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Rio Kid. The Rio Kid was created by Tom Curry (Captain Mesquite, Francis DeVrite, George Devrite, Daniel Harwin, Mac Macnamara) and appeared in The Rio Kid Western #1-76 (1939-1953).

The Rio Kid is Captain Bob Pryor, a former U.S. Army officer who enforces law and justice on the American frontier in the years after the American Civil War. Pryor was wounded in the left side during the War, and so “the nerve over his rib cage itched when some innate warning contracted the skin.” He has the morning ritual of practicing his quick draw until his movements are a blur. He has a devil-may-care attitude, and he rides a grey dun, Saber, who loves “the acrid smell of gunpowder,” has a vile temperament, and bites at strangers.

Pryor is assisted by Celestino Mireles, a teenaged Mexican whose life Pryor saved, and by his lady friend Sally Bryant. Pryor often encounters historical personages, including Wyatt Earp, Wild Bill Hickock, and Calamity Jane. Pryor fights villains ranging from ordinary owlhoots to crazed Prussian cattle barons to conquistador zombies.

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