ComicBooks.com Register / Loginit's free!
Western Bandit Trails #1 cover
Cover: Matt Baker
📖 Read freeFull issue · restored, free to read

Western Bandit Trails #1

Jan 1949 · St. John · 0.10 USD
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join free

This issue is an anthology featuring three Western crime stories. "The Ghost Town Terror of Arizona" depicts a bat terrorizing residents of a ghost town called Ventillo, with characters discussing mysterious deaths and strange occurrences. "Murder Lurks in Texas Oil" involves a dangerous killer on the loose, with police and detectives boarding a search train to pursue the criminal through Texas. "Bucking for a Showdown" follows Judge Thayer and Stubby Watson, a wealthy sportsman and former athlete known as "The Blue Monk," as they face off against criminals fleeing toward Nevada, with a climactic train chase and confrontation.

Contains 5 stories
Phantom Riders of the Bullion Trail
8 pp · Western-Frontier

When three outlaws—Cheyenne Curtin, his brother Mike, and the ruthless Kansas—attempt to hijack a gold shipment heading from the Colorado smelters, their scheme unravels when a supposedly dead wagon driver crawls back into the game with revenge on his mind. As the bandits pose as legitimate guards to steal the bullion, the man they left for dead hunts them across the frontier, forcing a final reckoning on the trail. It's a tense cat-and-mouse game where deception and double-crosses become as dangerous as any outlaw's bullet.

The Ghost Town Terror of Arizona
6 pp · Detective-Mystery
VentriloDr. Fate (not the DC character)

When Ventrilo and Dr. Fate arrive at an Arizona ghost town on a mercy mission to a local sanitarium, they're immediately hunted by giant, man-killing bats that emerge after dark. As Ventrilo uses his ventriloquism skills to expose the town's dark secrets, he uncovers a sinister conspiracy centered on Dr. Mosely and a lost gold vein hidden beneath the hospital—one that the doctor has been protecting at terrible cost to the children in his care. It's a mystery that demands both quick thinking and Ventrilo's unique gift to untangle the truth before the bats strike again.

Untitled Humor story
2 pp · Humor, Western-Frontier
Murder Lurks in Texas Oil
5 pp · Detective-Mystery

A tempestuous heiress inherits a fortune and immediately finds herself the target of a sinister scheme—someone's using fear itself as a weapon, dosing her with drugs and terrorizing her with visions designed to drive her to madness or murder. Detective Hunt must untangle a web of jealous relatives, theatrical tricks, and blackmail before a desperate young woman does something she can't take back. It's a taut puzzle where the real danger isn't what it appears to be.

The Beggar King's Last Bonanza
6 pp · Superhero
The Blue Monk

A dangerous criminal mastermind known as the Beggar King arrives in Reno with a ruthless crew of beggars running a crime wave of holdups and pickpocketing, forcing the Blue Monk and his squad of ex-crooks to track him down before he can cement his grip on the city. With a one-hour ultimatum on the table, the Blue Monk closes in for a savage confrontation that tests both his wits and his fists. This 1949 tale pits hero against villain in a gritty underworld showdown where the stakes are as high as the Beggar King's ambitions.

ComicBooks.com Value

Our Model is In Beta
Raw (Good) $90
CGC 9.4 · 1 in census $2,421
CGC 9.2 none in existence
CGC 9.0 · 1 in census $1,210*
CGC 8.5 none in existence
CGC 8.0 none in existence
CGC 7.5 · 1 in census $659*
Show all 15 grades
CGC 7.0 · 4 in census $659
CGC 6.5 · 2 in census $371*
CGC 6.0 · 3 in census $321*
CGC 5.5 · 3 in census $255
CGC 5.0 none in existence
CGC 4.5 · 2 in census $219
CGC 4.0 none in existence
CGC 3.5 · 1 in census $169*
CGC 3.0 · 1 in census $150*
* estimate — limited direct-sales data at this grade
Our model’s value — refined as new sales data arrives · CGC census counts shown where available

Find on

Search eBay for Western Bandit Trails #1
No confirmed live listings for this exact issue right now — this opens an eBay search.

Read it digitally

Amazon Kindle Buy the digital edition GlobalComix Indie & digital reader
Opens a search on each platform — digital availability varies by title.

Sell my copy

Have this issue — or a whole collection? Get a fair offer from us, skip the marketplace fees and the hassle.

We Buy Collections ▸
Fast, fair offers · we handle grading & shipping

Full credits

artist, inker Howard Larsen
cover pencils, inks Matt Baker

Reprints

↩ Reprints Star Ranger #5 (1937), Dynamic Comics #18 (1946), Dynamic Comics #19 (1946), Red Seal Comics #18 (1946)

Reprinted in Western Bandit Trails #1 (1949), Giant Comics Editions #5 (1949)

Reviews

Reader reviews

No reader reviews yet.