All-Time Sports Comics #4

John L. Sullivan's rise from Boston working-class roots to the boxing ring starts with an accidental fight in a theater in 1877, when the nineteen-year-old strongman takes on professional fighter Slasher Burke on a dare—and decisively wins. That brash victory launches Sullivan into a career that sees him defeat increasingly formidable opponents, from exhibition bouts against a former English champion to showdowns with rivals like the massive Lumberjack Crossley, all while the young fighter's confidence and his famous challenge—"I can lick any man in the house"—become his calling card on the American sporting scene.

Lacrosse, the ancient Indian game played for centuries as martial conditioning, found new life when Canadians adopted it around 1840 and introduced it to England two decades later before American schools transformed it into the lightning-fast sport of today. This pages traces how the game evolved from tribal tradition into a ten-player, field-spanning test of speed and toughness that demands more from its athletes than even football.

A prize Australian racehorse named Moifaa sails for England to compete in the Grand National, but disaster strikes when a violent storm destroys the ship in the middle of the sea. Against all odds, the gallant animal breaks free and must summon every ounce of strength and instinct to survive an incredible ordeal. This true story of courage, determination, and an unbreakable will to live captures one of sport's most remarkable tales.

In 1913, an Iowa quarterback employs an audacious bit of gridiron trickery against Northwestern—calling out numbers while physically carrying the ball downfield, deliberately confusing the opposing team just long enough to gain crucial yardage. This inventive "talking play" was dreamed up by coaching legend Amos Alonzo Stagg, one of football's most creative minds, and it proved so effective that it saw use again and again.

Frank Gotch rose from a stubborn Iowa farm boy to become wrestling's greatest champion, mastering the devastating toe hold that would define his legendary career. This biographical account follows his journey from a fearless child through his early professional matches against skilled opponents like Dan McLeod and Farmer Burns, building toward his ultimate test against the formidable George Hackenschmidt for the world championship in 1908. Watch as Gotch's iron nerve and technical brilliance are tested against the toughest competitors of his era.

Once a star pitcher for the New York Giants under John McGraw, Jack Scott finds himself broke and broken-armed, scraping by as a tobacco farmer until a crop fire destroys everything—forcing him to swallow his pride and ask his former manager for a second chance. McGraw gives him work in batting practice, and as Scott's arm gradually comes back, the manager makes a shocking decision: starting the former has-been in a crucial World Series game against the Yankees in 1922. With his wife watching from the stands and everything on the line, Scott takes the mound to prove he's got one more miracle left in him.

Meet "Bucky" Wells, the dedicated pilot who steers a four-man bobsled down treacherous mountain runs at breakneck speed, meticulously maintaining and rebuilding his equipment before each race. Championship bobsledding demands perfect coordination from the entire team, and Wells's skill navigating the dangerous downhill curves marks him as a true champion of the sport.

Frank McGee loved hockey with everything he had, so when his father forbade him to play, the young man signed with the Ottawa "Silver Seven" anyway—beginning a rise to stardom that would earn him the nickname "the Ottawa Comet." But a brutal on-ice collision and a vengeful rival player threaten to end his career before it truly begins, testing whether McGee's determination can overcome the physical odds stacked against him.

Trace bowling's unlikely journey from a fifth-century German ordeal—where stones knocked down wooden pins to prove innocence before God—to a beloved American pastime in this illustrated history of the Keglers. Watch as monks transform a religious ritual into sport, Martin Luther himself standardizes the rules, and honest players battle to reclaim the game from gambling syndicates who nearly destroyed it.