Lash LaRue Western #1
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeLash LaRue Western #1 (Summer 1949) marks the debut of one of Golden Age comics' most distinctive movie-tie-in titles, translating a genuinely unconventional screen hero — a black-clad, whip-wielding roving marshal who looked more like a Humphrey Bogart antihero than a singing cowboy — directly onto the four-color page at the height of the B-Western craze. The series it launched proved to be among the most commercially successful Western comics of its era, eventually running 84 issues across two publishers over twelve years and reportedly moving 12 million copies in 1952 alone. It also stands as an early example of a comic book's cross-media cultural reach feeding back into Hollywood mythology: LaRue's real-life bullwhip mastery, first popularized through his films and then reinforced issue after issue on the stands, contributed to an enduring cultural archetype that would later inspire Indiana Jones.
In "The Fatal Roundups," Lash LaRue confronts the villainous Red Frisby and his gang, who are stealing cattle and committing murders across the territory. Using his signature whip, Lash defeats Frisby's men in a series of battles. The story reveals a plot involving a disputed ranch inheritance, with Lash ultimately working to protect young Lamont and recover the stolen cattle while bringing the criminals to justice.
ComicBooks.com Value
Show all 18 grades ▾
This exact issue on ebay
Raw — VF ▾ $111–$132 2 listings
Raw / ungraded ▾ $67.5–$450 8 listings
Read it digitally
Sell my copy
Have this issue — or a whole collection? Get a fair offer from us, skip the marketplace fees and the hassle.
We Buy Collections ▸History
Fawcett Publications launched the series in the summer of 1949 as part of a robust slate of Western comics tied to then-popular B-movie cowboys, a strategy that also yielded titles for Tom Mix and Monte Hale. The arrangement between Fawcett and LaRue involved no royalty payments to the actor; like other Western stars of the era, LaRue accepted the deal purely for the promotional value it offered his film career. When Fawcett shuttered its comics division in 1953–54, the title transferred seamlessly to Charlton Comics, which continued the numbering from issue #47 through #84, keeping the character on newsstands until 1961. AC Comics published two reprint editions drawing on the Fawcett run in 1990, extending the title's archival life.
Trivia · 8 facts
- First issue published Summer 1949 by Fawcett Publications; cover price 10 cents, 32 pages, full color.
- Fawcett published issues #1–46 (Summer 1949–January 1954); Charlton Comics continued the run with issues #47–84, ending in 1961 — a combined span of twelve years.
- All 46 Fawcett issues are reported to have featured photo covers of Alfred 'Lash' LaRue rather than illustrated cover art.
- The in-comic version of Lash is depicted as a 'roving U.S. Marshal' dressed entirely in black, whose signature weapon is an 18-foot bullwhip — mirroring the actor's screen persona.
- LaRue received no royalties from Fawcett for the use of his name and likeness; the promotional exposure was considered sufficient compensation.
- The series was a major commercial success: the comic sold 12 million copies in 1952 alone across its various issues.
- Many stories in the run featured LaRue's real-life godson, child actor J.P. Sloane, as a recurring character.
- AC Comics issued two reprint editions from the Fawcett run in 1990; individual issues from the series have also been reprinted in the modern era under public-domain reprint imprints.
Reprints
Reprinted in Lash LaRue Western #1 (1950), Tex Ritter Western #32 (1956), Jim Bowie #18 (1957), Black Fury #10 (1957)
Key issues in Lash LaRue Western
Reviews
Reader reviews
No reader reviews yet.