Billy the Kid Western Annual [1961]

[1960] Annual. Original price 7/6.
96 pages. Tone art contents.
World Distributors (Manchester) Ltd.

Painted cover by Walt Howarth (signed)

Contents:

 2 UNTITLED endpaper; illustrated by Walt Howarth (signed).

 4 Indicia

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

 6 Contents illustrated by UNKNOWN (uncredited).

 7 The Drummer Boy and the Blackfeet text story by Hart Cooper; illustrated by UNKNOWN (uncredited).

17 Dynamite Pass w: UNKNOWN (uncredited); a: UNKNOWN (uncredited).

27 The Adventure of Running Deer text story by Richard Armstrong; illustrated by UNKNOWN (uncredited).

35 The Mystery of Mandrake's Mine text story by Geoff Williamson; illustrated by UNKNOWN (uncredited).

45 The Wreckers w: UNKNOWN (uncredited); a: UNKNOWN (uncredited).

55 Outlaw Canyon text story by T.A. Cooper; illustrated by UNKNOWN (uncredited).

65 The Last Great Scout text feature by A.W. Dalby-Phillips; illustrated by UNKNOWN (uncredited).

73 Ransom on the River! w: UNKNOWN (uncredited); a: UNKNOWN (uncredited).

83 Renegades of Fort Laramie text story by Hart Cooper; illustrated by UNKNOWN (uncredited).

94 UNTITLED endpaper; illustrated by Walt Howarth (signed).

Going out on a high, Walt Howarth's cover for the final edition of Billy the Kid Western Annual is a masterful, luxurious, and perfectly executed example of cover art. Capturing the essential elements of the character, and imbuing Billy with a handsome charm, it ranks as one of the finest covers to appear on a World annual - which points to the problems the title had experienced having been noted and acted on.

Jim Osborne shivered. And if there had been anyone about to confide in he would have been the first to admit that the spasm was as much fear as from the biting cold. If this was the New World, more and more he bitterly regretted having left the old.

Having left England with the 4th Regiment of Foot to drive the French from Canada, his troop was making its way slowly over a mountain when attacked, and as one of the few survivors he is desperately cold, lonely, and hungry, though thankful for being alive - as he attempts to keep warm, pondering the circumstances of his survival, he encounters a man named Mitch. Offered somewhere to keep warm, and a meal, he quickly succumbs to sleep. On waking he is surprised to witness two Indians walk up to the cave and enter, relaxing by the fire with cups of coffee. Walt returns, and informs Jim that they must travel to the Indian chiefs over the mountain to pass on news about Canada having yielded to the British crown, to cease lingering hostilities.

Far superior to most of the stories which have featured in the title, The Drummer Boy and the Blackfeet shows that courage, a cool head, and ingenuity can often be better than combat to rectify a problem, and gets things off to a fine start. With events of the story taking place farther in the past than the Billy the Kid strips, it is difficult to justify its inclusion, though it is a welcome addition nevertheless.

Wyoming - a young hard-working and fertile territory whose lush valleys attracted the returning gold-miners and captured them so much that they never returned to the thickly populated east from which they had come with such high hopes. And it was here that Billy the Kid came - to find himself caught up in the fierce wrangle between cattlemen and farmers that the new settlements had brought about.

When Billy happens upon a new town being constructed, and is surprised to see Lem Dacy - inveterate gambler, with a reputation as a gunman - has settled down to a life of farming. All seems peaceful in the town until cattle drivers arrive, informing the inhabitants that a herd of cattle are going to move through the valley, destroying everything in their way.

There were likely a list of laws which would have prevented such an action, and the means by which Billy saves the day seems to be far too extreme to hold credibility. The sound of the explosion would, surely, have a serious effect on the cattle - if the goal was to prevent a stampede, making such a racket would likely have precisely the opposite conclusion to the one desired.

The other strip, The Wreckers finds Billy two miles outside of Newtown, where the train tracks have been deliberately sabotaged - he manages to save the train, and its cargo, though is shot at for his trouble by those responsible. A rather pedestrian tale, told with slightly unattractive artwork, fails to live up to the earlier annuals' tales. Once again the strip introduces an old friend, never before seen, who has gotten into trouble. It is an annoying trend, and one which adds to the background of the character without clearing up his history.

The Last Great Scout, a text feature on William F. "Buffalo Bill" Cody, written with authority by A.W. Dalby-Phillips, might be a last throw of the dice, but it hits its mark with perfection. With a mere eight pages in which to cram as much information as possible, the economy of detail isn't particularly noticeable, minor incident given as much consideration as monumental event, and the sum total of the feature amounts to a fantastic insight into an amazing life.

Which begs the question - why couldn't this have been attempted throughout the title from the start?

The final strip, Ransom on the River opens with a dramatic image which is far more accomplished than most of the strip art in the issue.

When Micky O'Hearn struggles against odds too much for him, Billy the Kid happens to see the fight. Curiosity lead the Kid to follow a most unusual trail ... at one point every step along it could mean sudden death or slow drowning... but Billy corners desperate men and forces them to call off a diabolical plan to each make hundreds of dollars for themselves, at the expense of one young Irishman...

Jimmy Stewart wanted to start a new life in the West, and he got his chance when the wagon train he was travelling in was besieged by Indians...

Hart Cooper's Renegades of Fort Laramie uses a famous name for one of its characters with no perceivable reason, and distracts from the narrative. It is a story which, rather cheekily, features Kit Carson in a supporting role - in a manner which can be seen as emphasising the title's success over Kit Carson's Cowboy Annual, which ceased publication the previous year.

An improvement, with very impressive steps towards the sort of material it ought to have been containing, though constrained by having to maintain the stories which had been appearing in the title. More non-fiction features, and far better strips, could have improved the appearance of the annual to a greater degree.

[1960]

Billy the Kid
Western Annual

[1960]

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]

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]

Billy the Kid Western Annual [1957]

[1955] Annual. Original price 6/.
96 pages. Colour & tone art contents.
World Distributors (Manchester) Ltd.

Painted cover by Walt Howarth (uncredited)

Contents:

 2 Fighting Men of the West 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 Stagecoach Showdown text story by Duke Manton; illustrated by UNKNOWN (uncredited).

21 Billy the Kid The Range Battle w: UNKNOWN (uncredited); a: UNKNOWN (uncredited).

r: UNKNOWN.

29 Railroaded! text story by Frank L. Lester; illustrated by UNKNOWN (uncredited).

39 Billy the Kid Ordeal by Fire w: UNKNOWN (uncredited); UNKNOWN (uncredited).

r: UNKNOWN.

47 The Secret of Rancho Randall text story by J.L. Morrissey; illustrated by UNKNOWN (uncredited).

63 The Durango Kid Whole Town Gone Loco! w: Gardner Fox (uncredited); a: Fred Guardineer (uncredited).

r: Charles Starrett as the Durango Kid (Magazine Enterprises) #39 (Jun 1955 - Jul 1955).

71 Rustlers Round-Up text story by Zed Montana; illustrated by UNKNOWN (uncredited).

83 Billy the Kid "Six Gun Fandango!" w: UNKNOWN (uncredited); UNKNOWN (uncredited).

r: UNKNOWN.

75 Black Bart's Big Plot! text story by Jay Masterson; illustrated by UNKNOWN (uncredited).

94 UNTITLED endpaper; illustrated by UNKNOWN (uncredited).

Billy the Kid had a long-standing score to settle, and it looked like he was using the overland stage route to settle it.

The annual opens with a text story which, wonderfully, actually features Billy the Kid. Not that I don't appreciate the stand-alone western stories, but tying the contents to the character is what the title should have been doing all along - although it takes its sweet time getting going. Appealing to the wish-fulfillment of readers, the story opens with Bob Britton and Tom Lawless staying in Arizona, though hailing from Langdale School in Berkshire.

The tone of the story is, sadly, very British. Those familiar with earlier boys' papers will find parallels in the text.

A tall black horse with magnificently-tooled saddle and bridle was tethered against a tree. On his heels beside the stream was a man. He was not big, nor was he very old. In fact, in some ways he looked little more than a boy.
   But as the chums rode up he raised his head and the eyes which looked out of the lean, tanned face were just about the coolest eyes the chums had ever seen.
   He was maybe twenty years old, very slimly built and his lithe body gave an odd impression of tremendous power - almost like an animal. He was dressed entirely in black and his hair rode thickly down to the back of his neck.
   The chums came to a standstill. Bob was the first to speak. "Er ... good morning ..."

It is no bad thing for culture clashes to inform narrative, as this can lead to otherwise unspoken revelations being voiced, but it is handled so politely, with so proper and cultured characters, that there is no sense of the youths relaxing into the landscape they find themselves in.

A lot of rustling went on West of the Pecos, and the most vicious gang leader of the rustlers was Gringo Bengston. And when Billy the Kid caught him one day in the very act of changing the brand on a stolen steer... Six guns began... "The Range Battle"

An extremely simplistic strip, which spells out every action with text boxes, leaving no room for ambiguity or subtlety, this is a frustrating story due to its opening scene - stopping a group of rustlers caught in the act, Billy sets upon them. This doesn't seem the act of an individual whose well-reported rustling exploits is an integral part of the Billy the Kid legend. Is it because he's not getting a cut? Is it because he's connected to the ranch? The prose accompaniment to the strip doesn't inform us why he intervenes so, leaving a hole at the centre of the telling.

Railroaded! looks back to the early days of Billy the Kid, finding Billy Bonner (as he was then known) looking forward to a fishing trip with Alton 'Tall' Canlon, the sheriff of Bucktown. Before they head out, the sheriff pins a notice, from Tucson, Arizona, to the wall of his office:

WANTED

$10,000 Reward will be paid for the capture, dead or alive, of Dan Qualey, alias Trigger Dan, for armed robbery, rustling and robbery with violence. Trigger Dan is wanted by the Sheriff of Tucson, is believed to have headed for Shelton County, Texas, in the company of Lefty Louie, stagecoach robber and horse-thief.

The trip is set aside while Tall goes out in search of Qualey, as the bandit goes out in search of Tall for plastering his image around.

An oddity, which ignores the fact that Billy's criminal career started when he was so young, this has the audacity to throw in a carnival to complicate matters, and plays out with predictable results. The end is a complete surprise, I must admit, with a conclusion which doesn't seem to have taken into account a single iota of Billy's real personality or sense of place in the world.

   The Sheriff dropped a kindly hand on Billy's shoulder.
   "Sump'n else, too - there's a ten thousand dollar reward for you kid for capturing this hombre!"
   Billy's eyes twinkled.
   "I'll give it to the new school fund, Sheriff ... on one condition."
   "And what might that be, young feller?" asked the Sheriff.
   "That you take me fishin' every day for the rest of the summer," said Billy.

It isn't quite the slap-up feast which ended so many stories, but might as well have been. The opportunity to lay hints about the future of the character is neglected, and any sense that this is actually about William Bonney is missing. While such tales of the younger lives of characters can provide wonderful glimpses into both personality and things which occurred later in life, but without clear parallels to events which would define his activities in later years there is a chasm which cannot be surmounted by the narrative alone.

Billy the Kid is being escorted through Indian country by a young Indian brave, Wa-Ha Jim. Wa-Ha is friendly and responsible for white man's safe conduct in his tribal territory. But a great forest fire turns the Indians hostile. The king of the west has to think fast and act even quicker, to save two strangers from a terrible... Ordeal by Fire

Downright ugly art, a horribly problematic story, and some of the most racist caricatures seen in the annuals, this strip is a low point in the saga of Billy the Kid's comic strip adventures. While I try to find something positive in works which appeal to me through genre or thematic elements, this strip fails in every regard, and compromises the title's otherwise entertaining stories. Regardless of the accompanying prose elements conformity to historical fact, at least they attempt to maintain an internal consistency. This strip is simply bad.

Six Gun Fandango!, the other Billy the Kid strip, is similarly set out, and I would hazard a guess that all three of his strips here originate from the same source, all three suffering from a lack of finesse and confidence. There were enough great strips to fill three such annuals, and falling back on these poor relations is a sign that something has gone wrong in the editing of the annual.

The Durango Kid has had a few strips which stretch credulity, and isn't a character whose adventures immediately promise much in the way of tantalising historical accuracy, but the title of his first strip in this annual - Whole Town Gone Loco - holds up the possibility that there may be reference to tainted rye bread causing hallucinations and odd behaviour. What we actually get is, sadly, more along the lines of the Avengers episode The Town of No Return, with the prospect that this strip might have played some small part in the inspiration for that script.

Black Bart's Big Plot! sees Billy the Kid going up against "Black Bart," though it isn't clear if this is, indeed, Charles Earl Boles or not. I'm tempted to chart their respective locations throughout their careers, to determine if they might have encountered each other someplace, though I fear that the results would confirm the unlikelihood of such a meeting. An extremely brief piece on which to conclude the annual, and altogether too simple a tale to hold much appeal beyond the obvious.

A real disappointment as far as the strips go, yet with its prose stories are improving year-on-year, this Billy the Kid Annual is difficult to recommend due to the unfortunate elements within certain strips.

[1956]

Billy the Kid
Western Annual

[1958]

Billy the Kid Western Annual [1956]

[1955] Annual. Original price 5/.
96 pages. Colour & tone art contents.
World Distributors (Manchester) Ltd.

Painted cover by Walt Howarth (uncredited)

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 Streets of Laredo text story by Jesse Allard; illustrated by UNKNOWN (uncredited).

17 Billy the Kid Outlaw's Code w: UNKNOWN (uncredited); a: Jack Sparling (uncredited).

r: Billy the Kid Adventure Magazine (Toby Press) #02 (Dec 1950).

25 Billy the Kid The Last Bullet w: UNKNOWN (uncredited); UNKNOWN (uncredited).

r: Billy the Kid Adventure Magazine (Toby Press) #03 (Feb 1951).

33 Sundown! text story by Cal Gundon; illustrated by UNKNOWN (uncredited).

49 The Durango Kid Under the Skull and Crossbones w: UNKNOWN (uncredited); a: Joe Certa (uncredited).

r: Charles Starrett as the Durango Kid (Magazine Enterprises) #10 (Apr 1951 - May 1951).

58 The Durango Kid Blackmail Terror! w: UNKNOWN (uncredited); a: Joe Certa (uncredited).

r: Charles Starrett as the Durango Kid (Magazine Enterprises) #10 (Apr 1951 - May 1951).

65 Outlaws at the Rodeo text story by Zed Montana; illustrated by UNKNOWN (uncredited).

75 Fancy-Pants Takes a Ride text story by Clinton Stewart; illustrated by UNKNOWN (uncredited).

82 Two-Gun Promise! w: UNKNOWN (uncredited); a: Tom Gill, lettering by Ed Hamilton.

r: Billy the Kid Adventure Magazine (Toby Press) #01 (Oct 1950).

94 UNTITLED endpaper; illustrated by UNKNOWN (uncredited).

Despite another wonderful cover, there's an awkwardness to the endpaper and title page's art, with Billy the Kid appearing to be slightly double-jointed. As the rest of the illustrations are better, it seems to indicate a rush for the annual to be completed in time for publication - not, one has to admit, the most encouraging sign. A very strong illustration of a dreamcatcher encircling the contents is, although only barely embellished in red tone, displays what can be done with very simple graphical adornments. While not as brave or adventurous as the Buffalo Bill Wild West Annual illustrations, it is extremely effective.

As I was riding through the streets of Laredo,
   As I rode down to Laredo one day;
I saw a young cowboy all dressed in white linen,
   All dressed in white linen and cold as the clay ....

Jesse Allard knows well to use the perennially-popular traditional ballad to open his story, and it is mirrored in the plot - not especially dramatically, despite being long enough to develop events in a suitably complex way, though strongly enough to avoid accusations of being overly simplistic. There aren't enough details provided to really get a sense of the people involved. This is another story which uses sound effects in prose to create tension, and it works as well here as elsewhere - which is to say it doesn't work.

And really, the Circle-O ranch? Puh-lease. It's brand would be two circles, one inside the other, and utterly useless at preventing rustling. A little more care and attention could have made this so much better.

Terror was hanging over like a threatening cloud over Red Mesa Valley, when Billy the Kid drifted into the valley! Bullets whistled through the air when he came, and bullets splattered around him when he left! But in-between, the Kid found a use for his head and his blazing guns and showed the strange workings of his "Outlaw Code"!!

Splattering bullets? Are they made of Plasticine? Toby Press are usually better than this, and the use of such an incongruous word in an otherwise fine little strip really stand out as being misplaced.

Racing after bushwhackers, who are attempting to murder a man named Russ Clayton under orders from another man, but stops to take Clayton to someone who can provide medical assistance. When Clayton is brought to his men, Billy is informed that Beef Brent is behind the attempt on Clayton's life. A rustler, Brent has been raiding the ranch nearly to breaking point, and the ranchers aren't strong enough to drive their cattle to market while protecting their stock.

Riding into town, Billy wounds the two hired killers when they draw on him, though the sheriff is reluctant to arrest them. Preferring to stay out of trouble, the elderly lawman doesn't want to tangle with Brent's toxic influence on the area. Billy makes a deal with Brent to tae the cattle to market, and finds himself facing death from every corner.

The plates used for Outlaw's Code had seen better days, and the rough appearance of the strip, despite being in full colour, detracts slightly from the tale's appeal. There's a fine twist, and some energetic artwork, which mitigates the poor reproduction, yet there isn't enough depth to the tale - it is, for all the narrative strengths, a rather easy adventure. The Last Bullet fares slightly better in print quality, but is also lacking in crispness.

Wanted for murder! Wanted for robbery! Wanted for practically every crime in the book! That was Billy the Kid, king of the outlaws! Promotion and reward awaited the law officer who could bring him in dead or alive! An ambitious young deputy-sheriff, named Al Mooney was determined to use any method to get the Kid and get him - dead!

When Billy rides into Rock Ridge, Mooney and the Sheriff go after him. The sheriff is wounded when he attempts to arrest Billy, and Mooney races out after the fleeing outlaw. Billy's horse dies in his race from the town, and he is forced to take shelter at a farmstead.

There's something to be admired in the storytelling risks taken with the conclusion, but how Mooney is able to so rapidly come to the correct conclusion is left to the reader to work out. Much better than a precis could get across, the story's charm lies in the ultimate act of humanity Billy performs, saving a child's life at the potential cost of his own.

A minor note of concern has to be raised at the description of Billy being "wanted for practically every crime in the book," although this can be squared with historical documents as being the adventures of the fictional Billy the Kid. The real Billy was hardly the compulsive breaker of laws he is presented as, and it would have been nice to have a clear distinction between the two.

He was merely friends with the horse. Honest. Any allegations are spurious.

Sundown! - a Cal Gundon Frontier special - which stars Sal Sundown, is unfortunate that it opens with a character named Clarence Aloysius Jones, which makes me think of parody westerns published a decade or so after the release of this annual. It is refreshing that Sundown can smoke and shoot without the text making criticism of such behaviour, and the realism which manages to creep into the telling makes other elements less irritating.

It's something different when The Durango Kid, scourging nemesis of the plains, takes to the high seas in pursuit of a band of cutthroat buccaneers! Six-gun justice takes a new and perilous turn Under the Skull and Crossbones

Western and pirate adventures in one strip - while this might sound as if it holds potential, wrangling the Durango Kid into such a tale is a complete disappointment. The pirate, imaginatively called "One-Eye" by his men, wears standard pirate regalia, which is difficult to square with the time period of the western hero Durango Kid, and there is further problems with the ship depicted - horribly out of place, the clash of genres simply does not work here.

You have to admire a story titled Fancy-Pants Takes a Hike, and the plot - a kitchen equipment salesman, travelling with an extensive wardrobe, is different enough to stand out among gun-slinging adventures. Of course, there is more to the telling than that, and a suitably painful punishment to conclude the tale. It raises a major problem for me, as far as suitability is concerned - this is meant to be a Billy the Kid Western Annual, not a random selection of vaguely western material brought together under a generic banner. As entertaining as such a diverting tale is, it doesn't advance anything about Billy the Kid.

Another problem with the stories is that they are so disconnected. As with all of World's prose, there is no attempt to build something greater - had the stories they commissioned taken the opportunity to mesh original characters into a shared world, showing the development of the ranches and small towns through the years, then there might have been more of an emotional connection when a random character is gunned down. As it is, whenever the stories feature a death there is no attachment, and thus no sense of loss associated with the act.

Not, by any means, a classic, though there is enough reading within its pages to make it a worthwhile purchase. If only it was slightly more polished...

[1955]

Billy the Kid
Western Annual

[1957]

Billy the Kid Western Annual [1955]

[1954] Annual. Original price 5/.
96 pages. Tone art contents.
World Distributors (Manchester) Ltd.

Painted cover by Walt Howarth (uncredited)

Contents:

 2 UNTITLED endpaper (items found in the West); 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 Battle of Coyote Pass text story by Jeff Delmar; illustrated by UNKNOWN (uncredited).

16 Death Travels Northward! w: UNKNOWN (uncredited); a: UNKNOWN (uncredited).

r: Billy the Kid Adventure Magazine (Toby Press) #19 (Nov 1953).

27 Ghost Town Gold text story by Zachary Farland; illustrated by UNKNOWN (uncredited).

38 Stagecoach Blow-Up! w: UNKNOWN (uncredited); a: UNKNOWN (uncredited).

r: Billy the Kid Adventure Magazine (Toby Press) #19 (Nov 1953).

46 The Cactus Kid text story by Alton Boyd; illustrated by UNKNOWN (uncredited).

53 Dry-Gulch Terror! w: UNKNOWN (uncredited); a: UNKNOWN (uncredited).

r: Billy the Kid Adventure Magazine (Toby Press) #19 (Nov 1953).

60 The Phantom Ranger text story by Jesse Allard; illustrated by UNKNOWN (uncredited).

76 "Billy the Kid - Avenger!" w: UNKNOWN (uncredited); a: Howard Larsen (uncredited).

r: Badmen of the West (Magazine Enterprises) #02 (1954).

83 Walk of the Tribes text story by Cal Gundon; illustrated by UNKNOWN (uncredited).

94 UNTITLED endpaper (items found in the West); illustrated by UNKNOWN (uncredited).

While it isn't clear what the purpose of such an elaborate endpaper is (to locate the items throughout the annual, perhaps), it is nevertheless a treat to see such care taken with the presentation. There seem to be a few shortcuts taken, especially with the Derringer, and the Texas Longhorn appears rather stiff, though these small concessions to style are appreciated.

Ted Barlow and Pete Maxton, scouts for a wagon team, spot signs of Sioux in the hills. Riding back to the wagons, they relay their sighting to Dan Danvers, the train boss, though the threat is discounted - a lone hunter rather than an advance for a war party. When two of the other scouts, Bull Carson and Jud Bentham, dismiss any possible threat from the Sioux, Ted decides to uncover why the men are lying to Dan, and what they have to gain from doing so.

Told in a very simple style, The Battle of Coyote Pass isn't the type of tale which immediately comes to mind when Billy the Kid is concerned, but gets across an adequate sense of the era. It is, however, a story which has serious problems, not least of which is the inclusion of sound effects - what is fine for a Bugs Bunny story is, here, completely off-putting and intrusive. The theme of treachery and betrayal somehow work for in annual's favour, and as it is a brief excursion there isn't much to gripe about.

North or South... there's never been a faster drawing sidewinder than Death! When folks heard that that bony owlhoot was coming, they'd take to the hills! Everybody agreed there was no stopping him... But Death's path crossed Billy 'the Kid'

Forget Billy the Kid Versus Dracula, this comic strip has him facing the grim reaper himself - Death. And thirteen years prior to that film, no less. Okay, so it is merely a bandit with a skull mask, but acknowledging this fact so early in the narrative (on the second page, for shame) robs the story of some of the horror potential inherent in the strip. What's the deal with explaining away everything that touches on the macabre?

Death shoots Tom, a youngster who wished to ride with Billy, and with his dying breath Tom reveals the identity of his murderer to the gunman. Billy digs a shallow grave for the boy, and a passing Federal Marshal, Jim Maxwell, tells Billy that Death has been operating just north of the Rio Grande, working his way northwards, killing and robbing all the way. Maxwell has managed to narrow the suspect pool for the killings to three men:

First one's Art Diamond... Mebbe yuh've heard of him. He's a big gambling man. Diamond's as fast with a six-shooter as he is with a poker deck, whenever thuh need 'rises.

Second one's Luke Gant. Luke's a wolf-poisoner. Travels from ranch to ranch hirin' hisself out to ranchers troubled by wolves. Gant has special poisons.

Third one's Doc Cockrell... He sells patent medicine. Doc's a walkin' dictionary... Keep cloudin' thuh sky with high-falutin' yappin' till folks buy what he's sellin', just to clear thuh air...

Why a Federal Marshal would tell all this to a perfect stranger, who has just buried a body in the desert, is a whole other question. Billy vows to track down Tom's killer, though refuses to ride with the Marshal as he hasn't always seen eye to eye with the law.

A week later, one hundred and twenty miles north of Tom's grave, Billy finds Art Diamond, taking him with him to talk about the murder. Riding through the desert, Art sees the glint of a barrel, pushing Billy out of the way of a sniper's round - and takes the bullet himself.

Three weeks later, and one hundred and twenty-five miles north of Art Diamond's grave, Billy watches Gant as he works. Noting that Gant rides a black horse, just like Death, he believes he has found the killer - only to discover Gant dead when he gets near. Riding on to Yellowstone Country, Billy closes in on Doc Cockrell, his final suspect. As he walks to Doc's wagon, a shot rings out, and Billy falls to the ground with a flesh wound. Death approaches, and reveals his identity... Joe Laredo. Having killed the real Maxwell, Laredo has been posing as both a lawman and Death.

There are multiple problems with this strip, having too easy a central puzzle to carry the narrative through - added to which are two unlikely suspects, unlikely threats, and the single dumbest criminal to ever wear a skull mask in the old west. There are, for those interested, quite a few similar skull-faced Western characters in American comics, and, for those keeping score, the character of Death predates Ghost Rider by fourteen years.

Stagecoach Blow-Up! begins with, naturally enough, an exploding stagecoach - which has the word "boom" placed over the explosion, in case readers imagined some silent explosive to have been utilised in the deed. I really dislike clumsily-handled sound-effects, and this is one of the least polished uses of the kind. Billy the Kid, for reasons not explained, was travelling on the stagecoach, and is knocked unconscious by the blast - the sole survivor of the thieves responsible.

Billy finds a cigarette case with a stamp for tailor-made cigarettes, then sets out to track a horse which survived the assault and bolted from the scene. He finds the horse, and after calming it down, rides into Ponca City - where the robbers are waiting - to inform the Sheriff of events. A slight improvement, yet there's a lingering sense of hurriedness to the telling, as if the script was rushed, with some jarring cuts from one panel to the next sitting uneasily beside more measured storytelling.

Dry-Gulch Terror! is a fantastic title, which ought to be aligned with an appropriately tense story. Unfortunately, despite a terrific set-up, this isn't a story worthy of its name - after the train he is riding on is robbed, Billy assists Ed Randall, shot in the exchange, to Dry-Gulch so his bullet wound can be attended. After ensuring Randall gets to Dr. Prince in one piece, the Sheriff draws on Billy, though is overpowered before he can shoot Billy in cold blood, or locked up for being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Learning that the Sheriff is behind a crimewave, Billy sets out to thwart the man's criminal empire. Overhearing the Sheriff's plan to strike the assay office, he prepares to take down the men in one fell swoop.

And things are wrapped up so clean and neat that there is no question as to Billy the Kid's sense of morality, his personal motivations, or even his ambitions. Where spaghetti westerns would have twisted and tormented a character put into the position Billy is given here, there isn't a pause in the telling where possible repercussions are laid out, nor are recriminations from unseen associates of the corrupt lawman offered. There is a lot of potential, but there's not enough room to exploit such a delicious notion as a wanted criminal taking down a sheriff.

The Phantom Ranger might have been an attempt to provide quasi-superhero adventures in the west, though neither the name nor the story holds much appeal beyond spot-the-inspiration games. A rather unimpressive outing for a character whose appeal isn't immediately obvious, and the square-awed heroics wear out their welcome far too soon. There's simply far too many heroic western characters to immediately work a new figure up to the status of the big names in a single short story, and as much as I appreciate something different being attempted, it doesn't work for me.

This is the story of a private war - a war that forms the backdrop against which the gunman-killer the West knows as Billy the Kid first came to prominence! A war that takes its place in the South-West as one of the grimmest tales of death and killing ever written by roaring Colt .45s! It has been dug from old letters, from an old bible, from the dying whispers of men hired to kill!

It is the personal war of-

"Billy the Kid - Avenger!"

Seven pages is far from adequate to cover the Lincoln County War, and there are many instances where I know that things have been shortened, altered, or cut entirely - without even glancing in the direction of half a dozen accounts of the conflict which cover events comprehensively. If there was ever a crying need for an illustrated version of events, then the complete story of the rise of Billy the Kid, drawing on all the myriad published accounts, is right up there. The classics have, by and large, been mined for most of their worth, yet true-life stories are painfully absent.

Go ahead - try to name a work of considerable length which recounts Billy the Kid's story without embellishments.

While this annual has to be appreciated in light of its age, and the climate in which it was published, it is nevertheless a disappointing collection of material. Yes, the cover is wonderful, but it is also the best part of the annual - there is nothing within its pages crafted to the same level of care and attention.

[1954]

Billy the Kid
Western Annual

[1956]