The True Death of Billy the Kid

One of the great folk legends of the Wild West, William H. Bonney went from cowboy and rancher's gunslinger to a pure outlaw, forever dodging justice in New Mexico before it was even a state. On the one hand, he was charming, fun-loving, often present at social events, quite appealing to the ladies. Also conversant in Spanish, “Billito” was popular with the Spanish speaking crowd. On the other hand, he had no compunction to coldly kill a man, a sheriff, a deputy—anyone who got in the way of his rustling cattle or horses for an illicit living. He also proved hard to keep in jail once he was caught. It is probably his daring escapes from jails that made him most famous, and this is the main subject of this biography, which traces his story up through his death by a gunshot in the pitch darkness, fired by lawmen obsessed with getting rid of him. 

Rick Geary is an award-winning cartoonist and illustrator who has been published by Marvel Entertainment Group, DC Comics, Dark Horse Comics, Heavy Metal magazine, Rolling Stone, National Lampoon and the New York Times Book Review, to name a few. He is the author of the long running A Treasury of Victorian Murder series and the Treasury of XXth Century Murder series. Rick has received the Inkpot Award from the San Diego Comic Convention (1980), the Book and Magazine Illustration Award from the National Cartoonists Society (1994), and multiple nominations for various Harvey and Eisner Awards. From Wichita, Kansas, he now lives in Carrizozo, New Mexico, with his wife, Deborah.