MASKED MARVEL "Beasts of Horror"

We end October as we began, with the hero who looks like a Dia de los Muertos sugar skull...

...in his final, never-reprinted appearance in Youthful's GunSmoke #16 (1952)!

Most of the time, the Masked Marvel, like the Ghost Rider, faced threats that appeared supernatural, but actually were people pretending to be ghosts or monsters, like the heroes themselves.
The writer is unknown, but the artist is Tony Tallarico, who went on to co-create Lobo, comics' first Black cowboy (and the first Black character to get his own comic book) in 1966!

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THE ORIGINAL GHOST RIDER "Spectral Warrior"

Has it been almost a year since we ran a Ghost Rider tale?

Since it's almost Halloween, let's do something about that, with a never-reprinted story...

...from Magazine Enterprises' Ghost Rider #13 (1953).

Illustrated by co-creator Dick Ayers, it's typical of the stories, moody and entertaining, with what appears to be a supernatural threat simply being someone using tricks and misdirection to appear supernatural!
And isn't that the basic concept of "trick or treat"?

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STRANGE STORIES FROM ANOTHER WORLD "Phantom Riders in the Sky"

While Ghost Rider and Masked Marvel II were guys pretending to be avenging spirits...

...these specters were the real deal...as Ed Sharlin discovered...

This never-reprinted tale appeared in Fawcett's Strange Stories from Another World #4 (1952), illustrated by Ed Waldman.

The writer is unknown.

BTW, Fawcett had one of the biggest Western comics lines in the business, with over 1/4 of their 140 or so titles (including one-shots) being Westerns.

And that's not even including back-ups in non-Western comics (like movie actor Rod Cameron's strip in Captain Video)!

Be here next week when we continue our journey during October through the Weird West...

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MASKED MARVEL "Blood-Sucker of Banta Gulch"

The Masked Western Hero who looks like a refugee from Dia de los Muertos returns...

...battling a real supernatural threat in this tale from Youthful's GunSmoke #15 (1951).

Most of the time, the Masked Marvel, like the Ghost Rider, faced threats that appeared supernatural, but actually were people pretending to be ghosts or monsters, like the heroes themselves.
The writer and artist for this particular story are unknown.

Be here next week when we continue our journey during October through the Weird West...

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HOW THE WEST WAS FUN! "Sane"

Here's a never-reprinted spoof from Premier's MAD-clone NUTS! #2 (1954)...

...done by an unidentified writer and artist.

Premier Magazines had only 7 titles (including a Western comic, Masked Ranger) over a two-year period in 1953-54, then disappeared into the mists of time.

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ROY ROGERS "Tornado Weather"

It's interesting that, in the three years this blog has been around...

...we've never done a post featuring one of the most popular cowboy stars of both movies and TV, Roy Rogers!

Note: may be NSFW due to racial stereotypes common to 1950s pop culture.

This never-reprinted tale from Dell's Roy Rogers Comics #74 (1954) is in the same vein as other "Reel-Life Western" comics with the cowboy star playing himself doing things usually done in the movies by stuntmen!
Note: though the comic had already been doing a number of stories using the Roy Rogers TV series' format, this particular tale seems to be a standalone unlrelated to those as Roy is a deputy for a different sherriff as seen in the TV show and his TV character (also called "Roy Rogers") is a rancher!

Written by Gaylord DuBois, illustrated by John Buscema and Mario Acquaviva.

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