Cowboy Comics unknown artists part 4

Our last selection of unknown artists from the pages of Cowboy Comics is a grab-bag of six different anonymous talents, although David Slinn, a good friend to Bear Alley, tells me that "Kit Carson and the Fighting Sioux" (Cowboy Comics 241, Dec 1957) is almost certainly A. L. Bushell, who contributed to various annuals around that same time and later worked for D. C. Thomson's boys' comics. I have to confess it's a new name to me, so I shall have to investigate further.

 

"Kit Carson and the Yellow Totem" (Cowboy Comics 134, Jun 1955)

 

"Kit Carson and the Indian War!" (Cowboy Comics 139, Jul 1955)

 

"Buck Jones and the Renegades of Stormy Pass" (Cowboy Comics 164, Mar 1956)

 

"Kit Carson and the Fighting Sioux" (Cowboy Comics 241, Dec 1957)

 

"Kit Carson and the Redskin Rising" (Cowboy Comics 136, June 1955)

 

 

 

"Kit Carson in Seven Hours to Live" (Cowboy Comics 229, Sep 1957)

Cowboy Comics: J. W. Butler

We'll take a short break from our unknown artists to highlight a known artist about whom nothing is known. My knowledge about J. W. Butler begins and ends with a single story, "Kit Carson and the Railroad Rivals". Payment records reveal that Butler was the artist, paid directly rather than through an agency.

Here are a couple of examples of his work. Perhaps someone might recognise him as having worked elsewhere.

 

 

 

Cowboy Comics unknown artists part 3

Our third artist is without doubt the most prolific of the unknown artists to have contributed to Cowboy Comics, producing three dozen stories and two covers. It seems highly likely that the artist will turn out to be someone whose name is known elsewhere but who has yet to be associated with these particular comics.

The first four pages shown here are from "Buck Jones and the Fighting Forty-Niner" (Cowboy Comics 156) whilst the last two are from "Buck Jones and the Gun-Slinger" (Cowboy Comics 182).

 

 

 

 

 

Stripography
(Cover) (Cowboy Comics 111, Oct 1954)
Kit Carson and the Gunpowder Plot (Cowboy Comics 142, Aug 1955)
Kit Carson and the War Drums of the Kiowas (Cowboy Comics 143, Sep 1955)
Kit Carson and the Riddle of the Broken Doll (Cowboy Comics 146, Oct 1955)
Kit Carson and the Moon Goddess (Cowboy Comics 149, Nov 1955)
Kit Carson and the Vanishing Totem (Cowboy Comics 149, Nov 1955)
Kit Carson and the Relief of Fort Henry (Cowboy Comics 151, Nov 1955)
Kit Carson Rides the Robber's Road (Cowboy Comics 152, Dec 1955)
Kit Carson and the Traitor Scout (Cowboy Comics 155, Jan 1956)
Buck Jones and the Fighting Forty-Niner (Cowboy Comics 156, Jan 1956)
Kit Carson and Diablo, the Bandit (Cowboy Comics 157, Jan 1956)
Kit Carson and the Healing Poison (Cowboy Comics 158, Feb 1956)
Buck Jones and the Vanishing Buffalo (Cowboy Comics 159, Feb 1956)
Kit Carson and the Outcast of Alder Creek (Cowboy Comics 160, Feb 1956)
Kit Carson and the Little White Chief (Cowboy Comics 163, Mar 1956)
Kit Carson and the Mountain Chase (Cowboy Comics 166, May 1956)
Buck Jones and the Peace of the Navajo (Cowboy Comics 167, May 1956)
(Cover) (Cowboy Comics 173, Jul 1956)
Kit Carson and the Outlaw Officer (Cowboy Comics 173, Jul 1956)
How the Kansas Kid Met the Black Stallion Again (Cowboy Comics 176, Jul 1956)
Kit Carson and the Horse Wrangler (Cowboy Comics 177, Aug 1956)
Buck Jones and the Boy Gunman (Cowboy Comics 178, Aug 1956)
Buck Jones and the Four Legged Deputy (Cowboy Comics 178, Aug 1956)
How the Kansas Kid Became Trail Herd Boss (Cowboy Comics 180, Aug 1956)
Buck Jones and the Gun-Slinger (Cowboy Comics 182, Sep 1956)
Buck Jones and the Redman's Gold (Cowboy Comics 186, Oct 1956)
Buck Jones and the Silver Wagon Trap (Cowboy Comics 190, Nov 1956)
Buck Jones and the Gold Brigands (Cowboy Comics 194, Dec 1956)
Buck Jones and the Redskins on the Warpath (Cowboy Comics 198, Jan 1957)
How the Kansas Kid Beat the Crooked Buyer (Cowboy Comics 200, Jan 1957)
Buck Jones Wins Through (Cowboy Comics 202, Feb 1957)
How the Kansas Kid Foiled the Crooked Marshall (Cowboy Comics 220, Jun 1957)
Kit Carson and the River of Gold (Cowboy Comics 221, Jul 1957)
How the Kansas Kid Foiled the Double-Crossing Cattlemen (Cowboy Comics 224, Jul 1957)
How the Kansas Kid Met the Little Dogie (Cowboy Comics 228, Aug 1957)
How the Kansas Kid Won the Rodeo Prize (Cowboy Comics 236, Oct 1957)
Buck Jones and the Gold Looters of Westwood (Cowboy Comics 242, Dec 1957)
How the Kansas Kid Tamed Young Elmer (Cowboy Comics 244, Dec 1957)

Cowboy Comics unknown artists part 2

In The Thriller Libraries we designated this artist "Unknown Artist [A]". Oddly, he had started life as Unknown Artist [Z] on my original index listings. (I'm filling... I have very little to say!)

Whoever this was, this was almost certainly their first work for the Amalgamated Press and were probably hired to fill the pages of Kit Carson, an Australian cowboy comic created by the A.P. because they could not launch any new titles in  the UK and the paper shortage meant no copies were available to export.

The artist only made a half-dozen contributions and it seems likely that they were dropped once a larger pool of artists was established for Cowboy Comics by editor Ted Holmes. He seemingly didn't appreciate the artwork, and had another artist redraw some of the strips. John Compari drew additional art for only a handful of titles but never seems to have drawn a whole strip himself.

 

 

 

Stripography
Kit Carson Meets Lord Clarence (Kit Carson 14, Dec 1950)
Kit Carson and the Stolen Ranch (Kit Carson 15, Feb 1951; reprinted, Cowboy Comics 22, Feb 1951)
Kit Carson and the Trail of Terror (Cowboy Comics 24, Mar 1951; reprinted, Kit Carson 18, May 1951)
Kit Carson and the Big Clean-Up (Kit Carson 29, Apr 1952, with additional art by J. Compari)
Kit Carson and the Outlaw Tribe (Cowboy Comics 58, Aug 1952, with additional art by J. Compari; reprinted, Kit Carson 34, Sep 1952)
Kit Carson Breaks the Tyrant (Cowboy Comics 62, Oct 1952, with additional art by J. Compari; reprinted, Kit Carson 36, Nov 1952)

Cowboy Comics: unknown artists part 1

When The Thriller Libraries was being compiled, there were a number of artists that we were unable to identify. There were a number of surviving payment records, but these often referred only to the studio or agency that was paid, so identifying the individual artists was often a case of recognising a particular artist's style.

A handful eluded us—us being myself and Team David: David Ashford, David Roach and David Slinn—but in some cases we were at least able to link a number of strips together as coming from the same brush.

I have a number of examples which I will post over the coming few days... hopefully some of my sharp-eyed readers will be able to spot the artists and reveal their names.

Here's the first: an artist who worked for Vale Studios.

 

 

 

Stripography
Kit Carson and the Chief's Daughter (Cowboy Comics 86, Oct 1953)
Kit Carson and the River of Death (Cowboy Comics 88, Nov 1953)
Kit Carson and the War-Paint Bandits (Cowboy Comics 92, Jan 1954)
Buck Jones and the Witch Doctor's Plot (Cowboy Comics 93, Feb 1954)
Kit Carson and the General's Son (Cowboy Comics 96, Mar 1954)
Kit Carson and the Battle of Dead End Canyon (Cowboy Comics 98, Apr 1954)
Buck Jones and the Dynamite Trail (Cowboy Comics 99, May 1954)
Kit Carson Fights the Trouble Mongers (Cowboy Comics 108, Aug 1954)
Buck Jones to the Rescue (Cowboy Comics 113, Nov 1954)
The Men of the Mounties (Cowboy Comics 114, Nov 1954)
Kit Carson and the Buffalo Express (Cowboy Comics 125, Mar 1955)