Lash LaRue Western #23

Molasses Mouth is so hungry he won't risk another visit to Farmer Jones—not after the last time, when his trousers paid the price for getting too close to the farmer's dog. In this brief, punchy Western gag, a hungry belly meets an even hungrier hound, and the punchline lands right where you'd expect it.

Dusty reluctantly visits Dr. Yankem's dental office with a nagging toothache, but spends more time trying to escape than submitting to treatment—until the good doctor employs some unorthodox (and hilarious) methods to locate and address the problem. This 1951 western-humor tale from Lash LaRue Western #23 is a lighthearted romp through the perils of frontier dentistry.

A hapless hunter named Wagonwheels returns from an unsuccessful outing in the woods with a groan-worthy tale to tell. When asked what went wrong, he blames his misfortune on "bald man's luck"—a pun-filled explanation that trades on a play between hunting for game and the follicles he's clearly missing. It's a quick, joke-driven romp that captures the frontier humor of Western comics in 1951.

When Big Bow decides to attend a fish party despite his dread of worms, he brings along his sharp-tongued companion Little Arrow—who wastes no time reminding him that his party manners are questionable at best. As the two bicker their way toward the event, Big Bow reveals his real reason for showing up: he's one souvenir away from completing his silverware set. This 1951 Western humor tale captures the fractious friendship between these two frontier characters as insults, wisecracks, and slapstick collide over an upcoming social gathering.

Lash LaRue rescues a prospector named Clem Watkins from a hole in the desert and learns he's struck gold—but when they arrive in the rough town of Devil's Gap to file the claim, Clem vanishes from his locked hotel room overnight. With only a hidden tunnel and a cast of suspicious gamblers to work with, Lash must use his wits to track down the kidnapper before the gold's location is beaten out of his partner.