Western Fighters #1 – Key Highlights
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Publisher: Hillman Periodicals
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Publication Date: April 1948
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Cover Artists: Jack Kirby (pencils), Joe Simon (inks)
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Genre: Western / Crime / Adventure
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Pages: 52
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Original Cover Price: $0.10
🔥 Key Significance
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Features a striking Golden Age cover penciled by Jack Kirby and inked by Joe Simon, the legendary creative partnership behind some of comics' most influential work.
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An anthology of Western stories inspired by notorious gunslingers, outlaws, and frontier legends.
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Several stories are presented as true accounts of historical figures and events, including Black Bart, Ben Thompson, Belle Starr, and Bill Mayfield.
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Features interior artwork by Dan Barry, Rudy Palais, and Lee Elias.
📖 Story Highlights
- “Black Bart”
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Art by Dan Barry.
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The story of Charles “Black Bart” Boles, the notorious stagecoach robber known for his criminal exploits and poetry. He robbed the wealthy and became a legendary figure of the Old West.
- “Killers Die Too!”
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Script by Dick Wood.
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A biographical account of notorious gunman Ben Thompson, presented as a true story of his life and death.
- “Belle Starr”
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A feature about the infamous female outlaw known as the original gun girl of the West.
- “Bill Mayfield”
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Follows Mayfield's involvement with Henry Plummer's gang and his eventual hanging in Idaho for multiple killings.
- “.45 Calibre Sneeze”
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The story of a gunman whose cruel sense of humor and violent entertainment ultimately lead to his death at the hands of an angry mob.
- “Vanishing Kid”
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Pencils by Rudy Palais.
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An American outlaw flees to Canada, where he commits murder, but is eventually captured by the Mounted Police and hanged.
- Untitled One-Page Story
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A humorous Western feature in which a seemingly unstoppable tough guy meets his match in Tucson Tom.
- “Justice by Vigilante”
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Art by Lee Elias.
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A vigilante committee initially believes Sheriff Plummer is doing his best to control crime. Their investigation eventually reveals that the sheriff himself is behind the killings and robberies, leading to his execution.
- Untitled One-Page Story
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A humorous feature about Tom struggling to make it to the cinema.
📌 Additional Details
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Cover: Jack Kirby pencils with Joe Simon inks.
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Interior Artists Identified: Dan Barry, Rudy Palais, and Lee Elias.
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Historical Subjects: Black Bart, Ben Thompson, Belle Starr, and Bill Mayfield.
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Format: Full-color Western anthology combining outlaw biographies, frontier crime, vigilante justice, and humor.
Western Fighters #1 is a compelling Golden Age Western anthology, made especially collectible by its Jack Kirby and Joe Simon cover and its lineup of stories based on notorious figures of the American frontier.
