Billy the Kid Western Annual [1959]

[1958] 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 The Black Rider of Sunset Pass text story by Tex Bland; illustrated by UNKNOWN (uncredited).

21 "The Brand of Justice" w: UNKNOWN (uncredited); UNKNOWN (uncredited).

r: UNKNOWN.

29 The End of Red Mask text story by Hart Cooper; illustrated by UNKNOWN (uncredited).

39 Red Mask "Death at Split Mesa!" w: UNKNOWN (uncredited); a: Frank Bolle (signed).

r: Red Mask (Magazine Enterprises) #44 (Oct 1954 - Nov 1954).

45 The Sun Swallower text story by Jay Laurence; illustrated by UNKNOWN (uncredited).

57 "Double Crossing Bandit!" w: UNKNOWN (uncredited); UNKNOWN (uncredited).

r: UNKNOWN.

65 The Ransom of Little Bear text story by Dirk Saxon; illustrated by UNKNOWN (uncredited).

75 Red Mask "The Man Who Rescued Redmask" w: UNKNOWN (uncredited); a: Frank Bolle (signed).

r: Red Mask (Magazine Enterprises) #48 (Mar 1955 - Apr 1955).

81 A Bandit for Breakfast text story by Tex Bland; illustrated by UNKNOWN (uncredited).

93 Guns of the West illustrated feature by UNKNOWN (uncredited).

94 UNTITLED endpaper; illustrated by UNKNOWN (uncredited).

An action-packed - although extremely bright - image of Billy the Kid fending off Indians attempting a stagecoach robbery adorns the cover, against an appropriately immense landscape of jutting mountains. While there are more than enough details present to provide the image with the correct level of authenticity, there is something a little off regarding the scene - perhaps the luminous quality of the image, although the simplicity of the landscape might play a part in undermining the solidity of the scene's credibility.

Billy the Kid Western Annual now looks like a second-string title when compared to other annuals from the company, and the feeling of fading interest in its fortunes continues to play out within its pages. Its endpaper features a cowboy encountering a bear which owes more to Rainbow than any living creature, and its stories display a dramatic decline in any sense of historical authenticity.

Was the stranger Billy the Kid, or wasn't he? If he was, how could he be in two places at once? It was a casual ride out into the hills that eventually led the boys to the answers to these questions.

Although The Black Rider of Sunset Pass has ample opportunity to square the fictional account seen throughout the series with the real Billy the Kid, the risk of muddying the waters with any explanation is abandoned before it even has a chance to answer lingering questions surrounding the identity of the gunslinger we have been following. Could it, perhaps, be a well-intentioned wannabe? An amnesiac who believes himself to be Bonney? Or merely someone using the name for their own ends?

Do not, for one minute, think that this annual will answer such questions.

Young brothers Hank and Steve Mullins are out riding while everyone is busy chasing down Billy the Kid, though as they are without provisions it isn't long before their hunger becomes apparent. Running into the man they believe to be the bandit the whole territory is seeking, they are offered a meal and a place to rest at his camp. During the night they plan to overpower him, though the stranger doesn't seem inclined to sleeping. When Hank and Steve wake in the morning, their new acquaintance has already departed. After checking in at home, the boys go to town, where news of another hold-up is circulating.

Naturally, being Billy the Kid's annual, the raider isn't who you likely suppose it to be.

Brett Sawyer of the "Lazy S" ranch is the most hated foreman in northern Texas. His slave-driving methods are encouraged by his brutal employer, Ed Clarke, now sole owner of the "Lazy S" since his brother Tom had mysteriously disappeared while on a visit to Dodge City with Sawyer twenty years ago. Ed Clarke is also the most powerful figure in the neighbouring town of Yellow Gulch...

After twenty years in jail, after being framed for a murder by his brother, Tom is returning to the ranch for the first time - and looking for old hands who can prove his identity. Billy the Kid, naturally, crosses his path as he makes his way homeward, and it isn't long before he has to step in to save the former ranch owner's life.

Red Mask, replacing The Durango Kid, is a rather uninspiring character, sharing many of his traits with numerous likewise masked cowboy figures, yet without a defining trait to set him apart. Although there has obviously been some energy expended in bringing him to the page, there isn't enough laid out to render events interesting. Who is he? Why is he wearing a red mask? What is the point of his existence?

It is getting difficult to care about the contents when so little groundwork has been done.

[1958]

Billy the Kid
Western Annual

[1960]