(Courtesy of Bill McCann) | (Courtesy of Bill McCann) Above, Gabby comic #1 |
(Courtesy of Bill McCann) | (Courtesy of Minard Coons) |
Many of our western film heroes and personalities had comic book series associated with them. While much of the following material is included in the section on these heroes, several folks have asked if there could be a special 'comic book' section on the Old Corral ... and here 'tis.
Special thanks to Lansing and Andrea Sexton and Boyd Magers for researching and assembling this info.
Boyd Magers' Western Clippings website has lots of info and cover images of cowboy comic books: http://www.westernclippings.com/comics/rodcameron_comicbookcowboys.shtml
Dynamite Entertainment publishes a new Lone Ranger comic book and issue #1 came out in 2006: http://www.dynamiteentertainment.com/htmlfiles/viewProduct.html?CAT=DF-The_Lone_Ranger
Want to view a bunch of comic book covers in fairly large size? Go to GCD, the Grand Comic Book Database: http://www.comics.org/
The Comic Book Plus website has many public domain comic books and comic strips: https://comicbookplus.com/
There's a history of Charlton Comics at: https://www.twomorrows.com/comicbookartist/articles/09empire.html
Ken Pierce also has comic book reprints, and you can find info at: http://www.kenpiercebooks.com/
The King Features website is at: https://kingfeatures.com/
The DC Comics website is at: https://www.dc.com/
The Comics Research site has links to comics related websites: http://www.comicsresearch.org/
The Overstreet Comics Price Guides (and more) are published by Gemstone: https://gemstonepub.com/
(Courtesy of Les Adams) Above, Issue #6 (#2) Above, issue #3 (Courtesy of Boyd Magers) | HOOT GIBSON
Boyd Magers provides the following info: By the time comic books based on movie and TV cowboys were extremely popular in the late '40s and '50s, Hoot Gibson's star had long faded at the box office so the big two of western-movie/TV related comic publishers, Dell and Fawcett, were simply not interested in old Hooter who wound up at Fox Features Syndicate in 1950. By that time, Hoot hadn't starred in a western since 1944. No wonder his comics didn't sell well up against Roy, Tex, Gene and Durango. The British born Victor Fox had spent 20 years on Wall St. With a less than spotless reputation when he spotted the success of Superman and started his own company, Fox Features Syndicate, in 1939. His earliest success was with The Blue Beetle. In the late '40s when the three hottest trends were crime, love and cowboys, never one to miss an exploitable trend, the ever enterprising Victor Fox (whose comics would be equivalent to the movies of Harry Fraser or Robert Tansey) jumped on all three, publishing lurid crime (Inside Crime, Murder Inc. etc.) and sexy romance (My Desire, Romantic Thrills etc.) comics. However, by the time he got around to licensing a cowboy, he had to settle for Hoot Gibson. For postal regulation reasons, Hoot Gibson picked up its numbering with #5 (May '50), continuing the numbering from the discontinued My Love Story. Number 6 (actually #2) followed in July '50, then the confusing numbering reverted to #3 (Sept. '50). #5 and 6 featured very poor front and back cover photos and an artist's rendition of Hoot that looked nothing like the cowboy star, except for the second story in #6, Hunchback of the Double-X, which managed to get Hoot's looks correct. #3 had a painted cover and interior art that, in two out of four stories, managed a reasonable resemblance to Hoot. Never one to overlook a secondary sale, Fox often repackaged four remaindered (unsold) comics into a 25¢ Giant with a new cover, hence Hoot Gibson's Western Roundup, 132 pages dated 1950. However, since Fox always started their stories on the inside front cover (where other publishers ran an ad), these repackaged comics are always missing the first page of story content. Also, since Fox used remaindered issues, contents will vary from copy to copy of Hoot Gibson's Western Roundup. The copy I have contains Hoot Gibson #3 along with issues of Fox's Spectacular Features, Blue Beetle and My Intimate Affair. |
(Courtesy of Ed Tabor) Above, issue #7 (Courtesy of Ed Tabor) Above, issue #17 | TEX RITTER
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(Courtesy of Bill McCann) Above, Wakely comic #7 |
Monte strummin' his guitar and riding trusty steed Partner in the lower comic book cover. |
BOB STEELE Lansing and Andrea Sexton provide the following info: Bob Steele's comic career, as with most cowboy stars from the silent and early sound days, was shorter than his film career warranted. Bob Steele Western #1 was published by Fawcett Publications with a cover date of December, 1950. The last issue, #10 appeared with a date of June, 1952. Short and sweet. All ten issues have photo-covers and 1-4 have photo back covers. In 1990, a small company called AC Comics published one issue of a combined Bob Steele/Rocky Lane comic with black and white contents. It has a photo cover and photo inside covers. | (Courtesy of Minard Coons) |
(Courtesy of Bill McCann) Above, Elliott's last comic #643 | (Courtesy of J. P. Fannie) Above - issue #15 |
(Courtesy of J. P. Fannie) Above, WILD BILL ELLIOTT # 2, with our hero in his Red Ryder costume and riding Thunder |
(Courtesy of Bill McCann) Above, Whip Wilson and Reno Browne (Reno Blair) on the cover of Western Love #2 (Courtesy of Bill McCann) |
(Courtesy of Bill McCann) |
(Courtesy of Bill McCann) Above, Tim McCoy #19 |
JOHNNY MACK BROWN Lansing and Andrea Sexton provide the following info: Johnny Mack Brown's first comic book appearance coincided with Tim McCoy's last appearance in Tim McCoy Western Movie Stories #21, dated August 1949 and published by Charlton Comics. According to Bob Overstreet's indespensable Comic Book Price Guide, Johnny's own series began in March 1950 as part of Dell Publishing's Four Color anthology series, and continued until February 1959. There were a total of 22 issues in that period, all with photo covers (and as in the comic issues on the right, at least some had photo back covers as well). Johnny also appeared in the first 21 issues of the Dell Giant Series Western Roundup beginning in June 1952 which featured Johnny along with Gene Autry, Roy Rogers, Wild Bill Elliott and Rex Allen. The first 9 covers are illustrated in Ernst and Mary Gerber's wonderful Photo-Journal Guide to Comic Books. All 9 covers have photo head shots of all 5 stars with Roy's and Gene's always slightly larger than the others. The first 14 issues also have photo back covers, as do issues 16 and 18, according to Overstreet. Johnny's first and only other comics appearance insofar as I can tell was in 1939 in issues 4, 5 and 6 of National Periodicals short-lived (6 issues) Movie Comics. They contain a 3-part adaption of the serial THE OREGON TRAIL. | (Courtesy of Minard Coons) |
(Courtesy of Minard Coons) Hoppy #62 (Courtesy of Minard Coons) Hoppy #74 (Courtesy of Minard Coons) Hoppy #93 |