Cheyenne Kid #34

Charlton's Cheyenne Kid faces one of his most visceral challenges on this 1962 cover, where a shirtless warrior must battle snarling bears in a rocky canyon pass — a speech bubble making clear this brutal ordeal is an Apache test of worthiness. The cover also teases two stories inside, including "Quantrill's Men," with small inset panels showing Cheyenne in close-quarters combat, all rendered with confident linework by cover artist Jack Keller and inker Dick Giordano. It's a vivid, kinetic package that captures the rough-and-tumble spirit of the frontier western genre at its most entertaining.