Wild Western #16
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeWild Western #16 (cover date April 1951, on-sale February 21, 1951) is a solid representative issue of one of Atlas Comics' most durable Western anthology titles — a series that helped establish the pre-Marvel publisher as, in Wikipedia's words, 'the most prolific publisher of Western comics' of the era. The issue's lead Black Rider story, 'The Texas Tigress,' stands out for its morally complex villain, Alamo Lou Dade, a female outlaw whose dying act of self-sacrifice earns the hero's respect — an unusually layered antagonist for a 1951 Western genre comic. The issue also demonstrates the breadth of Atlas's Western stable by running simultaneous features for the Black Rider, the Apache Kid, and the Gunhawk in a single 36-page package, a showcase of the multi-hero anthology format that would define the line through the decade.
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The Wild Western series launched in 1948 under the Timely Comics banner and was edited throughout its run by Stan Lee, who also contributed scripts. By issue #16, the book was transitioning from the Timely era into what would become Atlas Comics — the publisher adopted its now-recognizable Atlas globe logo on comics cover-dated November 1951, just months after this issue shipped. The cover of #16 was produced by a collaboration of Christopher Rule, Werner Roth, and Joe Maneely (with Stan Goldberg providing the coloring), reflecting the bullpen approach typical of the period. The Black Rider feature's script is attributed to Robert Bernstein, with pencils and inks by Al Hartley (signed); an interior Two-Gun Kid/Kid Colt backup was penciled by Vern Henkel, per the Grand Comics Database.
Trivia · 7 facts
- Lead story: 'The Texas Tigress!' featuring the Black Rider (alter ego Dr. Matthew Masters); scripted by Robert Bernstein, penciled and inked by Al Hartley (signed work).
- The Black Rider story co-stars villain Alamo Lou Dade, a female outlaw gang leader who meets her end in the story — notable for a female antagonist with a redemptive final moment in a 1951 genre comic.
- Secondary feature: an Apache Kid story in which the Apache Kid uses his civilian alter ego Aloysius Kare to outmaneuver both White Swan's romantic scheming and a gang of outlaws, playing up the dual-identity hook central to the character.
- Third feature: a Gunhawk story in which the hero investigates the murder of a sheriff, with art duties on the Gunhawk feature having been shared during this period by Joe Maneely, Mike Sekowsky, and Chic Stone across the run.
- Cover art credits per the Grand Comics Database: Christopher Rule (possible), Werner Roth, and Joe Maneely collaborated on the cover, with Stan Goldberg providing colors — an early credited coloring credit for Goldberg.
- The Black Rider story 'The Texas Tigress' was later reprinted in 3-D format in 3-D Tales of the West #1, indicating Atlas saw the story as strong enough to repackage during the early-1950s 3-D comics craze.
- The Apache Kid appeared in Wild Western from issues #15 through #22, making this issue squarely within that character's run in the anthology before he transitioned to other titles.
Full credits
Reprints
Reprinted in Valiant Western #8 (1951), Arizona Kid #3 (1954), Giant Gunsmoke Western #6 (1961), Giant Wyatt Earp #6 (1962)
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