Western Comics #4
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeWestern Comics #4 (July–August 1948) marks the final appearance of the Vigilante — Greg Saunders, the bandana-masked modern-day cowboy who had been a charter member of DC's Seven Soldiers of Victory since Action Comics #42 (1941) — within the Western Comics anthology. His exit after just four issues cleared space for the debut of Nighthawk beginning with issue #5, reshaping the series' recurring cast for the rest of its thirteen-year run. The issue also represents the midpoint of DC's full commitment to the western genre boom of 1948, when the publisher simultaneously launched Western Comics, Dale Evans Comics, and retooled other titles to meet reader demand for frontier adventure. As a 52-page, multi-feature anthology produced in DC's early Golden Age house style, it exemplifies the format that DC would sustain for DC's longest-running western title across 85 total issues.
In "The Fangs of the Rattler!", Captain Tootsie takes center stage in a high-stakes mystery involving a sabotaged trapeze, all set within a vibrant, product-packed adventure that doubles as a promotional showcase for Tootsie Pops and Tootsie Rolls. Penciled and inked by C. C. Beck, the story blends action and whimsy, while Howard Sherman’s cover art captures the drama with bold, eye-catching flair.
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We Buy Collections ▸History
Western Comics launched in February 1948 under editor Whitney Ellsworth as DC's direct response to the postwar western craze sweeping comic racks and popular culture broadly. The series was structured as a rotating anthology from the outset, with issue #1 introducing the Wyoming Kid (co-created by writer Jack Schiff and artist Howard Sherman), the Cowboy Marshal (drawn by Ed Smalle Jr.), and Rodeo Rick (co-created by artist Howard Post), while borrowing the established Vigilante for the first four issues as a familiar draw. The creative roster for issue #4 included Mort Meskin on the Vigilante story and Howard Sherman on the Wyoming Kid, both among the title's key early contributors.
Trivia · 8 facts
- Western Comics #4 carries a cover date of July–August 1948 and was published by DC Comics on a bi-monthly schedule.
- It is the final issue of Western Comics to feature the Vigilante (Greg Saunders); the masked cowboy hero had appeared in every issue from #1 through #4 before being replaced by Nighthawk starting with issue #5.
- The Vigilante was a well-established DC character who first appeared in Action Comics #42 (November 1941) and was a member of the Seven Soldiers of Victory.
- The issue's Vigilante story was drawn by Mort Meskin, one of the principal artists on the character during this period.
- Recurring anthology features in this issue include stories starring the Wyoming Kid (art by Howard Sherman) and the Cowboy Marshal (art by Ed Smalle Jr.), both of whom would continue in the series for years to come.
- A Captain Tootsie advertisement — the comic-form candy ad created by C.C. Beck beginning in 1943 — is indexed as appearing in this issue; Beck produced these one-page superhero-styled Tootsie Roll ads that ran across dozens of publishers throughout the Golden Age.
- Western Comics was DC's longest-running western title, publishing 85 issues from 1948 to 1961, with Whitney Ellsworth serving as editor for the majority of that run.
- Captain Tootsie was created in 1943 by C.C. Beck and writer Rod Reed (with Pete Costanza later joining as inker/co-artist), making the character a product of the same Fawcett-adjacent Beck studio responsible for Captain Marvel.
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Reprinted in Western Comics #4 (1948)
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