[MarkWarner]

This week's book is yet another title I am really surprised we have not looked at before. This is strange as not only do we have the Bobby Benson's B-Bar-B Riders title, we also have 19 OTR shows (which can be heard here https://comicbookplus.com/?cid=2836.)

When deciding which issue to choose I saw a recent upgrade by freddyfly https://comicbookplus.com/?cbplus=contributor_freddyfly_s_s_0 and a comment from Josemas which read:

"Except for the gag page this is wall to wall Bob Powell- complete with giant ants. Nice!"

So, that sold it to me. Bobby Benson's B-Bar-B Riders #5 can be found here: https://comicbookplus.com/?dlid=68259. The story we are concentrating on is the first one "Detour to Danger!"

Happy reading!

[SuperScrounge]

Detour to Danger - Cute. When I got to them robbing the bus like a stagecoach I thought it was kind of stupid, but something about the way the comic just embraced the absurdity through the rest of the story turned my opinion around and I ended up enjoying it.

The Plundering Phantoms - Not bad. I assume the reason for the Lemonade Kid identity is explained in an earlier issue?

Pow Wow - Dumb, but amusing.

Windy Wales - Okay.

Job For A Ranger - Not bad.

Bobby Wins His Spurs! - Okay.

I wonder how much copies of that "full color drawing" of Bobby & the gang by Powell go for these days?

[The Australian Panther]

Powell is very accurate with his drawings of the bus, and the helicopter and car from the other stories.
Many artists are so inaccurate in drawing vehicles I have come to the conclusion that many of the New York based artists never owned a car or had a license.

The basic idea of robbing a bus using a detour would have been quite feasible in that kind of environment at that time. A strong well-balanced group of stories in this issue. 

[Captain Audio]

Haven't dug into the stories yet, but I noticed a character called "the Lemonade kid". A few weeks back I noticed on youtube a very old German made western film titled "the Lemonade Kid"

Apparently stories about the American old west were popular in Germany. I've seen an episode of the German series about "Old Shatterhand" A long stocking type character.

[Morgus]

Way cool. bob Powell was amazing as always. You had the feeling, along with Wally Wood's art, that everything he drew was functional. Even the flying saucers in last year's Vic Tory issue. Yeah, they still have the problem of bus robbery, but it's usually in smaller countries. Captain Audio, westerns have always been big in Germany. They helped finance most of the Euro Westerns...spaghetti westerns of the 60's...You'd get German money and maybe a cast member or two, Italian film making crew with maybe an American thrown in, and you'd film it in Spain.

[EHowie60]

Oooh this one is interesting right from the cover! Nicely drawn action scene.

There's a weird sort of anachronism in this story, which I've seen in Western comics before. The first page has a bunch of desperadoes on horseback planning to rob a bus, and somehow they're old enough to remember stagecoaches?

On page 5 we meet our obligatory Indian sidekick, "Harka". I wonder how "Windy" got his nickname? Is he fast? Talkative? Gassy?

What we have on pages 7 and 8 is the typical "kid-friendly" Western. Lots of bullet holes in hats and guns shot out of hands, but fights always end with punches.

I love the art style here. The hero is very square-jawed, but the minor characters and especially the villains have a much greater range of face shapes.

The Plundering Phantoms: again with the weird mix of periods! The bandits steal a car and the posse is after them on horseback!
...How exactly did the Phantoms build their hideout on that rock?

Windy Wales: so I guess he is talkative then. A wonderful "tall tale". I love that the queen ant (excuse me, "King" ant) has a crown.

Bobby Wins His Spurs: love the face of the guy getting his hat shot off on page 33.

All in all an enjoyable book. I hadn't heard of Bob Powell before, but I think I'll give his work more of a look in the future.

[paw broon]

What an entertaining read.  I enjoy western comics and I also like Powell's art, so this is a good one for me. Despite having read many Gene Autry comics, it's still a bit odd to see cowboys and buses/cars in the same story.  When I was young our tv had shows like Cheyenne, Wagon Train, Maverick, Bronco and many more, all set in the past.  But I enjoyed this - giant ants, helicopters, holdups, bad guys.

[crashryan]

This was great fun, with good stories and great Bob Powell art. Powell could blow hot or cold, but he was in top form for this book.

I like the theme of "Detour to Danger," old-time stagecoach robbers raiding a modern motor coach. I never got into the Roy Rogers and Gene Autry movies mixing the Old West with modern technologies. The stories always had to be finagled to give the horsemen an even chance against the up-to-date bad guys. Somehow the mixture works better for me in comic form.

Powell's artwork is superb. I'm unsure why he draws the villains in a cartoony style while drawing everyone else (except Windy) realistically. I'm not complaining. The cartooniness works wonderfully in action scenes like page 9, panel 2. As a machinery lover, I'm tickled by the attention given to drawing realistic vehicles. In an interview Howard Nostrand, who assisted Powell for years, said Powell wasn't too interested in drawing cars, and left the task to auto enthusiast Nostrand. Nostrand may well have been involved here. The careful detailing of the bus (and of the Packard in the next story) reminds me of the early Fawcett issues of Hot Rods and Racing Cars, in which Nostrand ghosted the machinery.

My gripe with "The Plundering Phantoms" is that they present the solution to the "mystery" in the splash panel--not to mention on the cover! I don't understand The Lemonade Kid's dual identity. When Tex Mason becomes The Kid all he does is change clothes. Anyone who has seen both men would know The Kid's secret. An interesting assertion from The Kid: "Chuck your guns...if you try to keep 'em the fire will explode the bullets!"

The Windy Wales story is silly but Powell brings it to life. I especially like the shots on page 23 of our giant heroes tromping the now not-so-giant ants.

"Bobby Wins His Spurs" keeps everything in the Old West and the story is stronger for it. I enjoy the panels (page 29) of the bandit leader trying to ride Bobby's horse.

A good read. Makes me want to seek out other issues of the title.

[Captain Audio]

Oooh this one is interesting right from the cover! Nicely drawn action scene.

There's a weird sort of anachronism in this story, which I've seen in Western comics before. The first page has a bunch of desperadoes on horseback planning to rob a bus, and somehow they're old enough to remember stagecoaches?

The last Stagecoach robbery in the United States was in Nevada in 1916.
It was also the first time a palm print was used to convict a killer. The killer left a bloody palm print on an envelope found in a recovered mail pouch.

[narfstar]

Thanks for the info Captain. Powell's art being great on the story is unanimous. It seems that we all also agree the story was a very fun read. Detour would probably be a full 22 page story if written today. But we got good fast paced action.

[John Kerry]

I note that in his second story Bobby Benson mentions having just finished recording his show. Was there an actual Bobby Benson show and if so was it radio, television or both?
As for the comic I enjoyed it. I was not a great fan of the western genre as a kid but as I have gotten older, a lot older, I have gotten to appreciate it more. Oddly enough the first story brought to mind an old episode of the original Hawaii Five-O show in which three housewives started robbing tour buses.

[Kracalactaka]

Radio:  https://comicbookplus.com/?cid=2836