Wyatt Earp Primer
Series Overview
After first appearing in Rawhide Kid #1, Wyatt Earp graduated to his own ongoing series in 1955. The series glorified the romanticized the legend of Wyatt Earp the lawman, glossing over the more problematic parts of his history. These stories, other than some liberal adaptations of historical events — such as the Battle at the OK Coral — were all fictional. The series adopted a lot of the common tropes of western fiction of time, such as giving Earp a impossibly talented horse named Justice. This series was certainly a product of the time in which it came out of, a combination of the western genre and the limitations imposed by the Comics Code Authority made this the squeaky clean, non-historically accurate comic book that was published until 1960.
Is it part of continuity? There’s nothing said one way or the other officially, but Wyatt Earp does appear as supporting character in Rawhide Kid (Vol. 4). One could assume that these Atlas Era Wyatt Earp comics are just like any other western comics of the era. Per later western series Blaze of Glory and Apache Skies point out that those stories are “based on true events” but are “dime store novel” adaptations.
Index Scope
Like other titles, I’m skipping the one-off western stories, even the ones that are narrated by Wyatt Earp. This index will also only cover the issues of Wyatt Earp published during the Atlas era. The title was revived briefly in 1972-73, continuing the original numbering. Those issues will eventually be covered in the Marvel Era section.
