A Man Called Wyatt Earp shows attempts by World to bridge the gulf between Billy the Kid Western Annual, a series which has been as counter-historical as imaginable, and Boardman's Buffalo Bill Annual. It isn't, unfortunately, anywhere near classy enough to compete.

Brad Benton and Jim Scot paused, looked at one another, then stepped forward with long strides. Neither would admit it, but they were scared; scared stiff.
   They had done it now ... something they'd been warned against so often at home. They had crossed the Dead Line, the street that cut their home town of Dodge City in two - on one side the respectable part, on the other the wild, rip-roaring half where rarely a day passed without gunplay and shooting. But it was becoming tamed, and they wanted to see the man who was taming it - Wyatt Earp, the South-west's greatest gunfighter.

One can only gripe about the liberties taken with historical incident so many times before common sense must demand that all such concerns are dispatched. Yes, this is a hokey, and somewhat unsubtle, tall tale, though maintains its internal consistency throughout. Not that it makes up for so much fluff being allowed to lead into the title.

Something is terribly wrong with the Black Canyon... A mystery evil, and terrifying, surrounds the great silent cliffs... Men never return once they enter, but Billy the Kid goes in to wage a battle with unseen enemies... Because he is certain that some human forces are at work and not ghosts, Billy uses his brains and triggers to wrest the secret of... "The Mystery of the Black Canyon"

One would hope that such a resonant opening text would lead to an appropriately thrilling narrative. Sheriff Denton tells Billy the Kid that the government has been forced to re-route the mail coaches from Black Canyon, and when a rider announces that another man - Jock McDurnee - has gone missing there, Billy offers to investigate. Explosions rock the area, and the sheriff's posse - set to ride in when given a signal by Billy - charge in. To be met by a hail of arrows...

A tree set to pivot, like a prop in some ridiculous Saturday morning cartoon, is the key to the mystery, and there is little to appeal beyond Billy's sureness in his capabilities - it is the sole point which rings true, yet things are piled up in a mountain of unlikely events, so removed from intelligent and thoughtful writing, that the story simply doesn't work. A beautiful, wonderful introduction cannot match what follows.

Texas Vengeance sees a young boy heartbroken with the sale of his prized Palomino horse, and his attempt to find the money to buy it back, in a plot so overused that it can offer nothing of value to an annual already suffering from clichés and easy explanations. The cumulative effect is to make the annual feel as if it is aiming at a much younger age range than before.

While the whole township of Hatteras wait for the ferry to bring over the stage coach with a shipment of gold for the bank, a band of Seminole Indians come paddling out of the swamp in war canoes which starts... "Trouble at Hatteras Ferry"

"Pesky redskins?" The script couldn't be more lackadaisical about dropping such epithets, and treats the Seminole as idiots prepared to listen to a voice transmission device of some sort without question. Yes, the use of such equipment is anachronistic - the telephone being patented in 1876, and Billy the Kid having died in 1881, with hardly enough time having passed for such an ingenious use of the technology to be discovered. The worrisome attitudes in the telling deserve nothing but contempt.

This attitude is mirrored in The Saving of Little Wolf, which features a character by the name of Dull Knife. There is, thankfully, some redress in the attitudes of the native populace, with Major Stilwell explaining the change in behaviour witnessed in the Indians, though it is far from a comprehensive account of the injustices they suffered.

The Durango Kid fares a little better in this annual than in previous years, with a lively script and some attractive art. It isn't enough to stave off the title's slow decline, but any small improvement must be noted. It really is a shame that so little concern seems to have been given to the title, especially as impressive releases were sharing shelf space with this.

A shadow of its former self.

[1957]

Billy the Kid
Western Annual

[1959]