MARAUDERS' MOON - in pictures

MARAUDERS’ MOON
By Luke Short
Comic Book version

This comic contains two stories bound back-to-back. These are both adaptations of books by well-known authors. Double Western Pictorials were published in Australia by the Junior Readers’ Press and distributed by Gordon and Gotch (A/sia) Ltd. Dell also published Marauder’s Moon in America in October 1957 as a picturized edition too. The Australian version isn’t dated so I can’t tell you when it was published. It measures 18.5cm X 13.5cm and has a colour cover, the interior being black and white. I believe the inks were done by Mike Peppe.

The story was original published under a different title, Silver Horn Breaks, in 1937. It appeared as a seven-part serial in Western Story Magazine and has since been published a number of times in paperback and hardback as Marauders’ Moon.

I’ve never read the full-length book version, so I have no idea how much has been missed out to make it fit the 32 pages of this comic. Each page has five or six panels that are well illustrated, although I did feel that too much dialogue was crammed into some of them. The artist draws people, horses, firearms, buildings and landscapes with equal skill.

The story is fast moving although at times I found it a bit dialogue heavy – perhaps this is a problem with it being adapted into short comic form and too much talk had to be crammed in to explain what was happening? Fistfights and gunfights erupt regularly adding some welcome relief to all the talking.

Luke Short’s tale follows Webb Cousins, who doesn’t take centre stage as other characters are featured as much as him. Cousins has been arrested for train robbery, something he’s innocent of. Held on a ranch he manages to escape only to be captured again by another rancher. Seems the ranchers are at war with each other and one side is determined to wipe the other out. Cousins picks a side but can he save the day? There’s a little more to the range war than is first apparent, and there’s also the beautiful daughter of one of the ranchers who may complicate matters – although she hardly appears in the comic, perhaps there’s more about her in the full-length story?

Overall a fun read, even though it was predictable. It certainly didn’t make me want to search out the original and read that too. Luke Short is a pseudonym for Frederick D. Glidden, an author who is a popular choice for many western readers. 

This comic adaption of Marauders’ Moon is paired with Max Brand’s Silvertip and the Stolen Stallion.

Click on the image below to see a larger version of the opening pages.

Silvertip's Roundup - in pictures

By Max Brand

Comic Book Version

This comic contains two stories bound back-to-back. These are both adaptations of books by well-known authors. Double Western Pictorials were published in Australia by the Junior Readers’ Press and distributed by Gordon and Gotch (A/sia) Ltd. I believe Dell originally published them in America. The comic isn’t dated so I can’t tell you when it was published. It measures 18.5cm X 13.5cm and has a colour cover, the interior being black and white.

The artwork is very detailed with a lot going on in each panel. Characters are recognizable and the artist uses a variety of viewpoints to add dramatic drama to his illustrations. Unfortunately I can’t name the artist, as he isn’t acknowledged in the comic.

Never having read Silvertip’s Roundup before, I can’t say how faithful the comic version is to the original. In this much shortened telling the story is fast moving and full of action. Silvertip is a man who seems to live to right wrongs and has a couple of faithful companions to help him, both animals, his horse Parade, and his wolf, Frosty. Both these animals have amazing abilities and seem to understand the human tongue, which for me stretches belief somewhat. Silvertip himself is very good at second-guessing and terrific at spotting even the smallest clue to help him perfectly work out what has happened.

The bad guys and the man Silvertip is trying to save, Passkey Jones, are entertaining characters too. The plot includes an amazingly lucky escape from a house set to blow up at any second and, of course, good triumphs over bad by the end.

Overall an enjoyable read that leaves me looking forward to reading the other Double Western Pictorial that I have in my collection, this has Silvertip and Stolen Stallion as one of the stories.

This issue of the comic book sees Silvertip’s Roundup backed with Zane Grey’s The Rainbow Trail.

Click on the scan of the first two pages below to see a readable version.

The Rainbow Trail - in pictures

By Zane Grey

Comic Book Version

Like the Ace Doubles this contains two stories bound back-to-back. These are both comic adaptations of books by well-known authors. This Double Western Pictorial was published in Australia by the Junior Readers’ Press and distributed by Gordon and Gotch (A/sia) Ltd. I believe Dell originally published it in America. The comic isn’t dated so I can’t tell you when it was published. The comic measures 18.5cm X 13.5cm. It has a colour cover and a black and white interior.

I’ve never read the book of The Rainbow Trail, which was a sequel to Zane Grey’s Riders of the Purple Sage, which is often said to be his best novel, so have no idea how much has been cut for this comic version, or how truthful it is to the original.

From comments in the dialogue it seems that many of the characters are from that previous novel, although none of them take centre stage for very long as we follow the fortunes of different people, all intent on rescuing Jane and Lassiter. The story has strong roles for both male and female leads, a fair amount of action and a lot of dialogue. The story takes place over a number of years, which allows little Fay Larkin to grow into an attractive young woman so she can become the love interest for John Shefford, who eventually finds Jane and Lassiter with the help of Indian guide Nas Ta Begay.

There isn’t any mention of who drew the comic but the drawings are clear with recognizable characters, and contain a fair amount of background detail.

Max Brand backs The Rainbow Trail with Silvertip’s Roundup.

Click on the scan of the first two pages below to see a readable version.

Hay-on-Wye - a book lover's heaven

Have just had a wonderful few days in Hay-on-Wye, a small town just feet over the English border into Wales. This is a town that all book fans should visit at least once in their lifetime as it is filled with second-hand bookshops, in which you’ll find all types of fiction and reference books; this town really is a book lover’s heaven.

The town produces a handy map that shows where each shop is situated.

Some of the shops have their books in author order, and others break this down into genres, but a few have their stock of fiction all mixed together in jam-packed mazes of bookcases and small rooms, many having more than one floor including basements. Many an hour can be spent just perusing one shop.

Prices range from pence to hundreds of pounds, depending on condition and rarity, as would be expected, and some shops specialize in specific genres, such shops #11 Murder and Mayhem (part of Addyman's), and #5 Rose’s Books which sells only rare and out-of-print children’s books – talk about a trip down memory lane…



When asking in shop #8 The Sensible Bookshop, why they didn’t have a western section, we were told he did have a shelf full until a man came in, saw it, picked up the entire collection and bought the lot – who says westerns don’t sell! The shop did have a few western books upstairs and in the basement, including a handful from the Piccadilly Cowboy authors, a couple of Wilderness books and a number of stand-alone titles. It was here I picked up a copy of February’s 1951 edition of Exciting Western and March’s 1951 edition of Thrilling Western.



Shop #18 Greenways Corner Bookshop has its westerns in their own section, two shelves containing a good mix of English and American publications from a variety of authors, most of the books being paperbacks.



The Hay Cinema Bookshop (#24) carries at least 200,000 books covering all subjects. As the name implies this shop is a converted cinema that has its stock on two floors and has even more books outside. They have their westerns in a separate section on the first floor. If you’re looking for (at the time of writing this) books by the Piccadilly Cowboy authors, particularly those in the series’ Hart the Regulator and Jubal Cade, then this shop could be worth a visit. They also had a good number of books from Louis Masterson’s Morgan Kane series. It was also surprising to see a Black Horse Western in paperback. The stock also contained some quite recent American publications.



But by far the largest selection of western fiction – and reference books on all types of western history – can be found in the castle itself: shop #17 Hay Castle Books. There’s a whole area set aside that carries a wide variety of hardbacks and paperbacks, two shelves set aside for just Zane Grey books and another two shelves containing nothing but Max Brand’s work. You definitely need to put aside an hour or so for your visit to this section alone. If you’ve time it’s worth checking out the hundred’s of books that are outside, lining the castle walls, all selling for £0.50p each and payment is made directly into an honesty box.



Having visiting Hay-on-Wye some years ago I was looking forward to searching through Richard Booth’s Bookshop (#9), which supposedly carries a stock of 500,000 books, and is/was the largest used book store in the world. Unfortunately, during our visit, much of this shop was closed for alterations and repairs, meaning the western section was not accessible. From what we were told Richard Booth has sold this shop to an American lady and she is in the progress of updating it and planning to include a reading lounge and café.

Having such a large collection of westerns already I didn’t really expect to come home with many additions to to it and this was how it turned out but these are what I did buy:
Exciting Western: Feb. 1951 – Vol. 1, #3 – British edition.
Thrilling Western: March 1951 – Vol. 4, #5 – British edition.
Zane Grey’s Western Magazine – Vol. 1, #3 – undated
Ace Double: Legacy of the Slash M by Ray Hogan / Tracker by William Vance
Song of the Cheyenne by Jory Sherman
Hanging Judge by Elmer Kelton
Spectros #3: Natchez by Logan Winters (not pictured)
The Man in Black (Clayburn series) by Marvin Albert
Northwest Destiny #1: Distant Trails by Bill Gulick
The Last Snow by John Messmann
Ten Thousand Dollar Bounty by Jack Giles (hardback)

Arkansas Breakout by John B. Harvey (hardback)

And, yes, we did come back with a selection of non-westerns too.