Black Diamond Western #10

This April 1949 issue of Black Diamond Western arrives with a wonderfully chaotic cover by Charles Biro, depicting a crowded saloon standoff where a bare-chested man is about to ram a solid oak door — much to the alarm of onlookers arguing in speech bubbles about fifty-dollar bets, bloodstained floors, and the futility of the whole endeavor. The masked Black Diamond himself peers out from a portrait inset at the top, presiding over the mayhem with cool confidence. With 52 full pages of illustrated stories — including William Overgard's "Black Diamond Meets Bumper" — and a $1,500 Lev Gleason prize contest announced on the banner, this is a genuinely entertaining slice of mid-century Western comics at their liveliest.