The Hawk #8

A man is framed for murder in the dusty town of Red City, about to meet his maker at the hands of a vigilante lynch mob—until the Hawk bursts in to stop the hanging. As the masked hero investigates, he uncovers a scheme to hide a wanted bank robber's true identity, one involving a dead man's final plea and a telltale stogie that proves who really pulled the trigger. Justice takes a hard ride through the desert as the Hawk pursues his quarry and unravels a frame-up designed by a desperate criminal.

Federal Marshal Bob Hardie—the Hawk—must defend an army munitions train from a vicious Apache raid orchestrated by the outlaw Charlie Leverett and his ruthless partner Mamie Temple, who've poisoned the local tribes against the territory's settlers. When the Hawk pursues his quarry into town, he discovers the cunning Mamie has her own designs, setting a trap that forces a reckoning between the three of them in the New Mexican desert.

This educational piece chronicles the rise and fall of the wild mustang herds that once roamed the American West, tracing how these superior animals were prized by early Indians and cowboys but eventually hunted to near-extinction as ranchers competed for scarce grazing land. The story follows the mustang's transformation from a symbol of the untamed frontier to a problem to be eliminated, documenting how these spirited horses were captured, starved, shot, and even stampeded over cliffs. By the mid-twentieth century, the original mustang—known as the "fuzz-tail" or "broom-tail"—had vanished into history.

A fascinating look at the wild denizens of the American Southwest, from the diamond-backed rattlesnake—which may strike without warning—to the nimble road runner that hunts snakes with remarkable agility. "Creatures of the Western Badlands" surveys six remarkable desert animals, each adapted in surprising ways to survive the harsh badlands environment.

When Dusty Carson finds his friend Art Lane—the deputy sheriff—shot down in the desert, the Desert Rat swears vengeance on the killer known as the Driftin' Kid. Following the murderer's trail across the parched sands with his faithful burro Mickey, Dusty hatches a dangerous plan to trap the back-shooter where water itself becomes a weapon. It's a battle of wits and will in the unforgiving desert, where thirst and desperation are just as deadly as any gun.

Stumpy Bunyan, the sleepy sheriff of Mudgeville, would rather nap than work—but when the bank president warns that safe blowers are threatening to rob the town's modest eight dollars, duty calls. As a gang of crooks moves in to crack the vault one night, Stumpy discovers that sometimes the best defense is simply being in the right place at the right time.

When a gunslinger's ambush leaves the Hawk sprawled in the desert, a small-town family must hold the line against Spade Hammer's ruthless gang—but salvation comes from an unexpected source. Bob Hardie, the Hawk, has more fight left in him than anyone realized, and he's ready to settle accounts with the man who tried to bury him in the wasteland. It's a race against time and bullets in "Dry River Rampage!" as the marshal claws his way back to confront the conspiracy that nearly cost him his life.