Indicia title is "RED RYDER RANCH COMICS, No. 916." Code number is R.RYDER.R.O.S. #916-587. Copyright 1958 by Red Ryder Enterprises, Inc. This issue continues from "Red Ryder Ranch Comics" (Dell, 1956 series) #151 (April-June 1957). Last issue of the Red Ryder series.
Cover
The Empty Fort / 1 page
Pencils
? (painting)
Inks
? (painting)
Colors
? (painting)
Letters
typeset
Genre
Western-frontier
Characters
Red Ryder
Text Article
The Red Ryder Ranch... (1 page)
Synopsis
Three photos taken at Fred Harman's Red Ryder Ranch in Colorado, with commentary by Fred Harman.
Pencils
? (photos)
Inks
? (photos)
Letters
typeset
Genre
Non-fiction
Characters
Fred Harman (photo); Little Beaver (photo); Angelo Viana (photo); Richard Valzonis (photo)
Script
Fred Harman
Notes
Inside front cover; black and white. Three photos and typeset text.
Comic Story
The Empty Fort / Red Ryder (16 pages)
Synopsis
Red Ryder and Little Beaver find an old prospector delirious with the heat. When they take the prospector to their home, two gunmen arrive and the prospector disappears, along with Little Beaver. Red Ryder goes to Rimrock and the whole town goes out searching for the pair. While they're gone a gang of bandits plunder the empty town.
Genre
Western-frontier
Characters
Red Ryder; Little Beaver; Duchess; Sheriff Newt; Thunder (horse); Papoose (horse)
Script
Fred Harman (signed)
Pencils
Tony Sgroi
Inks
Tony Sgroi
Notes
Originally credited to Fred Harman as it is signed, but he used ghost artists on the comic books. The ghost here is Tony Sgroi. The way Red turns his head in panel three on page two is good enough clue to Sgroi, but there is much more. The elegant horses on page three are Sgroi too, even if he is trying to make them look like Harman-horses. On page six the face of one of the bad guys is another clue, and on page 8 we have the face of Judd Beldon. The closed eyes and high cheekbones are only Sgroi. Page nine has some more Sgroi faces with lines for eyes and a frowning mouth. On page fifteen are some more faces with high cheekbones. Here we also have something he uses very often, the emotion lines round the head. This detail in ink make me think he also did the inking, although with very much blacks to simulate Harman. Art ID by Steinar Ådland December 2010.
Comic Story
Where There's Smoke (10 pages)
Synopsis
Little Beaver finds an injured man in the woods and takes him to the man's cabin. There he finds the man was shot in a robbery and his accomplices keep Little Beaver prisoner in the cabin. Little Beaver is able to send smoke signals by way of the cabin chimney to alert searchers of his plight.
Feature
Little Beaver
Genre
Western-frontier
Characters
Little Beaver; Papoose (horse); Grandma Snapturtle; Chief; Sheriff Newt
Comic Story
A Hatful of Tricks (6 pages)
Synopsis
Peddlers offer the Navaho "white man's hats" in exchange for food and water. The peddlers' ultimate goal is to distract the tribe so they can steal their supply of turquoise.
Feature
Little Beaver
Genre
Western-frontier
Characters
Little Beaver; Red Fox
Script
Fred Harman (signed)
Pencils
Sparky Moore
Inks
Sparky Moore
Notes
The last panel is Dell's "A Pledge to Parents."
Sparky Moore is credited to Little Beaver in Jerry Bails' Who's Who, and this is one of his stories. The jagged inking may be his imitation of Harman. The faces in the three first panels on page two points to Sparky, as the close up faces on page four to six. Art ID by Steinar Ådland December 2010.
Text Article
The Walk of the Burros (1 page)
Synopsis
How Big Jim Butler found gold while chasing his burros near Tonopah, Nevada, in 1900.
Letters
typeset
Genre
Non-fiction; Western-frontier
Characters
Big Jim Butler
Notes
Inside back cover; black and white. Text with 1/3 page illustration.
Advertisement
Have Fun Safely (1 page)
Synopsis
Summer safety tips for pedestrians.
Feature
Wrigley's Juicy Fruit Gum
Letters
typeset
Notes
Back cover. Ad for Wrigley's Juicy Fruit Gum. Part of a "Summer Safety" series. Alternate back cover is "Counterattack" (see sequence 7).
Comic Story
Counterattack (1 page)
Letters
typeset
Genre
Western-frontier
Notes
Back cover. Alternate back cover is Wrigley's Juicy Fruit Gum advertisement (see sequence 6).
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