IN THIS ISSUE: ROD CAMERON battles THE BAYOU BAD WAN ROD CAMERON WESTERN One day, as nop cameron rides across the plains... ~EASY, WAR PAINT! THAT > CLOUD OF POST OUT YONDER IS HEADING THIS WAV' IN A POWERFUL HURRY.' I WONDER *0; fcf WHAT'S UP? A HERO OF CRITTERS OH THE MOVE! NO COWMEN IN THEIR RIGHT MINPS WOULD ■< SHOVE A HERD THAT FAST ON ) A HOT DAY LIKE THIS.' THOSE / FOOLS'LL RUN ALL THE m£sT* WEIGHT OFF THEA THERE MAY BE ANOTHER) ANSWER TO THIS--ONE L ~ I AIM TO CHECK ON PRONTO/ GET RAMBLING, y~ T ^ rr g( WHOA.' WHAT'S THE MEANING OF THIS, STRANGER?, HALT! ROD CAMERON WESTERN ROD CAMERON WESTERN ROD CAMERON WESTERN SEEING AS HOW I AIM TO Pi C. UNEXPECTEP CARGO, VI fygmazr throw in the feep FOR FREE.' A few minutes later ... | i^regotto hanp ^ Y NOW TO CAST OFF ANP ) THIS WAY OF TRAVELLING L WE'RE ON OUR WAY/ ./HAS PUSHING A HERP POWN Pjr M I ■ THE TRAIL BEAT ALL W hollow.' I RECKON IT HAS A HEAP OF 'GOOP POINTS AT THAT' IT'LL SAVE THE CRITTERS A LOT OF i a. WEAR ANP TEAR, FOR -TONE THING.' Several days later. While, in a Mississippi bayou downstream... MAVERICKS ARE JgW WORKING ON THE FEEP, THEY'LL EVEN PUT ON WEIGHT PUKING THE TRIP.'THAT'LL BRJNG 7 BETTER PRICES . ON THEM.' WE'LL BE HEAPING INTO THEN MISSISSIPPI SOON' THERE'S NOTHING LIKE A NICE * PEACEFUL BOAT RIPE ’ THROUGH THE QUIET JBAYOU WATERS/ > ANY SIGN OF A PRIZE \ HAWSER YOUR] HEAYING INTO SIGHT /TONGUE, YOU A YET, BLACK BAKTZS SWAB' I'LL * . tsyngi^CLAP SIGHTOnJ MB&SSM A PRIZE 4fj l I AFORE LONG/ J Tho-humj /THAT'S ^ FOR ME, ‘ ROD/ THERE'S • NOTHING 4 LI RE PEACE 'RIGHT! ROD CAMERON WESTERN ROD CAMERON WESTERN r AHOY, THERE' STANP 3*/ TO BE BOAR PEP OR WE'Ll SPLIT YOU STEM TO BOW , -7 AND FEED YOU TO V. THE ALLIGATORS^-* pmw$! FOLLOW ME, MATES, SCUTTLE ) 7 THEIR [timbers/ STAND BACK , 1 ' SIDEWINDERS • OR I'LL VENTILATE BTSIfl you/_Xffi jg AY THE STEEL TO THE LUBBERS FORE ANP AFTi^SI I RECKON IT'S TIME SOMEBODY/ SLAPPED SOME BRAINS snmgtfi E^jnto vou/ jr^rniilnlw I r I'M WARNING YOU Y VARMINTS --DON'T GO MAKING ME J f PATIENCE/ T r BECAUSE I CAN BE MIGHTY f ROUGH WHEN l I'M RILED'/ ROD CAMERON WESTERN ^ BIND THEM ANP LASH /THEM TO THE HELM - 'WHILE I FIND OUT WHO s^this swabisl^ WHAT'LL WE DO WITH THESE SWABS, BLACK BART? HEAVI THEM TO THE ALLIGATORS; ROD CAMERON - A name ) I've heard tell YOU'RE GOINS TO REMEMBER/OFYOLI ANP YOUR BEFORE THIS N- , ^ MEDDLING WAYS' GAME IS —I fc .!«ws a PLAYED T /gr'MfcfJ) U W OUT! 1 IBS ^ Jt^ I WHAT ARE you 1 GOING TO PO - WITH HIM ANP .THE CATTLEf THROUGH —ANP ROP CAMERON " WILL BE LASHEPTO THE FIERCEST BULL OF THEM ALL.' HA,HA! HE'LL BE TRAMPLEP ANP SORED IN AS BLACK A PEATH , AS EVER A MAN / . died; HO'Ho! SA ROD CAMERON WESTERN AND WITH THESE \ WORDS, ROD \ CAMERON goes 1 TD A FRIGHTFUL DOOM! IS THIS TD BE THE IGNOMINIOUS FATE OF THE GREATEST SOUARg. SHOOTER THAT EVER ROPE THE DANGEROUS TRAILS OF THE OLD WEST, CHAMPIONING THE CAUSE OF JUSTICE? HEAD CHAPTER TWO I FEAR By Al Pucker C ERTAINLY Sheriff Ted "Howe was no coward. Yet now he was afraid—terribly afraid of the man he would meet in an hour. It wasn’t that he dreaded the prospect of gun play. This was obvious, for the record of law enforcement that was his could never have be¬ longed to a craven. Many times his guns had blazed for justice, and he wore his wounds as Nor did he dread the outcome of the pend¬ ing duel with .Red Dineen, even though he sensed what its ending would be. Great as his hope to match the effortless ease with which the owlhoot used his hoglegs. The sheriff real¬ ized that he would die. Yet he was not afraid of dying. What was this fear then that hung over him? The picture of his family on the desk explained it. Sadly, he looked at it again. Cissy, little Cissy, and her even younger brother—What would become of the mother¬ less tots, once their dad had died at the hands of Dineen? This was the thought that chilled him and made him hate the battered wall clock that ticked off the moments of his approach¬ ing doom. The rendezvous was set for three o’clock, and it was only a half hour until that time now. Why, he groaned, did he not face Dineen down yesterday, when the outlaw first blew into town? Why had he not drawn on him then, and died quickly? Wouldn’t that have been better than to sit here dying by inches, worrying about the future of an orphaned Cissy and Jimmy? Yes, he should have fought it out with Dineen yesterday. But his strong sense of justice had held him back. Even Dineen deserved consideration from the law. Having just served time, there were no current rharges outstanding against him. The sheriff first had to give him a warning to leave town as an undesirable. Well, he had done it. Crisply he had snapped ’ an order for the owlhoot to hit the trail before three o’clock today. He knew, of course, that Dineen wouldn’t. He did not need the raucous laugh with which the tough had greeted his j ultimatum to tell him that. And. now the time was fast approaching when he must make good his threat to run"' Dineen out of town—and in his heart he knew Perhaps there was a chance, though! Per* haps-luck would ride with him just this once. - ' But if it did—a man had to make his own luck. Surely, he wouldn’t help his case 1 (or, that of Cissy and Jimmy) by sitting and 1 brooding. Certainly Dineen had a reputation as a gun slinger! But then, so did Sheriff Ted Howe. His own draw was lightning fast, and many infamous renegades had felt the sting of his lead. Swiftly his hands darted to the twin holsters in the gesture that had.quailed the Quincy; l gang. Almost magically they seized the hog¬ legs and trained them on an imaginary op¬ ponent. He smiled in satisfaction. This was the noted Ted Howe draw—the second fastest in the West. But his smile gave way to a • frown as he recalled the draw that he had m v always considered the fastest—that of Red J He sighed, realizing tl for a victory. Yes, he w was better. Dineen knew it he hooted in mirth \ ordered him to head fo Jimmy now v e futility of hoping s good, but Dineen : o. Why else had :he Sheriff had » head for the hills? There was 1 he could do for Cissy and as to die like a man. ROD CAMERON WFSTERN There were only fifteen minutes left, but that could be a long time for a killer anxious to get on with bloodshed. However, the open door revealed no kill- hungry Dineen, but the only face more wor¬ ried than the sheriff's own—that of his deputy, Slim Towne. Slim nodded a greeting and eased his great length into one of the office chairs. Pretending calm, he struck fire to a cigarette. But his anxious glance over the smoke be¬ trayed how worried he, too. was over the grisly fate that awaited Ted Howe at the end of the little frontier town’s main street. “Ted." Slim said, trying to make his voice casual. "I’ve been thinking about this little meeting you've got set with Red Dineen." “I've been thinking, too. Slim,” sighed the sheriff. "Not so much about Red as I have about Cissy and Jimmy. What will become of them if—or I reckon I should say when—I bite the dust. I'm not afraid of dying, but I am afraid of leaving orphans." > “Then that makes it a heap ea.sier for me to say my piece, Ted ! Why don't you let me meet Dineen? I’ve got nobody to leave behind. Even so, I’ve always been a lucky galoot. You can’t His outburst was broken off by the negative wag of the sheriff's head, vslim had offered him a way but. but the call of duty was too loud and clear for him to even consider it. Fate had dealt Ted Howe this hand, and no one else could play it for him. He’d go it alone, even though he was positive he'd draw the black ace. He smiled grimly as he looked into the pleading eyes of Slim. . “Sorry. Slim. I'm facing Dineen myself. But there is something you can do for me pronto. Take yourself a little walk to the end of the street and tell Dineen I’m coming along in a minute. Get going, boy.” he barked authorita- | tively. “I’m still sheriff of this town—for at least another ten minutes.” Slim started to protest, then turned to the door. He knew now how foolish his offer had been.'He should have known that Ted Howe would never turn tail from any man—even though that hombre be Red Dineen, with The door slammed behind Slim, and Ted Howe turned back once more to his desk. His solemn gaze took in the picture of Cissy and Jimmy again. Smiling ruefully at his own gesture, he detached the photograph from the frame and tucked it into his shirt pocket. Cissy and Jimmy would be with him to the He locked the door carefully, then breathed a deep sign before starting his purposeful over the town, and Ted Howe recognized it all too well. He had walked through it many who had had the audacity to defy his orders to get going by a stated deadline. It was different now, though. On past occa- doorway as of the bolder citizens had dared a word of encouragement from a their sheriff strode forth to main- d order. Now, nothing but silence accompanied him as he paced off the yards that carried him closer to the fatal rendezvous. Yes, things were different this time, for now the sheriff was the qne who would fall. No one knew it better than the sheriff himself. Still, determination carried him on. There was a figure now at fche other end of the street coming toward him rapidly. Ted Howe shivered, then brushed his fingers against the picture in his pocket, and con¬ tinued walking. But wait! This man did not have the bulky physique of Red Dineen. He was much too long and lean. Why it was—it was Slim! “Out of my way. Slim,” Ted Howe thun¬ dered. “You’re not keeping me from meeting m^OU'LL have to go to the jail to meet ■ him," Slim gasped. “I told the jasper you were coming and you never saw a more frightened varmint. He begged me to hide him —so I did—in jail. Seems he worried all night about trading lead with you. You see, he tried to run a bluff on you, but in his heart he always had you figured as the fastest draw he ever did see. He just wasn’t having any.” THE END ROD CAMERON WESTERN Ja ^me bayou BA.VMEN k r Doom/ TsAeven in the face o£- Tsrr^" THINK FASTI THERE /Mi/Sr BE SOME , ■ft WAV OUT OF 1§ fea-, THIS/ y-_— the same rnmnSkV. r l RECKON THOSE VARMINTS' THINK THEY'RE PLUMB SAFE, V-_, BUT I PLAN TO \\( SHOW THEM , ■ Vi, OTHERWISE THE PIRATE SHIP! THEY'RE JUST SAILING AWAY FROM THE PIER jfi OT ANP I AIM TO SAIL j^-ir^wiTH them i- ly^r : >► ROD CAMERON WESTERN BACK FROM THE DEAD' UOWY, THE SWAB'S GOT MORE LIVES THAN ' A BLACK ^ CAT.' , MAKE MIGHTY GOOD LANDING MATERIAL. 1 TAKEN DOWN A T PEG OR TWO, ^ YOU MANGY I SEA VIPERS.' ovyw: ROD CAMERON WESTERN MAVERICKS WANT TO BE STRAIGHTENED. VHILE BEING ROUNPEP UP, m r-mjtC r'S all RIGHT WITH ME, 1 RECKON fiMpH I RECKON I'D BETTER RELOAD MV SIR-GUNS — JUST IN CASE a SOME OF YOU VARMINTS mtfm, MIGHT CRAVE TO DO A ««g|f MITE MORE FUSS IN G-W/WA SETTLE THIS'LL STRAIGHTEN >I'U CUT YOU YOU OUT IF TO PIECES,VOU NOTHING ELSE J V MEDDLING^ (77 WILL/ ^^TXf 001 -^ LN OLD SCORE - UKE THISJ THE REST OF YOU MAVERICKS GET BUSY AND TACK QUITTING ISN'T ENOUGH.' --ABOUT PUT THIS'..— BEFORE I BLOW A PORTHOLE VERM THROUGH JgfiV YOU.' ROD CAMERON WESTERN SLIP IT INTO POST AND PROP ANCHOR' you sidewinders are going to und< - 7 -^—/ SOME OF THE DAMAGE / ■ /jjBtSmlsS vO'U've CAUSED/^X Fget rambling back TO TOWN HALL WITH THAT \ GOLD-THEN I'VE A MIGHTY BUSY TIME PLANNED i V FOR you VARMINTS/^i 'yippege-' n's c X OUR PARD. y\ (nop cameron! S ” > HE SAVED OUR HERD AND ROUNDED. UP THOSE PIRATE J. VARMINTS SINGLE- tM ■n HANDED! WHISTLE'LL FETCH HIM A POWERFUL HURRY/ NO TIME FOR THAT NOW, FOl TAKE THE STOLEN GOLD FRO/ THESE SEA-GOING GALOOTS.' THEY'VE GOT A MAN-SUED CHORE AHEAD OF THEM', ^fighting those fires y VARMINTS STARTED.' GE1 MOVING' WE HAVEN'T A ^SECOND TO LOSE/ l ROD CAMERON WESTERN SWiFTl y, ROD CAMSf—> WHAT'S UP, GOT WHAT? THE BIG WINNING TICKET / AS soon AS YOU SENT THE STOLEN LOTTERY GOLP BACK THE LOTTERY GOT STARTEP, BUT THEY CAN'T j JfeT FINP THE JASPER WHO'S HOLPING THE < SE7 LUCKY TICKET' TAKE A LOOK AT THAT Jk Wjf SjjcKET I GAVE YOU AWHILE YlPPEEE/ ROP CAMERON'S WON THE BIG FIRST PRIZE.' HERE COMBS THE LOTTERY GALOOT WITH THEPINEROi - — YlPPEEE! PONE IN THIS TOWN THAT ^ CAN STANP SOME PATCHING UP! I CAN'T THINK OF A BETTER USE FOR ALL TH/S, PINERO THAT'S CROWP/NG ABOUT ALL THE TR£ CRAVE' SO LONG, I / ANP HERE COMES 'iHE POLICE CHIEF •< WITH THE REWARP H ROUNPING | UP THE f L PIRATES/ ySO LONG, ROP s CAMERON.' WE SURE ARE PROUP RAINS, r r POURS' ROD CAMERON WESTERN THAT WAS CHUCK DENTON'S WAN OF LIVING -AND NOT A VERY WAY. FOLKS WOULD TRY TO TELL HIM, BUT HE'D JUST IT OFF. 7HEN ONE DAY A RODEO HIT TOWN AND CHUCK IT.' BUT INSTEAD OF ENTERING A FEW EVENTS AS SIBLE COWPUNCHERS DO, CHUCK HAD TO ENTER EVERY EVENT TRY TO WIN EVERY PRIZE. WELL, THE RESULT WAS THAT HE TUCKERED HIMSELF OUT THAT HE WAS GORED BY A STEER THE BULL DOGGING CONTEST. CHUCK LEARNED THE If ARP WAY LESSON HE NEEDED TO KNOW- THAT IT NEVER PAYS TO DO TO EXCESS. AND THAT'S A GOOD LESSON FOR t TO REMEMBER. NO MATTER WHAT IT IS — PLAYING, EATING, SWIMMING, YES — EVEN WORKING —DO THINGS IN MODERATION AND YOU'LL BE MUCH " IT LOOKS /IS IF I'VE GOT TO BE RIDING ON NOW, BUT I'LL BE SEEING YOU MIGHTY SOON. TILL THEN, KEEP SMILING, ROD CAMERON WESTERN ROD CAMERON WESTERN ROD CAMERON WESTERN there's nothing phony I s about metro-golpwnn- | MAVER STOCKTHET ARE (U BIG KCUIS C0MPM4V// 1 KNOW, BUT I JUST ) , FOUNP OUT THE M-G-M * ON THE STOCK X SOUGHT •s STANPS PER MUGGY'S ' BIG EBB? BUT WHY **« SHOULD HE FLEECE YUH • OF MONEY? I THOUGHT he just struck OIL d fcAMP BECAME FILTHY la THOUGHT SO TOO ^ IT TURNEP OUT , PENTIST COJLP wTKV TO > 7 PULL < f SOMETHING/ j PATCH UP WOULP BE THE PENTIST? NOTHING K TO PO WITH V ’’tough?’. ROD CAMERON WESTERN ROD CAMERON WESTERN J NOW THAT THE SHERIFFS HYAK.IM NOT ' 61V INS YUrt < AnvtHins on ) \ CKvn.'r' WHAT'S HARO ^%d THBY'Re I ABOUT RAlSINS?TsuPPPSeP - -ID 39 f » ( FUUt OF ] )- tSP N ZON / THINS VUH SOT AROlW HVARf I HOW ABOUT SOME RAI5INSt, RES, IF YUH PONT CON EFUU.V WITH MS— III E YUH ANOTHER PASTE IN THE YOUTH. a«M 1 NEVER WIND THE -S RAISINS ,CETB SEE HIM BITE THROUSH, n^THAT CAN OF t~A 1 PASTE \ gulp) now the can's , STUCK TO MY HANDS/ HOW AM I SOINS TO \ TAKE MUH CHANSE ’ A FROM, THE C1ERK FDNT WORRY } ABOUT THAT,. -■ WEAVER WILL TAKE }(SOOP WORK, SHERIFF/ AS PART PAYMENT NOW PUT HIM BEHIND N WHAT YUH OWE J' J THOSE STBE1 SAKS THE ORIGINAL MOTION PICTURE SOUNDTRACK TEEN TITANS Teen Titans copyright ol DC Comics