Straight Arrow #3

Frank Frazetta's cover for this 1950 Magazine Enterprises issue pulls no punches: Straight Arrow, in fringed buckskin and feathered headband, braces himself with a knife as an enormous grizzly bear rears up on its hind legs, claws slashing toward him — while a second, smaller bear lies at their feet. The title story, "The Killer Bear!," promises exactly the kind of rugged, man-versus-nature tension the cover so vividly sets up, with interiors by writer Gardner Fox and artist Fred Meagher. For fans of Western adventure comics, this is a fine snapshot of the genre at its most viscerally exciting — and the banner noting Straight Arrow's concurrent run on the Mutual Radio Network is a wonderful reminder of just how broad the character's reach was in 1950.