Yosemite Sam #70
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeYosemite Sam #70 (December 1980) is historically significant primarily because of how it reached readers rather than what was new inside it: it belongs to a narrow window of Whitman-branded Western Publishing comics — spanning August through December 1980 — that were distributed exclusively through department-store three-packs rather than traditional newsstands, making it one of the more elusive installments of a run that otherwise sustained Looney Tunes comics culture across 81 issues from 1970 to 1983. As an all-reprint issue, it also documents Western Publishing's late-era editorial strategy of recycling earlier material during a period of financial strain, giving modern readers a snapshot of the company's operational priorities at the close of the Bronze Age. The series itself holds a distinct place in Looney Tunes print history as the character's only solo ongoing title, bridging Sam's decades of animated short appearances with the licensed comics market that kept Looney Tunes alive on newsstands between cartoon generations.
In "Rioting Rivals," Sequoia Sam stumbles into a dusty western town where he’s mistaken for the notorious Yosemite Sam, leading to a showdown of mistaken identities and bank heists. With Daffy Duck stepping in as detective, the case hinges on a clever twist that forces the sheriff to choose between two very similar men—each claiming to be the real Sequoia Sam. Cover by John Costanza, this 1980 Western issue delivers a classic prankster twist with a sharp, satisfying payoff.
Daffy Duck convinces Yosemite Sam to ditch gas-guzzling cars and build a wind wagon—a sail-powered contraption meant to ferry desert dwellers across the dunes. With a mast, a sail, and a whole lot of hubris, the duo sets off, promising smooth rides and zero fuel costs—though the wind has other plans.
When a traveling giant sequoia named Sequoia Sam arrives in a sleepy western town, he’s stunned to find a dead ringer in the form of the town’s notorious outlaw, Yosemite Sam. With a mischievous grin, Sequoia Sam uses the likeness to pull off a bank heist—then lets Yosemite Sam take the fall. Enter Daffy Duck, in full detective mode, tasked with sorting truth from tall tale before the sheriff makes a very wrong arrest. The real challenge? Proving which Sam is which—without either of them admitting anything.
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We Buy Collections ▸History
The Yosemite Sam title launched in December 1970 under the Gold Key imprint of Western Publishing Company, initially as a reprint book before transitioning to new stories beginning with issue #6, produced by a rotating crew including writer Don R. Christensen and artists Phil DeLara and Pete Alvarado out of Western's West Coast offices. With issue #14, editorial control shifted to Western's New York East Coast office — a move that reportedly generated significant internal conflict within the company — and subsequent issues brought in writers such as Paul S. Newman, Arnold Drake, and Steve Skeates alongside artists including John Langton, who contributed pencils across a notable stretch of the mid-run. By 1980, as Whitman-branded distribution replaced Gold Key branding on the covers, the title was in a reprint phase; issue #70 assembled previously published stories rather than generating new content, consistent with the cost-cutting and distribution changes that characterized Western Publishing's final years.
Trivia · 8 facts
- Publisher: Western Publishing Company, Inc.; cover brand Gold Key (indicia) / Whitman (cover logo); cover date December 1980.
- The issue is an all-reprint collection — every story and cover image was reprinted from earlier issues of the Yosemite Sam series, with no new original material.
- It falls within the August–December 1980 window during which Whitman comics were distributed exclusively in pre-packaged plastic three-packs sold through department stores and similar non-newsstand retail outlets, not through traditional comic distributors.
- Confirmed reprinted stories include: a Daffy Duck/Sam 'wind wagon' tale originally published in 1974 that referenced the era's gasoline and energy crisis; a 'Sequoia Sam' doppelganger story in which a Sam lookalike robs a bank and frames Yosemite Sam; and a story in which Bugs goads a reluctant Sam into performing good deeds.
- The 'wind wagon' story features Daffy Duck drawn in a notably animated, expressive style that GCD annotators observed was livelier than typical Western Publishing art of the 1970s–80s.
- The Yosemite Sam series ran for 81 issues (December 1970 – 1983), making it the character's only standalone ongoing comic title; prior to 1970, Sam appeared as a guest in Dell and Gold Key's Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, and Porky Pig titles.
- Artist John Langton, whose credits were partially reconstructed by comics historian Martin O'Hearn, contributed pencils to earlier issues whose stories were later reprinted in #70.
- The series' indicia title was simply 'Yosemite Sam,' but covers carried the title 'Yosemite Sam and Bugs Bunny' to capitalize on Bugs' broader name recognition — a deliberate marketing choice by Western Publishing.
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Reprints
↩ Reprints Yosemite Sam #23 (1974), Yosemite Sam #29 (1975), Yosemite Sam #33 (1975), Yosemite Sam #39 (1976)
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