WESTERN COMICS—RIO: THE COMPLETE SAGA

WESTERN COMICS

RIO: THE COMPLETE SAGA

DOUG WILDEY

REVIEWED BY

JAMES REASONER

I was eleven when Jonny Quest premiered in 1964, about the right age to start wondering if I was too old to be watching cartoons. Now I know, of course, that you’re never too old to watch cartoons if you enjoy them. Back in those days, it didn’t take me long to realize that Jonny Quest was one cartoon I certainly needed to watch, because I thought it was great. Jonny’s globe-trotting adventures reminded me of the Rick Brant novels, my all-time favorite series of boys’ adventure books. At the time, I had no idea that the series was created and developed by a writer/artist named Doug Wildey.

In time I became aware of Wildey’s involvement in the series and learned that he had a significant career in comic books and comic strips as well as animation. But if I ever knew he produced a Western comic book called RIO for various publishers in the Eighties and Nineties, I’d forgotten it, until a friend mentioned on Facebook that he was reading a complete collection of Wildey’s Rio stories. That sent me in search of a copy, which proved to be surprisingly easy to obtain since there’s an ebook edition that’s available on Kindle Unlimited (CLICK HERE). Since I’ve come to enjoy reading comics digitally (yeah, that surprised me, too), I grabbed it immediately.

Rio is a former outlaw and gunfighter who has gone to work as a troubleshooter for President Ulysses S. Grant. He’s been promised a pardon if he carries out the missions Grant assigns to him. The first one involves taking on a cruel railroad baron and his hired guns in “The Hide Butchers”. That’s the first part of a three-part story that continues in “Satan’s Doorstep”, in which Rio clashes with the U.S. cavalry, and “Robber’s Roost”, in which he ventures into a Mexican village that’s been taken over by outlaws.

In another long, three-part story, “Mr. Howard’s Son”, Wildey fills in more of Rio’s background and reveals that he once rode with Frank and Jesse James and their gang. Rio encounters Jesse again, as Old West outlaw history buffs will realize pretty early on, and the events in this story foreshadow the famous owlhoot’s real-life fate later on.

Rio encounters another old friend, Doc Holliday, in “Hot Lead for Jonny Hardluck”, as a trail that begins with a botched stagecoach robbery ultimately leads Rio to San Francisco. From there, still in company with Doc Holliday, Rio pays a visit to Tombstone in “Red Dust in Tombstone”, a tale that also involves Wyatt and Virgil Earp and Buckskin Frank Leslie. Finally, the volume concludes with “Reprisal”, an unfinished story Wildey was working on at the time of his death, in which Rio tangles with Mexican revolutionaries who are after a load of gunpowder smuggled over the border.

I really enjoyed reading RIO: THE COMPLETE SAGA. Wildey’s artwork is superb all the way through, and his scripts have a gritty tone to them reminiscent of Spaghetti Westerns and the novels written by the Piccadilly Cowboys in the Seventies. The historical aspects seem reasonably accurate, and I think fans of traditional Westerns would enjoy these stories, as well. It’s an excellent collection, a lot of fun to read, and I give it a high recommendation.

WESTERN NOVELS—RATTLER'S LAW

WESTERN NOVELS

RATTLER'S LAW

Sixteen bullet burning Western novels in two volumes written by the master of Six-Gun action, James Reasoner...

RATTLER'S LAW

VOLUME ONE

The Town Tamer / Deadeye

The Train Robbers / Rancher’s Revenge 

Out for Blood / Shadow of the Gallows

A Solid Right Cross / Whiskey Trail

When war erupts over moonshine, blood is spilled along with the whiskey...Wild Bill Hickok may be gone, but Abilene is still a wild and woolly cow town in need of a strong marshal to bring law and order to its streets. That man is Lucas Flint, a legendary lawman sometimes known as the Rattler because of his swift and deadly speed with a Colt .45. Together with his deputy, dashing young gunfighter Cully Markham, Lucas Flint will take on any challenge that threatens the safety of the town and its people that he’s sworn to protect.

In this first collection of Rattler’s Law novels, Flint and Cody battle a ruthless criminal overlord who has taken over the town. A traveling circus visits Abilene, bringing with it unexpected danger. Cully finds himself at the head of a posse tracking down a gang of train robbers. Settlers want only a new place to make their homes, but a violent band of masked marauders has another idea. A half-Kiowa army scout visits Abilene, unaware that a renegade war party is on his trail. Lucas Flint travels to Wyoming to solve a murder and save an innocent woman from the gallows. Big-city criminals show up in Abilene intent on killing a famous pugilist.

CURRENTLY 99¢ FOR YOUR KINDLE

TO BUY RATTLER'S LAW VOLUME ONE

CLICK HERE

RATTLER'S LAW

VOLUME TWO

Buffalo Hunter / Rebel Gold

Devil With A .38 / Hell On the Hoof 

Gundown / Killer With A Badge

Six-Gun Wedding / Big Fifty Justice

It's up to a part-time deputy to stand up for the law and deliver justice...Wild Bill Hickok may be gone, but Abilene is still a wild and woolly cowtown in need of a strong marshal to bring law and order to its streets. That man is Lucas Flint . . . a legendary lawman sometimes known as the Rattler because of his swift and deadly speed with a Colt .45. Together with his deputy, dashing young gunfighter Cully Markham, Lucas Flint will take on any challenge that threatens the safety of the town and its people that he’s sworn to protect.

As a blizzard rages on the Kansas plains, an old buffalo hunter is caught in the crossfire between a Sioux war party and a clan of bank-robbing killers. A fortune in Confederate gold lures outlaws to Abilene. A young gunslinger bent on vengeance has a startling secret. A prize bull, a hard-bitten rancher, and a gang of thieves prove to be an explosive mixture for Cully Markham. A deadly Fourth of July celebration provides more than one kind of fireworks. A man sworn to uphold the law instead launches a reign of terror. A trio of mail order brides arrives in Abilene, but they bring flying lead rather than matrimonial bliss.

CURRENTLY 99¢ FOR YOUR KINDLE

TO BUY RATTLER'S LAW VOLUME ONE

CLICK HERE

WESTERN PAPERBACKS—REDEMPTION, KANSAS

WESTERN PAPERBACKS

REDEMPTION, KANSAS

JAMES REASONER

I’ve never been disappointed by a book written by James Reasoner because the characters, setting, and plot always ring true. Dialog and action are well balanced. The narrative, clear and straight-forward. It‘s all there in Redemption, Kansas, the first in the Redemption series.

It was my pleasure to discover the title on a rack at my local HyVee grocery store. Unlike so much of what I read, I didn’t learn about this title on the web before seeing it for sale. Instead, I just happened upon it—just like in the old days. A surprise that brought back one of the great joys of buying physical books in a pre-Internet world.

After an exceptionally hard week at work, I read the book in three sittings before bed. The house was quiet, the weather was good, and Reasoner’s slick prose reminded me why reading is my favorite pastime.

None of that would matter though if the story, a traditional western, didn’t rise above the typical formula. It does, because Reasoner puts familiar characters into new, uniquely dangerous, and suspense filled situations.

Injured Texan Bill Harvey, laid up in a Kansas town controlled by back-shooters Marshal Frank Porter and Deputy Zach Norris, is a stranger in a strange land. Not only did I immediately identify with Harvey, I also recognized the sheer improbability of his winning the day.

To paraphrase Lester Dent’s guidelines for pulp fiction—Reasoner piles the trouble on Bill—and just when you think he’s had enough, another load comes down. It’s great stuff that carried me through to a satisfying conclusion. Highly recommended. 

CONTRIBUTOR: RICHARD PROSCH