In the middle of
Desperado #8 (1949), there was a double-page spread announcing that next issue, the title would be changing it's name, and getting a new star (click to embiggen):
The gang at
Lev Gleason Publication was pretty keen to give this new book and hero a big push (and themselves a pat on the back:
You could say the same about
Fantastic Four, and we
still can't get a comic book of that!
Man, this is making even
Stan's hucksterism look
shy and
unassuming...
Well, he really was just another cowboy hero, as we'll see in a few moments.
EVEN THE STAPLES ARE PERFECT!!!
Yes, I'm sure that all western heroes, if they were alive, would vote for your new clown to lead them.
Sheesh...
So who the hell
is the
Black Diamond?
Bob Vale's parents were killed in in a massacre of white settlers by Native Americans which was instigated by an evil white man. Later, his adoptive father is killed by the
same guy--take that,
Batman, even
Joe Chill didn't kill
two sets of your parents!
So, to protect his girlfriend and all his friends, he puts on a mask and fights crime. Just like every other Western hero (
ahem).
But there's not just money involved!
Wait--you're offering him a job as a U.S. Marshall--
and you don't even know his identity? No background check?!?
Look, an official federal law man, and nobody knows who he really is? That's not going to go well in court, is it?
And I'm sure the townspeople are comforted by the fact that their sole protector is
a masked idjit who leaves messages stuck with a knife in random locations.
Does he even have an office? How do people get in touch with him when they need help? What about all the paperwork the job requires? Does he have body cameras? What if he's really evil, and just clearing out the competition? What about...
From Desperado #8 (1949) and Black Diamond #9 (1949)
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