Indian Chief was a great comic--an anthology in which you can pick pretty much any issue at random and not find a clunker amidst the two or three stories in that issue. Strong storytelling; engaging art; and historical accuracy shine out from every tale. (Caveat: The stories seem historically accurate to me, but I'm hardly an expert on Native American cultures. There could be any number of mistakes that I don't have the knowledge to catch. It's also possible that some of the stories were considered accurate at the time, but research done in the 70 years since their publication has changed what we know. But in any case, the stories obviously make an honest effort to treat various Native American cultures with respect.)
I picked Indian Chief #8 (Oct.-Dec. 1952) at random and--sure enough--both stories were great. Today, we'll look at the first story in this issue: "Bear Medicine"--author and artist unknown.
Our hero in this one is a Sioux named Crooked Knife, who has a bum leg which never healed properly after an accident. When the tribe is out hunting buffalo, someone spots signs of the Blackfeet (enemies of the Sioux) nearby. A trio of Dog Soldiers (the Sioux Special Forces guys) are sent ahead to scout. Crooked Knife wants to go. He wants to prove himself and get permission to mary the chief's daughter (who is awful cute). But his bad leg prevents this.
When the Dog Soldiers don't return, Crooked Knife does get permission to climb a nearby hill and keep watch. But partway up the hill, he's knocked off the path by a bear.
He lands on a tree limb sticking out of the side of the hill. The fall snaps his leg back into proper place--FINALLY, he can walk and move properly.
Well, except he's stuck on a tree branch. But he sees a bear walking past on a narrow path he hadn't noticed and is able to climb down.
That plus a dream he had convinces him the bear is his spirit animal. But Crooked Knife doesn't have time to dwell on that. He finds one of the badly wounded Dog Soldiers, who tells him before dying that the other two were captured by Blackfeet.
He spots the prisoners, starts a buffalo stampede as a distraction, rescues the two prisoners and makes a run for it. But the three get cornered in the cleft of a cliff, with only one bow and a few arrows between them.
Things look grim for the Sioux, until Crooked Knife spots his spirit animal atop the cliff over the Blackfeet position. Crooked Knife saves the day by shooting his spirit animal in the butt, enraging it enough to attack the nearby Blackfeet. This allows the three Sioux to get away.
Back at their camp, Crooked Knife is formally made a Dog Soldier, gets a new name ("Fighting Bear") and gets to marry the cute Indian gal.
This is a fast-paced story with clear, straightforward art that tells its tale in an exciting manner. It is indeed a great example of what made Indian Chief one of the best comics ever.
You can read it online HERE.
Next week, we'll return to the Hulk one more time.
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