Western Hero #84

Hopalong Cassidy, Twin River's sharp-shooting sheriff, sets his sights on the ruthless Tornado Killers after they strike the town's bank and threaten to bankrupt the entire community. While the posse searches one direction, Hopalong follows his hunch back to an abandoned ghost town, hoping to recover the stolen money and stop the gang before they slip away for good. Outnumbered and working alone, the lawman must rely on cunning and nerve to corner the outlaws and save his town from ruin.

Cactus Brain worries he’s not as tough as another cowboy, but his friend quickly reassures him—after all, the other man’s clearly a moron, so they’re definitely equal.

When Monte Hale's longtime friend Fred Anderson is shot during a rustler raid that cripples the Bar S Ranch, Monte makes an agonizing choice—he sells his beloved horse Pardner to a horse trader to raise the money needed to save Fred's life and keep the ranch from foreclosure. But as Pardner is being shipped away, the spirited stallion reunites with Fred's stolen horse Rinty and the two make a desperate dash for freedom, heading straight back to the only home they've ever known.

In "Cold Hearted Coyote!" from Western Hero #84, Li'l Buck delivers a deadpan punchline that turns a simple river rescue into a hilariously chilly moment, proving even the coldest hearts can have a warm sense of humor.

Gabby Hayes loves to brag about his fighting prowess, but when the town jokers spread word of renegade Indians on the warpath, the talkative buckaroo rides out to prove his mettle—only to find himself caught between a real band of renegades and his own wild scheme to turn the tables on the pranksters. "Road to Glory" sends Gabby on a chaotic adventure where bluffing, luck, and sheer audacity collide in the dusty hills around Rawhide.

Mack the Magician brags that he can pull off magic tricks that rival any professional—and when Buck returns from town raving about an amazing magician he saw perform, Mack boasts he can do even better, claiming he can chop down a tree and chop it back up. It's a tall tale in the finest western tradition, and Mack's about to learn that his bragging might be harder to back up than he thinks.

When Big Bow and Little Arrow take on a job raking leaves for a weary miner named Basil before the sheriff's morning deadline, the two con artists scheme against each other to avoid doing the actual work—each determined to pocket the full payment while the other does the labor. What neither expects is that their sabotage and double-crossing will backfire spectacularly when the sheriff arrives to settle accounts.

Tom Mix stumbles onto a grim discovery in Death Gulch—the wreckage of a covered wagon train and the bodies of settlers, all carrying maps that conspicuously omit the deadly ravine from their route. Suspecting a sinister scheme by the real estate agents who sold these doomed pioneers their "property," Tom heads to Cinder City to investigate the Larson and Boswell agency and uncover the truth behind this deadly swindle. What Tom uncovers next will test not just his wits, but his nerve against ruthless men who've already proven they'll kill to protect their secret.