Tom Mix Western #48

Tumbleweed Jr. is so tired of studying that he wishes for magical help—and gets it when a magical power appears and offers to transform him into anything he wants so he won't have to hit the books. What follows is a series of increasingly uncomfortable metamorphoses as the magical force grants his wish in ways he never anticipated, teaching him a lesson about being careful what you ask for.

Cowboy Cal shares a laugh about the Man in the Moon's peculiar state of mind in this brief western humor piece. It's a quick joke that lands with a pun, perfect for a light moment between the heavier adventures in the issue.

Saddle-Head plans a trip to visit his folks in Montana, but when a fellow traveler questions why he's lugging around such an ancient, falling-apart suitcase, the hapless cowboy offers up some uniquely flawed logic in defense of his shabby luggage. It's a quick dose of frontier humor built entirely on one character's comically backwards reasoning.

Pinto Pete swings by to share a tall tale from Fred Fletcher's birthday party—where the old-timer's got so many candles on his cake, they nearly set the whole place ablaze. It's a quick, punchy gag that captures the frontier humor of 1951.