Four Color #916 - Red Ryder Ranch Comics
(July 1958)

Dell, 1942 Series
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Price
0.10 USD
Pages
36
On-sale Date
1958
Indicia / Colophon Publisher
K. K. Publications Inc.
Brand
Dell
Printer
Printed in U.S.A.
Editing
?

Issue Notes

Indicia title is "RED RYDER RANCH COMICS, No. 916." Code number is R.RYDER.R.O.S. #916-587. Copyright 1958 by Red Ryder Enterprises, Inc. This issue continues from "Red Ryder Ranch Comics" (Dell, 1956 series) #151 (April-June 1957). Last issue of the Red Ryder series.

The Empty Fort (Table of Contents)

Red Ryder / cover / 1 page (report information)

Pencils
? (painting)
Inks
? (painting)
Colors
? (painting)
Letters
typeset

Genre
western-frontier
Characters
Red Ryder

The Red Ryder Ranch... (Table of Contents: 1)

text article / 1 page (report information)

Script
Fred Harman
Pencils
? (photos)
Inks
? (photos)
Letters
typeset

Genre
non-fiction
Characters
Fred Harman (photo); Little Beaver (photo); Angelo Viana (photo); Richard Valzonis (photo)
Synopsis
Three photos taken at Fred Harman's Red Ryder Ranch in Colorado, with commentary by Fred Harman.

Indexer Notes

Inside front cover; black and white. Three photos and typeset text.

The Empty Fort (Table of Contents: 2)

Red Ryder / comic story / 16 pages (report information)

Script
Fred Harman (signed)
Pencils
Tony Sgroi
Inks
Tony Sgroi
Colors
?
Letters
?

Genre
western-frontier
Characters
Red Ryder; Little Beaver; Duchess; Sheriff Newt; Thunder (horse); Papoose (horse)
Synopsis
Red Ryder and Little Beaver find an old prospector delirious with the heat. When they take the prospector to their home, two gunmen arrive and the prospector disappears, along with Little Beaver. Red Ryder goes to Rimrock and the whole town goes out searching for the pair. While they're gone a gang of bandits plunder the empty town.

Indexer Notes

Originally credited to Fred Harman as it is signed, but he used ghost artists on the comic books. The ghost here is Tony Sgroi. The way Red turns his head in panel three on page two is good enough clue to Sgroi, but there is much more. The elegant horses on page three are Sgroi too, even if he is trying to make them look like Harman-horses. On page six the face of one of the bad guys is another clue, and on page 8 we have the face of Judd Beldon. The closed eyes and high cheekbones are only Sgroi. Page nine has some more Sgroi faces with lines for eyes and a frowning mouth. On page fifteen are some more faces with high cheekbones. Here we also have something he uses very often, the emotion lines round the head. This detail in ink make me think he also did the inking, although with very much blacks to simulate Harman. Art ID by Steinar Ã…dland December 2010.

Where There's Smoke (Table of Contents: 3)

Little Beaver / comic story / 10 pages (report information)

Script
?
Pencils
?
Inks
?
Colors
?
Letters
?

Genre
western-frontier
Characters
Little Beaver; Papoose (horse); Grandma Snapturtle; Chief; Sheriff Newt
Synopsis
Little Beaver finds an injured man in the woods and takes him to the man's cabin. There he finds the man was shot in a robbery and his accomplices keep Little Beaver prisoner in the cabin. Little Beaver is able to send smoke signals by way of the cabin chimney to alert searchers of his plight.

A Hatful of Tricks (Table of Contents: 4)

Little Beaver / comic story / 6 pages (report information)

Script
Fred Harman (signed)
Pencils
Sparky Moore
Inks
Sparky Moore
Colors
?
Letters
?

Genre
western-frontier
Characters
Little Beaver; Red Fox
Synopsis
Peddlers offer the Navaho "white man's hats" in exchange for food and water. The peddlers' ultimate goal is to distract the tribe so they can steal their supply of turquoise.

Indexer Notes

The last panel is Dell's "A Pledge to Parents."
Sparky Moore is credited to Little Beaver in Jerry Bails' Who's Who, and this is one of his stories. The jagged inking may be his imitation of Harman. The faces in the three first panels on page two points to Sparky, as the close up faces on page four to six. Art ID by Steinar Ã…dland December 2010.

The Walk of the Burros (Table of Contents: 5)

text article / 1 page (report information)

Script
?
Pencils
?
Inks
?
Letters
typeset

Genre
non-fiction; western-frontier
Characters
Big Jim Butler
Synopsis
How Big Jim Butler found gold while chasing his burros near Tonopah, Nevada, in 1900.

Indexer Notes

Inside back cover; black and white. Text with 1/3 page illustration.

Have Fun Safely (Table of Contents: 6)

Wrigley's Juicy Fruit Gum / advertisement / 1 page (report information)

Script
?
Pencils
?
Inks
?
Colors
?
Letters
typeset

Synopsis
Summer safety tips for pedestrians.

Indexer Notes

Back cover. Ad for Wrigley's Juicy Fruit Gum. Part of a "Summer Safety" series. Alternate back cover is "Counterattack" (see sequence 7).

Counterattack (Table of Contents: 7)

comic story / 1 page (report information)

Script
?
Pencils
?
Inks
?
Colors
?
Letters
typeset

Genre
western-frontier

Indexer Notes

Back cover. Alternate back cover is Wrigley's Juicy Fruit Gum advertisement (see sequence 6).

Editing
Related Scans
Series Information
Table of Contents
  1. 0. The Empty Fort
    Red Ryder
  2. 1. The Red Ryder Ranch...
  3. 2. The Empty Fort
    Red Ryder
  4. 3. Where There's Smoke
    Little Beaver
  5. 4. A Hatful of Tricks
    Little Beaver
  6. 5. The Walk of the Burros
  7. 6. Have Fun Safely
    Wrigley's Juicy Fruit Gum
  8. 7. Counterattack
This issue was modified by, among others
  • Steinar Ã…dland
  • Dwayne Best
  • Chris Boyko
  • Peter Croome
  • Merlin Haas
  • Jerry Hillegas (R.I.P.)
  • Michael Hoskin
  • Keith Alan Morgan