Cowboy Western #49

When Marshal Rocky Lane encounters a deadly wolf-pack threatening a herd of mustangs, his stallion Black Jack springs into action with fierce courage. Through a harrowing flashback, Rocky reveals how Black Jack earned his fearless reputation—a tale of a wild mustang who single-handedly fought off a bloodthirsty pack to save his herd, leaping waterfalls and battling a savage wolf leader to protect those he'd come to lead. It's a rousing frontier story that shows why Black Jack and Rocky make such a formidable pair against the wild dangers of the West.

Wagonwheels decides to cure his friend Clogg of his constant scratching habit by keeping a tally for a month—and promising a kick in the pants for every mark he records. When Wagonwheels reveals where he plans to write down each infraction, the punchline lands with a groan-worthy Western twist. A short, punchy humor story that proves even a cowboy's bad habits can't escape a clever bit of wordplay.

When four riders massacre the Cranford family and frame the Muraki tribe for the crime, a stranger named Golden Arrow rides into Lone Pine to stop a town bent on revenge—but first he has to prove who the real killers are before sunup. With the town ready to wage war against Chief Fleetfoot's people, Golden Arrow uses a keen eye for detail to track down the actual murderers and expose the conspiracy driving Lone Pine toward bloodshed. "Cry for Revenge" is a tense race against time where evidence—not vengeance—becomes the only path to justice.

In "Cry for Revenge," Golden Arrow takes it upon himself to uncover the truth when the Muraki tribe is falsely accused of murders in Lone Pine, setting him on a tense journey through suspicion and frontier justice. The story unfolds with quiet urgency, as loyalty and honor clash with the weight of false accusation.

Gopher Face, the West's most notoriously dim-witted character, decides to pass on a job opportunity at Jeph Dailey's ranch—but his explanation for why reveals just how backwards his thinking really is. This one-page humor story from 1954 is pure comedic gold, with Gopher Face's hilariously backwards logic delivering the punchline.

When Dusty's boss insists he get a proper haircut and shave, the cowpoke heads to town—only to find himself in the incompetent hands of a barber and his overeager apprentice. What follows is a comedy of mishaps as Dusty endures one painful indignity after another, from scalding towels to a razor-wielding student with questionable credentials. By the time he stumbles back to the ranch, he's learned that sometimes a "short cut" leads to the longest ordeal.