Do You Know About LOBO...the FIRST Black Character to Star in His Own Mainstream Comic?

In 1966, the year The Black Panther debuted in Marvel's Fantastic Four #52...

...Dell Comics went them one better, introducing the first Black hero to get his own comic!

Other Black characters had their own series (one one-shot features) in anthology titles, but Lobo was the first to have his name AS the comic's title!

Lobo combined a couple of popular plot concepts...

Man on the Run for a Crime He Did NOT Commit

Exemplified by then-hit tv series The Fugitive, Lobo was framed, but couldn't prove his innocence.

Lone Western Hero

A loner wandering the Old West, righting wrongs was an especially popular genre in tv Westerns.

Variations on the theme included gamblers (Maverick) and martial-arts experts (Kung Fu)

Note: the tv series Branded also combined both the Loner and Man Framed themes!

...as well as a new concept:

Prominent Black character

Black characters (except for sterotypes like Amos 'n Andy) were few and far between on tv until the mid-1960s, and even then only as supporting characters (usually servants).

1960s urban dramas like Naked City and East Side, West Side, which dealt with current social themes had Black guest stars including James Earl Jones and Diana Sands, but no Black regulars.

Star Trek (1966) had both a Black regular (Lt. Nyota Uhura) and Black actors in prominent roles as scientists and high-placed officers/officials (admirals, etc,).

But, at that point, there were no tv series with a Black lead or Black title character!

(Diahann Carroll's groundbreaking series Julia didn't debut until 1968, two years later!)

So, Lobo was, to say the least, a daring experiment, albeit one with as many popular themes as possible to maximize sales potential!

Dell writer/editor Don (DJ) Arneson and artist Tony Tallarico felt the time was right, and managed to convince their publisher to take a chance.

You can read Arneson's tale of Lobo's creation HERE.

Unfortunately, it didn't work.

Many vendors refused to put a comic with a Black hero on their racks, and the book had an almost 90% return rate.

Lobo the comic ran only two issues.

It's rumored that a script and unfinished art exist for a third issue, but that's never been confirmed.

You can read both issues of Lobo 

#1

and 

#2

50 Years Ago: LOBO, the FIRST Black Character to Star in His Own Comic!

In 1966, the year the Black Panther debuted in Marvel's Fantastic Four...

...Dell Comics went them one better, introducing the first Black hero to get his own comic!

Other Black characters had their own series in anthology titles, but Lobo was the first to have his name AS the comic's title!Lobo combined a couple of popular plot concepts...
Man on the Run for a Crime He Did NOT Commit
Exemplified by then-hit tv series The Fugitive, Lobo was framed, but couldn't prove his innocence.
Lone Western Hero
A loner wandering the Old West, righting wrongs was an especially popular genre in tv Westerns.
Variations on the theme included gamblers (Maverick) and martial-arts experts (Kung Fu)
Note: the tv series Branded also combined both the Loner and Man Framed themes!
...as well as a new concept:
Prominent Black character
Black characters (except for sterotypes like Amos 'n Andy) were few and far between on tv until the mid-1960s, and even then only as supporting characters (usually servants).
1960s urban dramas like Naked City and East Side, West Side, which dealt with current social themes had Black guest stars including James Earl Jones and Diana Sands, but no Black regulars.
Star Trek (1966) had both a Black regular character (Lt. Nyota Uhura) and Black actors in prominent roles as scientists and high-placed officers (admirals, etc,).
But, at that point, there were no tv series with a Black lead or Black title character!
(Diahann Carroll's groundbreaking series Julia didn't debut until 1968, two years later!)
So, Lobo was, to say the least, a daring experiment, albeit one with as many popular themes as possible to maximize sales potential!
Dell writer/editor Don (DJ) Arneson and artist Tony Tallarico felt the time was right, and managed to convince their publisher to take a chance.
You can read Arneson's tale of Lobo's creation HERE.
Unfortunately, it didn't work.
Many vendors refused to put a comic with a Black hero on their racks, and the book had an almost 90% return rate.
Lobo the comic only ran two issues.
It's rumored that a script and unfinished art exist for a third issue, but that's never been confirmed.
You can read both issues of Lobo HERE and HERE.

MASKED MARVEL "Beasts of Horror"

We end October as we began, with the hero who looks like a Dia de los Muertos sugar skull...

...in his final, never-reprinted appearance in Youthful's GunSmoke #16 (1952)!

Most of the time, the Masked Marvel, like the Ghost Rider, faced threats that appeared supernatural, but actually were people pretending to be ghosts or monsters, like the heroes themselves.
The writer is unknown, but the artist is Tony Tallarico, who went on to co-create Lobo, comics' first Black cowboy (and the first Black character to get his own comic book) in 1966!

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LOBO "Showdown" (And THE END of Lobo!)

When Last We Left Our Hero...

 After "The King's" plan to frame Lobo (in order to trick the local sheriff into hunting and killing the hero) fails, the crazed criminal is forced to do his own dirty work...

But Lobo didn't return...

This was his last appearance...anywere!

(There's never even been a reprint trade paperback.)
As to why, artist Tony Tallarico explained in a 2006 interview...

I approached D. J. Arneson and he brought it in and showed it to (Dell Comics editor-in-chief) Helen Meyer. ... She loved it.She really wanted to do it.
Great, so we did it.
We did the first issue.
And in comics, you start the second issue as they're printing the first one, due to time limitations. ...
All of the sudden, they stopped the wagon.
They stopped production on the issue.
They discovered that as they were sending out bundles of comics out to the distributors (that) they were being returned unopened.
And I couldn't figure out why.
So they sniffed around, scouted around and discovered (that many sellers) were opposed to Lobo, who was the first Black Western hero.
That was the end of the book.
It sold nothing.
They printed 200,000; that was the going print-rate.
They sold, oh, 10-15,000!

That's why it's up to you, dear reader, to spread the word!

Link to this blog's entries on Lobo!

Tell others of the FIRST Black character to have his own comic book!

Let the Lobo legend live!

LOBO "Posse"

When Last We Left Our Hero...

Lobo interferes with the plans of "The King", a rich landowner with delusions of grandeur who's attempting to drive local ranchers off their spreads in order to claim the "abandoned" land for himself...without paying a cent!

Next Week: Showdown!

The FINAL Chapter in the Saga of Lobo!

This tale from Dell's Lobo #2 (1966) was written by D J Arneson and illustrated by Tony Tallarico.

LOBO "King of the West"

Before Django...there was Lobo!

Landing a job as a "drover" with a cattle drive, an ex-Union soldier tries to be accepted as just another cowboy.

But a cruel Fate has other plans for him, as he is framed for murder.

But, the man who actually committed the killings dies before confessing to the authorities!
Now known as "Lobo",  he seeks to clear his name...

Next Week:

Lobo is stalked by The Posse!

Written by Don "DJ" Arneson and illustrated by Tony Tallarico, two guys who were well ahead of their time!