XOWComics.com

Content Items (10 total)

[untitled]

Illustration on Cover, Front

Credits

Penciller(s): Fred Harman (signed)

Inker(s): Fred Harman (signed)

Colorist(s): ?

Letterer(s): ?

Subject Matter

Genres: western

Feature(s): Red Ryder

Character(s): Red Ryder; Little Beaver

Reprinting

Reprint Notes:

Miscellaneous

Pages: 1

Notes: mostly comic strip reprints

"We were not!"

Story on Interior Page(s)

Credits

Writer(s): ?

Penciller(s): ?

Inker(s): ?

Colorist(s): ?

Letterer(s): ?

Subject Matter

Feature(s): Boots

Reprinting

Reprint Notes: From Boots newspaper comic strip (N. E. A. Service, Inc.), 1943, Sunday.

Miscellaneous

Pages: 1

Notes: On inside front cover in black, white and red.

Bank Bandits ends; Navajo Malfeasance begins

Story on Interior Page(s)

Credits

Writer(s): Stephen Slesinger

Penciller(s): Fred Harman (signed)

Inker(s): Fred Harman (signed)

Colorist(s): ?

Letterer(s): ?

Subject Matter

Genres: western

Feature(s): Red Ryder

Character(s): Red Ryder; Little Beaver; Po-ko; Old Timer; Quartz City Marshal; Tuck (bandit); Tuck's sister (bandit); Pine Gulch Sheriff; renegade Navajo Marauders; crooked Navajo chief; Navajo medicine man; crooked reservation sheriff

First Line: Well, old timer... with your outfit I'll go over big at the masquerade tonight!

Reprinting

Reprint Notes: From Red Ryder newspaper comic strip (N. E. A. Service, Inc.), 1943, reformatted for comic books.

Miscellaneous

Pages: 14

Job Number: R.R.C.31-462

[untitled]

Story on Interior Page(s)

Credits

Writer(s): ?

Penciller(s): ?

Inker(s): ?

Colorist(s): ?

Letterer(s): ?

Subject Matter

Feature(s): Telecomics

First Line: I just know something dreadful has happened to that boy

Reprinting

Reprint Notes:

Miscellaneous

Pages: 9

Notes: strip reprints?

Seal Poacher's Revenge

Story on Interior Page(s)

Credits

Writer(s): ?

Penciller(s): Jim Gary

Inker(s): Jim Gary

Colorist(s): ?

Letterer(s): ?

Subject Matter

Genres: adventure, crime, drama, western

Feature(s): Zane Grey's King of the Royal Mounted

Character(s): Dave King (a Canadian Mountie); Buck Tyson (a seal poacher); Dentist Jim; Sheila; Kid (King's young sidekick); Malo (Buck's half-breed native lackey); the boys (Buck's crew); Factor (trading post proprietor)

First Line: Get off our boat, Tyson!

Reprinting

Reprint Notes: From Zane Grey's King of the Royal Mounted newspaper comic strip (King Features Syndicate, Inc.), 1941, reformatted for comic books.

Miscellaneous

Pages: 10

Notes: strip reprints?

Little Beaver Plays With Dynamite

Text Story on Interior Page(s)

Credits

Writer(s): Gayord Du Bois

Penciller(s): Fred Harman (signed)

Inker(s): Fred Harman (signed)

Colorist(s): ?

Letterer(s): typeset

Subject Matter

Genres: western

Feature(s): Little Beaver

Character(s): Little Beaver; Red Ryder; Po-ko; Dynamite (a Rocky Mountain Bighorn ram); ruster 1; ruster 2

First Line: A strange sight met Little Beaver and Po-ko, as they reined their ponies into Red Ryder's ranch yard.

Synopsis: Red wants to be shut of a gift from the governor, Dynamite, an ornery Rocky Mountain Bighorn ram. He can't give him away without hurting the governor's feelings, but he might trade him. Little Beaver demands he first ride and break the ranch-raised ram, before any trade. Dynamite takes him on a wild death defying ride, culminating in an attack on two rustlers by the ornery beast.

Reprinting

Reprint Notes:

Miscellaneous

Pages: 3

Notes: Text story with illustrations. Writer credit per Gaylord Du Bois's Account Books Arranged By Title, compiled by Randall W. Scott (Michigan State University Libraries, East Lansing, 1985).

Du Bois markers:

1) Typical of Du Bois, he identifies the characters' names, the place, and situation, right off the bat, in the first three sentences: "A strange sight met Little Beaver and Po-ko, as they reined their ponies into Red Ryder's ranch yard. Atop the high cross-bar over the corral gate sat Red himself, while on the top rail, just below him, stood the biggest and horniest male sheep that the kids had ever seen. The ram's mighty horns curved back in a complete circle that ended in polished points." (Compare the Captain Easy story in the next sequence, in which the name of the protagonist, Lulu Belle, is not given at all, a flaw of reformatting a newspaper strip for comic books.)

2) Wordplay:
a) The title, "Little Beaver Plays with Dynamite," takes the familiar metaphorical phrase "playing with dynamite," making it literal, as the ram's name is Dynamite
b) A sexual double entendre for older readers, in reference to the the Rocky Mountain Bighorn: "stood the biggest and horniest male sheep that the kids had ever seen."

3) Didactics in setting, and words:
a) The plot is sheep-centric ("Rocky Mountain Bighorn ram"), and Little Beaver is Navajo, who are famous sheepmen.
b) The text tells of the ram's eye color: "green."
c) Technical and regional vocabulary is used: "surcingle"; "a stony barranca or gully cut the range."
d) Reference to a famous characteristic of the breed: "sure footed." It is the principal plot point, as Little Beaver is taken on a hair raising ride.
e) Use of "bench" in the technical geography sense: "Beyond a gully the ground rose in broken, rocky benches."
f) Use of "knob" in its general sense: "a knob of rock just big enough for his four hooves."
g) Rock formations sheep use: "from niche to ledge to bump."

4) Animal language. Du Bois usually gives his reality-based comics' animals an onomatopoeia vocabulary.
a) Here we get the hardly original "BAAAH!"
b) And, "With a blatt of defiance." (American Heritage Dictionary defines "blat" intransitive verb as "To cry, especially like a sheep; bleat.")

5) Animals. This is an animal-centric story, a Du Bois hallmark. Dynamite is an active character driving the plot.

6) Dialect. Use of dialect is ubiquitous in Du Bois stories. Here he is hampered by Harmon's having established the Little Beaver character as a comic stereotype who speak-um in well established fictional Injun patois, you betchum, and Du Bois is faithful to Harmon's creation. "'Ugh!' he grunted. 'Mebbeso me swap-um, but first me ride-em.'" But the script does contain a "tha's all," a more natural sounding accent.

7) Native culture: The animal here is a ram, and Little Beaver is Navajo, a people whose economy is based on sheep and goats. Du Bois imbues Little Beaver with dignity and fortitude despite his comic persona. Little Beaver rides the ram, as he said he would, though it proved a much bigger task than he anticipated; and resolves without any help from Red what conflict with the rustlers is left after Dynamite is through. Instead of acting the hero, Red is Little Beaver's foil: "Me pay-um Red Ryder two rustlers for one bonehead sheep-ram. Heap good trade, you betchum!"

8) Brains over brawn, a Du Bois staple. Little Beaver is no Superman, and the rustlers have pistols, while he is unarmed, and they are grown men, while he is a child. Using his wits to confront a superior force, he takes advantage of the tools to hand, and, using stealth, comes up from behind and touches the rustlers' hot branding iron to the back of the first rustler's neck, disarming him, and gaining control of the situation.

Drug Runners concludes. Romance begins.

Story on Interior Page(s)

Credits

Writer(s): Roy Crane with Leslie Turner

Penciller(s): Roy Crane with Leslie Turner

Inker(s): Roy Crane with Leslie Turner

Colorist(s): ?

Letterer(s): ?

Subject Matter

Feature(s): Captain Easy

Character(s): Captain Easy; Lulu Belle; Narcotics Inspector Lyons; crime boss Hymie; dope smuggler Steve; dope smuggler Goldie; policeman Joe; policeman Joe's partner; Lulu Belle's admirer

First Line: This is what I call smart smuggling!

Synopsis: Captain Easy and Lulu Belle, aiding the authorities, capture the ring of drug smugglers. A well-dressed timorous little man attempts to chat up Lulu. She rebuffs him.

Reprinting

Reprint Notes: From Captain Easy newspaper comic strip (N. E. A. Service, Inc.), 1942.

Miscellaneous

Pages: 6

Notes: Lulu Belle's name is never mentioned. She is only called Fat Broad.

Tale of a Great King

Story on Interior Page(s)

Credits

Writer(s): V. T. Hamlin

Penciller(s): V. T. Hamlin

Inker(s): V. T. Hamlin

Colorist(s): ?

Letterer(s): ?

Subject Matter

Genres: adventure, historical, humorous, military, science fiction

Feature(s): Alley Oop

Character(s): Alley Oop; Cleopatra; the grand councillors

First Line: Our hero's hippopotamus-hunting adventure served to help him find Queen Cleopatra, but in a rather startling manner.

Synopsis: Alley Oop's insubordination sets him at odds with Cleopatra, who threatens to have him face a court martial. He points out he is the highest ranking officer, so there's no court he could be tried by. When she threatens him with hanging, he asks her will she put the rope around his neck? Her courtiers advise she follow a historical example, paraphrasing 2 Samuel 11:15. She sends Alley Oop off with a light column to the frontier of hostile territory far south of Alexandria.

Reprinting

Reprint Notes: From Alley Oop newspaper comic strip (N. E. A. Service, Inc.), 1941.

Miscellaneous

Pages: 2

Love and War

Story on Interior Page(s)

Credits

Writer(s): Ernest Lynn [as Henry Lee]

Penciller(s): Henry Schlensker [as Henry Lee]

Inker(s): Henry Schlensker [as Henry Lee]

Colorist(s): ?

Letterer(s): ?

Subject Matter

Genres: war

Feature(s): Biff Baker

Character(s): Biff Baker; Stu Warren; Fizz Hamilton; Captain Stover; Philippa Downing; Major; Morrison

First Line: A U.S. Army Air Forces Base somewhere in England

Synopsis: Biff and Phil fall in love in England. The war interferes: Biff, Stu, and Fizz are transferred to North Africa. Once there, Biff is told he will continue on to the East.

Reprinting

Reprint Notes: From Biff Baker newspaper comic strip (N. E. A. Service, Inc.), Sundays, 1943, reformatted for comic books.

Miscellaneous

Pages: 4

Notes: This was perhaps a Sunday only strip (searching finds no dailies). This 4 page episode just about fits four Sunday pages reformatted for comic books.

Biff is told he will continue on to the [Far] East. (According to the Lambiek Comiclopedia, cartoonist Hank Schlensker was with the Army Air Corps in East Asia during World War II.)

Zula Means Home

Story on Interior Page(s)

Credits

Writer(s): Fred Fox [as Blosser]

Penciller(s): Henry Formhals [as Blosser] (on dailies, and assistant on Sunday strip); Merrill Blosser [as Blosser] (on Sunday strip)

Inker(s): Henry Formhals [as Blosser] (on dailies, and assistant on Sunday strip); Merrill Blosser [as Blosser] (on Sunday strip)

Colorist(s): ?

Letterer(s): ?

Subject Matter

Genres: humorous, romantic, teen

Feature(s): Freckles and his Friends

Character(s): Freckles McGoosey; Lard Smith (only 1940-07-05, 1940-07-07); cruise director (only 1940-07-05); bandleader (only 1940-07-06); Zula (first appearance, only 1940-07-06, 1940-07-07); Kritts (only 1940-07-07)

First Line: We're getting further North every hour, Lard!

Synopsis: Shipboard introductions are interrupted by a young woman who challenges Biff's bragging on his high school football team, as she stands up for her school's team which rival Biff's. Kritts beats Biff's time with the girl before Biff even learns her name. Biff bemoans the sitch to Lard, who then diverts Kritts. Kritts takes it out on Lard with a boot to Lard's buttocks.

Reprinting

Reprint Notes: From Freckles and his Friends newspaper comic strip (N. E. A. Service, Inc.), dailies from 1940-07-05 - 1940-07-06; Sunday from 1940-07-07; reformatted for comic books.

Miscellaneous

Pages: 2

Notes: Dailies on inside back cover, in red and black. Sunday strip on back cover, in four-color.

Inside back cover contains two dailies gags, drawn by Henry Formhals. Back cover is a Sunday strip, drawn by Merrill Blosser, assisted by Formhals.