Monday, November 23, 2020

8 or 9 Carl Memling Stories on Cowboy Western

This was going to be merely a writer's list post, and yet what should appear but another refry--a script reused with new art. This one may hold a record--the refry appeared a mere two issues after the original, and under the same title. "Cry for Revenge" is slightly rewritten from a standalone in Charton's Cowboy Western 47 to a Golden Arrow series story in #49.

Cowboy Western 47, 49

But speaking of the writer's list, there were a few Western comics at Charlton during Carl Memling's tenure, alongside the more numerous weird and crime titles he wrote for. I was reminded of him when I flipped through Cowboy Western 48 and saw a character in the Rip Ryan story say he was "practicin' triggernometry"--a line used ten years later in the first three isssues of Dell's Idaho, one of Memling's credits in the Who's Who. Another sign in "Trigger Bait" of the writer of Idaho is calling guns "smokepoles"--a term Golden Arrow uses, too, in his "Cry for Revenge" story.

Written by Carl Memling:
Cowboy Western


Dec/53 47  Sentence of Death [RIP RYAN]
The Way of a Killer
    Trail's End
    Cry for Revenge
Spr/54  48  Trigger Bait [RIP RYAN]
    One Horsepower
May/      49  Triple-Test
    The Deadly Wolf-Pack [BLACK JACK]


Cry for Revenge [GOLDEN ARROW]

4 comments:

  1. I wonder if the repeated story could be Charlton forgetting they already had it drawn. Of course that theory would suggest poor inventory control.
    and in my wondering if Memling left comics for children's books exclusively (no) , I saw this picture of him (and another below it) https://bankstreetlibrary.wordpress.com/2012/07/31/photo-fun/captainkangaroo_2web/

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    Replies
    1. That does seem like it would be par for the course at Charlton.

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  2. Not much to add, except keep up your priceless work! I am writing a book on the comics, and (as you know better than anyone) the official sources are full of bad guesswork. Very few people really know these writers and artists, and nobody does it as well as you. Hopefully one day you'll get the recognition you deserve. Please don't ever stop!

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