All Star Western #87

In "The Gold Nugget Ambush!", schoolteacher John Tane—secretly the masked hero Johnny Thunder—puts his belief in "Brains are Better than Bullets" to the test when Silk Black’s thugs attack his classroom. With help from his clever students on a field trip, he turns a discovery of golden nuggets into a trap, leading to a showdown where quick thinking and a daring lunge from the saddle outwit the outlaw’s plans.

In "The Three Peace Arrows of Strong Bow!" from All Star Western #87, the stoic warrior Strong Bow takes on a delicate task: delivering peace through three precise arrows shot into a rival tribe’s totem pole. With each attempt undermined by a deceitful arrow-maker’s trick arrows, Strong Bow must adapt—repairing broken shafts, correcting wild trajectories, and finally confronting the pole head-on when the final arrow fails. Written by an unknown hand and illustrated by an unknown artist, this taut, six-page tale captures a moment of quiet courage in the frontier’s shadow.

In "The Drummer Boy of the Fifth Cavalry!" from All Star Western #87, Jo, the reluctant drummer boy of the 5th Cavalry, struggles to keep time while dreaming of battle—until a chance practice outside the fort reveals a secret: the Sioux are using drum signals to plan their attack. When the raid begins, Jo’s quick thinking and a borrowed retreat signal may just turn the tide, earning him a place in the band—and the respect of Lt Foley.

In "The Phantom Desperado!", Sheriff Walt takes on the elusive bandit Willy the Wisp, whose uncanny disappearances leave the lawman nearly dead—until his hidden twin brother Wayne steps in. As the chase unfolds, Walt and Wayne uncover a shocking twist: Willy isn’t alone, and the Wisp brothers are a pair of cunning twins. With a clever disguise and nerves of steel, the "single" sheriff outsmarts them both, leaving the villains baffled by a mystery they can’t solve.