Marvel Comics To Unveil New Gunslinger: The New Rawhide Kid

[Dee]

I dont usually post comic news articles and I hope this is the right place to post a news article about marvel comics.

I found this article on CNN (http://www.cnn.com/2002/SHOWBIZ/12/09/rawhide.kid.gay/index.html) and I found it to be very interesting. The revival of the older comic book character takes a more modern twist as they give us a new version of the Rawhide Kid:

Marvel Comics plans to break new ground in the comic book industry by introducing the first openly gay title character in a comic book.

http://i.cnn.net/cnn/2002/SHOWBIZ/12/09/rawhide.kid.gay/story.rawhide.jpg


Marvel Comics to unveil gay gunslinger
Monday, December 9, 2002 Posted: 2:57 PM EST (1957 GMT)



The new Rawhide Kid



RELATED
• Marvel.com: 'The Rawhide Kid'





NEW YORK (CNN) -- Marvel Comics plans to break new ground in the comic book industry by introducing the first openly gay title character in a comic book.

The character will appear in a revival of the 1950s title, "The Rawhide Kid." Marvel expects a February debut.

The new series pairs the original artist, John Severin, now 86, with Ron Zimmerman, a writer for the "Howard Stern Show."

The Rawhide Kid has been a Marvel character since the 1950s both as a main and a secondary character. However, it was not until Zimmerman approached Marvel with his idea of a homosexual Rawhide Kid that sexuality was mentioned in the discussion of the character.

Although shy with girls, the original Rawhide Kid was not intended to be gay. The new version uses double entendres and euphemisms to reveal his homosexuality without saying anything explicitly. Based on a blurb on Marvel's Web site, the tone may be campy.

In a bubble in the first edition of the series, Rawhide Kid comments about the Lone Ranger: "I think that mask and the powder blue outfit are fantastic. I can certainly see why the Indian follows him around."

Brian Reinert, Marvel's public relations officer, said that Marvel has always been "interested in tapping into stories that are relevant today." He expects the reactions to this comic to vary.

Although many readers will accept the new sexuality of the Marvel hero, Reinert expects possible negative responses from people who don't accept homosexuality and readers who do not want to see a change in their beloved character.

"When you tackle these issues it will always push buttons," he said.

Marvel is planning six stories over the next six months. After looking at the response to those issues they will decide whether to continue production and whether they would be interested in more series with gay title characters.

Although Rawhide Kid is the first gay title character, Marvel does have several existing gay characters, such as North Star of the "X-Men" comic book series.

The Rawhide Kid series, beginning with the first edition "Rawhide Kid: Slap Leather," will run about 22 pages and have a suggested retail price of $2.95.

I never knew that Marvel had a western themed comic book character until now, and I'd actually like to see some of the old version as well as the new version. Anyone have any info/images on the original version of the comic?

[Cyber E.]

I have been following this story for the past week on News-A-Rama and I am quite disgusted with it. Given I have my problems with homosexuals (It is against my religion and I believe it to be purely wrong) although people can have choices in there lives and I don't affect them. I hate the idea of a classic character like the Rawhide Kid and make him gay? I would be less angry if it were a new character (that's the world today, live with it) but a old-school character like this is JUST PLAIN WRONG!

My point of view, and I am sticking to it.

[Dee]

Originally posted by The Venom
I have been following this story for the past week on News-A-Rama and I am quite disgusted with it. Given I have my problems with homosexuals (It is against my religion and I believe it to be purely wrong) although people can have choices in there lives and I don't affect them. I hate the idea of a classic character like the Rawhide Kid and make him gay? I would be less angry if it were a new character (that's the world today, live with it) but a old-school character like this is JUST PLAIN WRONG!

My point of view, and I am sticking to it.

I do not have a very historical following of many things (comics one of them) so I had no real judgment. I guess I will need to see the old version and the new version before I really say anything.

I found it interesting because it's something new to the world of comic books, and like they said on the cnn interview "it will push some buttons"

we will see where it goes I guess.

[Jade_GL]

What I have read makes me believe that this isn't the fond reimagining of a character, but instead a marketing ploy. Something to make contrevorsy and, therefore, create more news and buzz.

I can't say this is a good idea, mainly because I suspect the motives.

However, I won't say it's horrible until I read portions of it somewhere or see it at dot comics or buy it on a whim.

Frankly, I'm kind of insulted that it would be such an obvious stereotype they're going for. He's going to be a joke slinging, innuendo dropping gay fellow. I just see that as taking the easy road out. Believe me, it could work, but I would have to see to make a decision.

But I don't care if he's a gay character either way. Comics, movies, books, etcetera are not avoided by me because of morals or prejudices, mainly because I try to be as open minded as possible. I am just worried at which direction this will go in and if it's just a marketing ploy in the end.

[Dee]

The "Lone Ranger" remark they spoke of in the news report kinda bugs me a little bit.

You may be right about creating media buzz. A lot lives off of buzz these days, espically those reality TV shows.

[Joe Tully]

Originally posted by Delia97



I never knew that Marvel had a western themed comic book character until now, and I'd actually like to see some of the old version as well as the new version. Anyone have any info/images on the original version of the comic?

Rawhide Kid came out in the 1950s. Super heroes weren't very popular around then, and Marvel (named Atlas at the time) had to focus on monsters and cowboys, which were popular at the time. (B-movie monsters were plentiful, and westerns were common on TV and in theaters.)

Here's a link http://www.toonopedia.com/rawhide.htm

He's also made a handful of appearances in more modern comics due to time travel, but those probably have less to do with cowboy stories and more with super heroics.

I'm not sure how common these issues are (they are pretty durn old), but if you dig through some back issue bins, you might be able to find some. :)

And on the topic of the revamp: It sounds lame. I think others said it pretty well, it's controversy for the sake of controversy. And the Lone Ranger comment just sounds stereotypical and dumb more than anything else. If they can do it well, then good for them, but this article doesn't give me much confidence about that.

[HelloKittyKat]

Sure, there should be homosexual characters, but this just lame and even appalling. It seems like they just picked a random character out of a hat and picked out of another hat a random "event" device.

[Chris Wood]

Gah! The Rawhide Kid is gay?? You might as well put a tutu on John Wayne. With all the spandex tights wearing characters that Marvel has you'd think they could have choosen someone more appropriate.

Like the Human Torch for example. "Flame on!"

[halinar]

Just another marvel attempt at Shock TV in comic version. Not a character I was even remotely interested in so it doesn't affect me in the slightest.

[Matt Hazuda]

While I think the concept of a black Captain America works(see Marvel's 'Truth' miniseries), this is just stupid. I have nothing against gays, but this is just a very cheap marketing ploy for Marvel to get on the TV spotlight again. I'm staying very far away from this one.

[Ed Liu]

Howdy,

I agree with MDawg957 -- Truth is a controversial concept that seems to be executed well so far, at least. Rawhide Kid looks like a caricature wrapped in bad gay jokes. Considering Ron Zimmerman's last opus was "Get Kraven" (a comic set in Hollywood that was pretty bad by all accounts), I'm not holding out high hopes for anything good coming out of this title (pardon the pun). Rawhide Kid is also set in the Old West, so I don't know how Zimmerman is planning to stick in more of his patented Howard Stern brown-nosing.

That said, I kind of liked Zimmerman's issue of Spider-Man's Tangled Web set in the supervillain bar. About the only thing that rang false to me in the issue was the bit there when two villains get into an argument over whether Daredevil is gay, which manages to be insulting by presenting a caricature of a stupid Latino character that can only speak heavily accented English while talking about stupid insulting stereotypes for gay people. Doesn't bode well, does it?

Regardless of how you feel about homosexuality in general, I think we can all be equally righteously insulted by crappy comics.

-- Ed/Ace

[BLACKHEART]

The truth will set you free

[Reed Richards]

if i read the article correctly he wont be "out of the closet" will he?

if hes not, that too is an insult to the gay community and more proof that marvel is doing this for publicity

[Jade_GL]

From what I read, he will not be openly "out."

It's supposed to be more of a *wink, wink, nudge, nudge* type thing, with humor and innuendo.

Frankly, it looks to me like they're just picking a stereotype and flying with it. I haven't seen anything that makes me think it will actually treat the subject as anything but a punchline.

[jgully]

i have no probelm with the gay angle the only probelm i have is that i don't wanna buy a book and it be crap when i could bought have my regular comic
instead, and to me when companys try to get people to read a book by trying
to shake things up makes me not wanna get it

[wonderfly]

This isn't the Rawhide Kid I've been following since 1999. :confused:

Rawhide Kid appeared in a 4 issue miniseries called Blaze of Glory in 1999, which I would reccomend to anyone. It has all of Marvel's old Western hero's from the 1950's reunite for one last stand against evil in the old West. It had all the "kid" cowboys come together, including such old Marvel favorites as Rawhide Kid, Outlaw Kid, Kid Colt, and Two-Gun Kid. It was very much like Seven Samurai, or the Magnicent Seven, more precisely, in that this is a western. Rawhide kid was the main cowboy the storyline focused on.


Anyway, it was a great ressurection of Marvel's Old Cowboys, from the 1950's. John Orstrander wrote it. Does he have a website? I'd love to email him about what he thinks of this new direction for Rawhide.

Just this year, Orstrander wrote a sequel 4 part miniseries, with just Rawhide Kid as the star. It was violent, and nothing like what this parody sounds to be like.

This new Rawhide looks nothing like the cool one from the two miniseries...

[Ed Liu]

Howdy,


Originally posted by wonderfly
Anyway, it was a great ressurection of Marvel's Old Cowboys, from the 1950's. John Orstrander wrote it. Does he have a website? I'd love to email him about what he thinks of this new direction for Rawhide.


He does have a message board which he does post to (http://www.comicscommunity.com/boards/ostrander/). He has already posted on the mini (http://www.comicscommunity.com/boards/ostrander/?read=545):



For those of you who haven't heard, Randy Zimmerman and John Severin are doing a five part RAWHIDE KID special, originally called (I believe) SLAPPING LEATHER. using the Jack Kirby version of Rawhide and, from what i gather, revealing that Rawhide is gay. I intend to hold comment until I see how they do it.


Sidebar: If you're an Ostrander fan, I highly recommend seeking out his Suicide Squad run. Published in the 80's and 90's, can be found in quarter-bins throughout the nation, and unjustly ignored by most of the comic-buying public. It's also where Barb Gordon (the character, not the mod :)) got her start as Oracle.

-- Ed/Ace

[sulimo]

*shudder* this sounds more like Zorro the Gay Blade. And ruining an established character...although given how westerns do these days I'm guessing it will sink without a trace.

[Anthonynotes]

I read about this elsewhere online just a short while ago...

Re:finding Kid comics: while they're from the 50s, Western titles don't seem to sell as well as the superheroic ones from what back-issue sales I've seen... still, his 60's/70's title runs would probably be more affordable/easier to find.

While I'm pleased to see more openly gay comic book characters (though I'd argue that he isn't the "first openly gay title comic character"--- various independent publishers have published comics featuring gays---unless you're talking about just superheroes), seeing that it's being written by someone who works for Howard Stern makes me quite wary, and, as others have noted, reeks of this being more for sensationalism rather than a thoughtful treatment of the character. Wonder if the Stern writer might've latched onto the project after seeing the name "Rawhide Kid" and started laughing at it/thinking of inane innuendos about the name...

Guess getting (openly gay comic writer) Phil Jimenez to work on this wasn't an option...

-B.

[Dee]

Wow looks like I found a topic that gets people talking.


I will have to look up on the old 1950's comics. I bet i've come across one at the flea market and didnt even give it a 2nd thought.

[JohnCrichton]

Originally posted by Jade_GL
What I have read makes me believe that this isn't the fond reimagining of a character, but instead a marketing ploy. Something to make contrevorsy and, therefore, create more news and buzz.

I can't say this is a good idea, mainly because I suspect the motives.

However, I won't say it's horrible until I read portions of it somewhere or see it at dot comics or buy it on a whim.

Frankly, I'm kind of insulted that it would be such an obvious stereotype they're going for. He's going to be a joke slinging, innuendo dropping gay fellow. I just see that as taking the easy road out. Believe me, it could work, but I would have to see to make a decision.

But I don't care if he's a gay character either way. Comics, movies, books, etcetera are not avoided by me because of morals or prejudices, mainly because I try to be as open minded as possible. I am just worried at which direction this will go in and if it's just a marketing ploy in the end.

Amen, Jade.

This is just a "Lookit me!!! Lookit me!!!" marketing ploy to get on Hardcopy or something, "Marvel has a gay character!!!"

I've zim and ziltch against gay people. But this is just stupid. A good Marvel Western comic would be a good idea, but to turn it on it's ear and make the character gay kinda cuts off all the fans of Westerns who wanna see a gritty hardened hero ride his horse across the wastelands, get the maiden and blow away the horrors of the old west.

They could have had a real winner had they just given a call to the main man of cool western stories, Garth Enis, but instead they caled Howard Stern's people.

For shaaaaaaame, Marvel...... :mad:

[wonderfly]

Originally posted by Ace the Bathound
Howdy,



He does have a message board which he does post to (http://www.comicscommunity.com/boards/ostrander/). He has already posted on the mini (http://www.comicscommunity.com/boards/ostrander/?read=545):



Sidebar: If you're an Ostrander fan, I highly recommend seeking out his Suicide Squad run. Published in the 80's and 90's, can be found in quarter-bins throughout the nation, and unjustly ignored by most of the comic-buying public. It's also where Barb Gordon (the character, not the mod :)) got her start as Oracle.

-- Ed/Ace



Forgot to mention the name of the other miniseries by Orstrander, published this year: "Apache Skies". Both Miniseries are drawn by Leonard Manco, I believe.

Both "Blaze of Glory" and "Apache Skies" feature Rawhide Kid, and are recent publications, so if you guys are interested in what a "cool" western comic looks like, you can probably still find them in your local back issue bin.

God, I'm shocked by the contrast in the character's outfit design, judging by the one pic posted at the start of this thread...

By the way, I don't care that he's gay, but come on...this is from someone associated with Howard Stern. This reeks of sensationalism...



Yeah, I like Orstrander, I loved some of his Spectre stuff, but I haven't really seen his work anywhere recently. He's kinda low key as far as new stuff he's been publishing. I'm lucky I stumbled across Apache Skies. Also, I think he writes more DC comics than Marvel...

[Anthonynotes]

Originally posted by JohnCrichton
Amen, Jade.

This is just a "Lookit me!!! Lookit me!!!" marketing ploy to get on Hardcopy or something, "Marvel has a gay character!!!"

I've zim and ziltch against gay people. But this is just stupid. A good Marvel Western comic would be a good idea, but to turn it on it's ear and make the character gay kinda cuts off all the fans of Westerns who wanna see a gritty hardened hero ride his horse across the wastelands, get the maiden and blow away the horrors of the old west.

They could have had a real winner had they just given a call to the main man of cool western stories, Garth Enis, but instead they caled Howard Stern's people.

For shaaaaaaame, Marvel...... :mad:

I'd imagine that one could still be a "gritty hardened hero", "blow away the horrors of the old west", and still get the mister (instead of the maiden) at the end (since I'm sure there were gay cowboys). :-) That, and from what little I know about the character, the Rawhide Kid wasn't a particularly "gritty" character to begin with...

Though Marvel already has at least one gay character, Northstar (who apparently has put in a recent X-Men comic appearance, from what I can tell at the local Fred Meyer's selection of superhero comics)...

-B.
Still expecting some tacky joke used involving Rawhide's name...

[Ed Liu]

Howdy,


Originally posted by JohnCrichton
They could have had a real winner had they just given a call to the main man of cool western stories, Garth Enis, but instead they caled Howard Stern's people.

Did a bit more digging on the Internet Movie Database (http://us.imdb.com/Name?Zimmerman,+Ron), and discovered that not only is ol' Ron associated with Howard Stern, but was also a producer of Pamela Anderson's V.I.P. (http://us.imdb.com/Title?0134269) (a terrible show disguised as, um, just a bad show), and a writer AND producer of The Michael Richards Show (http://us.imdb.com/Title?0247113).

And we're supposed to buy that this Rawhide Kid series is a humor book?

I smell another Marville....

-- Ed/Ace

[Marc]

Originally posted by wonderfly
Yeah, I like Orstrander, I loved some of his Spectre stuff, but I haven't really seen his work anywhere recently. He's kinda low key as far as new stuff he's been publishing. I'm lucky I stumbled across Apache Skies. Also, I think he writes more DC comics than Marvel... Just concerning the whereabouts of John Ostrander; He has been writing the Star Wars ongoing series for Darkhorse Comics, and his stories have been excellent, IMO.

- Cap

[JohnCrichton]

Originally posted by Brainatra
I'd imagine that one could still be a "gritty hardened hero", "blow away the horrors of the old west", and still get the mister (instead of the maiden) at the end (since I'm sure there were gay cowboys). :-) That, and from what little I know about the character, the Rawhide Kid wasn't a particularly "gritty" character to begin with...

Though Marvel already has at least one gay character, Northstar (who apparently has put in a recent X-Men comic appearance, from what I can tell at the local Fred Meyer's selection of superhero comics)...

-B.
Still expecting some tacky joke used involving Rawhide's name...

Bah!

I want true blue Billy the Kid, John Wayne, Young Guns, Clint Eastwood versus the Weird West action in a way Marvel could probably present with alot of fun. Like the shots we saw of the Marvel West Heroes in Avengers Forever. Not this new age "he was really gay! What a twist!" crap.

Hero comics I read about guys I can live vicariously through.... Not that I'd wanna keep young gay men out there from getting their heroes, but really.... is the market that big for that audience? Are the even doing this for that reason?

I'm totally liberal, but this just doesn't seem to make sense.... "Let's relaunch one of or own heroes, try and give the Wild West Comic genre a go and hey.... let's make the main character gay."

[Anthonynotes]

>>Bah!

I want true blue Billy the Kid, John Wayne, Young Guns, Clint Eastwood versus the Weird West action in a way Marvel could probably present with alot of fun. Like the shots we saw of the Marvel West Heroes in Avengers Forever. Not this new age "he was really gay! What a twist!" crap.
<<

Hmm...

One's sexuality has nothing to do with how many bad guys they can beat up/their toughness/whether or not they can be "grim and gritty" (judging from characters like Batman nowadays, I'd probably say a blow to one's brain is all that's required to be the latter ;-) ).

>>>
Hero comics I read about guys I can live vicariously through.... Not that I'd wanna keep young gay men out there from getting their heroes, but really.... is the market that big for that audience? Are the even doing this for that reason?
<<<

Well, the market's big enough for gay-centered TV shows ("Will and Grace", "Ellen", "Queer As Folk"), resorts (Provincetown, MA, the Flordia Keys), movies, etc.; thus, I'm sure there's a sizeable market for gay-oriented comics (as there's a sizeable market for comics overall---erm, hold that analogy... :-) ). Plus, I'm sure there's plenty of gay guys who want to live vicariously through well-written, hard-hitting heroes who they can identify with sexuality-wise. That, and it's possible to still find a character entertaining and yet not have something in common with them--- I still *read* comics, even though most of my favorite heroes (Superman, the Flash, etc.) are White (vs., well...myself).

As for why they're doing it, presumably (like everything else) for sales... though from the sounds of the writer, apparently leaning more toward "humorous" writing than, erm, however a non-"V.I.P." writer would write a gay Western cowboy...

>>>
I'm totally liberal, but this just doesn't seem to make sense.... "Let's relaunch one of or own heroes, try and give the Wild West Comic genre a go and hey.... let's make the main character gay."<<

Having said all of the above--- I still agree that it sounds like it's going to be pretty lame (by virtue of association with a Howard Stern Show/"VIP" writer). I suppose the question is whether it'll merely be "Spider-Clone" lame or reach "Zero-Hour"-level-lameness... ;-p

-B.

[JohnCrichton]

Bah....

:p

If they make it good and are infact writing a cool western comic for gay boys to enjoy and live vicariously through, sure... I just don't think that's what it's going to be, nor have I met a single gay man out there who's dying for a good cowboy comic book starring a gay male lead, without them chuckling about it afterward.

"Writer of V.I.P wants to write about gay cowboy named The Rawhid Kid."

Nothing in the sentence seems to equal a win situation for anyone, and that includes gay folk.

[Storm]

Okay I can see why they want to have a hero for the gay community but why change a classic hero???? I don't have a problem with gays or lesbians in comics actually I think it's about time. People it's the big "02" and if comics want to get into "the world today" gays are in our society like it or not. I really think the gay characters in comics are well protrayed but this?!?! I mean marvel why would you change a character that some people loved and this is totally sterotyping urban/wetsern cowboys. Anyway I'll let other people enjoy this title but it's not for me. The whole series is just going to poke fun at the "I'm a gay cowboy" thing which is so cliché nowadays.

[Anthonynotes]

NPR's (National Public Radio) "Talk of the Nation" today had Marvel's Joe Quesada on in a rather brief (5-7 minutes) interview/call-in session about the "Rawhide Kid" comic. Quesada gave his reasons for doing the book, citing Marvel's addressing issues of the day (such as the X-Men dealing with prejudice/tolerance/acceptance issues). Only two callers; the first was glad to know he was warned there was a "homosexual" in this comic, so he'd know about it before his kid might read it; the second caller was wondering why there aren't more Western comics, as her kids loved cowboys.
No mention of the writing "credentials" of the series' ex-"V.I.P." scribe...

-B.

[Gluttonous God]

Originally posted by Ace the Bathound
If you're an Ostrander fan, I highly recommend seeking out his Suicide Squad run.

Ostrander's pretty great. I'd suggest digging up issues of Grimjack from First Comics. Now back to topic... kinda.

I seem to remember an ad way back in the 80's (I think it was in an issue of Transit or Mister X... something from Vortex Comics) for a book called Gay Comics. It looked like a comic created by gay writers and artists, including very early work by Tony Harris (Starman). There have even been gay characters in mainstream comics including other Marvel titles. I guess I just don't see this as a big deal that deserves media attention, I mean come on... it's a western.

P.S. Legion of Super Heroes had Jan and Shvaughn/Sean back in the early 90's.

[Chris Sanders MSX]

Am I the only one who read the news article in the newspaper or seen it on Tv and noticed that this book was going to basically be a comedy. I think that it might be funny so I'm going to pick up this first issue and see what happens.

[Jade_GL]

Originally posted by Chris Sanders MSX
Am I the only one who read the news article in the newspaper or seen it on Tv and noticed that this book was going to basically be a comedy. I think that it might be funny so I'm going to pick up this first issue and see what happens.

I know it's intended to be a comedy, but that's what worries me. Will they just go for the typical innuendo and jokes? If so, will that be worth buying? That's what I am worrying about.

[Joe Tully]

Yeah, I'm not really a fan of that kind of humor either. I could go into a whole rant on it, but I'd rather just say that it's kind of lame to go out of your way to try to be offensive for the sake of humor. To me, it indicates a lack of any talent. Innuendo can work if it's more subtle, but often it's just an easy way out for someone who doesn't know how to write comedy.

[Ed Liu]

Howdy,

I did know that this book was supposed to be a comedy. The problem is that Ron Zimmerman isn't funny. His "Get Kraven" limited series wasn't funny. The gay jokes I've read so far from "Rawhide Kid" aren't funny. The issue he wrote in "Spider-Man's Tangled Web" was about 50% funny in the funny bits. "The Michael Richards Show" was definitely not funny.

I have no problem conceptually with a comedy comic book about a gay cowboy. I have a problem when the series is being written by someone with a great track record of being unfunny.

-- Ed/Ace

[Dee]

Originally posted by storm1288
Okay I can see why they want to have a hero for the gay community but why change a classic hero???? I don't have a problem with gays or lesbians in comics actually I think it's about time. People it's the big "02" and if comics want to get into "the world today" gays are in our society like it or not. I really think the gay characters in comics are well protrayed but this?!?! I mean marvel why would you change a character that some people loved and this is totally sterotyping urban/wetsern cowboys. Anyway I'll let other people enjoy this title but it's not for me. The whole series is just going to poke fun at the "I'm a gay cowboy" thing which is so cliché nowadays.

I guess theyd rather take something established than make something new that would possibly be absurdly 'gay looking'.

id think if they just BASED it off the rawhide kid theyd be all set. Something new.