RANGER AL's WESTERN COMIX THEATRE #1: HOPALONG CASSIDY in "Secret Of The Buffalo Hat," June 1955

Albie's Note:  I love western comics... always have.   The first ones I ever read were in the early '70s [I was born in '64] and were the Marvel line-up of interchangeable "innocent outlaws" [Rawhide Kid, Kid Colt, Ringo Kid, etc.] and Gold Keys's Lone Ranger hold-outs.  I have loved the beautiful and spacious Four-color B-west ever since.  But before I was even reading comics-- before I was born actually-- there was the Fifties:   the absolute Golden Era of Western Comics. 
 

This tale-- well-drawn by the late great Gene Colan for DC's legendary and hard-to-collect run of Hopalong Cassidy-- is a good example of the quality, both in scripting and art, that went into the western comics feature during the hey-day of the American Television Western.  I love the Bill Boyd version of Hoppy, even though-- as people always note-- it was a ridiculously sanitized version of Mulford's original hard-drinkin' red-headed cowman.  I guess I come feel the same way critic Francis Nevins does; that both versions are really, truly great-- albeit in their own way. One great thing about the Boyd Hoppy is that there was such a high quality to everything associated with that product and name:  the Radio show, the Dan Spiegle comic strip, not to mention the 60 plus movie features... all have the same amazingly consistent level of quality.  



First in a new series, I present-- from HOPALONG CASSIDY #102--  the great "Secret Of The Buffalo Hat!"



Enjoy.

 

 

 

PEACE