{"id":25776,"date":"2022-05-08T08:00:24","date_gmt":"2022-05-08T08:00:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/?p=25776"},"modified":"2022-05-07T16:21:07","modified_gmt":"2022-05-07T16:21:07","slug":"the-cisco-kid","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/2022\/05\/08\/the-cisco-kid\/","title":{"rendered":"The Cisco Kid\u00e2\u201e\u00a2\u00c2\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\nBy <\/span>Rod Reed<\/span><\/b> & <\/span>Jos\u00c3\u00a9 Luis Salinas<\/span><\/b> (Ken Pierce Books)<\/span>\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

ISBN: 0-912277-00-9 (PB)<\/span>\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As with so many classic mass-media heroes, <\/span>The Cisco Kid<\/span><\/b> began as charismatic villain. Created by O. Henry for short prose tale <\/span>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153The Caballero’s Way\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/span><\/i>, he first appeared in <\/span>Everybody’s Magazine<\/span><\/b> in July 1907, and was included in the author’s anthological collection <\/span>Heart of the West<\/span><\/b>, which was published in the same year.<\/span>\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Gone but not forgotten, The Kid returned and was gradually rehabilitated via a series of 27 films spanning 1914-1950; a radio serial running from 1942-1956; a one shot comic book in 1944 and – most crucially – a TV series (the first ever shot in colour) comprising 156 episodes, which spanned 1950-1956. Those latter media milestones in particular spawned a Dell Comics series (41 issues from 1950-1958) and informed a spectacular and beautiful comic strip licensed by King Features Syndicate which ran in numerous newspapers and across the world from 1951 to 1968.<\/span>\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The hero is a dashing Mexican roaming the American west like the <\/span>Lone Ranger<\/span><\/b>, righting wrongs for no appreciable reason or reward. His comedy sidekick <\/span>Pancho<\/span><\/i> is fat, jolly, and eternally anxious, but also smart, deceptively brave and extremely capable: a rare example of positive depictions of Latino characters at that time or even by most modern examples\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/span>\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In the end, every effort of so many creators across the mass-communications divide couldn’t much help as increasingly polarized views about minorities pretty much cemented a certain view of Mexican characters in American public opinion in the 1960s and 1970, but at least our guys always were heroes, not low-grade villains, and lazy language stereotyping was kept to an absolute minimum.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span>\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Cisco and Pancho spoke floridly, but never like <\/span>Speedy Gonzales<\/span><\/b>\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6\u00c2\u00a0<\/span>\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This strip feature, like so many beautiful examples of western adventuring, has been all but forgotten today, but holds up remarkably well in terms of modern sensibilities \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6and as I’ve indicated, it is so very, very beautifully drawn.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span>\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This impossible-to-find collection comes courtesy of pioneering comics archivist Ken Pierce, whose one-man campaign to preserve the best of newspaper strips throughout the 1970 and 1980s (<\/span>Abbie an’ Slats<\/span><\/b>; <\/span>Axa<\/span><\/b>; <\/span>Danielle<\/span><\/b>; <\/span>Fred Kida’s Valkyrie<\/span><\/b>) resulted this slim single volume of monochrome daily episodes, fronted by writer Rod Reed’s evocative Introduction. Reed was a veteran golden age scripter whose best work was for Fawcett and Quality Comics, and in the five stories re-presented here (covering January 17<\/span>th<\/span> to May 4<\/span>th<\/span> 1950), he ingeniously blends traditional family entertainment\/action with wry wit and a devilishly wicked sense of the absurd\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/span>\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The writing is top notch but the true joy comes from the stunning draughtsmanship and graphic empathy of the illustrator. Jos\u00c3\u00a9 Luis Salinas (February 11, 1908-January10, 1985) was Argentinian, beginning as an advertising artist before moving into comics <\/span>El Tony<\/span><\/i><\/b> and <\/span>Paginas de Columba<\/span><\/i><\/b>. In 1936 he created his first strip. <\/span>Hern\u00c3\u00a1n el Corsario<\/span><\/i> in <\/span>Patoruzu<\/span><\/i><\/b> was followed by many more classic adventure escapades. In 1949, he began working for American enterprise King Features Syndicate, who eventually partnered him with Reed. Their partnership – and the strip – lasted eighteen years, and apparently they never ever met or even corresponded even once\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/span>\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Individual storylines very much mirror TV episodes of any western of the era – like <\/span>Hopalong Cassidy<\/span><\/b>, <\/span>Champion the Wonder Horse<\/span><\/b>; <\/span>Gunsmoke<\/span><\/b>, <\/span>Bonanza <\/span><\/b>or the aforementioned<\/span> Lone Ranger <\/span><\/b>–<\/span> and all the usual tropes are in play, but thanks to Reed’s deft touches and Salinas’ skill, what might to us seem cliched, still sparkles with verve and vivacity\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/span>\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The dramas launches with <\/span>‘The First Story’<\/span><\/i> as the heroes help feisty rancher <\/span>Lucy Baker<\/span><\/i> uncover a swindle perpetrated by the local judge. His malfeasance is initially uncovered because he won’t allow \u00e2\u20ac\u0153the wimmen-folk\u00e2\u20ac\u009d vote on his new dam project, but all too soon it devolves into murder plots, frantic horse-chases and plenty of gunplay\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/span>\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

‘The Deadly Stage Ride’<\/span><\/i> then sees the nomads save a failing stage coach company by replacing the driver and shotgun guard. Even if they had known sinister mastermind <\/span>The Jagged Dagger<\/span><\/i> was behind the campaign of sabotage and robbery, it would not have stopped them doing the right thing\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6\u00c2\u00a0<\/span>\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Humour is paramount in <\/span>‘The Artist’<\/span><\/i> as French painter Fran\u00c3\u00a7ois Palette arrives, determined to capture the action and glamour of the Wild West and its great heroes – like <\/span>Wyatt Earp<\/span><\/i>, <\/span>Bat Masterson<\/span><\/i>, and The Cisco Kid – only to become the target of a fugitive <\/span>Barbary Bill<\/span><\/i>: a bullying thug who didn’t like his portrait\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/span>\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Latin Lawgivers stumble across a dying man and carry out his deathbed wish to save an innocent man from execution in <\/span>‘The Harmonica Mistake’<\/span><\/i> before this delicious but dated delight closes down with a heartwarming mystery as Cisco and Pancho aid a poor widow and her son when outlaws kidnap the family pet. It seems there’s lost loot somewhere which old <\/span>Spot<\/span><\/i> can track in <\/span>‘Treasure Dog’<\/span><\/i>\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0<\/span>\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Swashbuckling thrills in the flamboyant style of Errol Flynn and Gene Kelly, combining the character dynamics of <\/span>Don Quixote<\/span><\/b> (& <\/span>Sancho Panza<\/span><\/i> ) with <\/span>Holmes & Watson<\/span><\/b> and <\/span>Batman and Robin<\/span><\/b>, these merry light-adventure yarns are so very moreish, and it’s well past time one of the specialist archival outfits like Hermes Press or IDW brought them all back to us\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/span>\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Cisco Kid\u00e2\u201e\u00a2 \u00c2\u00a9 1983 Doubleday & Company. Editorial content and arrangement \u00c2\u00a9 1983 Rod Reed. All rights reserved.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Rod Reed & Jos\u00c3\u00a9 Luis Salinas (Ken Pierce Books)\u00c2\u00a0 ISBN: 0-912277-00-9 (PB)\u00c2\u00a0 As with so many classic mass-media heroes, The Cisco Kid began as charismatic villain. Created by O. Henry for short prose tale \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The Caballero’s Way\u00e2\u20ac\u009d, he first appeared in Everybody’s Magazine in July 1907, and was included in the author’s anthological collection … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “The Cisco Kid\u00e2\u201e\u00a2\u00c2\u00a0“<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[191,78,125,99],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25776","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-adventure","category-comic-strip-classics","category-humour","category-westerns"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4AFj-6HK","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25776","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25776"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25776\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25779,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25776\/revisions\/25779"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25776"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25776"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25776"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}