Western Hero #86

When a notorious outlaw called the Red Marauder strikes a stagecoach, Hopalong Cassidy rallies a posse to hunt him through the hills—but a ruthless gang of cattle rustlers sees the search as a threat to their hidden operation. They hatch a devious scheme: dress a desperate drifter in the Marauder's red outfit and frame him as the dead outlaw, hoping to call off the hunt before the posse discovers their secret hideout. Hopalong finds himself staring at a body that doesn't quite add up, and his gut tells him something sinister is at play.

Cactus Brain takes his nephew Buster to school, but when a stranger questions his own education—particularly what George Washington was noted for—he confidently insists the answer involves a monument to Washington's memory. His hilariously backwards logic leads to a comedic comeuppance in this quick-witted frontier humor tale.

When outlaw Jack Bath shoots and badly wounds the legendary Sheriff Jed Carlson during a tense confrontation in town, a brain injury leaves the lawman with shattered memories—convinced he's the very criminal he was hunting. Monte Hale finds himself in an impossible position when Carlson, now riding with Bath's gang and believing himself an outlaw, stands in the way of stopping a stagecoach robbery. Unarmed and unwilling to gun down the man he respects, Monte must pursue a dangerous quarry across treacherous terrain to bring the confused sheriff back alive.

When the owner of Rawhide's stagecoach line sells out to an eastern businessman, Gabby decides to start a rival outfit of his own—and his fair prices quickly win over the town. But the new owner, Mr. Blackwig, has darker schemes in mind to put Gabby out of business, leading to a runaway coach, a jewel heist, and a showdown that reveals Blackwig's true criminal nature. With help from Sheriff Slim and his loyal horse Corker, Gabby takes on a crook far more dangerous than his fancy suit suggests.

When Li'l Buck takes a tumble into a mud puddle, his worried mother fears the worst—but the young troublemaker's idea of an "accident" might not be quite what she imagined. This lighthearted frontier tale offers a quick dose of frontier humor and youthful mischief from the pages of Western Hero.

When priceless Pawnee tribal treasures begin vanishing from the reservation, Chief Thundercloud asks Tom Mix to help keep the relics from being sold in town—but the case takes a deadly turn when a young brave is found dead in the river, and a pair of moccasins becomes the key to unmasking a murderer. Tom's keen eye for clues leads him to realize the discovery was no accident, and the real criminal is hiding right among the tribe.