Judge Colt - Gold Key

[Lone Ranger]

I brought up this series in the Guess the Classic Cover thread and promised that I’d start a thread on it.

Not too long ago, I pick up a copy of Judge Colt #4. Thanks to the GCD I was aware of the series, but had never seen an issue. It only ran the 4 issues from 1969 to 1970. As many of you know, I am a sucker for a nice painted cover – so I’ve been doing my part to keep the Gold Key back-issue market alive.

Anyone who has ever pick up a Gold Key comic knows very well that the quality can be all over the place (for every Magnus, there’s a Tiger Girl), so my expectation were fairly low. I must admit that I was pleasantly surprised. The story starts will some typical stagecoach action, but then turns into an interesting little murder mystery, as men from the same Civil War platoon are dying in ‘accidents’ that look a little too perfect.

Judge Colt and the local Marshall get to work and it’s really quite a good little story, as good as any western tale being published in 1970. I wasn’t sure who wrote it or drew it, as neither the Overstreet nor the GCD had any credits. Michi picked up the following on the net:

I have all four issues of JUDGE COLT, though it's been a long time since I have looked at them. I'll have to dig them out. A quick web search indicates that at least one of the issues was drawn by JOSE DELBO:

José Delbo (b. 1933, Argentina)
Originally from Argentina, José Delbo has drawn for American comic books since the 1960s. He drew stories with 'Secret Agent Mike Manley' for 'Fight the Enemy', a comic book that appeared on Wally Wood's and Samm Schwartz' Tower Comics line in the 1960s. He also contributed to Judge Colt with writer [Leo] Dorfman.

Michi

I guess it probably is Delbo. His name didn't spring to mind, as I went through the usual GK suspects - the two Franks (Bolle and Springer), Dan Spiegle, Paul Norris etc... but didn't think of Delbo. Thee art is not quite as ‘clean’ as most of his art that I’ve seen, the inks come across as pretty strong. I am thinking mostly DC books in the late 70s/early 80s when I am thinking of Delbo, so 'clean' may have been an editorial mandate.

There’s a bit of a grittiness to it; so I thought that it might be a Filipino artist, but I can’t think of any names and it is probably a year or two before Filipinos really made their mark in comics. Take a look at the two pages I’ve scanned below and let me know what you think. They are not in sequential order, so don't worry if the story doesn't make any sense to you.



Google tells me that there was a pulp and radio character named Judge Colt from the 20s and 30s, and I assume that the Gold Key version is the same magistrate. Does anyone know anything about this character. Who created him? Can you confirm what Michi fought out about who worked on the Gold Key issues?

Michi – are the other issues any good?

I feel like tracking them down may be a challenge, but a lot of fun. This one only set me back $2.99, so I’m not going to have to take out a second mortgage to complete the run.

[Aaron Kashtan]

That doesn't look like Filipino artwork to me. There's not nearly enough feathering or irrelevant detail.

[MichikoS]

Thanks for starting this thread, LR. I'll take a closer look at these books tonight and post my impressions. A little more digging unearthed these bibliographic records from Michigan State University's collection:


Delbo, José, 1933-
"The Justice of the Noose" (The Hangman Judge, pt. 2) /
Dorfman/Delbo. 12 p. in Judge Colt, no. 1 (Oct. 1969) --
Data from Robin Snyder.
I. Dorfman, Leo. II. Delbo, Jose. III. Series. k. Nooses.
Call no.: PN6728.3.G56J8no.1
-----------------------------------------------------
Delbo, José, 1933-
"Justice Stands Trial" (Death Writes the Verdict, pt. 1) /
Dorfman/Delbo. 14 p. in Judge Colt, no. 2 (Feb. 1970) --
Data from Robin Snyder.
I. Dorfman, Leo. II. Delbo, Jose. III. Series. k. Standing
trial. k. Trials. k. Verdicts. Call no.: PN6728.3.G56J8no.2
-----------------------------------------------------
Delbo, José, 1933-
"Man with a Mission" (Time of the Assassin, pt. 1) /
Dorfman/Delbo. 14 p. in Judge Colt, no. 3 (May 1970) --
Data from Robin Snyder.
I. Dorfman, Leo. II. Delbo, Jose. III. Series. k. Missions.
k. Assassins. Call no.: PN6728.3.G56J8no.3
-----------------------------------------------------
Delbo, José, 1933-
"The Final Reckoning" (Trial by Fury, pt. 2) /
Dorfman/Delbo. 12 p. in Judge Colt, no. 4 (Sept. 1970) --
Data from Robin Snyder.
I. Dorfman, Leo. II. Delbo, Jose. III. Series. k.
Reckoning. Call no.: PN6728.3.G56J8no.4

Note that the creator atrribution comes from Robin Snyder. Assuming his information is reliable, Dorfman and Delbo were the team on all four issues.

Michi

[Lone Ranger]

Thanks for starting this thread, LR. I'll take a closer look at these books tonight and post my impressions. A little more digging unearthed these bibliographic records from Michigan State University's collection:
Michi

Thanks Michi

I've got to get more comfortable with that MSU database.

Looks like it's Delbo, indeed. As I stated above, I am more familiar with his work on titles like DC Comics Presents which had a very different 'look' than this one. I just knew that this didn't look like most Gold Key books from that period. I also found the Civil War serial killer storyline to be pretty interesting, so hat's off to Mr. Dorfman.

Can anyone confirm that this is the same character as the pulp/radio character?

From what I can tell, he's some sort of Circuit Court judge (or whatever existed back then) with a reputation as a hanging judge, but he's got a heart of gold. Fun stuff, all around.

I'd be interested to hear your thoughts on the other issues, Michi.

[dan bailey]

*sigh*

You lawyers -- always playing up to judges ...

... even fictional ones.

[MichikoS]

OK. This is one strange little series. The lead character is a psychologically conflicted judge named Mark Colt. He has been appointed by President Grant to travel to the "savage, crime-ridden Indian territory," Arkansas country circa 1870 as a federal circuit judge. His first stop is the "First Federal District Court of the Oklahoma Territory," where he metes out harsh justice to wrongdoers. He hands down death sentences to murderers, intoning after each sentence, "you are hereby sentenced to be hung by the neck until you are dead...dead...dead!" They give him the nickname of "The Hangman Judge." Yeah, no shite. Scott would not approve of his jurisprudence.

Mark Colt's backstory is illuminated a little at the beginning of issue #1, in which he interrupts a robbery and shoots one of the fleeing gang. He is a crack shot, of course, and seemingly fearless in the face of long odds. But after the shooting is over, he is overcome with emotion and shakes like a leaf in plain view of everyone. "Must be kind of a coward," everybody thinks. He also has the odd habit of looking deeply into the face of any man he has shot and killed, as if searching for someone familiar. He also sheds tears on several occasions, both after killing someone, no matter how well deserving, and even sometimes after he passes sentence from the bench! "He's human, after all," whispers one of the townspeople witnessing the judge's teary countenance.

Well. Mark Colt was a decorated soldier of the Union Army in the American Civil War. He meets a few veterans in the course of the stories, and one commends his bravery at the battle of Vicksburg, where, in spite of his courageous fighting, he first "lost it" after the battle was all over. Got the shakes real bad.

Colt's other deep dark secret: his wife, Maria, was killed on their second wedding anniversary as they were out shopping by a stray bullet from some escaping bank robbers, an innocent bystander. Colt saw the faces of the escaping gang members, and swore to track them down...for justice? Or retribution? He's not sure himself.

The stories are unusually complex and full of well-drawn characters. Two of the stories feature interesting women characters who play a major part in the plot. One of the stories begins with Colt stopping the lynching of a Cheyenne Indian by a group of white men. There follows a rather unbelievable and sudden friendship with Tall Bear, the Indian whom he saves, who was a Union scout in the Civil War. The story is a complicated plot about treaty cattle, rivalry among the Cheyenne, and nefarious doings by "Shanghai Price," the baddie who was doing the lynching at the beginning of the story.

The art is surely by the same hand in all four issues, and I do believe it is the Argentinian artist Jose Delbo. Delbo did LOTS of work for DC in the 1970's, and his style is pretty recognizable. A Delbo face is unmistakable. These Gold Key stories, however, are not as cartoony as his later work for DC. Either he or an unknown inker finished them in a more realistic style that recalls Frank Bolle and Bob Fujitani. The draftmanship is excellent throughout, and the clothing, buildings, animals, and landscape are accurately drawn with enough detail to show that the artist did his homework.

A curious detail. #3 has Judge Colt drawn with white at his temples. He is older-looking than in any other story. He has solid brown hair in every other issues, including #4. I suspected some coloring glitches, but I found a line of dialogue in #3 that may indicate that this story takes place chronologically later than the others. In #3, Colt is explaining the death of his wife, and says, "It started ten years ago back in my home town in Missouri."

In #4, he is once again telling the story of his great loss, and says, "It all bgan five years ago, in Missouri, when my wife was killed..."

So it's possible that #3 and #4 are just out of chronological order, but internally consistent. Huh.

As far as Gold Key's Judge Colt having any connection to an earlier radio or pulp characters, I say no. "Judge Colt" was a play on words often used in reference to the Colt Single Action .45 caliber revolver, aka "The Peacemaker," viz "The matter was settled by Judge Colt and his jury of six." There is a panel in issue #1 that makes reference to Mark Colt's sharp shooting with this phrase, and the speakers are amazed to learn that he is in fact a real judge...named Colt, to boot.

That said, Scott is absolutely right that "Judge Colt" was used as a character or title in pulp fiction in the 1920's. I found several uses of the name in story listings of ACES HIGH, a well-known Western pulp of the 1920's. Clarence Mansfield Lindsay wrote an eponymous story for ACES HIGH in the '20s. William MacLeod Raine wrote a book titled "Judge Colt" in 1927, as did Archie Joscelyn in 1946. So the name has a well-established tradition in Western lore. It doesn't appear to belong to single character, however.

There was even an original Western paperback story first published in 1981 called "Judge Colt," part of a twofer novel, RED APACHE SUN/JUDGE COLT, by Robert E. Mills.

And that exhausts my store of knowledge about Judge Mark Colt, the Gold Key Comics character, who appears to have vanished into oblivion after a brief, if distinguished four-issue run in 1969-70. RIP.

Michi
p.s. If I were to revive the character, I'd do something crazy like make him a distant relation of...wait for it...Denny Colt.

[Aaron Kashtan]

p.s. If I were to revive the character, I'd do something crazy like make him a distant relation of...wait for it...Denny Colt.

Perhaps you should suggest that to the Wold Newton people. This is precisely the kind of connection that interests them.

[Lone Ranger]

OK. This is one strange little series.

And that exhausts my store of knowledge about Judge Mark Colt, the Gold Key Comics character, who appears to have vanished into oblivion after a brief, if distinguished four-issue run in 1969-70. RIP.

Wow - thanks, Michi. That's awesome. I really appreciate the overview. Aren't you supposed to be packing for a big trip?

I think those other issues sound interesting enough to track down (I picked up the #4 from our pal Don in Niagara Falls).

Thanks for clearing up the pulp connection. I Googled the name and a few pulp mentions came up, but not details. I believe there was a story with Judge Colt in the title in the pulp entitled Short Stories. I only have one issue from that series, and no Judge Colt story appears therein.

I agree that the series appears to be fairly complex - much more so than the anything in the various Marvel western books at that time. Judge Colt seems to be a precursor to the likes of Caleb Hammer and Jonah Hex.

[Scott Shaw!]

JUDGE COLT sounds so oddly interesting and unusual that I just added it to my mental "comics to look out for" list. Thanks, guys!

José Delbo's specialty was the western until he, like so many other genre cartoonists, was forced to draw superheroes (and in José's case, giant robots) for a living. He also did some extremely nice work on Dell's MONKEES comic, and an Oddball adaptation of YELLOW SUBMARINE (that must have been done with a very early script and a few character designs as reference.)

José is also a very nice man; I know him through the National Cartoonists Society. He recently sent me a copy of Bruno (DOOM PATROL) Premiani's fabled history of the horse in art (which also serves as an excellent reference book on horse anatomy for artists!)

Aloha,

Scott!

[MDG]

(I picked up the #4 from our pal Don in Niagara Falls).

Is that the Don from Cheektowaga, NY?

MDG

[Lone Ranger]

JUDGE COLT sounds so oddly interesting and unusual that I just added it to my mental "comics to look out for" list. Thanks, guys!

You are more than welcome - recommending an oddball title to you from 'the gang' is long overdue.

I feel pretty impressed that we discovered a title that wasn't in your collection.

[Lone Ranger]

Is that the Don from Cheektowaga, NY?

MDG

I don't think so. He's Canadian, but maybe he ships to US customer from Cheektowaga.

On ebay he's "dodofive" - he always has a wide variety of books up for auction. When Michi was up in Toronto, we discovered that we'd both bought a bunch of books from him.

His auctions are worth checking out, as he's got something to please every taste.

[T GUy]

Would the difference in Delbo's art on Judge Colt and DC superheroes (I seem to recall him on Batgirl circa 1983) be due to the inker?

[MDG]

Would the difference in Delbo's art on Judge Colt and DC superheroes (I seem to recall him on Batgirl circa 1983) be due to the inker?

Maybe--I have a page from Tower's "Fight the Enemy" by Delbo that doesn't look like either. GCD's down, so I can't check who the inker was.

MDG