COWBOY SAHIB "Konchak the Cossack"

Despite not being the title character...

...Cowboy Sahib became the cover-featured character for this struggling ACG title from before his first appearance to the end of the book's run...which, unfortunately was this issue, his second appearance!

This tale from Hooded Horseman #26 (1953) was written by ACG editor Richard Hughes and illustrated by Leonard Starr, best known for his own newspaper comic strip Mary Perkins, On Stage, becoming the writer/artist of Little Orphan Annie after it was revived due to the success of the Broadway musical adaptation, and co-creating the animated series ThunderCats.

With the Hooded Horseman's cancellation, this storyline came to an end...or did it?

Not quite.
In 1954, with horror comics dying out due to the witch-hunt begun by Dr Fredric Wertham, ACG cancelled their line of terror titles.
However, since the second-class mailing licenses for the cancelled books were already paid for, the editors decided to continue the cancelled books' numbering with different subject matter including westerns and romance titles.
(Otherwise they'd have to pay new fees for  second-class mailing licenses for new series!)
In this case, Out of the Night, which ended with #17, was retitled Hooded Horseman as of #18!
The revived book continued the strips from the earlier version of Hooded Horseman, including Sahib Cowboy (who no longer had the cover slot).
As of #22, the Hooded Horseman rode off into the sunset for the last time.
Sahib Cowboy became the first strip to (technically) be cancelled before it began, since he ran from #25 to #26, then #18 to #22 in the same titled book!
There's more Sahib Cowboy to come!
Watch for him!

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