[MarkWarner]

Last week's book, Navy Patrol #1 was an unexpected hit for me. I am hoping that this will be repeated this week, when another of my not so favorite genres springs a surprise for me.

It's (yawn) western time courtesy of of Tex Granger. The book can be found here https://comicbookplus.com/?dlid=60920. The main feature "Tex Granger Meets Billy the Kid!" has a title ridiculous enough to make it our story of choice

[narfstar]

I like westerns. This one was a fun read. The art was not special but had a real nice flow. Thumbs up

[crashryan]

Now we get to see how Parents' Magazine Press, home of True Comics and Calling All Girls, does a Western.

Not bad, it turns out. The stories are okay and the art is pretty good. The Tex Granger artist has a pulp-magazine vibe about him. After all the romanticized versions of Billy the Kid it's funny to see Billy drawn as a bucktoothed cretin.

"Famous Fighters of the Frontier" offers a glorified picture of Buffalo Bill Cody. It repeats what we just read on the inside front cover. Speaking of the inside front cover, that is the most abbreviated one-page bio I've seen. It's as if the writer was paid for each word he left out. Anyway I find the gung-ho Indian fighting in the text story as obnoxious as the idea of killing 115 buffalo to settle a bet.

I like Tim Holt's "True Experience" story because it gives insight into how bombers work. The description of the decisions the crew make in their effort to get home safely is interesting.

The second Tex Granger story is a refreshing alternative to Buffalo Bill, in that it makes a muted plea for tolerance. Ehto (strange name) is allowed some intelligence and dignity despite his stereotyped dialogue. Again, the art is pretty good. That's a nice mule.

"Did You Know" does a creditable job of putting "gold fever" into perspective. Kudos to Brigham Young for stating the obvious: "We cannot eat gold." There are plenty of people today who need to hear that.

By the second page we realize "Hector Goes West" is just going to repeat a single joke. The artist puts a lot of work into the story. I kind of like the art but something about the faces puts me off.

"Remember the Alamo" isn't as telegraphic as "Buffalo Bill" but it still crams a ridiculous amount of complex history into six terse panels.

The back cover subscription ad reminds me of the time my folks bought me a subscription to The Atom. I was outraged when my comics arrived folded in half vertically, a heavy machine-made fold that never came out.

[SuperScrounge]

Famous Fighters of the Frontier - Man, that was brief. Okay, there's a text article of the same name later on. They seemed to focus on some incidents I don't recall from other sources I have, so learned some new stuff.

Tex Granger Meets Billy The Kid - Okay. Of course in a story like this the big mystery is how will the writer have the hero fail to capture Billy the Kid.

My Most Interesting True Experience - Wow! Interesting story.

Second Tex Story - Okay. Could have done without the attempt to replicate a Mexican accent, but it wasn't as bad as some others I've read.

Did You Know - Interesting. Although I recently came across that one of the cube of gold & since then the size of the cub is now estimated at 54 feet.

Hector Goes West - Eh... not as funny as the cartoonist seemed to think it would be.

Remember the Alamo - Okay.

[betaraybdw]

Hmmm, another one of my scans (it's almost like Mark got a comprehensive suggestion list from me).

This was one of those books that I acquired as part of a larger lot. (I was going after Wilbur #5 - 1st App. of Katy Keene). Once I had sorted through the Pile and determined that everything else was either already on CB+ or was Non-PD I was left with this one to scan. Except for Firehair and other GGA filled Western books I normally don't read them. But, I was pleasantly surprised by this one (mostly).

I like the fact that they portray William Bonney as the ugly, murderous and cowardly piece of #%*#@! that he really was. 

I like the Animals of the west page and in the 2nd Tex story, although it is unrealistic, why not have a donkey join-in in a bar fight. Definitely adds to the fun level.  I thought the name "Ehto" was very odd for a Mexican character. Word Hippo tells me the word is actually Finnish. http://www.wordhippo.com/what-is/the-meaning-of/finnish-word-ehto.html   Ehto is not a word at all in Spanish, nor is it listed as a Name in any language. It seems a very odd choice for the character, perhaps the author did not have enough knowledge of Spanish to come up with a more realistic name for the character. I'm thinking he was actually trying to come up with something along the lines of "Beto" , which is a fairly common nickname among Spanish speakers in Mexico and the American South-West.

I was not even going to read the Tim Holt real life experience, but as I was about to skim past the page "B-29" caught my eye and so decided to read it. A harrowing experience to say the least.

Hector (Thumbs down) - I know it is a carbon copy/knock off of Archie, etc but what ever "it" is that Archie Comics have, Hector doesn't have it.

I didn't bother with the Stuff about Buffalo Bill, I've seen Ken Burns' "The West" PBS special and enough History Channel that I know quite enough about him.

Btw: I still have the book. I'll let it go for the cost of postage, just send me a PM.

[Morgus]

Not bad at all...someone posted a picture of the real William Boney once, and as I recall, this bore a pretty good likeness. Nice art and the usual cliches were kept to a minimum.

[SuperScrounge]

Wikipedia has a picture of the Kid up.

[bowers]

 Not bad ,as westerns go, but would have been better without the distracting "western" accent dialog. Both Tex stories were pretty well written and kept my interest. I liked the art and particularly enjoyed the two action pages that had very little dialog. Good storytelling. And a reasonable likeness of Mr. Bonney/ Mc Carty or whatever his real name was.

The Homer tale was just ok but easily forgettable.

I never read the text stories, but Tim Holt is my very favorite B-western star. Very good story of a dangerous situation which turned out well thanks to courage and determination.

The fillers were fine, although the subjects needed more space.

A good choice. Thumbs up from me. Cheers, Bowers

[MarkWarner]

I do not have high hopes for this book, mainly due to the cover promoting the main feature "Tex Granger vs Billy the Kid". And, after reading the insipid single page "Famous Fighters of the Frontier" about Buffalo Bill, my fears are certainly not allayed!

Actually, to be honest the following Billy the Kid story was not too bad. It had a bit of plot! After a single pager about animals of the Wild West I am now able to tell the difference between a puma, a coyote and a bear! Thank you Parents' Magazine Publications!

One page of a two-page text "non-fiction" page about Buffalo Bill follows, it continues on the back page. I HATE IT when stories are split. What is the reason for it??

"My Most Interesting True Experience" by Tim Holt is REALLY EXCELLENT!! I wonder why the crew did not want to bail out? Surely it was safer to trust a parachute than a shot up plane? Was it to try and save it? They obviously knew what they were doing. Interesting!     

The next Tex Granger story featuring a Mexican was certainly stereotypical, but I rather enjoyed it.. A pet mule has now been added to my wish list !

As someone who avidly reads the old comic book advertisements, I have not seen the Betty Crocker soup one before. The Truth About the Golden West was good enough. Hector Goes West was not

The Buffalo Bill story is continued not on the back page as promised. He is not one of my heroes. as I think he killed way too many buffalo and Indians (allegedly). We finish with "Remember the Alamo!" which also under whelmed me, as I am not a Texas / Texan fan.

Verdict: A reluctant hit. I guess I wanted to fail it and couldn't. The Tim Holt one pager is a MUST READ!