The Golden Age of comics created the superhero, but by the 1950s, the cowboy was king. Or, in the case of K-Bar Kate, queen. Your Major Spoilers Retro Review of Western Crime-Busters #1 awaits!

WESTERN CRIME-BUSTERS #1

Writer: Uncredited
Penciler: Rex Maxon
Inker: Rex Maxon
Colorist: Uncredited
Letterer: Uncredited
Editor: Adolphe Barreaux
Publisher: Trojan Magazines, Inc.
Cover Price: 10 Cents
Current Near-Mint Pricing: $400.00
Release Date: September 1, 1950

Previously in Western Crime-Busters: Only in operation from 1950 to 1953, Trojan Magazines published in the crime, horror, combat, and western genres. Or, to be more precise, published exactly ONE title in each of those four genres. Their horror and war offerings, Beware! and Attack!, were titles acquired from Youthful Magazines, another minor publisher of the early 1950s, while Crime Smashers was an original title to Trojan. The material in that book, as well as in Western Crime-Busters, was reprinted from other sources, but this issue does mark its first appearance in comic book form. We begin in the southwest, with Kate Slocum being introduced to the newest member of the K-Bar crew.

One of the more interesting strips of the Trojan comics line, K-Bar Kate’s adventures are drawn by Rex Maxon, who had become the regular artist on the Tarzan comic strip in 1929, taking over from Hal “Prince Valiant” Foster. I remember Maxon as the co-creator of Turok, Son of Stone, at Western Publishing, but even here, his style is quite detailed. I’m sure that the fact that they were drawn for the large pulp magazine format didn’t hurt. As for the lovely K-Bar Kate herself, she rebuffs “Handsome” Hinson’s advances, and with the help of her friend, the local deputy, runs him off into town. The Slocum ranch is one of the more successful in the area, which means that he quickly finds someone else who hates Kate’s pop and plans his revenge.

Rival rancher, Mr. Shorne hires Hinson to dynamite a draw that redirects water away from the K-Bar ranch, immediately devaluing the Slocum land, as any cattle or crops would perish due to dehydration. (As an aside, though this issue doesn’t really specify, Kate lives not in the Old West, but in the 20th century.) Kate doesn’t believe that Shorne’s arrival is a coincidence, realizing that the “lightning” that caused the landslide didn’t light up the sky, making her suspect a less celestial culprit. She sets out to find evidence but is herself found by ol’ Handsome HInson.

Rather than shoot her in the back, Hinson decides to shoot his shot once more, letting it slip that he was hired to divert the water away from her home, and intends to buy it cheap once her father sells it to Mr. Shorne. He wants to cut her into the deal… as his bride! Rather than be bound to a greasy owlhoot, she tells him to kick rocks, leading him to tie her up and leave her to die in his next demolition gig.

The writer of this issue is uncredited, but I have to wonder if they intended to so intently subvert the “damsel in distress” trope. As with Hinson’s advances, Kate takes care of the situation herself, BEFORE Deputy Don arrives, putting out the fuse and literally rolling out of the cave to find help. By the time he arrives, all Don gets to do is untie her as they set out to find the criminal. Given that Trojan’s other notable characters include Wilma West (also appearing in this issue), Sally the Sleuth, and Gail Ford, Gal Friday, an unusual number of female protagonists for the era, I can’t help but wonder if there might have been a woman behind this issue’s story.

K-Bar Kate and Deputy Don pursue Handsome Hinson into the hills, with the particularly dull criminal hauling his dynamite along for reasons unclear.

Yeah, he dies in a massive explosion. Moreover, that blast undoes the damage that his previous explosion had caused, unblocking the stream and returning water to the Slocum family spread. He even managed to leave behind explicit proof of his deeds and the complicity of Shorne in his crimes, which would be the worst part of it all, had he not, y’know, been blown to smithereens. All in all, though, K-Bar Kate’s comic debut in Western Crime-Busters #1 makes for interesting reading both for Maxon’s art and for the way that it avoids some of the more misogynist tropes of the Western genre, earning a pleasantly surprising 3.5 out of 5 stars overall. The unexpected part that I enjoyed most is the fact that Kate does most of the work in getting herself out of danger not once, but three times, and Deputy Don’s only real contribution is in spooking Hinson enough to make him blow himself up. For some reason, seeing the subversion of “sheriff saves the innocent lass” tropes increases my enjoyment considerably.

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