All-Star Western #8

All-Star Western #8 (On Sale: August 5, 1971), has an Outlaw cover by Tony DeZuniga.

We begin with Outlaw: Billy the Kid in "The Scavenger" by John Albano and Tony DeZuniga. Billy the Kid gets arrested for gunning down two men and is locked up with a one-eyed scavenger who tries to take her boots. However, when the Sheriff gets mixed up, the one-eyed man stabs the Sheriff and takes his boots instead. Billy and the scavenger then decide to escape jail together.

However, when making their escape, they are stopped by robbers who want to know the location of where the scavenger hid their loot. When they find out that Billy is a girl, the scavenger talks them into drawing against her, Billy, with the scavenger's help, gets the draw on them and shoots them all dead. The scavenger then tells Billy to leave without him as he's going to occupy himself with the pickings of the dead, but in reality, the scavenger was only making an excuse to stay behind and hold the law that is after Billy occupied while she got away. Reprinted in Showcase Presents Jonah Hex Vol. 1 TPB (2006).

Next up is Buffalo Bill in "The Magic Thunderstick" by Dave Wood and Joe Kubert and reprinted from Frontier Fighters #3 (1956).

Our next reprint is Pow-Wow Smith in "The Sheriff's Birthday Party" by Gardner Fox and Carmine Infantino and reprinted from Western Comics #78 (1959). 

Next, we have "Timber Wolf" drawn by Gil Kane and Tony DeZuniga. Ben Armstrong is herding a steer and a cow to his ranch when a timber wolf starts hunting them.

We end this El Diablo-less issue with Davy Crockett in "The Renegade Fur-Traders" drawn by John Prentice and reprinted from Frontier Fighters #6 (1956).

Edited by Joe Orlando.

All-Star Western #7

All-Star Western #7 (On Sale: June 8, 1971), has a beautiful Outlaw, Billy the Kid, cover by Tony DeZuniga.

We begin with Outlaw, Billy the Kid, in "Bullet for a Gambler" by John Albano and Tony DeZuniga. After being saved twice by a man named Ace, from attacking Indians, Billy the Kid agrees to go with Ace to be safe from further attacks. Ace has a case of tuberculosis and is dead set on killing any Indian that happens on his path. However, the two are surrounded soon after Ace indiscriminately kills a hunting party.

However, the Indians let Billy go, as Billy tried to stop Ace from killing the Indian chief's son. Not wishing to be burned alive, Ace demands that Billy pay his debt, and reveals that he was the killer of Billy's father and that he knows that Billy is really a girl. Billy agrees to kill Ace in a draw only, and Ace tricks Billy into shooting him by not drawing when it's time to shoot. Reprinted in Jonah Hex and Other Western Tales #1 (1979) and Showcase Presents Jonah Hex Vol. 1 TPB (2006).

Next up is Davy Crockett in "The Challenge of Black Warrior" drawn by John Prentice and reprinted from Frontier Fighters #1 (1955).

That is followed by Buffalo Bill in "The Tenderfoot Caravan" by Dave Wood and Joe Kubert and reprinted from Frontier Fighters #1 (1955).

We end with El Diablo in "The Gypsy Curse" by Robert Kanigher, Alan Weiss, and Dick Giordano. Santano, a gypsy king, is convicted of crimes and sentenced to death by hanging. He issues a curse on those who persecuted him. 

Princess Nurka, Santano's daughter mourns the loss of her father and El Diablo tries to comfort her, but the other gypsies chase him away. Later Santano's curse unfolds, as the judge and sheriff are murdered. El Diablo is accused of the crime and thrown in jail. Nurka rescues him. That night Hutton, the man who hung Santano is killed. El Diablo catches the killer only to discover it is Nurka. She is arrested. As El Diablo rides out of town Nurka lays a curse on him, but El Diablo knows that he is already cursed.

Edited by Joe Orlando.

All-Star Western #6

All-Star Western #6 (On Sale: April 8, 1971), has a cover featuring the new Outlaw, Billy the Kid, by Tony DeZuniga. Editor Orlando decided to keep the Outlaw name on the covers but replaced the Rick Wilson storyline with one featuring Billy the Kid.

Our first story is Outlaw in "Billy the Kid... Killer" by John Albano and Tony DeZuniga. Billy the Kid's father has been murdered and Billy has been on the killer's trail. Tracking down a Mexican named Poncho, Billy believes him to be the killer, however, Poncho tells Billy that he saw the killers of Billy's father. Agreeing to be taken to the killer, Poncho takes Billy out into the desert.

After camping, the next day Billy wakes up to find that Poncho stole everything including Billy's pocket watch. Tracking Pancho to a house, Billy finds the woman has all his money in her possession but also learns that she is blind. Finally tracking down Poncho, Poncho tells Billy that the watch was stolen. Deciding that they need more money to buy new provisions, Billy takes up a job in a town to stop Blackie Kane, a gunfighter who has been terrorizing the town.

However before Billy can round up Blackie, Billy has to rush a boy to the town doctor when a horse spooked by Kane tramples the boy. While Billy is off saving the boy's life, learning of who caused the trouble, Poncho goes after Blackie on his own. Blackie tricks Poncho and shoots him with a gun hidden in his hat. Billy returns and finds Poncho near death, Poncho hands over Billy's pocket watch. After killing Blackie and after burying Poncho, Billy takes a look at the picture inside. The picture is of Billy and her father, and we learn that Billy is secretly a girl named Billy Jo. Reprinted in Jonah Hex and Other Western Tales #2 (1979) and Showcase Presents Jonah Hex Vol. 1 TPB (2006).

Next up is Wild Bill Hickock in "Town Tamer" written and drawn by Gil Kane. It is 1871 and Wild Bill leaves Abiline, Kansas late one night, having tamed the town and no longer needed there. While contemplating the fate of a wild man in a tamer and tamer world, Bill is attacked by a grizzly bear. Losing his gun, Hickock must kill the bear using only his knife and in doing so, reconnects to his true being. Once the bear is dead, Hickcock mounts his horse and rides off in search of the next town to tame. Reprinted in Jonah Hex and Other Western Tales #3 (1980).

We end with "The Night of the Snake" written by Denny O'Neil and Gil Kane, penciled by Gil Kane, and inked by Tony DeZuniga. Bick Lupson was a trouble-making cattle minder. One night while drinking on the job, Bick leaves his post to find some more fun and ends up finding a cabin owned by a native woman. 

The woman has a pet snake, a servant to the great spirit she worships. Bick promptly kills the snake and attempts to rape the woman. The woman's trapper husband comes home interrupting Bick but Bick shoots them both in cold blood. Before dying, the woman curses Bick with the curse of the snake. 

Haunted by the sound of rattlesnakes, Bick races back to the ranch where his employers tell him to get back to work. The increasingly frightened Bick is dogged by the sound of the rattlesnake until his horse, spooked badly enough, throws him off it and into a ravine. Bick soon finds himself confronted by a giant snake and the ghost of the woman who he killed welcoming him to Hell. Reprinted in Jonah Hex and Other Western Tales #3 (1980) and Showcase Presents Jonah Hex Vol. 1 TPB (2006).

Edited by Joe Orlando.