Comic Book Flashback: Brokeback Before Brokeback

A while back, during a dark week where I had no comic books to buy, I mentioned that I was considering re-reading something old and writing a "flashback" post about it. At the time I had a vague thought of writing about "The Death of Superman," since it was that trade paperback collection that got me into this little obsession of mine. I never got around to it, though. Recently, I stumbled upon the news that Marvel Comics had released the first issue of "Rawhide Kid: The Sensational Seven," a four-issue follow-up of sorts to the 2003 miniseries, "Rawhide Kid: Slap Leather." And the seeds for this post were planted.

Now, normally a comic book about cowboys wouldn't be something I'm interested in. In fact, the resurgence of superhero comics in the 1950s led to fewer books featuring cowboys and other non-superhero characters. Marvel's book starring the Rawhide Kid, a creation of legendary Stan Lee, held on until 1979 and the Kid was only seen in a couple of miniseries after that. But in 2003, for the "Slap Leather" mini, the Kid was given a slight character revamp: now he was gay.

And not just gay, but gay. I mean, really gay. He's well-dressed, well-spoken, sophisticated and rather flamboyant. He makes no bones about what he likes. For example, here's what he says when some kids (small-k, as in youngsters) ask him about other famous gunfighters, including the Lone Ranger:
"All I can say is, I don't care which one of us is faster, I just want to meet him. I think that the mask and the powder blue outfit are fantastic. I can certainly see why that Indian follows him around." The book was given a "Parental Advisory-Explicit Content" label by Marvel.

The plot, in which a small-town sheriff is unable to handle Cisco Pike and his gang of outlaws (which causes his little boy to be ashamed of his pa) until the Rawhide Kid rides into town and saves the day, is almost inconsequential to the one-liners and the nods to other westerns. "Lonesome Dove" and "High Noon" are referenced. The town's schoolteacher is "Miss Ingulls from a faroff place called Walnut Grove." Brothers "Haus and Little Jo Cartrite" show up, having left the family's ranch in Nevada (the Kid is entranced by these two -- "One big, one gorgeous and both rich. Not only is there a God, He has great taste!")

There are even non-western pop culture references. The town's newspaperman is "Lew Grant;" there's a brief appearance by one "Bernard Phife," looking for a job as the sheriff's deputy; and the town's mayor is "Walker Bush." All of these characters look pretty much like the characters they're based upon. (And it amuses me to no end to refer to the 43rd President of the United States as a character. If only he were fictional...)

As mentioned in this article, which is where I discovered that a sequel was on the way (and also has a different title for the sequel; perhaps it was a last-minute change prior to publishing), reaction to the news that the Rawhide Kid was now a flaming homosexual was predictable. The right wing types were their usual tiresome hatemongering selves, and some gays were appalled by the stereotypical depiction of the Kid. All of this turned out to be just a rehearsal for the firestorm over "Brokeback Mountain" when that film was released in December 2005.

But I enjoyed it well enough. It really was written as a comedy, not as a serious treatment of sexuality, and while it does pays homage to the western (in part by having John Severin, who did the artwork for the series back in the 1950s, provide the art again), it's also almost a parody of the genre. And of course, even with all the flamboyance the Kid still could outshoot and outfight everyone else. Check out a sampling of the second issue here, included in a debunking of an urban legend that Marvel somehow tricked Severin into working on "Slap Leather."

How will the sequel compare? I bought the first two issues last week, so I'll let you know.