Six-Gun Heroes #1

When Ten Gallon Tex runs into the relentlessly joke-telling Jester Jones, he'll do anything to escape another round of stale punchlines. But after declaring that his persistent friend has never told him a funny joke in his life, Tex finds himself caught in a trap of his own making in this lighthearted one-page tale from 1950. A quick dose of Western humor where a cowpoke's desperation to avoid boredom backfires in the most amusing way.

When Fluster accidentally shoots himself trying to stop a chicken thief with a sawed-off shotgun, his partner Bluster can't resist pointing out just how foolish the mishap was—and the resulting argument between these two bumbling cowboys quickly escalates into a battle of wits that neither one is particularly equipped to win. What starts as a simple farm crisis turns into a slapstick showdown of insults and comebacks that lands them exactly where you'd expect.

Smiley Burnette, the editor of the Burnette Bugle, has six hours to raise $500 for his printing press before a bill collector takes it away—and when he learns there's a $500 reward for finding the mysteriously disappeared Timothy Draggle, it seems like the perfect solution. What Smiley doesn't know is that Draggle's disappearance is part of an elaborate con to extort $10,000 from the town, and his search for the missing man lands him squarely in the middle of the scheme, armed only with his trusty Smiley-O-Phone and his wits.

Undercover marshal Rocky Lane discovers a band of renegade Indians armed with smuggled rifles near Laredo and sets out to stop their illegal weapons supply—only to find himself caught between trigger-happy outlaws and a conspiracy that runs deeper than he expected. With help from his trusted horse Black Jack, Rocky must survive a trap, uncover the true masterminds behind the gun-running operation, and bring the whole crooked scheme to justice before the gang can escape.

Lamebrain Lem's got a peculiar take on education when he hears the new schoolteacher has studied at two colleges and earned three degrees. In true humorous fashion, Lem spots what he sees as a glaring flaw in the whole system—and isn't shy about pointing it out.