Line #17 ComicBook/BlazeOfGlory


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/blaze_of_glory_vol_1_1.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350: The Sensational Seven reunite for [[DyingMomentOfAwesome one last ride]].]]
3
4	->''[[WeAllDieSomeday Men Die]]. Every single one of us. That's a fact and that's our fate.''
5	-->-- '''ComicBook/RawhideKid'''
6
7	''Blaze of Glory: The Last Ride of the Western Heroes'' is a 4-issue miniseries by Creator/MarvelComics written by John Ostrander and drawn by Leonardo Manco.
8
9	It is [[TwilightOfTheOldWest 1885]]. The peace of the quiet town of Wonderment, Montana is broken violently when a group of enforcers dressed as [[UsefulNotes/KuKluxKlan nightriders]] enter the town at night, setting fire to the buildings and shooting many of the residents. They mean to drive the residents out... but the people of Wonderment aren't so easily cowed.
10
11	Reno Jones, formerly one half of the duo known as the ComicBook/{{Gunhawks}}, rides out of town alongside the fur trapper Marcel Fournier to recruit allies to save Wonderment. The ComicBook/RawhideKid, ComicBook/KidColt, ComicBook/TwoGunKid and The ComicBook/OutlawKid all add their guns to Reno's cause. The Indian ComicBook/RedWolf as well as the mysterious phantom known as ComicBook/TheGhostRider also join the fight, and together they will protect the town, or die in a [[TitleDrop Blaze of Glory]]. [[PyrrhicVictory Maybe both]].
12
13	A more realistic take on Marvel's [[Characters/MarvelComicsWesternCharacters western heroes]], it retcons some of the original stories (most notably the aforementioned Gunhawks) as simply [[LiteraryAgentHypothesis dime novel retellings of real events]]. The same creative team would go on to make a sucessor to this story for the Creator/MarvelMAX imprint, starring the Rawhide Kid and titled ''ComicBook/ApacheSkies''.
14	----
15	!!Tropes included in ''Blaze of Glory'':
16	* AlternateIdentityAmnesia: Lance Temple remembers nothing from his actions as the Outlaw Kid, other than a vague feeling that he had been there.
17	* AntagonistInMourning: A HeroAntagonist, but Caleb is ''not'' pleased at seeing Gunhawk [[spoiler:shoot down Kid Colt in cold blood.]]
18	* AsYouKnow: Clay Harder spends a panel talking about his past lives as Matt Hawk and the Two-Gun Kid, and how he buried them both so he could live a normal life. This is for the reader's sake, as Marcel is quick to point out he was there when it happened.
19	* BadassCrew: Half the story is getting one of those together to save Wonderment.
20	* BasedOnAGreatBigLie: Reno Jones and his wife comment on the inaccuracy of a dime novel he 'starred' in, and he takes the opportunity to tell the real version.
21	* BigBad: Clay Riley plots to drive the people of Wonderment out, setting the events of the story into motion.
22	* BigBadFriend: [[spoiler:Marcel Fournier]] turns out to be a spy for the nightriders.
23	* BittersweetEnding: The town is saved from those who would harm it, but many of the heroic gunslingers who helped them are dead, and not every one of them went in a blaze of glory.
24	* BountyHunter: Gunhawk is looking to collect the bounty on Kid Colt. [[spoiler:He does kill him, but Caleb doesn't give him the chance to profit off of it.]]
25	* CallForward: Two-Gun Kid states that the time of the Wild West is over and that [[SuperHero a new kind of hero]] is on its way. "They'll come. I've seen them", he says. He's not being metaphorical - through TimeTravel, Two-Gun has indeed seen [[ComicBook/TheAvengers them]], and fought alongside them.
26	* ContinuityNod: In Issue #2, Clay Harder mentions how he [[FakingTheDead buried Matt Hawk and the Two-Gun Kid]], and asks Marcel about what became of the other Sunset Riders. Both of those are events that occurred in the series of the same name, though its canonicity to ''this'' one is [[LooseCanon debatable]].
27	* TheCavalry: In an inversion of the trope's original form, it is [[spoiler:Red Wolf and his tribe]] who show up to save the day in the last issue.
28	* DeadGuyJunior: This is what Reno tried to invoke when he named his son 'Cass', after Kid Cassidy. [[spoiler:[[SubvertedTrope He really ought to have made sure he was dead.]]]]
29	* DeadlyDistantFinale: The series stars (and kills) the majority of Marvel's Western heroes, hence the subtitle.
30	* DoingInTheWizard: If you never read an issue of Carter Slade!Ghost Rider, you might not guess that [[spoiler:there's nothing supernatural about him at all. It's just a phosphorecent costume.]]
31	* DramatisPersonae: There is a page like this in the first issue, all in narrative captions of course. We get another one in Issue #3, after all the heroes have been properly introduced.
32	* DuelToTheDeath: The nightriders force Caleb Hammer and Gunhawk to engage in one, but it is interrupted by Ghost Rider.
33	* DyingMomentOfAwesome: Two-Gun wants to die like this. Sadly, [[spoiler:we don't get to see if he got his wish.]]
34	* EndOfAnAge: The end of the old western heroes, soon to be replaced by the costumed crimefighters we know today.
35	* EleventhHourRanger: The Ghost Rider is only mentioned in the DramatisPersonae until his appearance at the very end of Issue #3, though [[spoiler:he's not really a new ally so much as an old one in a new outfit.]] Better examples are Gunhawk and Caleb Hammer.
36	* EnemyMine: First Caleb Hammer and Gunhawk make a deal to hunt Kid Colt together, then both of them join forces with the protagonists to save Wonderment, Kid Colt included.
37	* EvilFormerFriend: Reno Jones describes Kid Cassidy as growing more and more bitter over the course of their adventures together, and it came to a head when Cassidy threatened his life and forced Jones to shoot him and leave him for dead. [[spoiler:Cassidy still lives and searches for Jones to settle the score for good. Marcel Fournier also counts as one for Two-Gun Kid, as they were once part of the Sunset Riders.]]
38	--> '''Rawhide Kid:''' Leave him be, Colt. Man just killed what he thought was a friend. Turned out to be no friend at all.
39	* FinalBattle: The ending of the series is one.
40	* {{Foreshadowing}}: After the shootout in Issue #3, the narration describes Red Wolf descending into the gorge into which Reno Jones fell. [[spoiler:This is to set up his return as the Ghost Rider.]]
41	* GrandFinale: The story can be seen as this for the western side of the marvel universe.
42	* GratuitousSpanish: Rawhide Kid says ''Vaya con dios, mi hermano'' ([[BilingualBonus go with god, my brother]]) to Two-Gun Kid in the ending of Issue #4.
43	* TheHatMakesTheMan: Is Lance Temple wearing his bandanna over his mouth? If yes, that means he's the Outlaw Kid.
44	* HeelRealization: This is what happens to Lance Temple in the final battle.
45	--> ''[[TheHatMakesTheMan My mask!]] He'll see... Pa will see... he'll know...!''\
46	''He already knows. I killed him. Pa, I'm so sorry...!''
47	* HeroicSacrifice: With a name like "Blaze of Glory", was it ever going end any other way?
48	* HiredToHuntYourself: Lance Temple hired himself to hunt himself.
49	* ImpliedDeathThreat: Caleb gets in some pretty good trash talk while holding Kid Colt at gunpoint.
50	--> ''I can take you dead or alive.'' I ''got a preference. How about'' you?
51	* InspectorJavert: PinkertonDetective Caleb Hammer is hunting down Kid Colt for murdering a sheriff. Colt only manages to [[DiggingYourselfDeeper dig himself deeper]] over the course of the story by gunning down Caleb's friends. [[spoiler:This doesn't stop Caleb from avenging him in the finale.]]
52	* InTheBack: Kid Colt [[spoiler:is shot in the back by Gunhawk in the finale.]]
53	* ItsPersonalWithTheDragon: The leader of Riley's gang recognizes Reno Jones, and throughout the series the reader will discover they have quite a bit of reason to hate each other.
54	* TheKillerInMe: Lance Temple hunts the Outlaw Kid to avenge his father's death, oblivious to the fact he ''is'' the Outlaw Kid.
55	* LegacyCharacter: A certain Frontier Phantom's costume is appropriated by [[spoiler: Reno Jones]] in the latter half of the story.
56	* LooseCanon: It's left ambiguous how much of the [[DirectLineToTheAuthor dime novels]] is accurate. We're meant to assume that [[VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory it's not much]].
57	* TheMagnificentSevenSamurai: If you exclude Red Wolf, there are exactly seven main characters helping to defend Wonderment from a gang of remorseless bandits. [[LampshadeHanging Marcel even notes]] in the first issue that [[WholePlotReference he's seen this sort of thing before]].
58	* MythologyGag:
59	** Kid Colt's description page in Issue #3 calls him ''Kid Colt, Outlaw'', which was the name of one of his ongoings.
60	** Matt Hawk's new identity Clay Harder is the same name as as an earlier version of the Two-Gun Kid published by Marvel's predecessor Atlas in the 1950s.
61	* NeverFoundTheBody: [[spoiler:Reno Jones]] is left for dead only to come back for the finale.
62	* NothingPersonal: Caleb Hammer says these words to Gunhawk in their DuelToTheDeath, and promises to GetItOverWith quickly.
63	* OhCrap: This is Riley's face when he sees his old nemesis has come back for him.
64	* OneSteveLimit: Averted
65	** A visual gag in issue #4 has [[TheTropeKid all four heroic Kids]] in the story respond to hearing the yell "Hey, Kid!". Kid Cassidy also counts, [[spoiler:though he ain't what you'd call heroic any more.]]
66	** Two-Gun Kid's new cover identity of Clay Harper shares a first name with Clay Riley, the villain of our story.
67	** The haunted horseman Ghost Rider shares his first and last names with the native girl Ghost Wind Rider.
68	* TheOnlyOneAllowedToDefeatYou: The leader of the nightriders is glad to see Reno Jones alive for this reason.
69	* PinkertonDetective: Caleb Hammer.
70	* PreAssKickingOneLiner: So, so many. But the best are courtesy of the Outlaw Kid.
71	-->''C'mon, you owlhoots! '''C'mon!''' You want a piece of me?! '''C'mon!!!''' I may be bound for hell but I'm TakingYouWithMe!''
72	* PreBattleBanter: This is how the final issue starts.
73	* PutOnABus: When asked what became of the other Sunset Riders, Marcel Fournier explains that Walking Fish is with his tribe and Hijiro went to San Francisco, so they can't participate in the events to come. Granted, this could have easily been [[spoiler:Marcel lying out of his ass.]]
74	* PyrrhicVictory: Caleb expresses this sentiment to Rawhide in the ending. Indeed, [[spoiler:half of Wonderment and the majority of the cast are now dead, so]] the reader may be left with this sensation as well.
75	* RagTagBunchOfMisfits: A former slave, a criminal running away from the law, a crazed gunfighter running away from ''himself'', an unscrupulous BountyHunter and a PinkertonDetective chasing after the aforementioned criminal, a lawyer who moonlights as a vigilante, a NobleSavage indian, a creepy guy in a ghost outfit, and TheTeamNormal, ComicBook/RawhideKid. [[BadassCrew What a crew.]]
76	* RefusalOfTheCall: Clay Harper rebukes Fournier's request for aid initially, only to join the group later after some soul-searching.
77	* RetiredGunfighter: The Two-Gun Kid is [[ThatManIsDead "dead"]] as the series begins, buried by Clay Harper. [[OneLastJob The burial didn't take.]]
78	* RetiredMonster: Clay Riley, a.k.a. Tarantula, is looking to break into the white-collar criminal area, and turning Wonderment into a smelting factory is the first step.
79	* TheReveal: Ghost Rider unmasks in the final issue, revealing [[spoiler: the face of Reno Jones]] underneath.
80	* RevengeBeforeReason: Riley could have just sat back and let Wonderment be destroyed, but decides to lead the battle personally just so he can murder his old nemesis the Ghost Rider himself. [[spoiler:This turns out to be a rash decision.]]
81	* SpaghettiWestern: Most Creator/MarvelComics stories set in TheWildWest are typical westerns with very heightened reality. This story is very pointedly ''not''.
82	* SpeakIllOfTheDead: Gunhawk calls a certain someone "saddle trash" as justification for why their death shouldn't matter.
83	* SplitPersonality: The Outlaw Kid became this to Lance Temple after his father discovered he was the Outlaw Kid and died from shock. The trauma made Lance separate that side of himself into a different person entirely.
84	* SplitPersonalityTeam: Lance manages to deal with his issues ''just'' enough to let the Outlaw Kid ride shotgun in the final battle.
85	* SympatheticInspectorAntagonist: Caleb Hammer is this to Kid Colt.
86	* SympathyForTheDevil: Caleb Hammer spent a long time chasing after Kid Colt because he murdered a sheriff. During the series, Colt also murders some of Hammer's comrades in anger, and they are not on good terms come Issue #4. But even so, that doesn't mean Caleb wanted [[spoiler:him to go the way he did.]]
87	* TeethClenchedTeamwork: Caleb Hammer and Kid Colt agree to a temporary truce to save Wonderment. Colt tries to bury the hatchet, but Hammer responds with:
88	-->''"I only drink with '''friends''', and because of '''you''', Colt, I got fewer of those. So, no sir, I will '''not''' drink with you."''
89	* TemptingFate: Kid Colt [[spoiler:is shot InTheBack by Gunhawk just he says things look to be working out fine.]]
90	* ThatManIsDead: Clay Harper claims to have buried Matt Hawk and the Two-Gun Kid two years ago. Of course, few things ever die in a Marvel Comic...
91	* TitleDrop: In the last issue's PreBattleBanter: "Me, I'm just looking to go out in a blaze of glory."
92	* TrainingThePeacefulVillagers: Kid Colt suggests this in Issue #3, but he draws the line at teaching Reno's son Cass how to fight, because he won't let him go down the same path as he did.
93	* TheTropeKid: The main cast has four of the most noteworthy Kids created by Creator/StanLee back in the day, as well as [[spoiler: one on the bad guy team]].
94	* TwilightOfTheOldWest: The story is set in this period. The heroes of the Old West die to make way for a new age. Two-Gun even says in the last issue that the way of the Old West is over, and that new villains require a new breed of hero.
95	* WasItReallyWorthIt: Caleb Hammer asks this question to Rawhide Kid.
96	* WeAllDieSomeday: And Rawhide responds with this sentiment, shown above as the page quote. It's also the final line of the series.
97	* WesternTerrorists: Though not fighting for any idealistic cause, the enforcers hired by Clay Riley to drive out Wonderment's residents, who dress like KKK nightriders to scare the city's minority populace, and kill and burn the town and its people indiscriminately solely to scare them into leaving certainly earn the name Terrorists.
98	* WorthyOpponent: Caleb may not show it much, but he displays this opinion about Kid Colt in the finale, yelling at Gunhawk and saying Colt was a better person than he, no matter what he did.

Context ComicBook / BlazeOfGlory