Four Color #1090

In the 1960 humor tale "Mule Train," Pete and Francis join a covered wagon mule train crossing the country, unaware they're traveling with a gang of bank robbers using each stop as a cover for their next heist. When the robbers strike in the first town, it's Francis who stumbles upon the stolen money—setting off a chain of events that could unravel their plan.

In "Francis In Orbit," the ever-awkward but well-meaning Francis finds himself pulled into a mysterious government experiment, where he and his fellow test subject Pete are enlisted for undisclosed space flight trials. When Francis overhears the scientists discussing his unique talent for reporting conditions from orbit, he realizes his role might be far more unusual than he ever imagined.

In "Oil and Troubled Waters," a humor tale from Four Color #1090 (1960), a sheik whose desert kingdom lacks oil is told by a soothsayer that his troubles will end if he finds a "man who speaks like a jackass." When an agent in America mistakes the riddle for a literal jackass who speaks like a man, he brings back Francis and Peter, only to force Francis to find oil in three days—or face Peter’s demise.