Rocky Lane Western #32

In "The Port of Missing Badmen Chapter 1: Disguise in Badmen," Rocky Lane stumbles upon a suspiciously tidy shop in a dusty frontier town, where a former convict runs a curious business—crafting fresh disguises for outlaws after each heist. The place is neat, quiet, and just a little too well stocked for a man with a past.

Dee Dickens celebrates his birthday in good spirits despite his meager circumstances—a fifty-dollar loan from the judge and a skimpy cake-and-milk lunch from his stingy landlady, Mrs. Dither. As he trades wisecracks with a skeptical friend about his living situation and the eccentric boarders at Mrs. Dither's place, the humor builds from one tall tale to the next about the landlady's extreme frugality and the rowdy antics of the residents.

Seth gets some good-natured ribbing about his birthday celebration, though his answer to what he received proves this is a lighthearted western humor strip. The brief exchange captures the kind of quick wit and frontier charm that made these Rocky Lane tales memorable diversions in 1951.

Hoak has locked himself away to finish writing what he's convinced will be his ticket to Hollywood success, but his old pal Poke isn't buying the story—literally or figuratively—once he learns the whole thing was lifted from a movie. What follows is a rapid-fire comedy of insults and tall tales about Hoak's past writing disasters, each one more ridiculous than the last, building to a finale where Hoak finally decides he's had enough of Poke's wisecracks.