Gene Autry Comics #47

This 1951 Dell issue puts America's favorite singing cowboy front and center — Gene Autry, decked out in a bold plaid shirt and white Stetson, stands cool and resolute while a dramatic scene of galloping riders and a blazing building unfolds behind him. The blend of a photographic portrait with illustrated action gives the cover a real punch, capturing the rough-and-tumble energy of the Old West. With 32 pages of all-comics adventure written by Elizabeth Beecher, including the story "The Shadow Ridge Trappers," it's a fine slice of early-'50s Western storytelling.