Bat Lash #4

DC's charming Western drifter takes center stage in this 1969 issue, with Nick Cardy's cover depicting Bat Lash dramatically redirecting a massive cannon barrel while soldiers scramble nearby amid fire and smoke — all against a striking full-moon backdrop. Dangling from Bat Lash's other hand is an unfortunate figure, suggesting our flower-in-his-hat hero is very much in the thick of things, which the cover's bold question — "Will He Save the West — or Ruin It?" — leaves delightfully open. With a story by Sergio Aragonés and Denny O'Neil and Cardy's fluid, dynamic linework throughout, this issue captures everything that made Bat Lash one of DC's most distinctive and entertaining Western titles of its era.