So, big changes this issue. Murray Boltinoff is out and Joe Kubert is in as editor, Tomahawk is out and Hawk, Son of Tomahawk is in. This series takes place years after the previous issue. Tomahawk is an older man now, married with children, one of them being, you guessed it, Hawk. We are introduced to this new character in "Hang Him High" a 14-page tale by Robert Kanigher and Frank Thorne. A young woman is being chased by men on horseback though a narrow canyon. A young man on horseback appears and scoops the woman up taking her to safety, or so it seems. The riders follow, shoot the lad's horse and knock him out. He awakens to find himself about to be hanged by the leader of the men, known as "the Judge" unless the young woman tells him the location of her secret gold mine. The woman says there is no gold mine and the Judge shouts for his men to hang the young-un.
Suddenly bullets fly from the bushes and the man is cut lose from the noose, the men hanging him are removed from their guns and the grizzly old Tomahawk appears, saying, "For a son of mine, Hawk, you sure look like you got your wings clipped." Hawk and his dad take care of the Judge's men and the Judge is forced to retreat, promising that he will return to hold a new trial. An hour later the girl, Angela Addams, is brought to the ranch of Tomahawk and introduced to his wife and Hawk's mother, Moon Fawn and Hawk's kid brother, Young Eagle.The next morning Hawk rides off to confront the Judge, but Angela rides out to join him. They ride through town getting the notice of the Judge and his men then ride out to the Addams' gold mine, followed by the Judge and his men. As night falls they attack, but Hawk has weakened the supports on a sluice and a few well-placed shots sends it down on the Judge and his men. The Judge hurls dynamite at the shack Hawk and Angela are in and then rushes in to finish them off, only to find that Hawk is very much still alive and deadly. As Hawk finishes off the gang, we see Tomahawk on a nearby hill deciding that his son has everything under control.
Next is "The Moccasins That Won a War," a six-page reprint from All Star Western #84. This one features the character Strong Bow and is by France Herron and Jerry Grandenetti. Strong Bow was a Native American warrior who traveled across Pre-Columbian era North America and helping the continent's many native tribes in times of trouble. An enigmatic man, Strong Bow said that he hailed from "beyond the Misty Mountains" and he was the last member of his tribe, which was tragically wiped out in a massacre. He first appeared in All-Star Western #58 and his last story appeared in All-Star Western #99. He made a brief appearance in All-Star Squadron Vol #55 during the Crisis on Infinite Earths.
This story features the mid-1950s Grandenetti who is a much more controlled artist than the guy we know and love from the current DC horror books. While visiting the village of Chief Kyana, Strong Bow learns that Running Buffalo has attacked some of the village's warriors and has the village surrounded. Strong Bow strikes out on his own to break through Running Buffalo's lines and get help from a nearby village. Attaching one of his moccasins to an arrow shaft, Strong Bow is able to create a footprints in a direction he did not go, throwing Running Buffalo's warriors off his trail. Later, when he is once again surrounded by hostile warriors, Strong Bow scrawls a message in his mud-filled moccasin and sends it down a stream to the nearby village, bringing their warriors into the fight and defeating Running Buffalo.
Next is a two-page text piece on "Arapaho Names" illustrated by Joe Kubert.
That is followed by "Botalye -- Immortal Indian Warrior," yet another reprint, this one from Jimmy Wakely #7. I know, I always felt cheated when I paid new money for old stories, but I really did not mind that much this time as it featured the writing of Gardner Fox! OK, what I meant to say is it features the artwork of Frank Frazetta. This is the 1950 Frazetta, around the same time he did his long stint on White Indian. It is only three pages, but it contains some very nice figures and almost no backgrounds at all. The story tells the tale of Botalye, a young Kiowa brave who, after being called a coward by another warrior, charged the guns of a surrounded supply train four times totally unarmed.
The book ends with a two-page spread ad for next issue when Joe Kubert's Firehair returns as the back up feature in this book. I was a big fan of the Firehair tryout issues of Showcase and so was really looking forward to the saga continuing.
Edited by Joe Kubert.
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