Encyclopedia of Weird Westerns Page 5

  All-Star Western

  [Comic book; WW]

  First issue: August-September 1970 (2nd series); Publisher: DC Comics.

  This revival of the original 1950s title saw the beginnings of DC Comics' Weird Western lineup with the introduction of El Diablo in issue #2 and Jonah Hex in issue #10 (February-March 1972). The numbering continued into Weird Western Tales after the final issue #11. DC Comics' decision to update its Western lineup and introduce supernatural elements coincided with the decline of the traditional Western in films and television.

  Alone in the Dark: Ghosts in Town

  [Video game; WW]

  A 1996 release of Alone in the Dark 3 for the Windows 95 platform.

  Alter-Nation

  [Comic book; SFW]

  First issue: February 2004; Creator-Story: F. G. Haghenbeck; Publisher: Image Comics.

  An alternate history storyline where Germany has invaded America. Featuring Samuel Clemens, Annie Oakley, the automated Tin Man and her Rebel group, Billy the Kid, General Custer's Imperial Army and his T-Rex and a dinosaur stagecoach.

  Alone in the Dark 3

  [Video game; WW]

  Release date: 1994; Executive Producer: Emmanuelle Perigault-Vigier; Story: Hubert Chadot, Christain Nabais; Director: Bruno Bonnell; Third-person perspective (POV); Platform: PC; Developer: Infogrames Entertainment; Publishers: Infogrames, Interplay.

  When a film crew disappears in the Mojave Desert ghost town of Slaughter Gulch, only paranormal investigator Edward Carnby can save his friend Emily Hartwood from harm by the restless spirits and zombie cowboy outlaws.

  The American Astronaut

  (2001) [Film; SW]

  Premiere: October 12, 2001; Main Cast: Cory McAbee as Samuel Curtis/Silverminer, Rocco Sisto as Professor Hess, Gregory Russell Cook as The Boy Who Actually Saw a Woman's Breast, Annie Golden as Cloris; Producers: Bobby Lurie, William “Pinetop” Perkins, Joshua Taylor; Story-Director: Cory McAbee; 91 min.; BNS Productions, Commodore Films; Color.

  Low-budget, surreal Space Western musical. Samuel Curtis must provide the women of Venus with a suitable male for mating, while being pursued by his old enemy, Professor Hess.

  American Eagle

  [Comic book character; SFW]

  First appearance: Marvel Two-in-One Annual #6 (October 1981); Creators: Doug Moench, Ron Wilson; Publisher: Marvel Comics.

  When Navajo Indian Jason Strongbow is exposed to uranium and a sonic blast while exploring a mine on Indian tribal lands in Arizona, he gains super-strength, agility, speed and endurance and adopts the identity of American Eagle to protect his people.

  American Gothic

  [Comic strip; UK; WW]

  First publication: 2000 A.D. #1432 (2005); Creators: Ian Edginton, Mike Collins; Publisher: Rebellion.

  A vampire cowboy helps a hunted group of outcasts in the Old West.

  The American Gun Club [Comic book characters; SFW]

  First appearance: Planetary #18 (February 2004); Story: Warren Ellis; Art: John Cassaday; Publisher: Wildstorm Productions.

  When a cannonball-shaped object containing two skeletal figures crashes to earth in modern-day America, the history of the American Gun Club is finally revealed. A journal tells of a group of like-minded individuals with the aim of traveling to the moon. A signature in the journal reveals one of the American Gun Club members to be Jules Verne. Photographs show a group of cowboys and “astronauts” posing before the launch of their “spaceship” from a huge metal tube in 1851.

  The concept of The American Gun Club was inspired by Jules Verne's “Baltimore Gun Club” from his classic novel From the Earth to the Moon (1866).

  American Wasteland: Blood and Diesel

  [Comic book; Canada; WW]

  First publication: March 2007; Story: R.D. Hall; Art: Mark Kidwell, Andrew Mangum; Four-issue mini-series; Publisher: Arcana Studios.

  In this bloody modern horror Western, truck driver Cletus McCoy battles vampire monsters in an apocalyptic America where hell is reserved for both the living and the undead.

  The Angel and the Outlaw

  [Novel; WWR]

  Author: Madeline Baker; First publication: New York: N.Y. Leisure Books, 1996.

  Following his death by hanging in the 1870s, half-breed outlaw J.T. Cutter is given a second chance by his guardian angel who returns Cutter's soul to his body. Meanwhile a teacher from the present day finds herself back in the Old West when she touches Cutter's body hanging at a gallows. The revived Cutter thanks the woman for rescuing him from the gallows by kidnapping her. But their mutual attraction soon leads to further problems.

  Cover of The Angel & the Outlaw by Madeline Baker. Cover art: Pino. Courtesy Madeline Baker.

  El Ánima de Sayula

  (1978; Mexico; WW) Main Cast: Antonio Aguilar as Máximo Hernández, Susana Kamini as Lolita, Víctor Alcocer as Don Pascual Alemán, Eleazar García “Chelelo” as Chelelo, Humberto Elizondo as Humberto Ortiz, Delia Magaña as Doña Zoila; Executive Producer: José Aguilar; Producer: Antonio Aguilar; Screenplay: Jorge Patiño; Story: Raúl Ugalde; Director: Javier Durán; Spanish; Águila, Color.

  The small town of Sayula is plagued by the spirit of a man who in life had no sexual interest in females. As his spirit wanders through the town, he touches males and transforms them into homosexuals. A surreal Weird Western sex comedy.

  El Ánima del Ahorcado contra el Latigo Negro

  (1959) [Film; Mexico; WW]

  Premiere: October 22, 1959; Main Cast: Luis Aguilar as El Latigo Negro, Rosita Arenas, Consuelito Frank, Rosa Elana Durgel, Federico Curiel, Fernando Celis Belina; Producers: Aurelio García Yévenes, Luis Enrique Vergara; Story: Federico Curiel “Pichirilo”; Director: Vicente Oroná; 80 min.; Películas Rodríguez; Spanish; Color.

  In this variation on Zorro, El Latigo Negro fights the spirit of a man hanged for a crime he may not have committed. This was the third film in the El Latigo Negro series.

  Apache Chief

  [Animated TV series character; WW]

  First appearance: The All New Super Friends Hour (1977); Hanna-Barbera Productions.

  Able to increase his body to great size by saying “Inyuk-chuk,” this Native American Indian character was created specifically for the Super Friends animated cartoon series featuring DC Comics characters. Apache Chief never appeared in a DC Comic book.

  See: Justice League

  Appaloosa Rising: or, The Legend of the Cowboy Buddha

  [Novel; WW]

  Author: Gino Sky; First publication: Doubleday, 1980, Garden City NY.

  Contemporary Western set in Idaho, Montana and Wyoming fusing American frontier and Buddhist ideals including psychic travel between Montana and Tibet.

  Cowboy Buddha is kind of a state of mind, he's never a real character, but it's this evolution from the cowboy consciousness as everyone knows it in the West, with all the stereotypes, to the Buddha consciousness.... And so you have outer space and inner space coming together.—Boise Weekly, Jennifer Parsons, August 10, 2005.

  See: Coyote Silk

  Arizonan Kukka

  [Novel; Finland; SFW]

  Author: L. Martin; First publication: 1945, Finland.

  Science fiction Western tale of a lost land in the Arizona desert. L. Martin was a pseudonym for prolific Finnish pulp writer Martti L'Fberg (also known as Marton Taiga).

  Cover of Arizonan Kukka by L. Martin (Finland, 1945).

  Astonishing

  [Comic book]

  Weird horror anthology title that continued the numbering from the short-lived Marvel Boy title.

  “THE RAINMAKER” [WW]

  First publication: #39 (June 1955); Art: Doug Wildey; Publisher: Atlas/Marvel.

  A rainmaker gets revenge on a Western community suffering from drought after they refuse to pay him for his work.

  The Avengers

  [Comic book]

  The Marvel superhero group title featured a two-part time-travel story starring Marvel's Western lineup.

  �
�GO WEST YOUNG GODS”; “RIGHT BETWEEN THE EONS” [SFW]

  First publication: #142-143 (December 1975–January 1976); Story: Steve Englehart; Art: George Perez, Vince Colletta, Sam Grainger; Publisher: Marvel Comics.

  Rawhide Kid, Two-Gun Kid, Kid Colt, Night Rider and Ringo Kid encounter Hawkeye, Moondragon and Thor as they do battle with Kang the Conqueror in the Old West of 1873.

  Ayers, Dick

  (1924- ) [Comic book artist]

  Born in Ossining, New York, on April 28, 1924, Richard “Dick” Ayers began his professional art career in late 1947 penciling Joe Schuster's Funnyman strip after first meeting Schuster at Burne Hogarth's Cartoonist and Illustrators School. With Funnyman being a Magazine Enterprises publication, Schuster recommended Ayers to M.E. publisher Vincent Sullivan and editor Ray Krank in 1948. After an initial start on a Western strip for Cowboys and Indians issue #6 (“Doc Holiday—Doctor of Death!”), Ayers provided the artwork for the short-lived Jimmy Durante title. Ayers soon found his niche working on Western strips including Calico Kid, Ghost Rider, Bobby Benson and the B-Bar-B Riders and The Presto Kid.

  Ayers' primary work in the mid– to late 1950s was for Atlas, where he worked on Western strips such as Rawhide Kid, Two-Gun Kid, Kid Colt, Outlaw Kid and Wyatt Earp. With the advent of the superhero boom in the 1960s, Ayers contributed to many Marvel titles including Captain America, Fantastic Four, The Avengers and Incredible Hulk. He also contributed pencils to the revamped Rawhide Kid and Ghost Rider for Marvel and Jonah Hex and Scalphunter for DC Comics.

  In later years Ayers worked for Archie Comics, returning to his roots in the 1980s and 1990s when he produced new Haunted Horsemanand Black Phantom art for Bill Black at AC Comics.

  Apart from his Western strips, Ayers is best remembered for his collaboration with John Severin on the World War II comic book Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos and cites this as his favorite work for Marvel Comics.

  Back East: The North

  [RPG Book;WW]

  Authors: Rick Dakan, Jack Emmert; First publication: 1999; Game: Deadlands: The Weird West; Publisher: Pinnacle Entertainment Group.

  Location sourcebook for the Eastern Union (North-Eastern United States).

  Back East: The South

  [RPG Book; WW]

  Authors: Steven S. Long, Christopher McGlothlin, Kenneth Hite; First publication: 1999; Game: Deadlands: The Weird West; Publisher: Pinnacle Entertainment Group.

  Location book for Eastern Confederacy including the Okeefenokee swamps of Florida and haunted Kentucky.

  Back to the Future

  (1991) [Animated TV series]

  Animated sequel to the film series.

  “CLARA'S FOLKS” (1:16) [SFW]

  Air date: December 14, 1991; Voice Cast: David Kaufman as Martin Seamus “Marty” McFly, Dan Castellaneta as Dr. Emmett L. Brown, Troy Davidson as Verne Brown, Thomas F. Wilson as Bill Tannen; Story: Bob Gale; Director: Peyton Reed; 30 min.; Universal Cartoon Studios, Amblin; Color.

  Travelling back in time to the Oregon Trail, Verne's future grandmother Martha falls in love with Marty, thus threatening to alter history. Doc Brown must put things back in place.

  Back to the Future Part II & III

  [Video game; SFW]

  Release date: September 30, 1990; Developer: Beam Software; Publisher: LJN Ltd.; Perspective: Side-Scrolling; Platform: Nintendo Entertainment System (NES).

  A game based on the movies Back to the Future Part II and Back to the Future Part III; the challenge is to retrieve objects trapped out of time and return them to their correct time and place.

  Back to the Future, Part III

  (1990) [Film; SFW]

  1—Premiere: May 25, 1990; Main Cast: Michael J. Fox as Marty McFly/Seamus McFly, Christopher Lloyd as Dr. Emmett Brown, Mary Steenburgen as Clara Clayton, Lea Thompson as Maggie McFly/Lorraine McFly, Thomas F. Wilson as Buford “Mad Dog” Tannen/Biff Tannen, Elisabeth Shue as Jennifer Parker; Executive Producers: Steven Spielberg, Kathleen Kennedy, Frank Marshall; Story: Robert Zemeckis, Bob Gale; Director: Robert Zemeckis; 118 min.; Amblin Entertainment, Universal Pictures; Color.

  Marty McFly travels back in time in the DeLorean to the Old West of 1885 to save Dr. Emmett Brown from death at the hands of Buford “Mad Dog” Tannen. The final entry in the highly successful Back to the Future trilogy.

  2—Video Game; Title: Back to the Future Part III

  Release date: 1991; Designer: Hugh Riley; Developer: Probe Software; Publisher: Image Works, Mirrorsoft Ltd.; Perspective: Side-Scrolling, Top-Down; Platform: Sega Genesis.

  A collection of four arcade games based on scenes from the movie.

  Bad Moon Rising

  [Comic Book; WW]

  First publication: 2004; Story: Brian Pulido; Art: Wellington Alves; Publisher: Avatar Press.

  A hyper-violent supernatural slasher Western set in Hope, Arizona, featuring murderous Black Jack Hatchet and his bloody ax, Mabel, as he searches for his lost love Wynona Mullins across time into the 21st century.

  Bakuretsu Tenshi: Angel's Adolescence

  [Manga; Japan; SFW]

  First appearance: 2003; Story: Gonzo, Murao Minoru; Art: Gonzo; Serialized in Dengeki Comic Gao!; Publisher: Media Works.

  Timid Takeru's life changes when he encounters Megumi and Jo, two beautiful girls he hides from pursuing thugs in his Tokyo home. This Manga prequel to the anime Burst Angel is set in a futuristic Tokyo where law and order has been replaced with “guns and strength.” Red-haired Megumi wears a revealing Western cowgirl outfit.

  The Ballad of Sleeping Beauty

  [Comic Book; WW]

  First publication: July 2004; Story: Gabriel Benson; Art: Mike Hawthorne, Jeff Amano; Eight-issue mini-series; Publisher: Beckett Comics.

  Gunfighter Cole Jarrett runs from his past while learning of a woman cursed to spend the rest of her life trapped in sleep for sins she did not commit.

  The Ballad of Utopia

  [Comic Book; WW]

  First publication: March 2000; Story: Barry Buchanan; Art: Mike Hoffman; Eight-part mini-series; Publisher: Black Daze Publishing.

  A murder in sun-baked Utopia is investigated by Deputy Sam David and occultic bounty hunter Brigham Love, who attempt to uncover dark secrets. This gothic Western has been described as a horse-opera Twin Peaks.

  Mike Hoffman recalling the creation of the project stated, “The Ballad of Utopia is one of my few collaborations. I volunteered to draw it for writer Barry Buchanan, who was having trouble finding a suitable artist. My Western kick had just started then, so I was a-champin'.

  “Barry is a film school graduate, which explains a lot about the cinematic style and naturalistic dialogue. It took us about three years to complete the story. I think his goal was to create a Western Mystery that wasn't so much a shoot-'em-up and had some gothic horror overtones.”

  See: Western Gothic: Ballad of Utopia

  The Ballad of Utopia #1, page 1. Art: Mike Hoffman. © Barry Buchanan and Mike Hoffman. Used with permission.

  Cover of The Ballad of Utopia #1 (March 2000). Art: Mike Hoffman. © Barry Buchanan and Mike Hoffman. Used with permission.

  Bang Bang Kid

  (1967) [Film; Italy-Spain; SFW]

  Premiere: November 19, 1967; Main Cast: Guy Madison as Bear Bullock, Tom Bosley as Merriwether T. Newberry, Riccardo Garrone as Killer Kossock, Sandra Milo as Gwenda Skaggel; Producers: Sidney W. Pink, Mirko Purgatori; Story: José Luis de las Bayonas, Luciano Lelli; Directors: Stanley Prager [Giorgio Gentili], Luciano Lelli; 87 min.; Domino Films, L.M. Films; Color.

  Inventor Merriwether T. Newberry claims his robot can be trained to be a gunslinger to protect the Western frontier town of Limerick against the notorious crime lord Bear Bullock and his hired gun Killer Kossock.

  Bang! Howdy

  [Strategy game; SPW]

  Release date: 2006; Developer-Publisher: Three Rings Design; Platform: Java-enabled Linux, Windows, Mac OSX.

  This online tactical strategy game is a combination of c
owboys and steampunk robots in a wacky Old West setting. Various gameplay scenarios include Gold Rush where players compete to collect Gold Nuggets and return them to their Steam Tank before being shot from attack Units such as the Steam Gunman.

  Banshee Screams

  [RPG Book; WW]

  Authors: Clay and Susan Griffith; First publication: 1999; Game: Deadlands: Lost Colony; Publisher: Pinnacle Entertainment Group.

  Temptation, the largest colonial settlement on Banshee, is under threat from dark powers. Colonial Ranger Debbi Dallas and her fellow Rangers must protect the outpost from a renewed Reaper menace.

  “The Banshee Singer”

  [Pulp fiction; WW]

  Author: Lon Williams; Story character: Lee Winters; Real Western Stories (April 1957).

  They said that the Bodep Opera House in Forlorn Gap was haunted, that a murdered opera singer awaited the man who had slain her there. And that man was believed to be Jason Inbred—the very gent whom Lee Winters had been assigned to track down!