Comics Bulletin logo
Search
  • Columns
    Random
    • "We Are Both Tragedies: Captain America (1990)"

      Jason Sacks
      January 21, 2011
      Columns, Shot for Shot
    Recent
    • Revisiting the Witchblade/Fathom/Tomb Raider Crossover

      Daniel Gehen
      February 8, 2021
    • The Full Run: Usagi Yojimbo – The Wanderer’s Road Part 2

      Daniel Gehen
      December 4, 2020
    • The Full Run: Usagi Yojimbo – The Wanderer’s Road Part 1

      Daniel Gehen
      October 30, 2020
    • What Looks Good
    • Comics Bulletin Soapbox
    • The Full Run
    • Leading Question
    • Top 10
    • The Long-Form
    • Jumping On
    • Comics in Color
    • Slouches Towards Comics
  • Big Two
    Random
    • Preview: "Midnighter and Apollo" #1 Offers a Kiss with a Fist

      Jason Sacks
      September 9, 2016
      Big Two, DC Comics, Press Release, Previews
    Recent
    • 3.0

      Review: X-MEN LEGENDS #1 Delivers A Dose of Nostalgia

      Daniel Gehen
      February 22, 2021
    • 4.5

      DCeased: Dead Planet #7 Presents a Hopeful Future (Review)

      Daniel Gehen
      January 22, 2021
    • Retro Review: Detective Comics #826 Remains a Holiday Classic

      Daniel Gehen
      December 3, 2020
    • DC Comics
    • Big Two Reviews
    • Marvel Comics
  • Indie
    Random
    • 4.0

      Micro Review: Port of Earth #1

      Jason Sacks
      November 13, 2017
      Image, Indie, Reviews, Top Cow
    Recent
    • 4.0

      Review: Beast Wars #2 another chance to change the past

      Stephen Cook
      March 3, 2021
    • 4.5

      Review: THE LAST RONIN #2 Hurts So Good

      Daniel Gehen
      February 19, 2021
    • TIME BEFORE TIME—A HIGH STAKES TIME TRAVEL SCIENCE FICTION SERIES SET TO LAUNCH THIS MAY

      Daniel Gehen
      February 19, 2021
    • Reviews
    • Archie Comics
    • Boom! Studios
    • Dark Horse
    • IDW
    • Image
    • Oni Press
    • Valiant
  • Reviews
    Random
    • 3.0

      The Originals 1.07 “Bloodletting”

      Jason Sacks
      November 19, 2013
      Reviews
    Recent
    • Singles Going Steady – Vowels, Who Needs Them?

      Daniel Gehen
      March 8, 2021
    • 3.0

      Review: X-MEN LEGENDS #1 Delivers A Dose of Nostalgia

      Daniel Gehen
      February 22, 2021
    • 4.5

      Review: THE LAST RONIN #2 Hurts So Good

      Daniel Gehen
      February 19, 2021
    • Singles Going Steady
    • Slugfest
    • Manga
      • Reviews
    • Small Press
      • Reviews
      • ICYMI
      • Tiny Pages Made of Ashes
  • Interviews
    Random
    • An Island in The Sun: An Interview With Proteus Co-Creator Ed Key

      Jason Sacks
      February 12, 2013
      Interviews
    Recent
    • Interview: Jon Davis-Hunt Talks SHADOWMAN

      Daniel Gehen
      June 8, 2020
    • Interview: Becky Cloonan talks DARK AGNES and Her Personal Influences

      Mike Nickells
      March 4, 2020
    • Simon Roy

      Interview: Simon Roy on His Inspirations and Collaborations on PROTECTOR

      Mike Nickells
      January 29, 2020
    • Audio Interview
    • Video Interview
  • Classic Comics
    Random
    • A Raccoon, 1985 and the Tragedy of Bill Mantlo

      Jason Sacks
      August 1, 2014
      Classic Comics Cavalcade, Columns
    Recent
    • VISITOR is the Quintessential “SPIRIT” Story

      Daniel Gehen
      March 26, 2021
    • Countdown to the King: Marvel’s Godzilla

      Daniel Gehen
      May 29, 2019
    • Honoring A Legend: Fantagraphics To Resurrect Tomi Ungerer Classics

      Daniel Gehen
      February 15, 2019
    • Classic Comics Cavalcade
    • Classic Interviews
  • News
    Random
    • First Look at THE RED MOTHER #5

      Jason Sacks
      May 29, 2020
      Boom! Studios, News, Press Release
    Recent
    • TIME BEFORE TIME—A HIGH STAKES TIME TRAVEL SCIENCE FICTION SERIES SET TO LAUNCH THIS MAY

      Daniel Gehen
      February 19, 2021
    • Image Comics and TMP Announces SPAWN’S UNIVERSE

      Daniel Gehen
      February 18, 2021
    • SAVAGE DRAGON IS A FORCE TO BE RECKONED WITH THIS MAY

      Daniel Gehen
      February 17, 2021
    • Press Release
    • Kickstarter Spotlight
  • Books
    Random
    • Bernie Wrightson's 'Creepshow' is Back and Scarier Than Ever

      Jason Sacks
      May 16, 2017
      Books, Classic Comics Cavalcade, Reviews
    Recent
    • Collecting Profile: Disney Frozen

      CB Staff
      November 22, 2019
    • Collecting Profile: NFL Superpro

      CB Staff
      August 31, 2019
    • “THE BEST OF WITZEND” is a Wonderful Celebration of Artistic Freedom

      Daniel Gehen
      September 15, 2018
    • Review: ‘Machete Squad’ is a Disappointing Afghan Memoir

      Jason Sacks
      July 31, 2018
    • Review: ‘Out of Nothing’ is the Antidote to Our Sick Times

      Jason Sacks
      July 23, 2018
    • Review: ‘Bizarre Romance’ Shows Rough Edges in the Early Days of a New Marriage

      Jason Sacks
      July 10, 2018
What's New
  • Collecting Profile: Guardians of the Galaxy
  • Collecting Profile: 1990 Marvel Universe Trading Cards
  • Collecting Profile: Red Sonja
  • Collecting Profile: Dr. Doom
  • VISITOR is the Quintessential “SPIRIT” Story
  • Collecting Profile: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
  • RSS Feed
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Google+
  • Contact Us
  • Write for us!
  • Visit Video Game Break!
Home
Reviews

Review: Golden Age Western Comics

Jason Sacks
May 31, 2012
Reviews

If you love Western comics, this is so much the book for you. This new book from New York publisher powerHouse Books collects 20 cowboy yarns from the late 1940s and early '50s that feature cowboys great (Tom Mix, Gabby Hayes, Annie Oakley) and obscure (Magic Arrow, Masked Raider, Little Lobo the Bantam Buckaroo). If you love this kind of stuff — if your mind spends much of its time on the plains, wandering the wide open West and searching for truth and justice — this is the kind of book that you really can't wait to read. But if you don't know Tom Mix from Tom Corbett Space Cadet, there's really probably nothing in this book that will make you a fan of the Old West.

All of these stories are very much of their specific time. Each story has a pretty clear sense of morality — the bad guys are terribly, terribly bad and the good guys are wonderfully, wonderfully good. It's no surprise that heroes like Dan'l Boone and Buffalo Belle, "the rope-twirling, roughriding redhead who brought justice to the range!" are agents for fun, by-the-numbers type stories. That's what readers of the '40s and '50s wanted from their Western heroes, and those were the tropes that these stories explore.

After all, in that era, the cowboy ruled all media. Strange as it seems today, horse yarns were all over TV and movies at that time, dominating the public's perception. Characters like Jesse James weren't seen as complex antiheroes in the way that we think of them today; rather, they are deeply moral hero. James, for instance, is a clean-shaven crusader for justice in the four-page reprint from a 1955 Charlton Comic reprinted here. It's kind of funny to see a character that we're used to seeing as a dark and complex man treated instead as a good guy, but that's part of the charm and wackiness of this book.

It should be no surprised that Native Americans — well, when I discuss this book I guess I have to call them Indians — aren't treated especially well in this book. For instance, 1952's "Chief Black Hawk and his Dogs of War" presents some almost campy stereotyped Indians, complete with a lust for scalping the white man and a funny, primitive way of talking.

The art in this book is a pleasing mix, too. We get some very slick art by John Certa and Dick Giordano in this book, next to the wonderfully quirky and odd art by Manny Stallman, next to gorgeous work by Leonard Starr, next to a slew of mediocre pieces by artists whose names are now lost to the mists of time.

If you're of the right mindset to love this book, you will absolutely love it. It is full of wonderfully escapist comics. The very old-fashioned aspects of these characters and stories are exactly what many people will like about them. On the other hand, if you want a bit of depth in your characters, or if you're looking to pick up this book to find some long-lost hidden Western gems that fit our modern sensibilities, this is probably not the book for you. I liked this one well enough, but I did keep finding myself aching for a touch of Clint Eastwood in some of these stories.

 


 

Jason Sacks is Publisher of Comics Bulletin. Follow him at @jasonsacks, email him at jason.sacks@comicsbulletin.com or friend him on Facebook.

Jason SackspowerHouse BooksSteven Brower

Share On:
Tweet
Review: B.P.R.D. Hell on Earth: The Transformation of J.H. Donnell
Popatopolis

About The Author

Jason Sacks
Jason Sacks
Publisher Emeritus
Google+

Jason Sacks has been obsessed with pop culture for longer than he'd like to remember. Jason has been writing for Comics Bulletin for nearly a decade, producing over a million words of content about comics, films and other media. He has also been published in a number of publications, including the late, lamented Amazing Heroes, The Flash Companion and The American Comic Book Chronicles: the 1970s,1980s and 1990s. Find him on Facebook and Twitter. Jason is the Publisher Emeritus of Comics Bulletin.

Related Posts

  • Reliving the Craziest Decade in Comics History: An interview with Jason Sacks

    Mark Stack
    January 2, 2019
  • Top 10 Thoughts About Jack Kirby

    Jason Sacks
    August 28, 2017

Latest Reviews

  • Singles Going Steady – Vowels, Who Needs Them?

    Daniel Gehen
    March 8, 2021
  • 3.0

    Review: X-MEN LEGENDS #1 Delivers A Dose of Nostalgia

    Daniel Gehen
    February 22, 2021
  • 4.5

    Review: THE LAST RONIN #2 Hurts So Good

    Daniel Gehen
    February 19, 2021
  • 2.3

    Review: SAVAGE #1 Needs Taming

    Daniel Gehen
    February 16, 2021
  • 4.3

    Review: RADIANT BLACK #1 Shines Brightly

    Daniel Gehen
    February 12, 2021
  • 2.7

    Review: DEEP BEYOND #1 Can’t Commit to a Premise

    Daniel Gehen
    February 4, 2021
  • 2.0

    VINDICATION Falls Short of its Lofty Goals (Review)

    Daniel Gehen
    February 1, 2021
  • 4.5

    DCeased: Dead Planet #7 Presents a Hopeful Future (Review)

    Daniel Gehen
    January 22, 2021
  • Review: The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Cartoonist

    Daniel Gehen
    December 14, 2020
  • Retro Review: Detective Comics #826 Remains a Holiday Classic

    Daniel Gehen
    December 3, 2020
RSSTwitterFacebookgoogleplusinstagramtumblr

Comics Bulletin is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for website owners to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com, audible.com, and any other website that may be affiliated with Amazon Service LLC Associates Program. As an Amazon Associate, Comics Bulletin earns from qualifying purchases.

All content on this site (c) 2018 The Respective Copyright Holders