Boys' Ranch
Encyclopedia
Boys' Ranch was a six-issue American
comic book
series created by the veteran writer-artist team of Joe Simon
and Jack Kirby
for Harvey Comics
in 1950. A Western
in the then-prevalent "kid gang" vein popularized by such film series as "Our Gang
" and "The Dead End Kids", the series starred three adolescents—Dandy, Wabash, and Angel—who operate a ranch that was bequeathed to them, under the adult supervision of frontiersman Clay Duncan. Supporting characters included Palomino Sue, Wee Willie Weehawken, citizens of the town Four Massacres, and various Native Americans
, including a fictional version of the real-life Geronimo
.
Noted for its use of single and double-page illustrations, the series has been lauded as one of Simon and Kirby's most significant creations. It was briefly revived through reprints in 1955, and all six issues were reprinted in a hardcover edition by Marvel Comics
in 1991 with an introduction by Jim Simon.
and Dale Wilkins
as well as the 1946 MGM film, Boys' Ranch. By the late 1940s, the writer-artist team of Joe Simon
and Jack Kirby
was enjoying the commercial success of the duo's Young Romance
and Young Love romance comics
titles, and had formed a studio that employed artists such as Mort Meskin
, Steve Ditko
, John Prentice
, Marvin Stein
, Bruno Premiani
, George Roussos
, Bill Draut, and others. In 1950, Simon & Kirby launched two new titles: Black Magic
, for the Crestwood Publications
imprint Prize Comics, and Boys' Ranch for Harvey Comics
(which had previously published two short-lived Simon–Kirby titles, Stuntman and the Boy Explorers, in 1946).
According to a biographical page in one of the issues, Simon and Kirby claimed they had spent ten years researching what became Boys Ranch, traveling to Texas
, Wyoming
, and Arkansas
. They were influenced by the films of early western actor and director William S. Hart
. They had previously created the successful kid-gang features the Newsboy Legion
and Boy Commandos
for DC Comics
.
Simon in his autobiography
recounted a casual meeting in September 1950 with Superman
co-creator Jerry Siegel
, who had dropped by Harvey Comics' offices, and showing Siegel art from various upcoming series:
Launched in the wave of a western trend in American comic books, the series debuted with an October 1950 cover date as a 52-page, bimonthly series. It lasted six issues (Oct. 1950 – Aug. 1951). The original cover title was The Kid Cowboys of Boys' Ranch, shortened to Boys' Ranch after two issues; the subhead "Featuring Clay Duncan" remained throughout. Each issue featured a single page pinup at the beginning of the book along with a two-page centerspread. Each issue rounded off with various text and Western and Native American information pages such as "Boys' Ranch Club News", "How Cowboys Say It", "How To Ride a Horse", and "Now You Can Make Your Pair of Western Moccasins".
According to Harry Mendryk, Boys' Ranch comprises two distinct groups. "The first three issues featured work by Kirby (with one exception), had three stories per issue, and the stories were longer. For the final issues there is much less use of Kirby, only two stories per issue, and shorter stories. Actually each final issue had a single story, but broken into two chapters." The first three issues average around thirty story pages; the last three issues average about twenty. The last three feature special "theme" stories, the US Cavalry Army, the Pony Express, the Great Train Robbery. At least one of the themes was inspired by John Ford
films; issue #4 was thought to show an influence from Ford's 'Cavalry Trilogy'. Besides Simon and Kirby, Mort Meskin, Marvin Stein, and Charles Nicholas are credited as contributors in the latter issues, with Meskin given pencil and inks credits on "I'll fight you for Lucy!" and inks over Kirby pencils on "The Bugle Blows at Bloody Knife."
in Witches Western Tales (1955) #29–30, with further reprints in Western Tales #31–32.
Marvel Comics
published Kid Cowboys of Boys Ranch, a hardcover reprint edition of all six issues in 1991 (ISBN 087135859X). A Boys' Ranch portfolio of illustrations from the original series' artwork appeared in Joe Simon's The Comic Book Makers in 2003. Some Boys' Ranch selections appeared in 2009 Titan Books
anthology, The Best of Simon & Kirby (ISBN 1845769317).
Clay Duncan is an Indian scout who serves as foreman at the Boys' Ranch. Modelled on frontiersman such as Kit Carson
, Buffalo Bill Cody, and Davy Crockett
, he serves as role model to the boy characters. While a young child, Duncan's parents were killed by bandits. He was rescued by a passing band of Apache
Indians, and adopted by the Apache Running Bear, alongside his son, Geronimo. On reaching manhood, he left the Apache under the tutelage of Miles Freeman, a frontier scout. Running Bear's parting words were 'The war clouds darken once more over the white man and the Indian nations... there is much need for warriors who talk peace to both sides! Freeman's words are that the great spirit has given you to us for such a mission'. He occasionally takes on other jobs such as army scout, mail delivery driver, and US Marshal. His horse's name is Ghost.
Dandy is a 'well-liked kid with a ready smile and a confident air' who served in the American Civil War
. Usually depicted wearing a Union Army uniform, he left his adoptive parents from a small Ohio farm to explore the west. He has a noticeably greater active interest in the opposite sex, as exemplified in "I'll fight you for Lucy".
Wabash is an easy-going lad who "springs from the hill-folk
" His dubious banjo-accompanied singing skills are a source of comedy relief. His family history is explicated in the Johnny Appleseed
/ Paul Bunyan
-style tale "The Legend of Alby Fleezer."
Angel is a long-haired blond youth inspired by Billy the Kid
. He is a skilled gunfighter, and possesses a fiery temper. Nicknamed 'the fire-eatin', lead-throwin' angel', when first meeting Clay Duncan, he presents himself thus: "Got not peeve! I live alone... and I want to be left alone! I ain't like other kids! They got mothers and fathers to fuss over 'em! Well, I don't need nobody! Nobody! I kin handle myself against any man!" His horse's name is Paint.
Wee Willie Weehawken is the first arrival at Boys' Ranch. Styled the "oldest boy at Boys' Ranch" due to his advanced years, he cooks the meals at the ranch. "A very dangerous dude!",Boys' Ranch #1 reveals he had been a lawyer in his youth.
Happy Boy is a young Native American boy who appeared at the ranch one day. Never appearing on the cover, he does appear in one of the pin-up illustrations. He begins to communicate using sign language in Boys' Ranch #6 and plays a more prominent role in the story "Happy Boy carries the ball".
Palomino Sue hails from Abilene, Texas
. Her father was a wagon master. She arrived at Boys' Ranch after a trip on the wagon her father was driving was intercepted by Indians. She was the only survivor. When expressing a desire to get involved in fighting, Clay Duncan insists that, because it's too dangerous for a woman, she must remain at the ranch. She agrees, but her acquiescence was a pretence, as she later joins the fray, offering opportune assistance. Similar scenes recur in her two subsequent appearances in issues #5 and 6.
Geronimo
is portrayed as a fierce Apache military leader. As the son of Running Bear, he was a boyhood companion to Clay Duncan. Resentful of Duncan's position in the tribe, they become bitter rivals "The Clay Duncan Story".
Various Native American
tribes appear as protagonists throughout. The conflict between Caucasians and American Indians is often the result of manipulation and exploitation by dishonest Caucasians. For example, in issue #2, Comanche
and Blackfoot
tribes are falsely told by white traffickers that their land will be seized so they can sell them rifles. In issue #5, the Apache Indians are blamed for robbing mail wagons, but in reality the perpetrators were white robbers using subterfuge to place blame on the Apaches.
The début issue opens with the chance meeting of Dandy and Wabash, who had been on opposite sides of the then recent Civil War, but became friends and decided to head out West together. Meanwhile, Clay Duncan meets up with Angel and the four come together in the defence of a ranch belonging to Jason Harper against an attack by Apache
warriors. The story reveals Geronimo is the leader of that band when he joins the fray to order the band's retreat. As his dying act, he bequeathed the ranch to the youngsters for use as a shelter for homeless boys. They are later joined by Wee Willie Weehawken, because he was a middle-aged man, cited the technicality that the will didn't specify the maximum age to qualify as a "boy". Happy Boy joins the ranch shortly after. The ranch is near a town called Four Massacres.
to make heavy use of Kirby’s talents in the early issues of a new title and afterwards make more frequent use of other artists. For Boys' Ranch the change seems much more dramatic then in other titles. The last three issues are good, but they are not the masterpieces that the earlier issues were."
According to Richard Morrissey, Simon and Kirby's final effort in the "kid gang" genre showed signs of evolving in new directions: "In Boys' Ranch, Kirby seemed to be attempting to be going beyond his previous limitations... More and more, the team was abandoning adolescent adventure for more adult concerns... more than one observer has noted the similarities between the kid gangs of the '40s and early '50s with the adult teams of the late '50s and early '60s."
A 20-page tale of betrayal, revenge, and redemption referencing the similarly themed biblical story of Samson
and Delilah
, the story features Clay Duncan, Angel, and Delilah Barker, a character influenced by Marlene Dietrich
's character from Destry Rides Again
. A character named Virgil Underwood provides a Greek chorus
-like background commentary: "Those who find love are indeed fortunate, but woe betide them who demand it"; the story's final panel reads:
Analyzing the story, R.C. Harvey concludes with: "From hate springs the desire for vengeance, and that desire, as Angel discovers, is debilitating. And even love can turn to hate unless love's motive is a giving spirit. But a giving love is the ultimate redemption."
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
comic book
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
series created by the veteran writer-artist team of Joe Simon
Joe Simon
Joseph Henry "Joe" Simon is an American comic book writer, artist, editor, and publisher. Simon created or co-created many important characters in the 1930s-1940s Golden Age of Comic Books and served as the first editor of Timely Comics, the company that would evolve into Marvel Comics.With his...
and Jack Kirby
Jack Kirby
Jack Kirby , born Jacob Kurtzberg, was an American comic book artist, writer and editor regarded by historians and fans as one of the major innovators and most influential creators in the comic book medium....
for Harvey Comics
Harvey Comics
Harvey Comics was an American comic book publisher, founded in New York City by Alfred Harvey in 1941, after buying out the small publisher Brookwood Publications. His brothers Robert B...
in 1950. A Western
Western (genre)
The Western is a genre of various visual arts, such as film, television, radio, literature, painting and others. Westerns are devoted to telling stories set primarily in the latter half of the 19th century in the American Old West, hence the name. Some Westerns are set as early as the Battle of...
in the then-prevalent "kid gang" vein popularized by such film series as "Our Gang
Our Gang
Our Gang, also known as The Little Rascals or Hal Roach's Rascals, was a series of American comedy short films about a group of poor neighborhood children and the adventures they had together. Created by comedy producer Hal Roach, the series is noted for showing children behaving in a relatively...
" and "The Dead End Kids", the series starred three adolescents—Dandy, Wabash, and Angel—who operate a ranch that was bequeathed to them, under the adult supervision of frontiersman Clay Duncan. Supporting characters included Palomino Sue, Wee Willie Weehawken, citizens of the town Four Massacres, and various Native Americans
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
, including a fictional version of the real-life Geronimo
Geronimo
Geronimo was a prominent Native American leader of the Chiricahua Apache who fought against Mexico and the United States for their expansion into Apache tribal lands for several decades during the Apache Wars. Allegedly, "Geronimo" was the name given to him during a Mexican incident...
.
Noted for its use of single and double-page illustrations, the series has been lauded as one of Simon and Kirby's most significant creations. It was briefly revived through reprints in 1955, and all six issues were reprinted in a hardcover edition by Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics
Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
in 1991 with an introduction by Jim Simon.
Publication history
Western-style adventures involving boys in ranch settings were already present in American popular culture with the juvenile fiction of authors such as Frank V. WebsterFrank V. Webster
Frank V. Webster was the author of childrens' books. It was a pseudonym controlled by the Stratemeyer Syndicate, the first book packager of books aimed at children. This pseudonym was used on books for boys from the early 1900s through the 1930s...
and Dale Wilkins
Jessie Graham Flower
Jessie Graham Flower is apparently a pseudonym for American author Josephine Chase who was the author of the popular Grace Harlowe series of 27 books for girls, written between 1910 and 1924. The books fall into four separate series, including a high school series, college series, Overseas series,...
as well as the 1946 MGM film, Boys' Ranch. By the late 1940s, the writer-artist team of Joe Simon
Joe Simon
Joseph Henry "Joe" Simon is an American comic book writer, artist, editor, and publisher. Simon created or co-created many important characters in the 1930s-1940s Golden Age of Comic Books and served as the first editor of Timely Comics, the company that would evolve into Marvel Comics.With his...
and Jack Kirby
Jack Kirby
Jack Kirby , born Jacob Kurtzberg, was an American comic book artist, writer and editor regarded by historians and fans as one of the major innovators and most influential creators in the comic book medium....
was enjoying the commercial success of the duo's Young Romance
Young Romance
Young Romance is a comic book series created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby for the Crestwood Publications imprint Prize Comics in 1947. Generally considered the first romance comic, the series ran for 124 consecutive issues under Prize imprint, and a further 84 published by DC Comics after Crestwood...
and Young Love romance comics
Romance comics
Romance comics is a comics genre depicting romantic love and its attendant complications such as jealousy, marriage, divorce, betrayal, and heartache. The term is generally associated with an American comic books genre published through the first three decades of the Cold War...
titles, and had formed a studio that employed artists such as Mort Meskin
Mort Meskin
Morton "Mort" Meskin was a prolific American comic book artist best-known for his work in the 1940s Golden Age of comic books, well into the late-1950s and 1960s Silver Age.-Early life:...
, Steve Ditko
Steve Ditko
Stephen J. "Steve" Ditko is an American comic book artist and writer best known as the artist co-creator, with Stan Lee, of the Marvel Comics heroes Spider-Man and Doctor Strange....
, John Prentice
John Prentice (cartoonist)
John Prentice was a cartoonist who took over the comic strip Rip Kirby upon the death of the strip's creator, Alex Raymond.Prentice was born in Whitney, Texas. From 1940-1946 he served in the United States Navy...
, Marvin Stein
Marvin Stein
Marvin Stein was an American comic book artist, who also worked in animation, advertising, illustration and television broadcast graphics....
, Bruno Premiani
Bruno Premiani
Giordano Bruno Premiani , whose work is credited as Bruno Premiani, was an Italian illustrator known for his work for several American comic book publishers, particularly DC Comics...
, George Roussos
George Roussos
George Roussos , also known under the pseudonym George Bell, was an American comic book artist best known as one of Jack Kirby's Silver Age inkers, including on landmark early issues of Marvel Comics' Fantastic Four.-Early life and career:George Roussos was born in Washington, D.C., the son of...
, Bill Draut, and others. In 1950, Simon & Kirby launched two new titles: Black Magic
Black Magic (comics)
Black Magic was a horror anthology comic book series published by Prize Comics from 1950-1961. The series was notable for being packaged by the celebrated creative duo Joe Simon and Jack Kirby, and for its non-gory horror content....
, for the Crestwood Publications
Crestwood Publications
Crestwood Publications, also known as Feature Publications, was a magazine publisher that also published comic books from the 1940s through the 1960s. Its title Prize Comics contained what is considered the first ongoing horror comic-book feature, Dick Briefer's "Frankenstein"...
imprint Prize Comics, and Boys' Ranch for Harvey Comics
Harvey Comics
Harvey Comics was an American comic book publisher, founded in New York City by Alfred Harvey in 1941, after buying out the small publisher Brookwood Publications. His brothers Robert B...
(which had previously published two short-lived Simon–Kirby titles, Stuntman and the Boy Explorers, in 1946).
According to a biographical page in one of the issues, Simon and Kirby claimed they had spent ten years researching what became Boys Ranch, traveling to Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
, Wyoming
Wyoming
Wyoming is a state in the mountain region of the Western United States. The western two thirds of the state is covered mostly with the mountain ranges and rangelands in the foothills of the Eastern Rocky Mountains, while the eastern third of the state is high elevation prairie known as the High...
, and Arkansas
Arkansas
Arkansas is a state located in the southern region of the United States. Its name is an Algonquian name of the Quapaw Indians. Arkansas shares borders with six states , and its eastern border is largely defined by the Mississippi River...
. They were influenced by the films of early western actor and director William S. Hart
William S. Hart
William Surrey Hart was an American silent film actor, screenwriter, director and producer. He is remembered for having "imbued all of his characters with honor and integrity."-Biography:...
. They had previously created the successful kid-gang features the Newsboy Legion
Newsboy Legion
The Newsboy Legion are fictional characters, a kid gang in the DC Comics Universe. Created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby, they appeared in their own self-titled feature which ran from Star Spangled Comics #7 to Star Spangled Comics #64 .-Pre-Crisis version:A group of orphans, living on the streets...
and Boy Commandos
Boy Commandos
Boy Commandos was a 1940s comic book series created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby for DC Comics. A combination of "kid gang" comics and war comics, the title starred an international cast of little tough guys fighting the Nazis — or in their own parlance, "the Ratzies".-Creation:Simon & Kirby, hired...
for DC Comics
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
.
Simon in his autobiography
Autobiography
An autobiography is a book about the life of a person, written by that person.-Origin of the term:...
recounted a casual meeting in September 1950 with Superman
Superman
Superman is a fictional comic book superhero appearing in publications by DC Comics, widely considered to be an American cultural icon. Created by American writer Jerry Siegel and Canadian-born American artist Joe Shuster in 1932 while both were living in Cleveland, Ohio, and sold to Detective...
co-creator Jerry Siegel
Jerry Siegel
Jerome "Jerry" Siegel , who also used pseudonyms including Joe Carter, Jerry Ess, and Herbert S...
, who had dropped by Harvey Comics' offices, and showing Siegel art from various upcoming series:
According to Harry Mendryk, Boys' Ranch comprises two distinct groups. "The first three issues featured work by Kirby (with one exception), had three stories per issue, and the stories were longer. For the final issues there is much less use of Kirby, only two stories per issue, and shorter stories. Actually each final issue had a single story, but broken into two chapters." The first three issues average around thirty story pages; the last three issues average about twenty. The last three feature special "theme" stories, the US Cavalry Army, the Pony Express, the Great Train Robbery. At least one of the themes was inspired by John Ford
John Ford
John Ford was an American film director. He was famous for both his westerns such as Stagecoach, The Searchers, and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, and adaptations of such classic 20th-century American novels as The Grapes of Wrath...
films; issue #4 was thought to show an influence from Ford's 'Cavalry Trilogy'. Besides Simon and Kirby, Mort Meskin, Marvin Stein, and Charles Nicholas are credited as contributors in the latter issues, with Meskin given pencil and inks credits on "I'll fight you for Lucy!" and inks over Kirby pencils on "The Bugle Blows at Bloody Knife."
Reprints
The title was briefly revived through reprints in 1955. Penrod Shoes issued a giveaway coeval edition of Boys' Ranch #5 and #6, and the same issues were reprinted by Harvey ThrillerHarvey Thriller
Harvey Thriller was a comic book imprint used by Harvey Comics for their brief foray into publishing super heroes and other non-'kiddie' comics in the mid 1960s....
in Witches Western Tales (1955) #29–30, with further reprints in Western Tales #31–32.
Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics
Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
published Kid Cowboys of Boys Ranch, a hardcover reprint edition of all six issues in 1991 (ISBN 087135859X). A Boys' Ranch portfolio of illustrations from the original series' artwork appeared in Joe Simon's The Comic Book Makers in 2003. Some Boys' Ranch selections appeared in 2009 Titan Books
Titan Books
Titan Publishing Group is an independently owned publishing company, established in 1981. It is based at offices in London, England's Bankside area. The Books Division has two main areas of publishing: film & TV tie-ins/cinema reference books; and graphic novels and comics reference/art titles. The...
anthology, The Best of Simon & Kirby (ISBN 1845769317).
Characters and story
Kit Carson
Christopher Houston "Kit" Carson was an American frontiersman and Indian fighter. Carson left home in rural present-day Missouri at age 16 and became a Mountain man and trapper in the West. Carson explored the west to California, and north through the Rocky Mountains. He lived among and married...
, Buffalo Bill Cody, and Davy Crockett
Davy Crockett
David "Davy" Crockett was a celebrated 19th century American folk hero, frontiersman, soldier and politician. He is commonly referred to in popular culture by the epithet "King of the Wild Frontier". He represented Tennessee in the U.S...
, he serves as role model to the boy characters. While a young child, Duncan's parents were killed by bandits. He was rescued by a passing band of Apache
Apache
Apache is the collective term for several culturally related groups of Native Americans in the United States originally from the Southwest United States. These indigenous peoples of North America speak a Southern Athabaskan language, which is related linguistically to the languages of Athabaskan...
Indians, and adopted by the Apache Running Bear, alongside his son, Geronimo. On reaching manhood, he left the Apache under the tutelage of Miles Freeman, a frontier scout. Running Bear's parting words were 'The war clouds darken once more over the white man and the Indian nations... there is much need for warriors who talk peace to both sides! Freeman's words are that the great spirit has given you to us for such a mission'. He occasionally takes on other jobs such as army scout, mail delivery driver, and US Marshal. His horse's name is Ghost.
Dandy is a 'well-liked kid with a ready smile and a confident air' who served in the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
. Usually depicted wearing a Union Army uniform, he left his adoptive parents from a small Ohio farm to explore the west. He has a noticeably greater active interest in the opposite sex, as exemplified in "I'll fight you for Lucy".
Wabash is an easy-going lad who "springs from the hill-folk
Hillbilly
Hillbilly is a term referring to certain people who dwell in rural, mountainous areas of the United States, primarily Appalachia but also the Ozarks. Owing to its strongly stereotypical connotations, the term is frequently considered derogatory, and so is usually offensive to those Americans of...
" His dubious banjo-accompanied singing skills are a source of comedy relief. His family history is explicated in the Johnny Appleseed
Johnny Appleseed
Johnny Appleseed , born John Chapman, was an American pioneer nurseryman who introduced apple trees to large parts of Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois...
/ Paul Bunyan
Paul Bunyan
Paul Bunyan is a lumberjack figure in North American folklore and tradition. One of the most famous and popular North American folklore heroes, he is usually described as a giant as well as a lumberjack of unusual skill, and is often accompanied in stories by his animal companion, Babe the Blue...
-style tale "The Legend of Alby Fleezer."
Angel is a long-haired blond youth inspired by Billy the Kid
Billy the Kid
William H. Bonney William H. Bonney William H. Bonney (born William Henry McCarty, Jr. est. November 23, 1859 – c. July 14, 1881, better known as Billy the Kid but also known as Henry Antrim, was a 19th-century American gunman who participated in the Lincoln County War and became a frontier...
. He is a skilled gunfighter, and possesses a fiery temper. Nicknamed 'the fire-eatin', lead-throwin' angel', when first meeting Clay Duncan, he presents himself thus: "Got not peeve! I live alone... and I want to be left alone! I ain't like other kids! They got mothers and fathers to fuss over 'em! Well, I don't need nobody! Nobody! I kin handle myself against any man!" His horse's name is Paint.
Wee Willie Weehawken is the first arrival at Boys' Ranch. Styled the "oldest boy at Boys' Ranch" due to his advanced years, he cooks the meals at the ranch. "A very dangerous dude!",Boys' Ranch #1 reveals he had been a lawyer in his youth.
Happy Boy is a young Native American boy who appeared at the ranch one day. Never appearing on the cover, he does appear in one of the pin-up illustrations. He begins to communicate using sign language in Boys' Ranch #6 and plays a more prominent role in the story "Happy Boy carries the ball".
Palomino Sue hails from Abilene, Texas
Abilene, Texas
Abilene is a city in Taylor and Jones counties in west central Texas. The population was 117,063 at the 2010 census. It is the principal city of the Abilene Metropolitan Statistical Area, which had a 2006 estimated population of 158,063. It is the county seat of Taylor County...
. Her father was a wagon master. She arrived at Boys' Ranch after a trip on the wagon her father was driving was intercepted by Indians. She was the only survivor. When expressing a desire to get involved in fighting, Clay Duncan insists that, because it's too dangerous for a woman, she must remain at the ranch. She agrees, but her acquiescence was a pretence, as she later joins the fray, offering opportune assistance. Similar scenes recur in her two subsequent appearances in issues #5 and 6.
Geronimo
Geronimo
Geronimo was a prominent Native American leader of the Chiricahua Apache who fought against Mexico and the United States for their expansion into Apache tribal lands for several decades during the Apache Wars. Allegedly, "Geronimo" was the name given to him during a Mexican incident...
is portrayed as a fierce Apache military leader. As the son of Running Bear, he was a boyhood companion to Clay Duncan. Resentful of Duncan's position in the tribe, they become bitter rivals "The Clay Duncan Story".
Various Native American
Indigenous peoples of the Americas
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
tribes appear as protagonists throughout. The conflict between Caucasians and American Indians is often the result of manipulation and exploitation by dishonest Caucasians. For example, in issue #2, Comanche
Comanche
The Comanche are a Native American ethnic group whose historic range consisted of present-day eastern New Mexico, southern Colorado, northeastern Arizona, southern Kansas, all of Oklahoma, and most of northwest Texas. Historically, the Comanches were hunter-gatherers, with a typical Plains Indian...
and Blackfoot
Blackfoot
The Blackfoot Confederacy or Niitsítapi is the collective name of three First Nations in Alberta and one Native American tribe in Montana....
tribes are falsely told by white traffickers that their land will be seized so they can sell them rifles. In issue #5, the Apache Indians are blamed for robbing mail wagons, but in reality the perpetrators were white robbers using subterfuge to place blame on the Apaches.
The début issue opens with the chance meeting of Dandy and Wabash, who had been on opposite sides of the then recent Civil War, but became friends and decided to head out West together. Meanwhile, Clay Duncan meets up with Angel and the four come together in the defence of a ranch belonging to Jason Harper against an attack by Apache
Apache
Apache is the collective term for several culturally related groups of Native Americans in the United States originally from the Southwest United States. These indigenous peoples of North America speak a Southern Athabaskan language, which is related linguistically to the languages of Athabaskan...
warriors. The story reveals Geronimo is the leader of that band when he joins the fray to order the band's retreat. As his dying act, he bequeathed the ranch to the youngsters for use as a shelter for homeless boys. They are later joined by Wee Willie Weehawken, because he was a middle-aged man, cited the technicality that the will didn't specify the maximum age to qualify as a "boy". Happy Boy joins the ranch shortly after. The ranch is near a town called Four Massacres.
Series commentary
Boys' Ranch has become one of Simon and Kirby's most critically acclaimed creations and is held in high esteem by both creators. R. J. Vitone qualifies the series as having "much more depth than previous S & K kid-gang strips – the basic elements that had made the romance and crime books so thematically strong were applied here as well." Mendryk points out a certain drop of quality in later issues: "It was part of the Simon and Kirby modus operandiModus operandi
Modus operandi is a Latin phrase, approximately translated as "mode of operation". The term is used to describe someone's habits or manner of working, their method of operating or functioning...
to make heavy use of Kirby’s talents in the early issues of a new title and afterwards make more frequent use of other artists. For Boys' Ranch the change seems much more dramatic then in other titles. The last three issues are good, but they are not the masterpieces that the earlier issues were."
Mother Delilah
The first story from issue #3, "Mother Delilah", has been singled out as one of Simon and Kirby's finest. Kirby has cited it as a personal favorite, and it has received accolades by critics, comic book professionals and fans alike.A 20-page tale of betrayal, revenge, and redemption referencing the similarly themed biblical story of Samson
Samson
Samson, Shimshon ; Shamshoun or Sampson is the third to last of the Judges of the ancient Israelites mentioned in the Tanakh ....
and Delilah
Delilah
Delilah appears only in the Hebrew bible Book of Judges 16, where she is the "woman in the valley of Sorek" whom Samson loved, and who was his downfall...
, the story features Clay Duncan, Angel, and Delilah Barker, a character influenced by Marlene Dietrich
Marlene Dietrich
Marlene Dietrich was a German-American actress and singer.Dietrich remained popular throughout her long career by continually re-inventing herself, professionally and characteristically. In the Berlin of the 1920s, she acted on the stage and in silent films...
's character from Destry Rides Again
Destry Rides Again
Destry Rides Again is a western starring Marlene Dietrich and James Stewart. The supporting cast includes Mischa Auer, Charles Winninger, Brian Donlevy, Allen Jenkins, Irene Hervey, Billy Gilbert, Bill Cody, Jr., and Una Merkel. The original Max Brand novel was translated into an "oater" with the...
. A character named Virgil Underwood provides a Greek chorus
Greek chorus
A Greek chorus is a homogenous, non-individualised group of performers in the plays of classical Greece, who comment with a collective voice on the dramatic action....
-like background commentary: "Those who find love are indeed fortunate, but woe betide them who demand it"; the story's final panel reads:
Analyzing the story, R.C. Harvey concludes with: "From hate springs the desire for vengeance, and that desire, as Angel discovers, is debilitating. And even love can turn to hate unless love's motive is a giving spirit. But a giving love is the ultimate redemption."
External links
- B & W image of main characters at Simon Entertainment Properties
- Boy's Ranch Checklist at Simon & Kirby Blog, the Kirby Museum
- Cover gallery at the Grand Comics Database
- Original Cover Art to Penrod Boy's Ranch #6 at 20th Century Danny Boy