A complete issue · 291 pages · 1901
Sunset Ranch: A Story of a Boy's Adventures in the West
A complete, restored issue of Penny Dreadfuls from 1901 — all 291 pages of cheap serialized Victorian sensation fiction — crime, horror, and lurid melodrama, free to page through at ComicBooks.com.
A complete issue · 291 pages · 1901
Sunset Ranch: A Boy's Story of Adventure in the West By St. George Rathborne This Western adventure novel follows Cuthbert Lee, an Eastern tenderfoot from Virginia's Shenandoah Valley, stranded alone on the prairie after being separated from a freighters' caravan. The narrative begins with Lee's first night alone as he establishes camp beside a cottonwood grove, only to face a pack of prairie wolves drawn to his fire. Through the night, multiple gray wolves circle his encampment, growing bolder despite his efforts to keep them at bay with flame and a wooden cudgel. Lee discovers the lead wolf is particularly aggressive; he strikes it with his makeshift weapon, hurling it into the fire. As the pack launches a coordinated assault, Lee fights desperately but finds himself increasingly overwhelmed, with one wolf clutching his coat sleeve. The narrative pauses mid-crisis, suggesting further trials ahead for the determined but inexperienced protagonist.
Each page has its own page — the cartoon, who’s in it, and what the satire means.