All-Time Sports Comics #7

In the 1890s, a young cow-puncher named Tex Rickard discovers he has a gift for spotting opportunity and knowing when to quit—skills that carry him from a Texas gambling house through failed ventures and into the Klondike gold rush, where his legendary luck at the faro table stakes his claim to fortune. From dance halls in Dawson to mining claims in Nevada, Rickard builds and rebuilds his empire, always chasing the next big proposition until he finds his true calling in an unexpected industry. This biographical tale traces how a restless, enterprising man became one of America's most colorful figures during the golden age of sports.

A disappointed traveling salesman's chance stop in Weiser, Idaho changes everything when he witnesses a young pitcher named Walter Johnson blazing fastballs past local batters with extraordinary speed. Convinced the kid belongs in the majors, the salesman relentlessly badgers Washington Senators manager Joe Cantillon until a contract arrives—and Johnson heads east to keep his date with destiny. This is the unlikely true story of how "The Big Train" entered professional baseball and became one of the sport's greatest arms.

Billy Knox, a Philadelphia bowler, pulled off an extraordinary feat by rolling a perfect 300 game with the pins hidden behind a curtain—a stunt that tested both skill and nerve. This one-page showcase celebrates remarkable athletic achievements across bowling, golf, and baseball, including James Braid's 15 holes-in-one and Burleigh Grimes' near-misses at pitching no-hitters, alongside the versatile accomplishments of athlete Vince Frechette.

Back in 1899, cyclist Charlie Murphy has a wild idea: pedal a bicycle at a mile-a-minute speed by riding behind a moving train where wind resistance can't slow him down. After facing rejection from railroad after railroad, Murphy finally convinces the Long Island Railroad to help him build a special setup—a board path between the tracks and a streamlined hood over the observation car—to make his audacious dream possible. With a crack engineer and a souped-up locomotive, Murphy takes to the Hempstead Plains for his record-breaking attempt on June 30, 1899.

On November 1, 1927, at the Chicago Coliseum, middleweight champion Mickey Walker and former light heavyweight king Mike McTigue step into the ring for a brutal contest that will test the heart of both fighters. Walker unleashes a devastating barrage of power, dropping McTigue repeatedly, but the Irishman refuses to stay down—until his body finally can't answer the call. A display of raw courage and determination that lingers with the crowd long after the final bell.

It's 1912, and Notre Dame captain and end Knute Rockne has a revolutionary idea: mastering the forward pass as a precise, accurate weapon rather than the loose, ineffective toss coaches of the era dismiss as impractical showboating. Working with quarterback Gus Dorais, Rockne develops a spiraling, overhand technique during a summer lifeguard stint at Lake Erie, then brings the perfected combination back to Notre Dame for the upcoming season. When the Fighting Irish finally get their shot at a major opponent, their innovative aerial attack becomes the ultimate test of whether Rockne's discovery can change football forever.

A 16-year-old deckhand named John Morrissey arrives in the rough New York waterfront of 1847 and quickly earns a fearsome reputation as a fighter, taking work as a boarding-house runner where brawling is part of the job. After a fiery scuffle that scorches his shirt and earns him the nickname "Old Smoke," Morrissey rules the docks for two years before heading west to California's gold fields in search of fortune. His journey leads him to challenge the champion prizefighter Yankee Sullivan, testing whether a scrappy street fighter can compete in the professional ring.