Around 1960, comic book superheroes were making a comeback...
...and both Zorro and The Lone Ranger were two of the hottest shows on TV!
So, it was only logical that comics publishers would, once more, combine genres and unleash a number of new (and revived) Masked Western Heroes™!
The idea that a supposedly-non-violent guy would have a basement full of customized weaponry would trigger alarms today, but back in the early '60s, it seemed perfectly natural...if a tad hypocritical.
And why can't Clay tell Nan and her grandfather that he's GunMaster...beyond the fact that it would make his stance about non-violence look foolish?
His premiere story in Charlton's Six-Gun Heroes #57 (1960) was scripted by Joe Gill illustrated by Dick Giordano, Frank McLaughlin, and Sal Trapani.
This was Charlton's second contribution to the sub-genre.
The first one was a more traditional type known as the Masked Raider, whose gimmick was that he had an eagle as his sidekick!
It's written by Joe Gill. He makes the concept of "a man who loves peace so much he's willing to fight for it" explicit later in the Sixties with Charlton's modern-day action hero Peacemaker.
ReplyDeleteI'll go with the guy who writes the superb "Who Wrote the Comics?" blog at http://martinohearn.blogspot.com anytime!
DeleteAnd both Gill and McLaughlin were the co-creators of Judomaster (a World War II martial artist), who took over GunMaster's book as of #89!
Thanks, Martin!