Friday, March 12, 2010

If You Blinked You Missed: The Outcast by Steve Parkhouse and Barry Smith

Hey, hey, hey! Here's another one'a those short-lived features you probably never heard of, Groove-ophiles. This one, though, has a bit of pedigree that just might shock the socks off of ya. Y'see, the Outcast, whose one and only appearance was hidden in the pages of Western Gunfighters #4 (November 1970), was created by Roy Thomas, written by Steve Parkhouse, and drawn by Barry (Windsor-) Smith! Yeah, the fantasy artist supreme actually drew a western, and Ol' Groove's got it for ya! Look!

Check out the blurb on the last page--could this be one of Smith's earliest pro jobs? It doesn't completely look like it to my tired old eyes, but Stan and/or Roy could've let him dress it up a bit before it saw print. Whaddya think, Groove-ophiles?
Posted by at
Labels: , , , , , , , , ,

3 comments:

  1. Rip JaggerMarch 12, 2010 at 6:21 AM

    This is a fun one. I learned of this book a year or so back and immediately went out to my local stores and was able to scarf up a reading copy of this comic.

    Barry Smith's artwork in this period is so raw, but so full of energy and enthusiasm. I love this time, though I am glad he evolved too.

    He was the first artist I watched grow up before my eyes. It was neat to see.

    Rip Off

    ReplyDelete
  2. hobbyfanMarch 12, 2010 at 9:57 AM

    It's a shame Marvel never followed up on this story. I'm not even sure Outcast was on their radar when they commissioned that brief Western revival a few years back. Heck, I'd never known about this until now. Thanks, Groove.

    ReplyDelete
  3. RickMarch 12, 2010 at 11:25 AM

    Thanks for posting this. I had forgotten about it. I love Smith's early work. I remember thinking how odd it was at the time, yet still fascinating.

    ReplyDelete

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)

LinkWithin

Blog Widget by LinkWithin
Special thanks to Mike's Amazing World of Comics and Grand Comics Database for being such fantastic resources for covers, dates, creator info, etc. Thou art treasures true!


Note to "The Man": All images are presumed copyright by the respective copyright holders and are presented here as fair use under applicable laws, man! If you hold the copyright to a work I've posted and would like me to remove it, just drop me an e-mail and it's gone, baby, gone.


All other commentary and insanity copyright GroovyAge, Ltd.

As for the rest of ya, the purpose of this blog is to (re)introduce you to the great comics of the 1970s. If you like what you see, do what I do--go to a comics shop, bookstore, e-Bay or whatever and BUY YOUR OWN!