Even Cowboys Get the Blues

"I just want to meet him. I think that mask and powder-blue outfit are fantastic," Mavel Comics' Rawhide Kid will reportedly say of the Lone Ranger in an upcoming issue. "I can certainly see why that Indian follows him around."

Confirming longstanding rumors that its past-prime cowboy character (RK hasn't had his own title in years) was coming out, Marvel editor-in-chief Joe Quesada tells the New York Post, "This is going to be the first gay Western."

That's a debatable claim, but the decision makes sense. What else are you going to do with the cowpoke genre? But while notorious writer Ron Zimmerman says the character will be empowering, it looks like Marvel is not going to stint on the Mr. Roper-era homo gags. "Very nice man. Big - ahem - I mean bigger than life," Rawhide will reply when asked about Wild Bill Hickock. (Historical accuracy note: Hickock was in fact known for having small hands, so if there's any truth in that old wives tale…) More power to them. America can never have enough camp.

Here's a collection of Rawhide Kid covers. See if you always suspected there was something about that kid.